#gsy2013

  After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team - have decided to share those people’s stories. Every other day, we’re going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local.

Today let’s meet Erika, an energetic and motivated young Italian girl who is more than ready to adress her country's most pressing issues - Pénélope

Hi Erika, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Hello aspiring entrepreneurs! My name is Erika and I'm coming from Milan, Italy, a city that is considered by many of you as being the European’s capital of fashion and business. I’m 20 years old and I’m a bachelor student in International Economics, Management and Finance at Bocconi University. After attending a Humanities and Literature High School, I felt that my personality and my attitudes better matched a different career path. Moreover, I wanted to be able to work within a truly international environment, which could broaden my knowledge of the world and present me with different point of views. The energetic and lively atmosphere of my course revived all my passions and gave me the chance to be active in different fields. At first I joined MILMUN - an association involved in International Relations and Politics - both as a delegate and a member of the Executive Committee for the organization of the annual Conference. My job as an IT & Design Manager in the Excom and as Layout Editor during the Conference gave me the chance to put into action all my skills in graphics, marketing, communication and management.

This year has been full of energy and positivity: I have attended Global Startup Youth Conference in Malaysia with other 500 hundred passionate and inspiring people: during 3 days full of games, pitches, brainstorming, coding and debating, each team created a fully-function mobile app in order to solve a specific problem in the chosen area among 4 of the MDGs – Health, Education, Women Empowerment and Environment. No better way to learn and gather ideas and connections for my future projects! We recently did our first “Online Hangout”, attended by more than 20 GSY Alumni, where each of us could update our fellows with current projects, launch a request of help or simply ask for an opinion.

With regards to my current project, I recently launched an initiative called “Languages Coffee Break”, in order to help Italian youth practise foreign languages and fill the gap in the academic education of this field. Participants of our weekly events join a network of people with the passion for foreign languages and can connect with potential conversation partners. One big difference between what we do and the traditional system of “language conversation” is that people are encouraged to form groups - or “tables” as we call them - and share their conversation experience with multiple “partners”. In this way, conversation is more natural, therefore effective. Since the very beginning,  the initiative has been a success and we have big plans for the its future expansion and development. Stay tuned!

What is the start-up ecosystem like in your country?

Despite Italy’s conservationism that prevents it from including technology in schools and in education programs, the country has a lot of centers of innovation, especially in the main university cities. Over the last few years many start-up competitions, accelerator programs and workshops, focusing on entrepreneurship and business appeared. All this makes me even more confident into thinking that when a crisis is hitting the economy you'd better come up with creativity and innovation to shape up a better future. As a great man once told me: “from the depth of a gorge we can only go up”

The main places where start-ups are born and developped are definitely co-working spaces. The most famous one is surely TAG – Talent Garden: the idea behind it was to build an ecosystem where creative and brilliant minds can help each other, compete and collaborate, compare and contaminate themselves in a natural environment. Like most co-working spaces, the atmosphere is amazingly creative and mind-opening: among eco-friendly furniture and cardboard desks, you can find chaise-longues, big screens with Xbox and games. Talent Garden is open 24/7 and can host more than 445 talents in whole Italy. So far it’s present in 7 cities (Bergamo - Brescia - Milano - Padova - Genova - Pisa - Torino): as you can notice, they are basically all in the North of Italy. In terms of innovation and technology, the gap between North and South is still huge, but the latter is catching up with events like Startup Weekend Catania. All in all, the most active cities are, in my opinion, university cities like Milano, Pavia – check out this very active group of startuppers called Activators Pavia - Pisa and Torino.

With regards to competitions, accelerators and incubator, here is a short list about some interesting ones:

Startup Weekend Milan: next edition will take place on Feb, 1-3 (already sold out), organised in the beautiful TAG Milano I mentioned earlier.

Bit Bum Bam: its main goal is to give visibility to projects regarding education involving the new generations: the driving factor is the role of technology as a positive tool in education, useful for the growth of the youth.

Start Cup Milano Lombardia: a Business Plan Competition promoted by a group of incubators from the north of Italy, favouring the birth of enterprises with high innovative content. The peculiarity of the competition lies in the fact that most projects come from research centers of local Italian universities.

Speed Mi Up: start-up accelerator, whose focus is the growth of innovative start-ups and professional through an intense program of interactive training concentrated in the first 3 months in the incubator and a continuous support thanks to a revolutionary platform of cooperative social networking.

StartupBus: an international competition, taking place entirely on a bus. It’s a challenge for coders, designers and entrepreneurs who, during a travel from Rome to Wien, will transform ideas and projects in embryos of innovative start-ups. 

TechCrunch Italy: some of the most recognised leaders and innovators of the technology and media industries in Italy, Europe and the US will participate to give a unique insight into the big changes and trends happening in the world right now

What would be the 3 main challenges for entrepreneurship in your country? What is missing? 

Few incentives: one of Italy’s biggest problem is bureaucracy. When you're about to found your startup you should be ready to face many many problems. First and foremost, the huge amount of taxes, which is even more discouraging since our European neighboors set up special tax systems for new entrepreneurs in order to encourage them. The result is that, even before starting to make a decent profit to continue operation, the founders are overwhelmed by debts. Moreover, in comparison with other countries, accelerators programs offering prizes or financial incentives to new-born start-ups or original ideas are booming only in the recent years. As a result, the initial amount of money invested in a project is usually quite big.

Lack of Hacking Culture: a second problem we face is the poor quality or complete lack of hacking and coding skills among my peers, Italy's new generation. There are only a few  high schools that include informatics and computer skills in their programs – and if they do, generally they are schools specifically designed for future technicians or computer experts. As far as I know, the programming languages taught are quite backward (mainly HTML). Therefore, people who are able to program either learnt it at University or self-taught through many website platforms such as the well known Codecademy.

Lack of Entrepreneurship Culture: Italian education system is very traditional, mainly theory-based and focused on general subjects such as Grammar, Mathematics, Science, History and Art. Except from some very specific schools, there is not such a subject as Entrepreneurship, Business, Leadership, Public Speaking Skills, Organization and Team Work. In addition to this, the traditional method of “the teacher speaks, you listen and take notes” is still the prevailing one. Techniques such as brainstorming, creative thinking and ideas development are not considered as effective ways of learning and enhancing a student’ success and personality building.

 The three main assets?

Young people: innovation, technology and creative ideas are all to be found where youth is: universities, schools, co-working spaces, clubs, organizations. We are the one taking charge of leading the country out of the crisis, creating new resources from nothing, developing job opportunities and renovating Italy’s business tradition

Italian Startup Scene Facebook Group: a sign of the crucial role social networks play in connecting people and creating a network of innovators. This Facebook group now has more than 8,300 members, up from fewer than 3,000 last year and is still growing.

Initiative of regional governments: Regional governments have often more autonomy than central government and are dreaming up their own initiatives outside the dead-locked corridors of Rome. One of the fastest moving is the tiny regional state of Trentino who can benefit from its semi-autonomy to set up its own rules and facilitate the incubation of innovative projects through programs such as Trento Rise. In addition to this, the region also lowered taxes and allocated 3 percent of its provincial GDP to research - in contrast with the state government who gave only 1 percent of the country’s GDP to research.

  How do people feel about entrepreneurs in Italy? 

In Italy, the term “Entrepreneur” has historically been referring to two kinds of people: on the one side, to owners of small and medium size family enterprises, often pertaining specific industries such as agriculture, tourism, manufacture and raw material production or to big industrial groups managers. This is due to the country’s history: for many centuries, Italy has been separated in small counties or cities, each with its own kind or duke. One the other side, an entrepreneur was someone who owned or run multiple businesses in multimedia, infrastructure, transportation: just to make you understand, someone like Berlusconi.

That's why the idea of entrepreneurship applied to tech start-ups and especially to young people is perceived as very bizarre: enterprises have historically had a very fixed and hierarchical internal structure, have been ruled by mature and rich people and have been involved in quite traditional business fields. For sure nothing similar to university students with passion for hacking, programming and web designing.

What has been the most successful start-up in your country in the past 10 years?

If I may do so, I’d like to mention two of them:

Job Rapido: found in 2006, it is a website that includes job offers published in different websites around the world and present them to the user, who can look them up with a simple click of the mouse. The start-up was born in Milan thanks to an engineer of the Politecnico University of Milan. After only 6 months the company became cash positive and from that moment on started growing fast without any funding in addition to advertisement. The company has been acquired from Daily Mail, for 30 million euros.

Volagratis: a search engine for low cost flights, based in Europe. It allows members to search and book low cost carriers in tandem with others in a simple and transparent way. The main goal is to develop the best consumer service technologies, combining into a single application all the functions for finding, selecting, and booking a flight at the best possible price.

According to you, what's the most promising start-up right now?

VMSme!: an app for mobile, tablets and laptops that allows to communicate in the fastest way possible: you can send short vocal messages together with a written transcription of what had been said. It also allows people with old mobiles not connected to 3G to benefit from this service. In conclusion, not an SMS, not an MMS, but a VMS.

What's the dream of young people today in Italy? 

Our dream is to build a better Italy: fairer, with no corruption and favouritism, where meritocracy exists and people are judged for their talents and skills and not for their relatives’ powerful position or their political preference. Although we love our country, many people feel that now we are not ready yet for such a big change, so most of us prefer to leave for abroad, where there are more job possibilities and where Italian talents are more appreciated than in their native land.

