1. Introduction to Collaborative Strategies / The Entre League System / E.D.3.0
I would like to introduce you to our company. We are Collaborative Strategies. We offer
and build entrepreneur focused economic development programs. This is the creation of
Gregg Lichtenstein, who holds a doctorate from The Wharton School of Business at the
University of Pennsylvania. Information on our ELS program and Gregg’s book are
attached.
Please note though, that the attached information is not what we offer when we work with
colleges. We offer a special program that focuses more on the initial development and
needs of brand new and future entrepreneurs, established entrepreneurs and the
surrounding community.
We offer a regional entrepreneurial development and support system that in this area is
called the "South Jersey Innovation System", which has 3 subsystems. A college would
not only fall into the Service Provider system but would be the physical hub and
intellectual center of this program.
The benefits to the school are: 1. We help the school attract a greater number and a
more motivated and focused student. 2. We often create a greater need for certain
academic courses (business related) and even new academic curriculums (Entrepreneurial
curriculum). 3. We often create and develop the next generation of financial support for
the school, by tying the school to the development and success of the next generation of
entrepreneurs. (Financial support for colleges is almost always single generational.) 4.
We tie the school to the community in a way that often has not been fully developed. 5.
We offer a working and accountable solution to the problem of getting hired once a
person graduates college (which couldn't be more needed at the moment!).
Please review the attached information, and feel free to share it with colleagues. If you
or any colleagues find this preliminary information interesting, please contact me by
phone or email, and I will gladly visit to discuss our mutually beneficial programs.
http://www.investinginentrepreneurs.com/
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Investing In Entrepreneurs (the book)
Investinginentrepreneurs.com
A strategic approach for strengthening your regional and economic community

2. This book introduces the concepts that establish the rationale for the processes with
which the ELS and Collaborative Strategies measure the differences in entrepreneurs and
enterprises, thus allowing a far more tactical and calculated approach to workable
solutions for the needs of these individuals and their business enterprises.
The book explains the need for separation and categorization, along with the subsequent
recognition of the specific consequences that are associated with specific levels and
stages of entrepreneurial underdevelopment.
• It explains how to increase the numbers and the rate of success of entrepreneurs in
our communities and regions.
• The book reveals the crucial differences among entrepreneurs, and how to work
with them.
• The book offers ideas on how communities can manage their economies as a
portfolio of entrepreneurial assets.
• It offers more strategically oriented solutions for competing in the global
marketplace.
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A PEEK INSIDE Investing In Entrepreneurs
Chapter 3: The (Entrepreneurial) Skill Ladder
Chapter 5: Moving from a Pool to a Pipeline
Chapter 8: … Designing Strategic Options
Page 165
“….Current economic development programs only deal with part of the equation
for success; they address the needs firms have for technical and financial assistance but
do little to build a pipeline of highly skilled entrepreneurs capable of using that assistance
effectively to build companies.”
Page 164
“Development efforts based on the premise that entrepreneurs go where economic
opportunities are look very different from efforts based on the premise that opportunities
get created where the entrepreneurs are.”
Page 166

3. “…[some have] argued that the only real entrepreneur is the individual with a
masters degree in engineering with an offering capable of being protected as intellectual
property. …a game with unhealthy consequences for our economy …because our
judgments are leading us to waste valuable opportunities and human resources.”
Page 155:
“…we can evaluate [the entrepreneurs’] ability to hit their goals and achieve a
positive return on investment before we make that investment. Performance
measurement is not an afterthought in this approach; it is built into the very way of
operating.”
Page 146:
“…[may assume] that entrepreneurs and enterprises within a cluster have similar
needs, that in terms of services, one size will fit all. …While the label used to describe a
particular need, such as “training,” for example, will be the same across the entire
population, what that label represents in terms of actual content will be completely
different across the population.”
Collaborative Strategies and the Entrepreneurial League System®
http://www.entreleaguesystem.com/
http://www.eda.gov/EDAmerica/winter2006/els.html
The ELS and Collaborative Strategies believe entrepreneurship is a set of skills (like any
other skill-set) that can be learned. We also believe that all entrepreneurs start as rookies,
and accordingly, must be supported and nurtured differently than that of the existing
standard of “one size fits all” support system that currently exists.
We evaluate the skill level of each entrepreneur and the stage of each enterprise, so we
can more accurately identify the specific needs of each level and stage. With this
information, we offer the needed resources and tools that will not only help the enterprise
reach higher levels of success, but also help the entrepreneur meet the skill requirements
to successfully manage the new growth. We do not lump all entrepreneurs into single
categories. We do not offer one size fits all resources for the entrepreneurs we work
with.
• We focus on the entrepreneur, not just the enterprise or the opportunity
• We coach, not consult. We focus on entrepreneurial skill.
• We serve as a neutral third-party evaluation and diagnostic source.
• We offer workable and accountable entrepreneurial development solutions with a
measurable success history.

4. • We are interested in transformational growth, not incremental growth.
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Associated Websites
http://www.entreleaguesystem.com
http://www.eda.gov/EDAmerica/winter2006/els.html
http://www.Investinginentrepreneurs.com
www.pipelineofentrepreneurs.com
http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=3128
http://www.cooltownstudios.com/2004/06/02/the-entrepreneurial-league-system/
http://louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/fall2005/dreams.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/26/business/smallbusiness/26sbiz.html?
ex=1335326400&en=1a0ca4f90bda1212&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permali
nk
http://blog.entreworks.net/

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASov2zkqYic
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Recent Projects
Community Projects
1. Advantage Valley ELS (West Virginia / Kentucky / Ohio)
A 3 State / 8 County Initiative to measure and refine the entrepreneurial & economic
development plan for the area
2. ELS Central Louisiana
An economic initiative that focused on the entrepreneurial measurement and growth of all
but 1 Parish in Louisiana
3. Urban Industry Initiative (Southeast Pennsylvania)
An economic project focusing on 150 urban entrepreneurial enterprises funded by the
PEW Trusts
4. West Philadelphia Enterprise Center
An economic development initiative focusing on the West Philadelphia area
Collegiate Projects
1. CERMUSA St. Francis U. (Johnstown PA)
2. Charleston U. (Charleston W. VA)
3. Univ. of Saskatchewan (Sasketchewan Canada) Brett Wilson Ctr.
4. Wharton School of Business Univ. of Penna (Philadelphia PA)
“There are many universities doing programs to promote entrepreneurship; it is no longer
very cutting edge to be doing it. However, many programs suffer from various problems
or are less powerful than they could be. I would like to consider ourselves as general
contractors as well as architects. We will design a program that uses the best of what

6. exists, in a design that will be as powerful as possible, and connected to the larger whole
in which that educational institutions exists.”
Gregg Lichtenstein