In Puerto Rico, new insights from ecosystem-wide data reveal who’s starting businesses, what drives their success, and how communities can respond faster when challenges hit.
In resilient entrepreneurial ecosystems, data is the connective tissue. When it sits inside organizational silos, the picture is fragmented. But when it’s shared, analyzed, and acted on collaboratively, the entire network sees the big picture and can be more dialed in and responsive.
That’s the playbook emerging in Puerto Rico. Guided by Denisse Rodríguez Colón, Puerto Rico’s ecosystem leaders are proving what’s possible when data is treated as a shared asset. Rodríguez Colón is an important player in the development of the island’s central entrepreneurial support platform, Colmena66, a program of the Puerto Rice Science, Technology and Research Trust. She served as its director from 2016 until 2025 and was recently promoted to Director of Resource Development at the Trust.
Colmena66 acts as what some might dub the island’s “neutral connector.” As the hub, Colmena66 coordinates dozens of entrepreneurship support organizations (ESOs), aligns them through shared tools and surveys, and helps entrepreneurs navigate resources more efficiently. It is also an affiliate of SourceLink, a national network of entrepreneurial ecosystem builders that equips local communities with referral platforms and shared CRM systems. That affiliation has helped Colmena66 adopt proven methods for data sharing and network coordination while giving them a local spin that fits Puerto Rico’s circumstances.
Three principles underpin Puerto Rico’s approach:
- Neutral convening, or a trusted middle
- Actionable transparency, including publishing public dashboards and resource inventories
- A policy-program feedback loop that allows insights to flow both ways
Under Rodríguez Colón’s leadership, Colmena66 has positioned Puerto Rico’s ecosystem as a model for how shared data can strengthen collaboration, improve decision-making, and build resilience. Here are three ways that approach is transforming entrepreneurial support, as well as practical lessons other regions can adapt.
Demographics Beyond Silos
Most ecosystems track companies by stage. Puerto Rico added another lens: people.
To do that, Colmena66 brought partners together around one island-wide entrepreneurship survey. The goal was simple: collect data once, share it widely, and avoid flooding entrepreneurs with multiple questionnaires.
“We've been able to tell other ESOs that we're going to do the heavy lifting. We're going to do a massive annual entrepreneurship survey so that we have a bigger sample that really sets us up for success as we see trends and make decisions,” Rodríguez Colón said. “And we'll share all of this data with you. So, would you be willing to share the survey with your entrepreneurs?”
That wider lens revealed something powerful: Puerto Rico has a significant number of “silver entrepreneurs,” older adults actively starting businesses. That insight turned data into advocacy.
Rodríguez Colón noted they were “very intentional” about including a session on the silver economy at Entrepreneur Fest 2000, for example.
The annual event, known locally as Boricua Emprende Fest, took place August 29, 2025, at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan. Drawing more than 2,000 participants each year, it’s the island’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation. Organized by Colmena66 and its partners, it brings together entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, students, and support organizations for workshops, exhibits, and networking.
The silver-economy panel, developed with AARP Puerto Rico, extended the conversation beyond data tables to lived experience—exploring how Puerto Rico’s aging population, now the fourth oldest in the world, influences who becomes an entrepreneur and what markets they serve.
Takeaway for builders:
When demographic insights are shared across the ecosystem instead of locked in silos, they reveal opportunities that might otherwise be missed. In Puerto Rico, the findings on older entrepreneurs didn’t just produce a report. They sparked advocacy, partnerships, and a rethinking of who entrepreneurship is for.
That broader view raised a new set of questions:
- Who’s being served, and who isn’t?
- How can we design incentives that meet entrepreneurs where they are in life, not just in business?
- How should programs evolve as demographics shift?
It’s not about replacing business stage segmentation but about adding human context. When ecosystems see “people,” their strategies become more adaptive and resilient.
Mapping the Success Journey
Puerto Rico’s ecosystem leaders set out to answer a fundamental question: What makes some entrepreneurs succeed while others struggle?
They knew there was no single answer; success depends, in part, on timing, resources, and personal drive, but they believed shared data could reveal patterns worth studying.
By comparing experiences across ESOs, Colmena66 began tracking which combinations of programs, mentors, and resources led to stronger outcomes. The goal wasn’t to create a rigid playbook. It was to understand which connections and collaborations make the biggest difference.