With regards to the job market, Italy has always been very conservative: every parent’s dream is to have her daughter or son employed in the state administration where one’s job is secure and there is basically no risk of being fired. This was surely true in the after-war period, where the state was the biggest employer and promoter of industrialization and modernization. However, now times have changed: IT technology and internet play a big role in our life, business models have transformed, new jobs have been invented and economy is moving fast. Such a fixed job perspective is unimaginable: we need to be flexible, creative, multi-tasking, to learn fast and adapt to any environment. Exactly the opposite of what you are required to do in a stagnant and repetitive administrative job.

Do you have a message for French youth?

Rêvez, créez, agissez ! Soyez créatifs, curieux, actifs ! Entourez-vous de personnes qui vous stimulent, vous aident avec vos projets et sont capables de vous guider et conseiller. N'ayez pas peur de l'échec : le succès est toujours au rendez-vous lorsque la passion et la persévérance sont présentes. La vie est trop brève pour ne pas poursuivre ses propres rêves. 

After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team - have decided to share those people’s stories. Every other day, we’re going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local.

Today let’s meet Nilamsari, co-founder of one of the most celebrated business stories in South East Asia, Kebab Turki Baba Rafi. The story of the brand’s rise from zero to national hero in Indonesia is rather impressive, with more than 1000 outlets in SEA since it started less than 10 years ago. Despite this success Nilam remains very humble: she has been a great mentor “de cœur” during the Global Startup Youth and is a vibrant advocate of women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship. - Molka

  Hi Nilam, can you present yourself and tell us more about what you do?  

Hi, My name is Nilamsari and I’m coming from Indonesia. I’ve had the chance to come from an open minded family and be married to someone who feels the same way about me working and being independent. As a woman I had this dream (yet dilemma) about being a woman who can have a career and handle a one happy family at the same time. I married Hendy Setiono at 19, while I was still studying. Being an entrepreneur and working on my own enabled me to reach this goal: I am independent, able to seize every opportunity and fortunate enough to be the mother of 3 kids and work with my hubby!

My husband and I are business partners. We started our business of selling burgers by first using a pushcart at Surabaya. But we it didn’t go well (kebabs were not well received and selling on the streets of Surabaya wasn’t as attracting as we thought it would be) and unfortunately we had to close the business. Later on, when my husband was visiting his father in Qatar, he saw this Kebab stall there and found it tasty and rather unique. He went on taking Kebab-making courses, and brought the recipe back to our country after adapting it to our local tastes. So we are in 2003, with a good product (high quality yet affordable meals), but still facing the common problem met by so many of our peers: where to find the money? We didn’t have any, but fortunately we met an investor who believed in us, made us $400 richer (it only took that initial amount), and voilà! Kebab Turki Baba Rafi turned out well, big and outstanding. We applied the franchise system in 2005, partnered with Wardour & Oxford for international expansion, and today we are the world’s largest chain of kebab with more than 1000 outlets in Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia.  Our outlets vary from food carts to shops, booths, indoor and non-stop 24 hours outlets.

We won several awards, including the 2009 Entrepreneur of the year by Ernst & Young, listed as one of Asia’s best Entrepreneur under 25 by BusinessWeek and the third prize at the 2012 Best Franchise Awards (ahead of international brands such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, etc.). We even made it to The Apprentice Asia TV-show! Today I am KTBR’s Marketing Director.

  About entrepreneurs: how are they seen by your people?  

If we take a look to Indonesia over the past 10 years, everything has changed. Before, a so-called entrepreneur was someone who hadn’t been able to go to school and made ends meet by “doing business”. If you wanted to be considered successful, you had to go to University and land a job at a proper company.

However, the paradigm has shifted since then, mostly because people want to have the liberty and the opportunity to take their own decision and run their own business rather than being pressured within a company.

Today entrepreneurship is blooming among Indonesian youth, with one particular characteristic: there are several ethnic groups in Indonesia stereotyped as “trader”. Most entrepreneurs have Chinese and Indonesian Malay descents.

  Are there incubators, Business Angels, unmissable events?

Yes there are incubators, but most of them have flaw system to select and screen the candidates. Hopefully there will be a leveling-up movement as more and more incubator programmes are coming from abroad.  One meaningful initiative deserves to be known: AVCII, an alliance between 8 VCs and incubators (CyberAgent Ventures, East Ventures, GEPI, Grupara, Ideosource, Jakarta Founders Institute, Merah Putih Incubator and Mountain Indonesia), initiated by the Global Entrepreneurship Programme for Indonesia last August. Its aim is to help spur tech growth, and establish partnerships with government and regulatory institutions.

We have many events that promote startups and entrepreneurship; some of them are even aired on National TV!

As regards Business Angels, the problem with them is that they only seek profitable businesses without taking into account their social impact. This is an important issue, especially in a country like Indonesia where mentalities have yet to be improved.  

About mentorship: you created the Baba Rafi Academy; what do you teach to your students?

Baba Rafi Academy provides free training and education for Indonesia’s next generation. We want to groom youth’s potential in exploring themselves to be great entrepreneurs. And to achieve that goal we start by sharing with them good practices on how to manage a business, a startup, and they are taught several topics related to strategy and business, from managerial knowledge to innovation.

The programme is designed to be as comprehensive as possible: we want to cover all issues that are met when you create your own business in order to make our students ready and prepared to handle any situation.  

We are fully invested in our role as social entrepreneurs, which is why the Baba Rafi Academy is important for us. Our business has been growing thanks to the support of our community, and this programme is our way to give back to that same community.

Do you think that women’s empowerment in Indonesia will improve over the next few years thanks to entrepreneurship?

Yes, definitely. I think that it’s all about the will to improve yourself, your condition and the situation around you. And we have that kind of women who want to have their own achievement. Indeed small and medium enterprises serve as the backbone of the economy. How many women do you think are at their head? More than one third, and this figure grows by 8% every year!

Do you see your generation as having the possibility to change the way your country is currently ruled?

Yes, if others can’t change it then we must do it for ourselves and we must start by educating people and communities around us, like the Baba Rafi Academy initiative. Good will and resilience have been my key success factors, so I don’t see why this wouldn’t work for our society.  

What are the three advantages Indonesia has over other countries regarding entrepreneurship?

-       Indonesia is a growing country, which makes it a great and dynamic market for startups looking for new opportunities and customers

-       The way we consider entrepreneurs: they are respected and seen as an inspiration. We are not afraid of failure as we see it as a new hope to regain our success

-       Our low standard of living makes any investment by foreigners who want to expand their business very cheap

What do you think Indonesian youth is dreaming about today?

Today we are dreaming about a country with better infrastructure, a better system, less corrupted and more supportive towards its entrepreneurs.  

What are you dreaming about?

My dream? I share the same dream as stated before. I would also add that I really wish the government would pay more attention to its people.

What is your next move?

My next move: we’re definitely gonna to invade America and other continents.

One last word?

It’s not about how much you have but how bigger the impact you could give to others.

*** 

After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team - have decided to share those people’s stories. Each day, we’re going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local. 

After India, let's visit Pakistan with Maha. Maha was on my team at the GSY  and has impressed me with her social skills: she even managed to ask 100 people if they were single for the sake of our project :) Big up for Maha!   -Penelope

Hi Maha, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? 

Hello all :) I am Maha Yusuf, a 22-year old Pakistani girl from a very small town of Pakistan named Jhang. I am a Chemical Engineer from National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad Pakistan and The University of Mississippi, United States where I went under ‘Cultural Ambassador Scholarship’ by US Department of State last year. I graduated just a month ago with a GPA of 3.92/4.00.

But, I have been working in the field of ‘science, technology and tech-entrepreneurship’ for over 2 years and am the inventor of a ‘Piezoelectric Shoe’ (a customized engineered shoe that converts the daily mechanical energy of the walk into electrical energy) along with my team in NUST, Islamabad. The shoe charges low voltage mobile batteries up to 3-4 volts. The social mission of the business idea/concept revolved around low-middle class and labor section of community who experience high power cuts, aiming at fueling the demands of low-middle class and labor section of community who cannot afford expensive generators.

I presented ‘Piezoelectric Solution to Pakistan’s Energy Crisis’ in an entrepreneurship competition, GISTech-1 in December 2011 and, was among 25 semifinalists from over 43 countries when I wasn’t even done with half of my engineering coursework. I got a chance to present my work in Second Global Summit on Entrepreneurship in Istanbul, Turkey hosted by the Prime Minister of Turkey and US Vice President, Joe Biden. There, I experienced mentors and people from MIT, Stanford, Silicon Valley and all the amazing places of the world. This is how my entrepreneurial journey started two years back!

To be honest, I am from a conservative farming family where females weren’t very much encouraged for schooling, let alone for careers in fields like engineering or entrepreneurship. But, I have struggled, believed in self and, made my way through. Thanks to my persistence and hard work, my parents started understanding me, my dreams, my ambitions, and above all, who am I.

Thus, when I came back over-loaded with ideas, hopes, and aspirations and, tapping my potential to the fullest, I continued the work with greater intensity. Mentored by Stephanie Marrus, a corporate advisor in Silicon Valley, I became the regional semi-finalist of Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) at London Business School, presenting my work in the EMEA Finale the same year. I was selected as an Ambassador/Spokesperson of a Malaysian company, SecQ.me, became a Global Shaper at World Economic Forum for Islamabad Hub, represented NUST with the Rector on an Official Dinner by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and participated in an Internship at Engro Fertilizers – Daharki. I was then selected for the ‘Cultural Ambassador Scholarship’ by U.S. Department of State for a one-semester cultural exchange at The University of Mississippi last year.

