http://www.entrepreneurship.org/en/Blogs/Policy-Forum-Blog/2013/February/Startup-Global.aspx
Startup Global
Posted by: Jonathan
Ortmans<http://www.entrepreneurship.org/en/Blogs/Policy-Forum-Blog/Author/Jonathan-Ortmans.aspx>
on
February 25, 2013 Source: Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
Thousands of people from 135 countries have already confirmed their
participation for next month’s week-long Global Entrepreneurship
Congress<http://www.gec2013.com/en> (GEC)
and festival in Rio de Janeiro. As chair of the GEC for the past few years,
I have witnessed the emergence of this global platform for collaboration
among entrepreneurs, their investors and national leaders held outside the
United States. So what happens at the GEC?
What is interesting about this event is its reach and scale and the
evidence it provides of the democratization of entrepreneurship - the
phenomenon of startups, and the communities that foster them springing up
in the most unexpected corners of the globe. Governments from all corners
have been racing to make their nations more attractive to entrepreneurs.
The list of countries embarrassed into improving “ease of doing business”
in the latest World Bank rankings lists nations of all economic
classifications. This is why at the GEC in Rio next month, while Brazilian
entrepreneurial prowess will be on show, delegates will experience not an
all Brazilian or American show, but a global one focused on startup cities,
experiential education, startup legislation, new models for where
entrepreneurs can get their money, and an array of the most effective
practical efforts in the world— from the likes of Kauffman and Endeavor—to
help entrepreneurs scale.
This globalization of entrepreneurship has taken place not vertically but
mainly horizontally. Over the past few years, the GEC has gathered many
entrepreneurs and leaders in the startup community who are quick to dismiss
government as irrelevant to their success. It has also welcomed government
leaders uninformed about how their existing informal startup communities
are already out there making things happen. In Rio, Brad Feld, author of
“Startup Communities,” reminded us that a startup revolution has been and
should continue to be led by entrepreneurs. At the same time, staff from
governments that are exploring legislative and regulatory steps to help
startups reminded us it is government that sets the rules and
incentives—and that while public sector employees may not look the part,
entrepreneurs should be careful not to be so dismissive. The GEC in Rio
next month hopes to bring the two together: to find where top down and
bottom up meet in developed, emerging and underdeveloped economies.
This annual Congress started in Kansas City in 2009, when the Kauffman
Foundation convened the very first GEC with the goal of learning from
entrepreneurship experts from 60 countries, particularly those pioneer
leaders implementing the Global Entrepreneurship Week
(GEW)<http://www.kauffman.org/sketchbook.aspx?VideoId=1904190838001> initiative
among their fellow citizens. Since then, the GEC has grown rapidly to a
gathering that empowers serial and new entrepreneurs, investors,
researchers and policymakers to work together to bring ideas to life and
drive economic growth. When the second GEC took place in Dubai,
entrepreneurship champions from 90 countries convened under the patronage
of Sheikh Nahayan Mabarek Al Nahayan, the Minister for Higher Education and
Technology in the UAE. Shanghai hosted the GEC in 2011, gathering 1,000
leaders from 100 countries and introduced the idea of the world getting a
thorough introduction to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Host country.
High-ranking Chinese government officials, such as Yan Junqi, the vice
chairwoman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress of
China and the country’s Minister for Science and Technology interacted with
a number of native entrepreneurs and angel investors who had been leading
the country’s new wave of entrepreneurial activity.
Most recently in 2012, as noted in the
Economist<http://www.economist.com/node/21550239>,
Liverpool raised the bar again, adding economic researchers and bright
personalities to the GEC—including the likes of Richard Branson, founder
and chairman of the Virgin Group which consists of more than 400 companies.
As part of Liverpool’s own economic renaissance, the city expanded the
Congress into a true festival of entrepreneurship with nearly 80 fringe
events held around the town. Ideas floated among entrepreneurs,
researchers, investors and government officials from 125 countries about
everything from seeding startup communities to smarter national policies.
This year in Rio, a new addition will be the national advisory boards
attending that steer efforts through GEW to build more robust
entrepreneurial ecosystems in neighborhoods and cities around the world.
The GEC this year has also attracted collaborations with global
entrepreneurial support organizations such as the Startup Weekend
Organizers Summit (SoSummit) which will kick start everything on Saturday,
March 16—bringing more than 150 organizers from over 100+ communities
around the world for a three-day gathering of the organizers behind the
Startup Weekend movement.
