Delaware’s next governor will be an entrepreneur. Here’s why Matt Meyer thinks it matters. 

All politicians talk about entrepreneurship. Only a few of them have actually have that experience.

This election year, both of Delaware’s major party candidates for governor — Democrat Matt Meyer and Republican Mike Ramone — have entrepreneurial backgrounds.

Ramone is the Delaware Legislature’s House Minority Leader, and has described himself as a politically moderate “Delaware yellow” rather than “deep blue or scarlet red.” He opened his first business — a flower shop — in 1982. His current family businesses include Ramone’s Landscaping, Aquatic Management Systems, the Delaware Swim School, BNR Investment and Ramone Real Estate Holdings. 

Meyer, the New Castle County Executive, launched his first startup in Kenya in 1995. Called Ecosandals, the company sold environmentally friendly footwear made from recycled material.

For those who say Delaware should try new things in state government rather than pulling out the same old playbook, having two candidates who have experience as entrepreneurs is encouraging, says Ken Grant, senior director of public affairs and advocacy for Convergence Public Affairs in Wilmington.

“Every election year, we hear people talking about running government like a business — and while that sounds like it might be a good idea, the reality is that there’s a wide variety of ways to run a business,” Grant told Technical.ly. “A startup approaches challenges in a different way than a company that has been around for generations and tends to work much more cautiously.”

We reached out to both candidates to get their takes on the intersection of political leadership and entrepreneurship. Meyer responded and agreed to an interview — find his responses below. Ramone did not respond.

The following Q&A with Matt Meyer has been edited for space and clarity.

What’s it like to pivot from entrepreneurship to public service?

Starting companies in some way, shape or form really is what, number one, taught me a heck of a lot about the needs of the community, the power of small business and the private sector and also how to run a campaign. A political campaign itself is a startup, with a lot of expenses and not many revenues. Trying to make it work, trying to bring people together, is not that different from starting a company.

I mean, it’s not surprising that out of a six-person [primary] field, the two people who are left both have entrepreneurship in their blood.

So that’s the first thing. The second thing is, for me, that it wasn’t just entrepreneurship. The first company I started was in Kenya, in East Africa, and it was making footwear from used car tires, and using technology to enable some of the poorest individuals in the world to make money by making something that they could sell all over the world. There was always a real element of social action, of this business is a vehicle by which we can express our values, to enable people literally to feed their family, to provide housing and health care for their own family.

What are some advantages of having an entrepreneurial background in public service?

Starting a company is like 5% strategy and 95% execution. Most of the small business owners I see who succeed don’t necessarily have great strategies, but they’re able to execute. The best entrepreneurs I know under-promise, and they over-deliver. Overdelivering is really about execution. 

Government very rarely is like that. Government, time and again, is about over-promising and under-delivering. It takes too long. It costs too much money. The government official doesn’t return the call. And in New Castle County government over the last eight years, we’ve had an element of underpromising and over-delivering. 

I didn’t stand up four years ago and say we were going to create the largest, most comprehensive shelter for homeless populations in state history, but the opportunity was there. We saw it, and we went and executed. Over 4,000 Delawareans have spent at least one night at the Hope Center. 

I didn’t say we were going to make a movie, we just quietly made a little documentary [called The Pathway Home], and it won an Emmy Award, and thousands of people have seen it. That’s what an entrepreneur does. 

We’re going to try 10 different things. We’re not going to make big announcements. Six or seven of them may not work out in the end, but the two or three that do work, people are going to be really happy with them. It’s enabled our government to thrive.

What are your priorities for legislation aimed at entrepreneurs in the state?

John Carney, to his credit, with his team at the Division of Small Business, created something called the Edge Grant Program. The Edge Grant provides substantial financial assistance that is meaningful to entrepreneurs. 

I think it’s smart. If you go to a large company and offer them a $25,000 or $50,000 or $100,000 grant, it doesn’t mean that much. But you offer that to an early-stage business, and that can truly be the difference between make or break. We’re going to look at making an Edge 2.0, if you will, that provides the highest quality wraparound services in addition to simply funding. 

It’s not something I’m making up. Governor Dick Thornburgh in Pennsylvania, some 40 years ago, created what became Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which is an agency of the Pennsylvania government that serves to incubate startups and provide financial assistance, technical assistance or simply connecting companies to potential customers and potential staff. We’re going to look at doing that to really enhance the experience. 

Is there anything else on the topic that you wanted to add?

An entrepreneur inherently looks at things in different ways. I have woken up on a Thursday morning not sure how I was going to pay my 12 employees the following day, not being able to make ends meet. That sort of grit is really important, and it’s also important in terms of dealing with the business community. 

Understanding that a lot of businesses coming to deal with government, they just want to get their service taken care of as quickly and predictably as possible, and get out of our office and go run their business. So I think this is an exciting opportunity for Delaware, and we’re looking forward to spending the next six weeks communicating that to Delaware.