Fortunately, my work, leadership qualities, and the spirit of giving back to the community has been recognized at various International forums. Recently, I have been selected on International Mobile Statusby Schlumberger as Field Trainee Engineer for Latin American Geo-Market and placed at Bogota, Colombia for my first offshore drilling assignment – one of the very few Pakistani females selected for such a challenging role.  I have also been awarded FulBright Scholarship for Graduate Studies in United States by the US Department of State.

What is the start-up ecosystem like in your country? 

Umm, the startup ecosystem in my country is improving with the passage of time with increased funding, awareness, and startup accelerators. I know that my country is not very famous for startup culture and is usually perceived dangerous, conservative and, ridden by infinite problems by the media especially in West and United States but, the situation has improved over the past couple of years with its citizens especially young people taking responsibility of making a difference to their communities.

MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan, an arm of MIT Enterprise Global is seen to have done a revolutionary work in initiating and, creating entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country over the past 5 years. Now, there are many organizations, forums, chapters, incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Incubators/VC firms: Plan@9 (Pakistan’s first largest tech startup incubator in Lahore, Technology Incubation Centre in NUST university Islamabad, Cloud9, Mini Ventures, TIE Islamabad, DYL Ventures, Invest2Innovate, and others.

  Events for the promotion of entrepreneurship in Pakistan have also both evolved and, increased over the past few years for example, IBA Invent competition, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), Indo-Pak Young Entrepreneurs Conference, MIT BAP Competitions, DISCOVER NUST – Prime Minister’s Entrepreneurial Challenge, Nutshell Forum, and others. Regarding co-working spaces, trend is not very common but it is changing gradually with Dot Zero being the first co-working space in Karachi which is soon to be replicated in Lahore and Islamabad.

Regarding business angles, there are people from organizations like Google P@SHA innovation fund, I2I, etc. though it is true that foreign angels/investors are scared of coming to Pakistan and, investing. When it comes to mentorship, there are mentors from organizations like MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan, P@SHA, TIE, OPEN Pakistan, Plan@9.

The role of US Embassy Islamabad in accelerating Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is especially appreciated in this regard.

With this, I will be honest with the point of foreign investors investing in Pakistan. They are scared of coming and investing here! But, I am optimistic and believe that the young people of my country will lift Pakistan out of the dilemma of marred International image and other real issues.

  What is it like to be an aspiring entrepreneur and a girl in Pakistan?

  Umm, if you want a dead honest and straight answer to this question, then I will be daring enough to say that to be a female entrepreneur in Pakistan, it’s really hard. Women and girls in Pakistan face issues women in other countries take for granted. A girl right from the start has to fight for some of her basic rights like education, choice, etc. though it depends on which part of the country you come from. For example for me, yes I had to fight for the right to continue my education, to go to college, then to choose chemical engineering as my major and, not medicine, then to travel outside Pakistan, to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams, then to work in a male-dominated fertilizer industry, and, now to go to Bogota to start my career right after graduation but my family has been very supportive throughout my journey. Hadn’t it been the will of my mother and father, I wouldn’t have typing this Interview for the French startup about my country!

But, by this I don’t mean that women haven’t broken the cement walls around them in my country. There are many strong, inspirational females who have and, are breaking the cement walls and, making a difference to the way live in Pakistan now, e.g Benazir Bhutto, Jehan Ara (CEO P@SHA), Rabia Garib, Sabeen Mahmood, Maria Umar, etc.

You can read more about top 12 Pakistani inspirational females in business and technology here.

 What would be the three main challenges for entrepreneurship in your country? 

Pakistan is a country that’s ridden by infinite problems like education for all especially girls, terrorism, drone strikes, floods, earthquakes, and other and I know that there are a lot of challenges for entrepreneurs in my country but like I already said I am optimistic! I have a firm belief that good things are sure to happen and they will.

But, the main challenges for entrepreneurship right now in Pakistan are:

- Global connections or I should say connecting young Pakistani entrepreneurs to the world.

- Less Government Support in promoting entrepreneurship in the country.

- Less funding from investors both local and foreign.

The three assets?

- Young people of my country who are willing to take responsibility and, bring the country out of economic instability.

- Huge Market : Since foreign investors are scared to come to Pakistan and, invest, this leaves a huge domestic market ready to be untapped and touched

- Opportunities: By ‘opportunities’, I mean that there is a huge room in every area which is waiting to be filled for example, education, environment, health, women empowerment, internet domain, etc.

 How do people feel about entrepreneurs in your country? Is there a specific role model? 

Umm, to be honest entrepreneurship is not very sought after thing in Pakistan and, young people mostly go after jobs preferably multi-national ones right after graduation. But, the trend is changing with the increasing awareness of startups, importance of starting a business, and by a series of workshops by organizations like MIT Enterprise Forum Pakistan.

When it comes to big guys, there are many young entrepreneurs who have done amazing work and, are a role model for the young people of my country. It’s difficult to choose any one model hence, I am listing here as many as I can: Kalsoom Lakhani (CEO I2I), Farhan Masood (CEO SoloTech Group), Maria Umar (CEO Women Digital League), Ali Raza Randhawa (Founder Pak-Energy Solution), Kamal Afridi (Founder 22 FOUR International Corp), are the next big names!

  What has been the most successful start-up in your country in the past 5 years?

I guess the most successful startup in Pakistan in the past 5 years is SoloTech founded by Farhan Masood who is though a college dropout but recognized as one of the brilliant minds of the year by MIT! SoloTech is a dedicated leader in technological innovation providing fastest multi-model biometric device based on Dual Retina and Face Identification/verification in 3D space.

Starting with a modest living in Lahore, Farhan has now offices in London, UK, Chicago, US and Australia. 

 What's a young Pakistanese dream today? 

Being a young Pakistani female entrepreneur, I can safely say that a young Pakistani’s dream is Pakistan’s stability both economic and strategic. Young Pakistanis dream of safer, securer Pakistan with positive International image in International media with education for all, jobs, and an ecosystem to nurture young entrepreneurs of the country.

We dream of making Pakistan a safe land for our families, and for our foreign friends to come and share our happiness. Plus, an economically stable country with a fertile soil for everyone to live a happy contended life with a freedom of doing whatever they want.

 Do you have a message for French youth? 

I have always believed in one thing which is finding the thing you love to do and, then doing it so well that somebody pays you to do it. My message for my fellow young people from France is to never settle and, keep on searching that one thing they love to do! And if possible, follow progress, not success!

With this, I would tell them about a cool platform on facebook that’s aimed at connecting people passionate about science, technology, startups and entrepreneurship across the globe: bRaIns. You are most welcome to join it, connect with fellow like-minded people from over 40+ countries and keep yourselves updated on what’s new going on in your field of interest.

Shukriya! (Thank you in Urdu)

*** 

After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team - have decided to share those people’s stories. Each day, we’re going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local. 

Welcome to Incredible India! Rahul gives us an overview of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of one of the largest and most promising countries in the world. - Penelope

Hey Rahul, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? 

My name is Rahul Garg, age 24, I was born and brought up in New Delhi, India. I did my majors in Computer Science from Delhi College of Engineering. After graduating, I worked for two years in the Investment Banking Technology division of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). During this time, I realized by knack for finance and started preparing for CFA Exam. Currently, I am a CFA Level 3 Candidate. Also, I am the co-founder of Aho Labs. We are building an Employee Commutation Solution for corporate firms which can help them manage the daily commute of their employees. It has features like automatic rostering, cab allocation, route optimization and women safety.

What is the entrepreneurial ecosystem like in your country? 

A lot has been done in the startup space of India in the past 3-4 years. Now, we can boast more than 50 incubators/accelerators out of which 10 are pretty awesome. Some major ones are GSF Accelerator, iAccelerator, Microsoft Accelerator and TLabs.

Also, the culture of co-working spaces is picking up. Bangalore known as the Silicon Valley of India has the most number of co-working spaces. Some good co-working spaces of Delhi are Stirring Minds, 91 Springboard and Moonlighting Delhi.

There was a time when Startups in India struggled to raise their first round of funding. But now we see a different landscape altogether. If the product and the team are good then many Angels and Venture Capitalists are willing to invest their money in the startups. 500 startups, Sequoia Capital and One97 Mobility Fund are the major Angel Groups of India.

Networking, collaboration and pitching are the most important aspects in the startup world. This is facilitated by various events, startup groups and meet-ups like Startup Weekend, Headstart Network, Startup Saturday, TechSparks, etc.

But still we are in our early stages and still there’s a lot of work to be done.

What would be the three main challenges for entrepreneurship in your country?  

1. Few entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurship is not a very sought after career in India. Parents want to see their kids earning good salaries in Multinational Companies. There is a little help from relatives and friends. Risk-appetite is low. Also, there is a dearth of tech people who can take up the role of technical co-founders.

2. Lack of mentors: It is difficult to find mentors who are as committed and enthusiastic as the co-founders in building up the start-up.

3. Zero government support.

The three assets?

1. Huge Market: India has a population of 1.2 billion people, more than 60% of which is young (less than 30 years old). Just imagine the amount of money a startup can make if it is able to capture even 5-10% of this market. Its huge!

