TROY LEMAILE-STOVALL

In my experience, most entrepreneurs develop their ideas from personal experiences and observations. Here in the DMV, we’re observing major shifts in federal spending. These changes are having a noticeable impact on both our personal and professional lives.

My journey has led me to earn two STEM degrees, so having a formula as the basis for the DMV to adapt to the changes in front of us isn’t a stretch for me. I believe that formula is 3Ts/2Fs = 4Ss (three ‘Ts’ divided by two ‘Fs’ equals four ‘Ss’). So, let’s do the math!

The numerator (the limiting factor) is the three ‘Ts’ – every entrepreneur has limited time, not enough talent and a need of more treasure. For the DMV, these are limiting factors entrepreneurs endure daily.

Many talented individuals have a time and treasure challenge as they face an uncertain professional and financial future. Treasure – that’s about resources, and with layoffs and grant cancellations, many treasure chests are emptying out.

While numerators are the limiting factors, denominators represent the full extent of the possibility. Thus, we are brought to the two ‘Fs’ – funding and foundation. We must better align our regional assets and focus funding on foundational elements that elevate our strengths such as those in life sciences, AI, defense tech, and quantum. By elevating these into global leadership, we ensure time is used efficiently, deployment of our talent, and sustainable treasure chests.

The result of this equation is the four ‘Ss’:

• Stitch – we embrace a regional identity based on innovation and entrepreneurship and creating the Capital of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE);
• Scale – the two ‘Fs’ properly deployed and moving beyond our borders creates a scale of resources that each jurisdiction couldn’t attain on its own;
• Storytelling – with stitching and scaling reinforcing one another (a flywheel) leading to greater resources, stitching and scaling; and the ability to establish a data-informed CIE brand and story;
• Stickiness – ending the equation, we see our regional economy resetting, leveraging innovation and entrepreneurship to ensure a higher stickiness of entities in the CIE.

At TEDCO, we invest funds in key growth and emerging sectors in Maryland while also funding the people (workforce) and places (physical infrastructure) that are necessary to drive sustainable growth. We believe we have the capability and desire to work with others in the region to solve this equation.

Let’s start solving this equation – together.