Financial capital – Money! – makes the world go round. Capital provides the grease that enables the gears of any economy to turn. In the innovation economy, financial capital frequently spurs the generation of ideas in the form of research grants. It then plays into the formation of companies as entrepreneurs and scientists merge their skills and create companies and jobs. Capital surfaces in great places, too, often as a fire starter. Capital plays a crucial role in every turn of the process, and Remora Partners constantly traffics with capital players.
For the innovation economy to thrive in any given location, a great “place” is critical. The talented people that drive an innovation economy are attracted to places with a multitude of “collision spaces” where collaboration takes place continually, interactive mobility that makes idea-sharing easy, high-achieving schools for their children, communities that demand sustainability in their design and accessible elements of nature. Remora Partners frequently guides community leaders and other stakeholders into a deeper, more acute understanding of great places.
In the old economy, “people” were referred to as “labor” and considered to be one of the three cornerstones of the ‘land, labor and capital’ equation. Today, “people” means the pool of talent in which social capital exists. Social capital is the measurable economic benefit that exists when people communicate, collaborate and interact in community. The innovation ecosystem usually starts with a pool of talented people that want to expand their reach, and Remora Partners can guide “people” in their quest to bring the other needed elements to bear.
Ideas are the “intellectual capital” of the new economy. Where mass production or superior logistics or absolute commitment to competitive pricing were once the compelling force of the American economy, innovative “ideas” now command the most value. These ideas matter – they bounce off each other and then are magnetized – they gain traction, they evolve and then reach the tipping point. Eventually, they are irresistible and draw people, place and capital to themselves. Like all active players in the innovation economy, Remora Partners swims in a sea of ideas, constantly scrutinizing, evaluating and enabling ideas to grow.