2. Opportunities: There is a plethora of opportunities in Education, Healthcare, Agriculture and Internet Domain.

3. Seed Capital: Funding, I believe, is no more an issue. Angels/VCs have shown the willingness to invest their capital in Startups.

How do people feel about entrepreneurs in your country? Is there a specific role model? 

As already told, entrepreneurship is not a very sought after career in India. There is a high social risk for the Startup Founders: Entrepreneurs find it difficult to get married. Thus, if you want someone to join your startup, you may end up convincing his/her entire family.

Narayana Murthy, father of the Indian IT sector, is the role model for many tech entrepreneurs. He co-founded Infosys in 1981. Infosys is an Indian multinational provider of business consulting, information technology, software engineering and outsourcing services. Apart from this, the man is known for his simplicity, benevolence and social work.

What has been the most successful start-up in your country in the past 5 years?

Flipkart, founded in 2007, is undoubtedly the most successful startup of India in the past 5 years. It is an e-commerce company that made online shopping popular in India. It introduced a very unique tool to address the biggest challenge of E-commerce Industry in the Indian Market: Cash-on-Delivery (COD) which is considered to be one of the main reasons behind its success. For COD, it created nation-wide team to solve India’s payments and logistics challenges.

Numbers speak for flipkart. Valued at more than $1 billion, it is one of the top 20 Indian Websites. The company clocks 17 orders per minute or approx 25,000 orders per day. 

 According to you, what's the most promising start-up right now? 

There are many and it will be difficult to handpick a single startup. But if I am asked to select one, I will choose Wingify. Their main product, Visual Website Optimizer, increases website sales, signups and conversions. They have more than 3000 customers with Microsoft, AMD, Groupon and GE as one of the clients.

What's a young Indian's dream today ?

India is a developing nation with a whole list of problems that plague our society. We have issues of Rampant Corruption, Poverty and Inequality, Illiteracy and inappropriate Infrastructure for our rapidly growing population. Young India wants to solve these problems. It wants to have that eco-system which can give it the tools to solve these problems. Young India wants a better place for the future generations to come. And I believe the growing startup ecosystem is going to provide these tools.

Do you have a message for French youth? 

I will ask the French Youth to explore and not to settle until they find their dream career. I would like to share one opportunity with the French Youth which can expose them to people from various backgrounds and hence can help them decide their career path.

It is called Jagriti Yatra, a 15 day long train journey covering 8000 kms across 12 cities of India with 500 young people from various nationalities. The aim is to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and build India through enterprise.

I have been part of this amazing journey in 2012. It is not just a journey from the outside but a journey starts happening from inside as well. One gets a chance to see the demographics of India. One gets to witness how people despite various difficulties have come up with innovative solutions to solve socio-economic problems. Meeting Leaders and Change-makers on this journey gave me a new and a broader perspective; an inspiration to start something from my own, on a journey of my own.

Registrations are still open and will close on 15 November, 2013. Go for it!

*** 

After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team - have decided to share those people’s stories. Each day, we’re going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local. 

Today Malaysia is in the spotlight thanks to Aaron (22) and Joe (16), two awesome aspiring entrepreneurs we had the chance to work with. - Molka

 Hi guys! Let’s start with a quick presentation about yourself, and how you ended up working on entrepreneurial projects.

AARON - First of all, thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts to the French readers! My name is Aaron Teng, hailing from a multicultural country at South-East Asia called Malaysia. I may look like I’m coming from China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong but I’m 100% born and raised in Malaysia, and proud of it! I got into entrepreneurship largely because I’ve been meeting throughout the year with many successful entrepreneurs who have been willing to share their life philosophy and challenges with me. I particularly want to express my gratitude to one of my first mentor in entrepreneurship – Eugene Hennie, who happens to be the guy behind the fast-growing entrepreneurship websites called Anti Wantrepreneur and The Alibaba Crash Course. He’s a superstar in entrepreneurship and a ninja in marketing. I’m learning so much from him every single day!

I co-manage with my partner Yau Hui Min a global social movement called Incitement Youth: our mission is to incite positivity to people. Incitement Youth is essentially a platform dedicated to encouraging youth to stand up and take ownership of the world they live in and make a change for the better. Through this platform, I got to interact with various game changers and thought leaders, whose values and best practices got into me. I think this is a great way to learn how to live a successful and satisfying life – learning from respectable people who have already made it. 

The whole Incitement experience has liberated my mind, encouraging me to become more positive and also more entrepreneurial. Because of that mindset change, I soon realized that I had been blessed with many opportunities, one of them being a global project I came up with to help people unlock their potentials at whatever they do. We validated that model by organizing focus groups in several universities around Malaysia and also by interviewing 40 international youth icons who were under 35. The model is a systematic roadmap to unlock a person’s potential to success. We improved this model thanks to our 40 global interviews, and found out that these global youth icons are unconsciously subscribing to the model along their journey to the top. This is exciting news and we are packaging the model into an ebook. If you guys are interested, subscribe to our mailing list in Potential Matrix. We plan to launch it next December. That being said, I want to give credit to my mentor Michael Teoh for pulling me in to this project which potentially could impact millions of people. I’m really thankful! 

In terms of technological startup, I think that what really kicked me off is the D-Code hackathon organized by Dash Dhakshinamoorthy from Startup Malaysia. That was the first time I had ever tried to build an app and I totally fell in love with the culture of coders who come together and hack something meaningful within a short period of time. That eventually led me to run iTechSpark, a software development company, with three other friends – Spencer, Carson, and Nick. 

JOE -  Well, when I was fourteen I had a friend from the same age; his father had sent him to a local tuition center and at that prim age, he was already a qualified English teacher with certification from Cambridge. At that point I was just so shocked that I kept asking myself: "WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!”. So I set off to become something, one way or another. At that time I was already running an independent student union with about 100 permanent members standing against cyber bullying. Later on I found myself assisting my school, which was a church, to build up a cell group network online for youths. It is still active today and spans across Malaysia and even has members in Australia. Earlier this year my previous high school senior, Gwen, approached me with an offer for a partnership. I accepted it, and this led me to many many opportunities and exposure, including hard headed entry into TEDxKL, and eventually TEDxYouth@KL too. I’ve made many friends and found myself capable of being an individual product alone when people were more impressed with what I had to say than what I had done. Identifying my strengths took a while, but once I had them, finding opportunities became so much easier! I am now able to narrow down my priorities and aim to simply be the best at what I want to do.  

Tell us more about the startup ecosystem in Malaysia. Is the local culture in sync with the entrepreneurship spirit? 

AARON - From my rather young involvement in the Startup scene in Malaysia, I find the startup scene here growing rapidly fast. For the last few months, we have had several hackathons like Angelhack, D-Code, AT&T Mobile App Hackathon, various kinds of regular entrepreneurship related events like WebCamp, Kickstart.my, and Startup Mamak, which is organized by a good friend - Heislyc Loh. We definitely have a community here doing its part to drive innovation, learning, and entrepreneurship. We also have platforms like Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum Malaysia that aims to cultivate more local entrepreneurs to go global. It is supported by Cradle Fund, which provides funding programs for startups looking to scale commercially. Oh by the way, JWEF is founded by your very own people from EMLYON Business School in France! The government also has various grants available to help kick start innovation and entrepreneurship. And oh, who would never forget the Ministry of Finance which funded the Global Startup Youth, bringing together 250 international youth and 250 Malaysians in one hall to solve the world’s greatest problems (the event is estimated to have cost from $4 to $5 millions). You can check this Slideshare document if you want more stats about the Malaysian Startup scene.

Generally speaking Malaysia and Asia have a healthy growth in entrepreneurship. More and more young people are starting to take up the challenge to become an entrepreneur. Great examples are people like Joel Neoh and Khailee Ng who are still in their late twenties, but have already founded successful dotcoms with Groupon.my and Says.com. Apart of dotcoms entrepreneurs, we also have young people like Chatime Malaysia’s CEO Bryan Loo who still in his late twenties, but is already the leading bubble-tea chain owner in Malaysia with I believe owns at least 104 stores nationwide and growing!

To sum it up, I think the entrepreneurship spirit has always been here in Asia. Over the past few years entrepreneurship has become more sexy with western role models like Mark Zuckerberg or Jack Dorsey who became billionaires at a very young age. For me, that isn’t the only form of entrepreneurship: there are families who started their own traditional business, or started a roadside stall selling coconut drinks. Would you call them entrepreneurs? I would.

JOE -  I agree with Aaron, the whole Asian Pacific region is growing at an unprecedented speed and scale. In Malaysia specifically, the startup scene is pretty much boiling up. As I type this, the Prime Minister is announcing the national budget, where one of its aims is to promote entrepreneurship within Malaysian youth. This is good, and we can see that the government has been steering into deep waters over the past few years by launching massive grant fund programs and daringly taking new endeavours like the GSY; I dare say we are headed somewhere.

The local culture, however, has yet to adopt the entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurship in Malaysia feels more like a closed club with inside jokes and celebrities rather than being parallel and constantly known to the general public. To anyone outside the scene, we're either crazy or millionaires in the making. We have to get rid of this kind of stereotype, times have changed and I believe there's a strong need for the local culture to realize that entrepreneurship is not a "cool" thing but merely youth picking up the responsibility for themselves and their own passions.

Which incubators (regional or national) are the most active? What are the unmissable Malaysian events?  

