Today’s Start + Scale Forum was an opportunity to examine the bottom-up entrepreneurship movement that occurs around the world. Peter Vesterbacka, wearing his trademark red Angry Birds sweatshirt, was one of eight entrepreneurs that headlined the Forum with an inspiring tale of perseverance.
In TED style presentations, entrepreneurship rock stars from around the world presented delegates with lessons learnt, challenges to meet and advice to take the heart.
Highlights form the Start + Scale Forum included:
- Jeff Hoffman, Co-Founder of Colorjar and Priceline.com, reminded delegates that entrepreneurs driven by purpose always outperform those driven by money.
- Shahar Waiser, Founder and CEO of GetTaxi, advised fellow entrepreneurs to build a product that connects to the customer on an emotional level.
- Bob Dorf, Co-Author of The Start-up Owner’s Manual, advised delegates to throw out their traditional business plan and rather get outside and talk to their customers. That is where the real value is.
- Peter Vesterbacka, the Mighty Eagle of Rovio Entertainment spoke about the endless possibilities of entrepreneurship and the importance of timing. After all, he failed 51 times before creating the ever-popular game Angry Birds.
- Ingrid Vanderveldt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Dell, reiterated the importance of tech entrepreneurship, mentorship and most importantly women in entrepreneurship.
Throughout day two of the GEC, the concept of focusing on the customer was raised during several sessions. For example during “What Works & What Doesn’t: Connecting Entrepreneurs to the Right Resources,” panelists agreed that to succeed, entrepreneurs need to focus on their customers, rather than overlook them in favor of finding new investors.
Another noteworthy panel from today was “Democratizing Startup Investments,” moderated by Co-Founder of VC4Africa Ben White. The panel sought to look at how communities around the world are expanding their investor pool. Numerous engaging issues were discussed, such as the best way to connect investors with innovators who have a fantastic product, are based in developing nations but lack a strong online presence or network.
We are halfway through the GEC and already the planning for GEC2 in Croatia is well underway. Held from September 22nd to 26th 2014, GEC2 will be a chance for participants to take a deep dive into select topics relating to entrepreneurship. The events will take place in Split, Dubrovnik and Zagreb over the course of the week with targeted event programs aimed at addressing elements of the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
One of the events launched at the GEC2 this fall will be 10x10, a global hack-a-thon targeting youths from Croatia and around the world. 10 groups of 10 people will come together to develop companies in real-time. It offers the ultimate demonstration to policymakers, parents and the media of what a new generation of skilled, multi-national youth can accomplish in terms of developing an idea for a new firm in mere days.
There is still more planning to be done for GEC2 but what is certain is the theme for this fall’s Congress: An Entrepreneurial Mindset. Author, educator and entrepreneur Gary Schoeniger will help participants get into the entrepreneurship mindset through a curriculum designed to inspire and engage all students in the fundamental aspects of entrepreneurial thinking and the process that allows people to accomplish incredible things. For those interested in learning more about this, Gary will be hosting a fringe event called “The Mindset Project” tomorrow at the GEC to speak about the concept as well as the upcoming launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Mindset.
Day two of the Conference offered a new set of diverse and thought provoking fringe events that continued to take a closer look at select topics raised in the plenary sessions.
- Accelerator Models for Global Scaling
Looking at case studies from North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the panel in this fringe session focused on three themes: individual development, talent development and community development. Following the panelists’ presentations, audience members were able to pose questions and discuss their own challenges running Accelerators with panelists including Donna Harris, Co-Founder of 1776, and Susan Amat, Founder of Venture Hive.
- Indiegogo Crowdfunding Get-Together
Liz Wald, Head of International Indiegogo, hosted a crowdfunding workshop to educate participants on the benefits of utilizing the crowdfunding platform, examples of successful campaigns as well as some best practices.
We move into the third day of the conference tomorrow, which marks the first day of the GEW Executive Sessions.