The Congress will open on March 18th with an event hosted by Dell called
“Women as a Strategic Advantage: to Excel in Business.” Building off Dell’s
successful Women’s Entrepreneur Network
(DWEN<http://www.dell.com/Learn/us/en/04/smb/dell-womens-entepreneur-network?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&delphi:gr=true>),
this event will discuss how technology can help women entrepreneurs
succeed. In the afternoon, the GEC will continue the tradition started in
Liverpool of opening with a GEC policy forum<http://gec2013.com/en/events/main>
focusing
on ideas to foster more startups and faster scale-ups. More countries are
streamlining regulations and implementing policies such as new legislation
to facilitate the immigration of entrepreneurial talent and the inflow of
startup capital. This summit offers policymakers an opportunity to exchange
innovative policy ideas and approaches. March 18th will also offer—for
those getting used to a new time zone—a relaxing option of participating in
an entrepreneurship film festival which will run a feast of full production
films made about entrepreneurs and investors with filmmakers attending from
Iceland to the United States.
The annual GEC Summit <http://gec2013.com/en/events/main> will open on
March 19th and feature dozens of experts from across the globe sharing
common experiences in building startup communities, evaluating effective
interventions and experiential learning programs that really help
entrepreneurs, airing new models for financing growth and how to scale up
after starting up.
While some delegates go behind closed doors for executive sessions on March
20 and 21, the majority of delegates will find themselves spoiled for
choice with more than 50 event options. For example, GEC participants will
have an opportunity to learn about the Kauffman Foundation´s Ice House
Entrepreneurship Program. Kauffman FastTrac <http://fasttrac.org/> will in
turn share an overview of Alana Muller’s “Coffee Lunch Coffee” networking
concept–an accessible, relevant, immediately actionable approach to help
you formulate a strategic mindset around networking. Various delegations
are hosting educational events. For example, the Peruvian Delegation to the
GEC 2013 will share information about new initiatives in the
entrepreneurial ecosystem in Peru, including: FINCyT<http://www.fincyt.gob.pe/>
, FIDECOM <http://www.innovateperu.pe/index.php/fidecom.html> and Startup
Peru <http://www.startup.pe/>. March 20th will also see the launch of ERLY
Stage, a new media platform with a focus on the global market for education
technology startups. Also on March 20th will be “Day 1” where successful
entrepreneurs will share their stories about their idea, their first big
sale and other factors that enabled their companies to scale.
On Thursday, March 21, the Cleantech
Open<http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/competition/ideas/> will
host a discussion of cleantech innovation in Latin America, a region that
represents a major global opportunity for entrepreneurs in the field. There
will be examples of breakthrough innovations that aim to tackle today’s
most pressing environmental and energy challenges, including those from
finalists and partners from the GEW Cleantech Open Global Ideas
Competition. Thursday will also offer “Entrepreneurship 2.0: Taking Your
Local Ecosystem to the Next Level” an interactive workshop that will allow
delegates to take home new tools and resources.
These are just a few of the activities happening in Rio around the Global
Entrepreneurship Congress. There will be plenty of chances to hear from and
network with opinion leaders like Brad Feld <http://youtu.be/zXD5vt0xhyI>,
co-founder and mentor at TechStars, Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of
Priceline.com, Nairobi ecosystem driver Mbwana Allily, founder and managing
partner at Savannah Fund and many more. While the types of events and
activities vary widely, they all share a common thread—how to empower
entrepreneurs in any part of the world and enable them to start and grow
firms that create jobs and improve lives.
All this will happen at the core of the city so participants from different
sectors can easily mingle on the sidelines. Unlike most international
conventions in the city, like the Rio+20 Summit in Rio last June, the GEC
will not be held at a convention center outside of town but on the water in
a facility on the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon converted into a “startup
village.” Locals were reluctant to ask impatient startup junkies to spend
any time in cabs and so even sessions not held in the Lagoon will be
integrated into the heart of Rio and wherever possible be walking distance
from the GEC startup village.
As many nations continue to face considerable economic challenges, there is
a rising sense of urgency around jump-starting entrepreneurial growth. The
GEC provides a platform for cross-border collaboration around the world in
high-growth entrepreneurship. It also bridges a gap in the worldwide
entrepreneurship movement by bringing bottom-up voices together with
top-down public sector leadership. An important milestone in
entrepreneurship thinking will be achieved in Rio next month. (For more
information visit: gec2013.com <http://www.gec2013.com/>. GEC reached
capacity a few weeks ago, but PDE readers interested in participating, add
a comment on this blog and we will follow up).
See more at:
http://www.entrepreneurship.org/en/Blogs/Policy-Forum-Blog/2013/February/Startup-Global.aspx#sthash.NeuLjgj4.dpuf
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