  AARON -  In addition to the ones I previously mentioned there are also: MAD Incubator, 1337 Accelerator, Bootstraplabs Malaysia, Founder Institute Malaysia etc. These are all national programmes, I am currently not aware of any regional incubators or accelerators.

  JOE - We have plenty of national incubators. While we haven't reached the point where regional incubators are common commodities like in America, but in Malaysia there is plenty of firepower and keg and the lighters are being stood by right now. So yes, lots of incubators, lots of opportunities. As regards unmissable events I can tell you that organizations are literally non-hesitant on launching big roadshows and events because they are already aware of the potential of Malaysian startups.  

  About mentorship: how did you find out about Dash's initiative, the Global Startup Youth? Is it a usual thing to benefit from that kind of mentorship in Malaysia? Are there many local entrepreneurs that are successful and ready to help their youth?

  AARON - I found out about Dash’s initiative through social media because I regularly follow Startup Malaysia’s updates. I’m not sure whether this is a usual thing here in Asia, but I know Asian culture primarily values relationships. We are a collectivist country, so it makes sense that we are very community driven, and mentorship is definitely part of the equation. Personally, I have benefited from mentorships. I think most of the local successful entrepreneurs are willing to guide new and young entrepreneurs, but I do feel that the youth here has to be more confident and eager to go forward and seek mentorship. For me, there is still plenty of fear of failure or embarrassment in the culture here. There is so much to be improved!

JOE - I found out about Dash's initiative thanks to my TEDxKL colleagues. While the scene is still boiling up as I said earlier, mentors aren't easily acquirable in Malaysia. However,if you try hard enough to sell yourself, the local entrepreneurs are very very willing to teach budding talents. That's one of the few beauties of the local entrepreneurial scene: everyone is always willing to share a piece of their knowledge in the hope of breeding a new generation of entrepreneurs.

   Malaysia has been hosting the 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit, a crucial event regarding international entrepreneurship initiatives and networking opportunities. Launched 4 years ago by the US State Department, this event is supposed to help as many entrepreneurs as possible and make them have the greatest impact in their country. How do you feel about that after having been an active part of it?

  AARON -  I believe the Government and the Private Sector initiatives to grow more entrepreneurs show that both sides want to grow economically. And my personal belief is that entrepreneurs are amazing citizens, who steer a country to become a great country. Entrepreneurs dare to challenge the status quos and frankly that is how innovation comes about. That is how we grow forward. Entrepreneurs with their ventures, especially social enterprise are capable to impact the society meaningfully. And it is very encouraging to see my country steering to that.    

  JOE - The event came as a surprise. Especially since it is a very prestigious one, previously held in cities like New York and Dubai. The fact that Malaysia came next in line was a shock to many, but relief to even more to see that our government was putting all its the effort to bring in foreign investors and talents into the country to share their values. The impact of the GES to Malaysia is priceless, the amount of job opportunities set forth by the event are countless but most importantly it's put the country right back on the map. The GES I believe, is merely one part of many more similar initiatives to come. As the government identifies the need to breed exposure in Malaysia, the aspiring youth like me are able to benefit from it, and the result, though no physically notable yet, is limitless.

About your peers: how does the Malaysian youth feel? How do you see your perspectives?

  AARON - I think we owe Dash a lot. From my perspective, Malaysian youth have this underlying perception that youth from other countries like the United States or European countries are better than us, especially those who haven’t got the chance to travel. What GSY did for us was showing us that we are not much different than youths from all over the world. Our views that the grass is always greener outside has been crushed that week, at least for me. I think GSY revealed to us that we are as good as our peers, regardless where you come from. It’s all about confidence and our respective attitude. However I think there is much to improve as regards our education system and some say political situation. But I feel that we shouldn’t dwell on those issues: as young people we should embody the change we want to see. There might be better opportunities abroad but don’t let better opportunities be our only deciding factor. Consider all other factors, and evaluate which feels more right. Because at the end of the day, the roots are where we feel home the most.

  JOE - Let’s be honest, Malaysia is famous for brain drain.  But that's something that's dying out over time. Youth in Malaysia used to have a belief that Malaysia does not provide enough opportunities. However, with events like the GES, we are shown that there ARE jobs and someone does give a damn about us. I believe that, very recently, there has been a significant change within the previous generation. People are starting to see that they too have a responsibility for the progress of their own nation. I believe Malaysian companies today, especially the Gen Y ones, are providing very appealing employment opportunities.

  How do you find your local ecosystem? Is it easy to set up a new venture in Malaysia or are there too many administrative constraints killing innovation?

  AARON - From what I’ve seen so far, Malaysia isn’t a bad place to start a business. Personally I know quite a number of foreigners who work here and love the local lifestyle. Do you know you can fly to exotic islands like Bali, Krabi, or Phuket within 3 hours by Air Asia from here? If entrepreneurs are risk-takers, this is probably a lifestyle they would appreciate.

  JOE - Currently, it's pretty much a sandbox. And I believe this is rather much universal with the coming generation; it doesn't matter where you are, if you have a good idea and you're passionate about it, nothing can stop you. Our Malaysians have loads of good ideas, and with the technology provided, there is practically no limit for them to start their own ventures online, so long legal. Especially in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, entrepreneurship is budding in a constantly accelerating speed.

   What are the three advantages Malaysia has over other countries regarding entrepreneurship?

  AARON - I would say since Malaysia is still a developing country, there are many active incentives and catalyst programs by the government to encourage entrepreneurship as entrepreneurship is a driver force for social and economic development. Secondly, the diverse talents: Malaysia is at a unique position where our population is very diverse, and diversity is beginning to be a huge factor at catalyzing innovation and creativity. Finally, I would say we are the center of SEA which is a booming market: for example our e-commerce market here in SEA is growing at a higher growth rate than the world’s average. Starting a business in Malaysia can prove to be a good move as we are located a very strategic location where businesses can go regional quite easily to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, or Philippines. And oh did I mention that our country doesn’t have any recurring major natural disasters? Oh Yeah! ;)

  JOE - Open culture, lots of problems to solve, and an abundance of opportunities.

   How do you feel with the Asian culture of excellence and the heavy stigma of business failure?

  AARON - This is one concern I have for the region as Asians or at least the Malaysian culture doesn’t really welcome failure. There is definitely a fear of failure culturally, which I strongly disapprove. This is definitely a limiting factor at the growth of entrepreneurship but I’m confident as time goes by, our culture will be slowly getting rid of this risk-adverse cultural behavior. However, that reality can only achieved if every stakeholders collectively educate our society with various programs and initiatives. 

The fear of failure is a shame. Indeed if I take my case, there are two significant sources of motivations that drive me to do what I do. First, I constantly want to grow myself. That process might be reflecting in solitude, seeking mentorship, attending seminars and events, or even diving into a deep pool of entrepreneurship. All the achievements and accomplishments happen because of all those actions, which I think it’s amazing because even if I fail in any projects I got into, I still win, because my self-growth is independent to the success of my project. Failing is not backwards-oriented, failing is forward-oriented. I win because there’s always something to learn and something to improve.

  About entrepreneurs: how are they seen by your people?

  AARON - If you succeed as an entrepreneur, you will naturally be glorified. However I would say that parents here typically wouldn’t encourage their children to get into entrepreneurship. Becoming a doctor or an engineer seems like the safer career pathway, and I think this is the case across most Asian countries. We definitely need more sample of entrepreneur role models to find out a valid perception.

  JOE - Reckless and crazy. Sometimes people think all of us are millionaires though.

  Could you share with us a success story about a Malaysian startup or entrepreneur?

  AARON - I would love to highlight Joel Neoh’s success at Groupon Malaysia. He and his team first started a daily deal site call GroupsMore that got acquired by Groupon within 3 months!  It has been renamed Groupon.my I remember when Groupsmore was first launched as I was one of the early adopter. Aside from Air Asia flight tickers, I’ve never really seen Malaysians buying anything else online. However, Groupsmore was the first website I ever purchased something online, and I believe this applies to most Malaysians as well. From that on, the Malaysian online shopping scene skyrocketed, and I think that most of the credit should be given to Joel and his team.

You might think that what they did wasn’t really innovative, but I believe that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to become an entrepreneur. Joel is the classic example of grabbing the opportunity fast and firm. He saw that Groupon was a trend at USA, and he just brought the concept to Malaysia. He acted quick and Groupsmore played a huge role in educating Malaysians further in terms of adopting online shopping. And look at the online shopping scene now, there are so many incoming new e-commerce sites every month.

For me that is a success story Malaysian youth need to hear. You see, Joel is not technical; he has no special powers except that he dared to take the risk and to take action. Malaysia still lacks plenty of great talents in the technical side, but that shouldn’t stop us from wanting to build the next innovative startup, because you can do what Joel did, and he is no different than you and me. I take that as an inspiration because I’m not technical, and this applies for most of my peers. 

JOE - Jasmine Hor, who was actually our mentor in the GSY. She is the founder of Gizwiz studio and Logo Design Creation. When she started off ten years ago, it began as a small prospect looking into selling logo designs for startups. But the market expanded so quickly that, even though they only relied on affiliate marketing, their services became widely sought after. This made Jasmine quit her job to work on the program full time. LogoDesignCreation.com specializes in designing logos for startups at a minimal price within 48 hours (they are the ones behind the Global Startup Youth website!). Such attributes cater closely to the current startup culture. As an entrepreneur, Jasmine managed to catch the trend when it started and hold onto it; something I highly admire. 

