Entrepreneurs are increasingly aware of the need to build ‘ecosystems of change’ and to mobilize strategic alliances in pursuit of their pathways to scale.

We are informed by the work of many who are looking at ecosystem approaches to social change. Among those is the work of Volans Advisory Board members Gregory Dees and Tim Brown.

Most of the entrepreneurs interviewed in our research see their initiatives and solutions as located somewhere between Stage 2 (Experiment) and Stage 3 (Enterprise). Their growing concerns about financial sustainability underscores the difficulties of sustaining enterprises in Stages 2 and 3, let alone moving on to Stage 4, where most see the need to think differently about their models. Building critical mass through partnerships and alliances with other sectors is seen as a critical condition for moving up to Stages 4 (Ecosystem) and, ultimately, Stage 5 (Economy).

Our research finds that key aspirations of entrepreneurs currently moving towards Stage 4 (Ecosystem) include:

• Brokering creative industry partnerships to advance product designs and seek economies of scale -Solar Aid.
• Evolving alliances with mainstream institutions and business to increase their market share -Global Footprint Network
• Improving market regulation through standards and better governance -Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels.
• Creating the infrastructure to connect social movements with governments and business  -Movimento Nacional dos Catadores de Materiais Recicláveis.
• Gearing investors to lobby governments for market rules that get the incentives right -CERES Investor Network on Climate Risk.

Those we polled reported that their highest priority is to find ways to influence the private sector. But also seen as very important is their ability to influence regulation and public support by engaging with national governments and by mobilizing grassroots and broader cultural change through engagement with the media in its many forms.

As ‘Stage 4′ opportunities open out in the form of new markets and social or consumer movements, there has been growing interest in its development from financial institutions, with Generation Investment Management and venture capital pioneers Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers among Volans’ Phoenix 50—and Khosla Ventures, among those nominated.

Others, such as the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), are significant because they are catalyzing new ways of blending private and philanthropic capital to help social and environmental entrepreneurs. Other 2009 Phoenix 50 organizations that demonstrate the importance of building ecosystems include EMBARQ, Arup, Better Place, the C40 initiative and the Marine Stewardship Council.