Mo Collins speaks on using technological innovation's second wave in business, entrepreneurship at SEED Symposium

The Southeast Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Symposium (SEEDS) hosted Mo Collins, the International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) director of entrepreneurship, as its keynote speaker Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Drury Plaza Hotel Conference Center in Cape Girardeau.

In her presentation, Collins discussed how the second wave of technological innovation could disrupt the world of business and entrepreneurship. She explained that the first wave of innovation included the dot-com bust.

“The first phase was at the beginning of what was called the dot-com boom, bust,” Collins said. “This stuff was so easy to figure out that there was a way to disrupt somebody’s business model with technology.”

Collins used the example of Uber disrupting the taxi business model and that it wasn’t costly to make Uber software but had a big impact.

She said we are currently experiencing the second wave of technological innovation including artificial intelligence, virtual reality and autonomous vehicles. Collins said the disruption coming from any of these innovations in the second wave is “overwhelming”.

Collins cited a Forbes article stating technology such as artificial intelligence could disrupt as many as 40% of jobs globally and as many as 60% of jobs in the U.S. by 2030.

“Thousands and thousands and thousands of companies. 34 million businesses in the United States, most of them very small. Do you think that they’re embracing this? Absolutely. Because every penny counts when you’re a small company,” Collins said. “This is an opportunity for them to improve their efficiency, to improve their profitability, and it doesn’t cost them anything.”

She said, "All net new jobs are coming from companies less than five years old." Collins clarified that this doesn't mean large corporations aren't creating jobs, but those larger companies have to bring their costs down and improve their return on investment.

"I could reduce my workforce by, say, 3% — the bottom line is suddenly looking much better," she said.

Collins described what those entrepreneurs bring to the community, including wealth. She said while it is a win to bring a company that already has 400 employees to a place if that company leaves, the jobs go with it.

Collins said if they start in a place to plant their corporate headquarters is the "nexus of both jobs and wealth".

She also spoke on the importance of entrepreneurial ecosystems in cities such as Cape Girardeau. She called building these ecosystems in the long term a virtuous cycle.

"Here's how it works. Somebody opens a business. It's really big. And that company, that founder, who lives in the community, who's a part of Cape Girardeau, invests in a couple of guys that he met. Maybe one of them is one of his employees, one of them he met at a coworking space that has a really good idea that's kind of peripheral to what this guy's already doing. He invests in those companies, and those companies start to grow, and we create this cycle of investment, pure learning, mentoring and coaching that transforms our economy," Collins explained.

She said this can create industry clusters that create a culture in the community.

She said identifying "emerging innovators", providing assistance to entrepreneurs and collaborating all starts with "leadership". Collins said it starts with people who have the power of dollars and influence, as well as business connections.