How does a country unlock broad-based economic prosperity? For Victor W. Hwang – globally recognised ecosystem architect and advisor to more than 300 communities – the answer lies not in grand industrial policies or attracting corporate giants, but in nurturing the fertile cultural conditions that allow thousands of small, dynamic ventures to flourish.
His message to South Africa was clear: entrepreneurship is not a side story of economic life, it is the story. To build prosperity, we must cultivate the culture, norms and connections that enable entrepreneurs to thrive where they are.
1,000 Davids beat Goliath
Traditional economic development has often centred on chasing “Goliaths” – large companies that governments court with subsidies and incentives. This model assumes that economic vitality flows from the top down.
Victor challenges this assumption with a simple truth: “A thousand Davids beat Goliath.”
What this means for ecosystem builders
The evidence is decisive:
- Young firms (under five years old) create nearly all net new jobs.
- Entrepreneurship reduces inequality.
- Entrepreneurship reduces poverty.
Large firms often contract during tough periods; young ventures keep building.
As entrepreneurial activity rises, inequality falls.
In the US, a 1% rise in entrepreneurship corresponds with a 2% drop in poverty within a state.
Entrepreneurs – the “Davids” – are fragile, often overwhelmed by the scale of systems around them. But they are also the engines of growth. Supporting them must be a national priority.
What this means for entrepreneurs
Great companies often begin in modest places: like the Hewlett Packard garage which gave rise to Silicone Valley. Entrepreneurial success rarely starts big – it starts brave.
The rainforest analogy: Rethinking how we grow
To build an entrepreneurial nation, Victor urges us to rethink the very metaphor we use to understand economic growth. Instead of treating entrepreneurship like a farm, with strict planning and predictable yields, he argues that we should build a rainforest: a dynamic, interconnected system where innovation emerges unpredictably, yet powerfully.
Shape the environment
The biggest misconception in ecosystem building is the belief that you can “plant” start-ups the way you plant seeds on a farm. You cannot create entrepreneurial growth through funding alone, or incubators alone, or buildings alone.
Entrepreneurship flourishes only when the entire environment is shaped intentionally:
- Access to talent
- Supportive culture
- Knowledge flows
- Shared norms
- Role models
- Trust
- Collaboration across unusual boundaries
- A sense of community
Even competitors must coexist productively. As Victor notes, redwood trees intertwine their roots to stabilise each other – despite competing for sunlight. The same is true for real entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Silicon Valley as a state of mind: The seven rules of the rainforest
We are all David
Sustaining a culture of entrepreneurship requires something more than policies or programmes, it requires a mindset. Victor closed with an image deeply resonant with the Motse spirit: Michelangelo’s David, not triumphant after the battle, but poised before it.
Eyes focused on the horizon, sling in hand, determined and unafraid. This is the posture of the entrepreneur: vulnerable yet resolute, small yet powerful, uncertain yet courageous.
It is the posture required of all of us working to strengthen South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Because building a rainforest is not the responsibility of one individual or institution – it is the collective act of thousands of Davids.
And it begins when each of us says: “I am David too.”