  What do you think Malaysian youth is dreaming about today? What are you dreaming about?

  AARON - I think Malaysian youth today are dreaming about becoming successful. We are dreaming to find our true identity in life. We are dreaming to unlock our own potentials. We are dreaming to live a satisfying life in general. And we, as the agents of change, will do our part helping ourselves and our peers to achieve those dreams. I dream that, very soon, more and more Malaysian youth will dominate the global market and press for all the amazing ventures they are involved in. Could we see a Malaysian Mark Zuckerberg? I really hope so!

My other dream is to contribute to society. I want to see more Malaysian youth to start taking ownership of their life, as early as they can. I want to see youth who are more entrepreneurial-minded, who are more positive, and ultimately don’t live life in apathy. I can call myself an entrepreneur today because as I was a kid, I was living in apathy of my true identity and my surroundings. My mind is liberated and I hope with my various initiatives, others get to come to know their true calling as well.

  JOE - I dream to be paid to do what I love doing the most; and I bet most of my peers think so too :)

   How did you find your GSY experience?

  AARON - GSY has blessed me with so many international friendships I wouldn’t have been able to make by myself. You know, I’ve attended plenty of events here in Malaysia, and every time I’m there, I would see familiar faces roaming around. That is encouraging but at the same time discouraging, because I always wonder where are the other youth. Why are they choosing to laze at home or to hang out at malls rather than coming to these events which always blessed me with plenty of learning and important contacts. During the GSY I felt like a salt-water fish that finally found an ocean. I was surrounded by so many like-minded individuals and even with the difference in nationalities; we understood each other right away. We understand the lingos of lean startup, MVP, business model canvas, market validation, or the spirit of – let’s get this done now, instead of deferring or dismissing good ideas. I loved it!

I also loved the fact that GSY included mentors to each team. My GSY team mentor – Monique Blokzyl - is an incredible mentor and person. You know, the delegates at GSY brought with them so many unique life stories and teachings, that it truly was a humbling experience. GSY has opened the world to me, and I’m sure it has opened the world to the other delegates as well.

  JOE - The GSY experience was absolutely mind blowing. It affirmed my belief that as an entrepreneur, you don't really have to be a genius or make Facebook. You just need to identify your capabilities, your passions and strengths and then work actively towards it. Hit right, try hard and you'll go far.

  What is your next move?

  AARON - My next move will be to keep developing and scaling my current projects and businesses at Incitement Youth, the Potential Matrix Movement, and iTechSpark. Having said that, it sucks to say no to incoming new opportunities but as the great Steve Job said – “Focusing is about saying no” and that’s what I’m practicing. On top of that, I’m still looking to finish my bachelor degree in Psychology as I’m at my last semester.

Last but not least, I’m launching a new start-up : cashdash.my! 

 JOE - I'm currently launching my own startup, Avenue, with a friend, which we have been working on for several months now :) Stay tuned! 

One last word?

  AARON - I can only offer what I know and experienced. I just want to dedicate the following quote to your readers, something which I’ve been practicing so far in my entrepreneurial journey:

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar

  JOE - Stay awesome, stay motivated.

   **** 

To get in touch with Aaron:

Email

LinkedIn page

Twitter account

Facebook account

  To get in touch with Joe:

Email

LinkedIn page

Twitter account

Facebook account

After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth   (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team -  have decided to share those people’s stories. Each day, we’re going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local. 

Alex from South Korea is our second English speaking guest. He’s 22, a former soldier, and has already run five businesses. Let’s see how he managed to have such an impressive background.  -  Molka

Hi Alex, could you present yourself? How come such a young man like you has been able to accomplish so many things compared to the average 20-something French guy? 

My name is Alex. I’m 22, and I was born and raised in Seoul until I was 16. I went to high school in Nebraska (US), and then I went to Babson College to do a major in Entrepreneurship. This college has a programme where you have to start your own business during your first year. I’ve been selected as the CEO, and with the help of thirty other students we came up with the idea of making a collapsing water bottle: once you’re finished with your drink, you can put the bottle in your pocket. It was a great experience, and in less than twelve weeks we made about $12,000 that we donated to a charity. 

After that I went to Rwanda for an academic exchange programme, and there I had the opportunity to teach entrepreneurship, accounting and operations to high school students. At the end of this programme the students had to develop their own idea, present them to us, and the reward was a $400 fund for their project. That was a milestone for me because it really gave me a clear vision in what I wanted to do with my life: to promote and teach entrepreneurship to Asian students. Why Asia? Because Asian education programmes are not very conducive to students for taking initiatives. I want to ignite the entrepreneurship spirit in the Asian culture.

After these experiences I went off to a radically different one: I left Boston to do my two-year military service in South Korea. And guess what: I was at the Army band, as a vocalist! I had a lot of free time, which I used to run several projects:

-       D-Architect: we created a magazine called Jamie, and every week end I interviewed any entrepreneur that was here in South Korea

-       Dear My Dream: the Facebook page is liked by 50,000 people and we put inspirational quotes in Korean on it

-       Global Entrepreneurship Challenge Korea: a competition for high school students

-       Real Aspiration Conference: I wanted to give Korean high school students a practical opportunity to really understand what was behind the US degrees that were presented to them, and therefore help them make the right choice. We managed to have a $90,000 sponsorship from the major English institutes to make the Deans from prestigious universities come and present their education project.

Since I left the Army I’ve been busy with:  

-      Entrepreneurship Sailors : the idea is to meet as many entrepreneurs as possible in Asia, and come back with their interviews in a book.  

-       A six-month education programme for young students called “Do Learn” with the Korean Teachers Association: participants have to identify problems within their community, we then give them funding (thanks to the Circle Foundation sponsorship) and help them implement their solution through monthly workshops where they are taught about entrepreneurship and given some expertise from different fields. This programme started in June 2013, I’m running it until next December, and we have now 60 students coming from 21 different high schools.

Right now I’m writing a book about entrepreneurship and I provide consulting service to American startups that are looking to the Asian market, one of them being inGenius prep.

Tell us more about the startup ecosystem in South Korea, and more generally in Asia. What are the incentives (public and private)? Is the local/regional culture in sync with the entrepreneurship spirit?

I have never seen a country like South Korea with such an amount of resources it is willing to give out to entrepreneurs or any entrepreneurial project: the government will literally give you money to just start and do something.  They really push you hard, which is also a problem because it’s like they know the importance of entrepreneurship but don’t know how to do it, except for just giving money out. Therefore people tend to get spoiled because they’re given money without having to work hard for it. And even if the startup scene is very vibrant, it is not yet culturally accepted. So the government will have to use its resources to change that.

Malaysia has the opposite problem: I’ve never seen a country that has such an entrepreneurial culture, the people I met there are so into it, that was very impressive and quite a change from the common Asian culture.  But their government doesn’t have as much resources as the South Korean one so it will be interesting to see how they will tackle this.

Shanghai is also an emerging market. They just opened a free trade zone, which is a sign of opening themselves a little bit more.

Hong Kong has been a hotspot, but has a very distinctive particularity: they have like separated groups of entrepreneurs of either the newcomers or the original Chinese people.

In Japan the government is not that interested in fostering startups because its first goal is to create more jobs, a goal that cannot be reached with startups since they are more based on tech and added value. Just look at Google: compared to is global impact the number of jobs it created (10,000) is rather low.

Are there local, national or regional incubators? Co-working spaces? Events? Business Angels?

There are a few governmental incubators, such as D.Camp, a lot of organizations like the Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation, The Circle Foundation, and many sponsorship programmes. There are also a few private incubators and investment companies, like Fast-Track Asia, Coolidge Corner Investment or K-Cube Ventures. 

  About mentorship and Dash’s initiative (the Global Startup Youth, a side event of the 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit): is it a usual thing to benefit from that kind of mentorship in Asia? Are there many local entrepreneurs that are successful and ready to help their youth?

In Asia there is generally a startup community that does provide mentorship. But in Korea I think that it has a long way to go. We have the same problem that we saw before with public funding for entrepreneurial projects: the teachers are paid by the government to provide students with some kind of scholar mentoring, but it has nothing to do with the real thing. The government wants to look good, to show that they are actually doing something. But there aren’t that many people from corporations who actually step up to provide real and practical mentoring. However I think that despite all that we are heading to the right direction, so this is pretty exciting. 

Compared to other places what are the three advantages South Korea has over other countries regarding entrepreneurship?

1/ A very tightened community: when you start going to the startup conferences, just do that for like a month, and you will end up knowing everybody. This represents a huge opportunity to network and grow faster.

2/ The government sponsorship: they’re putting a lot of money and you won’t find any other country investing so much in the startup scene. They even created an entrepreneurship visa!

3/ The technical advancement and IT-environment: South Korea has the fastest Internet services in Asia, wifi is always available, you can rent some offices for free after applying for it, the services are top notch... Everything is made to make your life easier. 

Do you see your generation as having the possibility to really take responsibilities or do you still have to wait for your “turn” until the elders are gone?  

Well first I think that in order to have responsibilities you have to not be afraid of taking them! And this is crucial because we’re still stuck with this fear of failure. But this is changing: with the increasing number of startups people tend to be more flexible and open to change, which is radically different from the hierarchical structures in big companies like Samsung and co.

