We help Entrepreneur Support Organizations track and measure program and Founder success.

Don’t take our word for it, academic researchers identified 13 Entrepreneurial Competencies to Measure Founder Growth. We just made it accessible for founders and ESO’s.


Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) must continually prove their efficacy to their stakeholders. The topic of which metrics to use, why they are useful, and how to measure them are a constant source of discussion across entrepreneurial ecosystems and ESO providers. But at the end of the day, all anyone wants to know is, “Are we building better entrepreneurs?”

TheE13 provides a direct and quantifiable metric for entrepreneurs and ESOs. At the individual level, theE13 can show someone where they are strong or weak. For ESOs, they can use theE13 as data tool seeing how their programs, accelerators, or incubators are impacting groups of entrepreneurs. It can also highlight programmatic areas of weakness.


Thirteen Entrepreneurial Competencies
Opportunity RecognitionOpportunity AssessmentSelf-Efficacy
Guerilla SkillsResource LeveragingCreative Problem-Solving
Conveying a Compelling VisionValue CreationRisk Mitigation
ResilienceTenacity/PerseveranceMaintain Focus yet Adaptable
Building and Leveraging Entrepreneurial Networks
The 13 Entrepreneurial Competencies, or “theE13”.

TheE13 employs the Morris Competency Instrument (MCI), named after its creator, Dr. Michael Morris. The MCI is a peer-reviewed and validated assessment tool to measure an entrepreneur’s mastery of 13 disciplines. Venture Asheville and Montreat College use the MCI in startup mentorship programs and graduate business courses, respectively.

Based on demand from ESOs across North Carolina, our team has created a version theE13 to use for free. We believe that the more entrepreneurs and programs that use this tool, the better our entrepreneurs and ESOs can be because they can finally have a simple and effective tool that everyone can access.

To get started, click on the take theE13 page, create your account, and get started.