“What's triggering this conversation specifically in Puerto Rico is when we look at entrepreneurs that are making it, as we identify what were the building blocks, what are the resources that have helped that entrepreneur get to where he or she is, wouldn't it be great to share that with the wider population so people learn that there is a road map? And … how can we scale that?”
Currently, those insights are compiled for a few entrepreneurs each year. The long-term vision is upgrading from their current CRM, SourceLink Pro to the shared CRM system SourceLink Enterprise. This would allow ESO’s from multiple organizations to safely share data and follow more entrepreneurs’ progress through the network.
The conversation is changing behavior. ESOs are beginning to collaborate more intentionally, shifting from competition for clients to collective learning about what works best across the ecosystem.
Takeaway for builders:
Every entrepreneur’s journey is unique, but when ecosystems examine those journeys together, they can spot common threads. Puerto Rico’s effort to document how founders move among ESOs isn’t about creating a formula for success; it’s about identifying the relationships and supports that consistently help entrepreneurs move forward.
By studying which connections make a difference, and where handoffs fall short, ecosystem builders can design smoother pathways without losing the individuality of each founder’s story.
Rodríguez Colón reminds communities to “Identify what is needed … and then focus on one thing first. Start small and build momentum.”
She also emphasized that shared CRMs, which Colemena 66 is working towards adopting, aren’t meant to standardize entrepreneurs. They’re meant to strengthen the ties among ESOs, giving entrepreneurs better chances to succeed. When data reveals where entrepreneurs thrive and where they stall, collaboration stops being a buzzword and becomes a practical strategy.
Mobilizing for Disaster Response
Puerto Rico has experienced hurricanes, earthquakes, and power grid disruptions in recent years. The silver lining? It has made preparedness a core part of their entrepreneurial strategy.
After Hurricane Fiona in 2022, Colmena66 gathered real-time information from hundreds of entrepreneurs so relief could be directed where it was needed most.
“What we did with this data is share it with the ESOs and philanthropists and other decision makers that were deploying limited resources to where they were needed the most. … But that was not enough for us,” Rodríguez Colón said.
They went further, shifting from reaction to readiness. Entrepreneurs can now use a self-assessment to measure how prepared they are for future crises, including, for example, how much they have in a contingency fund.
“At the end,” said Rodríguez Colón, “You have a preparedness score. So we are focused on preparedness.”
At the ecosystem level, ESOs maintain a shared, public inventory of what each can deploy—from coworking space to small grants—so future responses can happen quickly and efficiently. Rodríguez Colón said the goal is to ensure that “everyone knows what has to happen without any critical thinking having to occur.”
Takeaway for builders:
Resilience isn’t built during a crisis; it’s built in the time between them. Puerto Rico’s approach shows how shared data and coordination can turn reaction into readiness.
By turning post-disaster data into preparedness tools like dashboards, asset maps, and checklists, Puerto Rico created a system that reduces chaos, streamlines resource deployment, and speeds recovery.
That model applies anywhere. Whether the threat is a hurricane, flood, or economic downturn, ecosystems that maintain shared data channels, updated resource maps, and clear roles recover faster and more completely. When the next disruption comes—and it always will—data-driven collaboration keeps entrepreneurship alive.
Shared data doesn’t just prove what happened; it changes what’s possible. With a common evidence base, ecosystems can move from anecdotes to patterns, from isolated wins to repeatable pathways, and from reaction to readiness by design.
A Practical Blueprint You Can Adapt
Here’s a quick, actionable checklist drawn from Puerto Rico’s experience.
- Pick one shared question and make the data communal. Use a single survey or data flow that everyone contributes to and everyone can access. It’s the fastest path to a common language.
- Publish what you learn in ways people can use. Dashboards, briefs, and summaries turn insights into programs and policy.
- Document a few “success journeys,” and then improve the handoffs. Start small by mapping the experiences of four or five entrepreneurs. See what worked, fix what didn’t, and reduce redundant intake. Build toward shared standards and, eventually, a shared CRM.
- Turn response data into readiness. Keep a live asset map of what each ESO can provide and a simple preparedness quiz for entrepreneurs. You’ll move faster when limited resources need to be deployed, and you’ll minimize confusion because everyone knows what must happen.
- Run on cadence, not heroics. Use 30-day check-ins to keep work moving and to build momentum through steady, visible wins.