Let’s just compare two managers: the CEO of KakaoTalk and the CEO of Samsung. They have the same responsibilities, but the new generation actually has a new figure to look up to: Kim Beom-su is young, and we can now really tell ourselves that we can do this, step up our game and actually be in charge of something.

About your peers: you’ve had the chance to study abroad, do you see any major gap between your perspectives and theirs?

Studying in the US has definitely helped me a lot. It has given me more opportunities, and a lot more confidence. This is an important point because one of the good things about the American education system is that there are so many things that you can try out, so many fields where you can get recognized, that you get to be involved in an incredible number of extracurricular activities. For me, it went from sports to art, to speech, to science club, to robotics, etc. Thanks to that you’re fully able to set your opinion right and decide for your future. This is amazing; when I arrived in the US I couldn’t even speak English properly so I truly appreciate all the good things that happened to me. And that’s this kind of environment that is missing in Korea.

However studying abroad is very expensive, and this is something that is very looked up to because every parents dream about sending their kids in the US. The opportunities are better, but there also is another key reason: English. In South Korea not that many people do speak English, so in terms of international opportunities this point does have an impact on the local youth. And it’s creating a gap in my country because now there is like the group of English-speaking Koreans, and the locals who are separated from their peers by the language barrier. The government is currently spending a huge amount of money to develop English teaching programmes, and it is becoming a major business: English is considered as a survival skill in the South Korean job market.

South Korea has a two-year military service that is mandatory. Don’t you think that this an issue for anyone who’s willing to start a project but has to put everything on hold for 2 years?

Yeah, well 2 years of anything can be an obstacle, especially when you’re in your twenties. It’s like you golden period! But you have to take into account that there is not much you can do about it regarding the situation between the South and the North. However I think that this is one of those things that go along with my theory: whatever your situation, it’s all about what you make out of it. I have many friends who made the best out of their military service by taking classes, getting certificate, learning another language, etc. The Army has a lot of programmes that aim to foster your sociability and creativity, which, in my opinion, is necessary to Korean youth. It makes us interact with people we wouldn’t have met in another circumstances, and this is a good thing to support the entrepreneurial spirit. It’s crazy, you can have barista classes, DJ turntables, anything you could probably not afford on your own. So the Army is definitely not to blame regarding entrepreneurship in South Korea.

Your President Park Geun-hye met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last June, and praised him for “taking on challenges without fear of failure”. She also came up with this quote at the end of their meeting: “It’s OK to fail”.  How do you feel about this quote? How are entrepreneurs seen in South Korea?  

Starting a business is looked as a very risky move. The guy who will take that risk is still being considered as not being good enough to get an offer from a chaebol (i.e. a big company like LG, Samsung, etc.). And this can be assessed anywhere in the world, not just in South Korea. The people that are in the middle, like running a startup that is not internationally recognized, are the ones who suffer the most.

The generational difference might be the reason behind that kind of consideration: the elders are more conservative, less risk-friendly, always trying to make money. Their vision of being an adventurous businessman is the following: if you’re getting fired and you’re in your forties, then don’t do anything except opening a chicken restaurant. That’s their vision of entrepreneurship. Make money with a steady thing. Whereas the new generation tries to provide services with added value.

Could you share with us a success story about a South Korean startup or entrepreneur?

Well I think that anyone who took the risk of ditching his quiet life to be in charge of his own business is worth being tagged “success story”. I haven’t seen yet in South Korea a single entrepreneur that hit it at first base. It requires perseverance and quite some guts because there is so much pressure from you family, partners and friends that these guys should all be looked up to.

That being said, there is someone I’m thinking about that is really inspiring: Henri Park. He’s the executive director of Take-Two Interactive (they’re the ones who made the GTA game!) in South Korea, and a Babson College alumni. His story is amazing: he started a jewelry company by doing everything from scratch. His business crashed, as did his 3 other ventures, but he still managed to put himself at the head of one of the best multimedia company in the world. Again we’re coming back to this fear of failure: he used his failures to improve himself instead of getting discouraged. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about!

What do you think South Korean youth is dreaming about today? What are you dreaming about?

The dream of the majority of young students is to go to school, get good grades, and make it to college. Then you have to work in the major companies, make a lot of money and get married.  I’m obviously exaggerating a little bit but everything does evolve around your job.

However the trend is slightly changing and this is my dream: I want to promote entrepreneurship, but that doesn’t mean that I want everybody to start a business. It’s all about having an impact on the way people think, work and interact with others. Everyone should take initiatives whether they’re in a bank, a big company or a NGO! Change your spirit, move it up to the upper level, and you’ll see the difference.  As regards my objectives, I want to get Asian kids inspired and able to actually live their dreams. I’m not here to invest money or incubate their business idea; I’m just trying to implement a lifestyle that will hopefully have a sustainable impact. 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 20 years?

In 10 years... I’ll be 32. By that time I want to have a sustainable business, be fully focused on it, and I want to have a huge influence in Asia.

I’ll be 42 in 20 years. My objective by then is to start a school. I love Babson College, and I want to bring a Babson-like university to Asia to give that same opportunity to the Korean Youth.

  Let’s talk about your Global Startup Youth experience. How do you feel about it? Any massive difference you noticed with other international delegates?

This experience kills and boosts your ego at the same time. It kills your ego because you are with 500 capable young minded people that will just blow you away with their accomplishments, their stories and their skills. It really gets you out of your own circle, and I was very impressed. You know, it’s always all about the people! And it boosts your ego because you can tell yourself that you’ve been selected to be a part and play an active role in of one of the most global event that has ever been organized. Being among those awesome people is such an honor and an opportunity that you can only be proud about it. When you go back home you can tell yourself that you are able to make a difference, have an impact and your own say.

Another lesson: we are all the same. We won’t be ever able to be in the same place with 500 other people coming from 105 countries. It was mesmerizing to me to see how everybody was so open minded and ready to work. It doesn’t matter how you look or where you’re coming from. We’re all human, we’re all young, and we’re all ready to get things done! This teaches you something: now that the world is all connected through social media there is a huge potential for us working together, and there are many many opportunities that are just waiting to be seized. 

    What is your next move?

I’m taking another semester off from Babson to be in Korea until next summer to keep working on my Do Learn programme.  I’m currently doing a lot of lectures to high schools and middle schools, and hopefully my next move will be about becoming kind of an entrepreneurship educator icon. So my work and my upcoming book are my next move.

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After meeting so many wonderful people at the Global Start-Up Youth (500+ youth from 100+ countries), we - the French team -  have decided to share those people's stories. Each day, we're going to discover the entrepreneurial ecosystem of a new country through the eyes of a local. 

For our first post in English, we are bringing you to a thriving country far far away, home to nearly 100 million people : the Philippines!  Let's meet Angelo, founder of Geek Speak. - Penelope

Hi Angelo, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? 

I’m Angelo from the Philippines. I have been active in the startup scene in my country for a while already. I did business development for Ideaspace, a diversified business incubator in the country. I also had a short stint at SeedAsia, a crowdfunding platform based in China that enables startups to easily raise funds through their platform.

Recently, I started my own non-tech startup – Geek Speak. It is a fashion brand that incorporates geeky design. 

What is the start-up ecosystem like in your country? 

Though still young, the startup ecosystem in the Philippines has been growing really fast. The infrastructure is already there. Smartphone, Internet and mobile money penetration is already high and still growing. The government has also started to foster this growth by giving startups tax incentives and intellectual property support.

There are meetups that allow people active in the startup to get in touch. Some examples are Geeks on the Beach, Juan Great Leap and Founder’s Drink.  There are also startup competitions like Angel Hack and Startup Weekend that allow more Filipinos to be engaged in the growing startup scene. 

For funding and mentoring, there are already incubators like the conglomerate-backed Ideaspace, Launch Garage and university-based incubators. Seed funding is already available through various angel investors and firms like Kickstart. Due to the improving market conditions, there has been an increasing number of foreign investors entering the country to survey the market. However, in general, beyond seed funding, funding is difficult to get.

 All in all, this has allowed a large number of local startups like Sulit (Classified Ads), Rappler (News), MetroDeal (Daily Deals) to thrive. Though many startups are localized versions of the popular western companies, there has been an increasing number of really innovative companies. Examples are Kalibrr (free online training) which got in the YCombinator and Twitmusic (a Twitter-based social music service) into 500 startups.

To get news about the Filipino start-up scene, we have Webgeek and the Bobbery. 

What would be the three main drawbacks for entrepreneurship in your country?

1. Government. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unnecessary requirements that the government is asking in starting a business, making the process arduous and confusing. Also, we have a really complicated tax system. As a consequence, some corrupt officials have been using the system to make money out of frustrated entrepreneurs.

2. Slow internet. If you want fast internet, you have to really pay for it.

3. Lack of exits. There are not a lot of local companies that can acquire you. An IPO is also still unheard of for a tech startup in the country.

The three assets?

1.  Filipinos are very internet savvy. In fact, it has the highest social media penetration in the world at 94%.

2.  Filipinos are the best English speakers in Asia, making it easy for foreigners to hire talent and penetrate the market

3.  The Philippines has one of the strongest demographics in the world. Having a really young population, it is really a good time to invest in the country’s future. In fact, an HSBC report showed that the Philippines will be the 16th largest economy by 2050.

 How do people feel about entrepreneurs in your country? Is there a specific role model? 

