Recession is the Mother of Invention

If you’re looking for some good news in the midst of our climb out of an economic chasm, studies show that recession is the mother of invention.

Although the numbers aren’t out yet for 2010, the Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneurial Activity Index showed that 2009 experienced a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than in the previous 14 years!  So not only does an economic pull back spur entrepreneurial creativity, but apparently, the deeper the recession, the more growth we experience.

Now the city I call home, Baltimore, is known for many things—crab cakes, the harbor, punishing defensive football, a hopeful but depressed baseball culture, a sturdy work ethic and maybe a no-nonsense attitude—but an entrepreneurial hub is not necessarily one of those things.  It seems that we’re often over-looked by our “elite” neighbors to the north and south.  But folks like Dave Troy (among many others) are spreading well-founded rumors about an entrepreneurial explosion taking place in Charm City.  (See below to listen to a recent interview with Dave Troy.)

We in Baltimore have a tendency to thrive on being the under-dog.  I’m convinced that Ravens fans—and maybe even the players—would prefer to go into every game as the underdog, if for no other reason than to prove the naysayers wrong.  Well, underdogs aren’t hard to find as we scrape and claw out of the Great Recession.  If you’re one of the many who’ve been beaten down by job loss or underemployment, I want to encourage you to take a day or two off from sending resumes and contemplate what creative forces inside of you may be put to better use than inside the walls of a steady paycheck benefactor.  Very few have the make-up to be the CEO of the next-great-thing, but there is a high likelihood that one of those folks could ably employ whatever it is that makes you, you.

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of a thriving and prosperous future Baltimore… and whatever city you call home. 

Listen to the radio interview that Drew Tignanelli and I recently conducted with Baltimore entrepreneur, Dave Troy.

http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://mrwpodcast.podbean.com/mf/play/fdye9g/MRWPodcast-DaveTroy.mp3&autoStart=no
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