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Entrepreneurship, technology and major headwinds all figure to play leading roles at the Business Economic Outlook Forum. 鈥嬧��

Entrepreneurs will face plenty of challenges going into 2023鈥攂ut for those seeking investors, the picture is perhaps not as dire as you might expect.听

According to conventional wisdom, rising interest rates will limit investor appetite and resources, so they鈥檒l be more selective about the businesses they support. But Erick Mueller, executive director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, said there鈥檚 a lag in institutional money that will help founders weather the storm.听

鈥淔rom the venture capital perspective, they鈥檝e already raised their funds, so they still have money they鈥檙e looking to invest,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淚t will make it harder for them to raise their next fund, but they still have money on the sidelines that they鈥檙e ready to deploy.鈥�

That鈥檚 a topic Mueller hopes to touch on in greater detail next month, when he leads a panel discussion on tech, trends and tales in entrepreneurship at the annual Business Economic Outlook Forum.听

鈥淭here are a lot of great ideas out there, but in a climate like ours, you need to be scrappier and more creative,鈥� he said, sharing a story from his latest venture, Funovation, which specializes in developing fun attractions that can be deployed in virtually any space. The company launched just ahead of the subprime slide that triggered a recession.听

鈥榊ou've got to be scrappier鈥�

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have to be too creative鈥攗ntil things dried up,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淭hen, we had to lean on our vendors in different ways to stay afloat. We鈥檙e not in what I鈥檇 call a contraction right now, but you鈥檝e got to be scrappier.鈥澨�

The entrepreneurship panel is just one feature of the Business Economic Outlook Forum, which is headlined by a deep dive into the state and national economies. The presentation鈥攈eadlined by Richard Wobbekind, senior economist and faculty director of Leeds鈥� Business Research Division, and Elizabeth Garner, state demographer鈥攑rovides a forecast for each of Colorado鈥檚 main industry categories while offering a macro view on larger trends.

The forum always draws a crowd, but should be especially popular this year in the face of serious headwinds鈥攊nflation, interest rates, supply chains, worker shortages and so on.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e helping connect the dots for business and government,鈥� said Brian Lewandowski, BRD鈥檚 executive director, who said the forecast is compiled in partnership with more than 100 private and public leaders across Colorado. 鈥淲e look at these larger stories, like rising interest rates, and show all the places where we expect they will create impact throughout the economy.鈥澨�

In addition to the forecast, the event will feature a keynote panel on disruptive technologies and industry breakouts on real estate and finance and water, in addition to the entrepreneurship session, which also will have a tech flavor.

鈥淥ne of the threads we鈥檒l be looking at is technology in our lives鈥攖he positives and the negatives, as well as the opportunities that maybe haven鈥檛 been fully appreciated yet,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun, looking in the crystal ball with a group of really smart people to predict what鈥檚 next for robotics, quantum computing and nano.鈥澨�

He鈥檚 got one prediction already: As they have in the past, entrepreneurs will continue to lead the way through this challenging economy.

鈥淔ounders are very well equipped for times of uncertainty, just in terms of tolerance for risk and ambiguity,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淭hey see opportunities where other folks may only see the downside.鈥�

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