The mindset for most Filipinos is that one only ends up as an entrepreneur if he/she cannot find a job in a good company. In other words, people do not really have high regard for entrepreneurs. In my opinion, this really has to change; however, the problem is there is arguably still no Filipino entrepreneur that can serve as a role model for the youth.

What has been the most successful start-up in your country in the past 5 years? 

One of the most successful startups in the country is Chikka . It is a service that allows SMS to be sent via the internet. They were acquired in 2009 by the leading Filipino telecommunications company Smart for $16M.

 However, in terms of popularity, it has to be Sulit.com. It is a classified ads website. They were acquired by Naspers, a media firm based in South Africa.

According to you, what's the most promising start-up right now? 

There are really many promising startups in the country right now but I will mention the startup which solved a really simple Filipino problem. In the Philippines and many Asian countries, lining up to do the simplest of things is very common. This leads to waste of time for the people lining up and loss of clients for the businesses. Thus, to solve this problem, what TimeFree Innovations did is to allow people to get out of the line and just alert them if it was their turn already through an SMS message. I really find this startup fascinating because they were able to solve a really simple problem that most people would not even see as a problem.

What's a young Filipino's dream today ?

Due to the risk-averse culture that we have, most young Filipinos are happy to become managers in a multinational company. Due to the difficult job market, many are also forced to work in the business process outsourcing industry as call center agents.

Do you have a message for French youth?

Now is a great time to be an entrepreneur. Today, with just a laptop, anyone can already start a business.

If you do not have a business idea yet, I really suggest you visit Asia. Asia is where the economic center of gravity will be in the next years.  If you are not here, you will be missing a lot of opportunity. A great place to start will be the Philippines since we are English speaking and generally, are hospitable. (Though, I might be a little biased ;) )

  *** 

For a more complete picture of the local start-up scene, please view the Philippines Startup Report, co-written by the awesome Bowei Gai (who also happened to be my team's mentor at the Global Start-Up Youth). 

L’équipe française du Global Start-Up Youth réalise une série de portraits de ses rencontres lors de ce sommet, qui réunissait 500 jeunes venus de plus de 105 nations. Chaque jour, nous découvrirons avec eux l’écosystème entrepreneurial d’un nouveau pays.

Aujourd'hui, cap sur la Tunisie avec Walid, qui nous explique les défis de l'entrepreneuriat à l'heure du Printemps arabe. - Pénélope

Salut Walid ! Peux-tu te présenter ? 

Walid Sultan Midani, Gamer Geek et entrepreneur, j’ai créé avec des amis Tunisiagames, ma première startup en 2004 à l’âge de 21 ans.

Tunisiagames avait pour activité l’organisation de compétitions de jeux vidéo www.coupedetunisie.com et on a même assisté à la Coupe du monde des jeux vidéo en 2007-2008. La crise de 2009 a fait beaucoup de mal à l’évènementiel en général et spécialement aux évènements de niches. Ne voulant pas faire baisser le niveau de nos évènements, nous avons décidé d’arrêter « momentanément » TunisiaGames.

Riche de cette expérience de 5 ans et ne voulant surtout pas entrer dans le moule, je décidais en 2009 de lancer un studio de développement de jeux vidéo. 2 ans de galère suprême plus tard, DigitalMania vit le jour. Aujourd’hui nous sommes une douzaine à temps plein et une quarantaine de prestataires externes à travailler très dur pour créer nos jeux.

Comment se présente l'écosystème entrepreneurial en Tunisie ? 

La Tunisie a toujours été portée sur la création d’entreprises et start-ups, et le phénomène s’est décuplé après la révolution. Aujourd’hui l’excitation autour de la Tunisie est retombée, mais nous avons beaucoup d’acquis :

 Plusieurs incubateurs publics (au moins 1 dans chaque région) et quelques incubateurs privés

 Des fonds d’amorçages publics (BTS, BFPME)

 Les VC existent depuis longtemps et ce sont même des VCs de gros calibre donc non adaptés au startups dans leurs phases d’amorçage.

Les Business Angels existent, ils se sont même regroupés sous l’enseigne « Carthage Business Angels » mais les tickets sont très petits et ils sont connus pour leur frilosité. Pour le moment tout le monde attend une belle success story. Ces Business Angels sont des entrepreneurs à succès ou des rentiers.

Ce qui est génial en ce moment, c’est qu’il y a au moins un évènement par mois dédié à l’entrepreneuriat (Startup Week Ends bien sûr, mais aussi des évènements organisés par Google, Microsoft, les universités et autres ONGs).

Le mentoring est devenu un sport national et ceci est vraiment bien car les barrières se sont complètement volatilisées entre les futurs entrepreneurs et les personnes qui ont le savoir-faire.

L’écosystème bouillonne et beaucoup de personnes veulent créer et lancer leur propre startup.

Cependant, nous faisons face à plusieurs barrières qui nous rendent un peu moins compétitifs. Ces barrières sont surtout reliées au fait que le Dinar tunisien n’est pas une devise universelle et donc nous ne pouvons pas profiter des services offerts en ligne (Amazon, etc) et aussi nous ne pouvons pas en tant que sociétés résidentes en Tunisie vendre du contenu numérique en ligne sur Facebook et Google Play.

Quel a été l'impact du Printemps arabe sur l'entrepreneuriat dans ton pays ? 

Nous avons eu toutes les situations en moins de 3 ans :

1.  Avant la révolution :

" - Moi : Hi, I'm from Tunisia! 

   - L'autre : Indonesia ?? "

La Tunisie était un pays inconnu, sous une dictature politique et économique. Pour percer, il fallait être dans les petits papiers de l’ancien régime et sans avoir une grosse marge de manœuvre.

2.  1 an après la révolution :

" - Moi : Hi, I'm from Tunisia! 

   - L'autre : AWESOME !! "

La Tunisie était le pays de tous les possibles, donc tout le monde rapplique : investisseurs, mentors, ONGs... A ce moment là, un phénomène de « retour au bled » a vu le jour : tous les Tunisiens qui le pouvaient revenaient car ils voyaient une opportunité unique. La Tunisie comme Eldorado. Sauf que nous n’avions jamais eu à faire à ce genre de gabarits et eux-mêmes ont été déçus de voir qu'en fait, plus de 90% des entrepreneurs étaient des amateurs essayant d’apprendre sur le tas. Nous avons  raté une occasion en or pour intéresser les investisseurs étrangers. 

3.  Aujourd'hui :

" - Moi : Hi, I'm from Tunisia! 

   - L'autre : Oh, so sorry for you dude ..."

La Tunisie est un pays qui a fait rêver le monde mais qui s’enlise dans sa transition politique. C'est une situation qui certes ne rassure pas les investisseurs, mais aussi les clients étrangers.

Ceci dit, je reste très confiant quant au potentiel des jeunes entrepreneurs Tunisiens, nous sommes au creux de la vague économiquement. Mais tous ensemble nous ferons redémarrer la vague et ce sera une vraie déferlante.

 Quels sont pour toi les 3 plus gros inconvénients pour entreprendre aujourd'hui en Tunisie? 

1.  Comme je l’ai cité,  le plus gros souci pour un entrepreneur dans le numérique aujourd’hui en Tunisie c’est le fait que le marché B to C reste restreint à Tunisie (à moins d’ouvrir une succursale à l’étranger : très compliqué ).

2.  Nous avons des fonds pour créer des entreprises, des fonds pour racheter de grosses entreprises mais il n’y pas ou presque pas de fonds pour le « growing stage ». Nous avons donc une estimation de survie très faible pour les sociétés qui basent leur business model sur un ou plusieurs produits qui nécessitent du temps pour être développés. 

3.  Plus d’encadrement tout au long des 2 à 3 premières années permettrais certainement d’avoir des startups plus solides. 

Les trois atouts ? 

1. La main d’œuvre de qualité et atout face à la concurrence.

2. La fiscalité : 0% pour tout ce qui est export. 

3. L’ouverture culturelle et le positionnement géographique. 

Comment sont vus les entrepreneurs en Tunisie ? 

- Mal vu par leur famille (les parents préfèrent voir leurs enfants avec une situation stable). - Bien vu par les amis et l’entourage social.  - Enviés par les autres.  - Craints par les conformistes. 

NB : Dans mon cas, j’ai eu la chance d’avoir le soutien de ma famille, de mes amis et même de gens que je ne connais pas. 

Quelle est la start-up tunisienne qui a le mieux marché ces dernières années ? 

A ma connaissance, la plus grande success story de ces 10 dernières années en Tunisie c’est Topnet, fournisseur d'accès à Internet qui a été créée en 1998 par Mehdi Khemiri (ndlr: passé par Polytechnique et ingénieur télécom) avec 100.000 Dinars et qui a été revendue à plus de 15 millions de Dinars en 2010 à Tunisie Télécom. 

Quelle est pour toi la start-up la plus prometteuse en ce moment en Tunisie ? 

Aujourd’hui, plusieurs entrepreneurs tunisiens travaillent dur pour faire de leurs startups des mastodontes. Ce n’est pas facile tous les jours et rares sont ceux qui tiennent bon et qui restent en Tunisie.

Je ne peux les citer, mais attendez-vous à un gros boum venant de cette partie du monde. Personnellement à DigitalMania j’ai la chance d’avoir une équipe de folie, des passionnés qui partagent ma vision de l’entrepreneuriat et de l’esprit d’entreprise. Et avec une telle énergie on ne peut que réussir.

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