The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tips to wake creative sleeping giant
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us, says Alice Loy, CEO and co-founder of Creative Startups. Here, she gives us her advice on how to unleash the creative entrepreneurs in your community.
If you are wondering how to take on the challenges of a shifting global economy, investing in creative industries’ entrepreneurs tackles economic, civic, and social challenges and is found in every community in every corner of the globe.
The creative economy is huge. And growing. It generates close to $3 trillion in economic output annually.
That’s more than the global telecommunications industry. What’s more, creative economy revenues are expanding 8-12% annually, varying by country. In the USA, the creative economy grew straight through the Great Recession, as opposed to all other sectors. Growth will continue as a global middle class rises, expanding demand for entertainment, digital media, and original content and experiences.
Consider this: Cirque du Soleil was founded by two street performers who grew it into a global phenomenon and sold it for $1.5 billion to investment firm TPG in 2015. Lynda.com, acquired by LinkedIn in 2015, was started by Lynda Weinman, a graphic designer-turned educator.
Fashionistas, film-makers, and foodies are launching creative companies that drive value for investors, and create high-wage jobs.
However, the creative economy is a sleeping giant because leaders and investors, community and economic developers have mostly left the creative economy on the sidelines.
Many leaders think only of “the arts” when they hear the word creative. However, today’s creative companies are anchored in technologies and digital innovations.
Take for example Embodied Labs, a VR film company whose films help medical providers understand patient experiences, reducing costs and improving health outcomes. Or Beacon Hill VR, a software firm with artists and gamers on staff who create and bring to life animated characters. We suspect leaders overlook the creative economy because they are unfamiliar with its numbers.
Creative entrepreneurs are market disrupters building a better and more inclusive future. The innovators behind creative companies are designers, coders, gamers, musicians, and engineers. Akin to tech founders, creative founders are driven by a desire to disrupt a market.
The creative economy is being built by visionaries who strengthen regional identity, increase livelihoods and build connected communities.
So, how can you unleash the creative entrepreneurs and talent in your community? Here are three tips to get you started:
1. Find ambitious creative entrepreneurs who have been overlooked. They might be building the next Cirque du Soleil, but everyone else sees them as clowns. With fresh eyes, you might see a billion-pound business in the making.
2. Host a small gathering with innovative creative founders and investors and ask them to share where they believe your regional creative economy could be more competitive. What assets and competitive advantages do you have that entrepreneurs and investors have already discovered? When we do this, we find investors who are already working with creative companies.
3. Assume you just don’t get it... yet. Creatives are disrupting markets and they see a future the rest of us don’t see. Take for example the story of Meow Wolf, an “artist collective” based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. When Meow Wolf started out, they sought business support but were told more than once their venture should be a non-profit. They are artists, after all. Today, with more than one million visitors and $15 million in revenues in under two years, Meow Wolf’s out-of-this-world exhibit helped multiply their first investors’ funds within three years.