We need a Moonshot for the American Dream, and in April 2017 the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation convened a diverse group of 50 professionals to map out goals and milestones for this Moonshot, just like the NASA planners in 1963.

Over two days in Kansas City, the group discussed this one fundamental question and generated hundreds of ideas that could help to bring about a substantial sea-change in our system for investing in entrepreneurs.

But ideas are one thing — practicality is another

At each phase of the process, ideas were refined and those with highest-potential were put to a group deliberation; finally a participatory budgeting process identified solutions with the greatest evidence of promise. This report is a compilation of those ideas. These are not fully baked out or endorsed by the Kauffman Foundation, nor the participants. However, in keeping with the structure of the workshop, we desired to develop ideas that were practical and potentially viable.

As in life, there is no single right answer and these problems are complex & ambiguous. We kept the timeline tight to maintain focus and generate clarity from every participant, but also allowed ample opportunities to experiment, take creative risks, iterate solution proposals, and to let ideas “fail fast.”

This form of “unbounded problem solving” and the workshop’s structured process of radical collaboration, has generated several ideas worth developing further.

As Victor Hwang, Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, said: “Only when you sketch out the future can you know what you need to do in the present."

Entrepreneurship is not just a ‘nice to have’ - it’s critical to the success of the American Dream. We are excited to submit this report of those findings and to hopefully as we truly believe entrepreneurs are the ones who will restore the American Dream.