What I learned on March 12th, at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress2012

Two weeks ago, after spending a relaxing weekend in London, I had the pleasure to visit Liverpool for the first time as part of the Canadian delegation attending the GEC 2012 summit.

Along with my twin brother and fellow GEC delegate, Yassir, we decided on Sunday to leave the World's cultural capital in order to join the official Quebec delegation already in Liverpool. So, we took the "tube" (as they call it in the UK) to go to Euston Station where we took the train from London to Liverpool. It was a pleasant surprise to find out the train was operated by Virgin and made by BOMBARDIER (cheers to my HEC friends and classmates working at their headquarters in Montreal!).

The trip was not as long as I expected and it was quite comfortable. I had a great time reading magazines, taking notes while listening to music and enjoying the landscapes of the UK from my window seat.

On Sunday evening, we arrived in the birthplace of the Beatles, Liverpool. First thing we needed to know is where the hotel was located. Then I realized Scousers (people of Liverpool) are friendly and helpful. A young student showed us the way. It was nice to stay in a hotel just five minutes away from ACC, the venue of the GEC summit.

On Monday 12th March, Yassir and I took some time to explore Albert Dock, Liverpool's waterfront... before heading to the International Research & Policy Roundtable organized by the Kauffman Foundation. This first GEC fringe event we got the opportunity to attend was entitled 'Promoting High Growth Entrepreneurship Around the World: A Dialogue Among Experts.'

During this public session, I learned a lot from budding entrepreneurs and academicians. Here are excerpts from my notes:

The first participant from the audience quoted Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809: "Every generation needs a new revolution."

This inspiring quote led us to discuss how our desire for entrepreneurship is universal. As a participant said, people like us are those who will change the world not our governments. In other words, you can be an entrepreneur wherever you are even in countries with non-supportive governments.

Participants suggested to dedicate more resources to the literature and art of entrepreneurship in order to inspire all the aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking for guidance and role models.

An enthusiastic participant stood up and asked the audience: 'what happens when you bring the right people with the right networks together?'

A delegate from Malaysia shed light on the important role NGOs play to lobby the Malaysian government and policy makers for access to funds.

Technology entrepreneurs from developing countries from Asia and Africa raised an interesting point. For instance, the fact that these emerging countries don't have a culture of early adopters, which doesn't help their entrepreneurs to sign contracts and sell their innovative products.

Fellow technology entrepreneurs recommended online trainings and mentorship programs as a good way to keep our motivation level up by being surrounded with entrepreneurs and experts who are ready to share their knowledge and expertise with the current generation of entrepreneurs.

Vivian Prokop, CEO of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, gave some great examples of Canadian entrepreneurs like this young woman aged 25 who started a business that takes untrained people into the workforce and later managed to get 18 franchisers. Vivian proudly informed us that this young entrepreneur is now expanding her business into the US market.

Shelly Porges, a Senior Advisor for Global Entrepreneurship at the U.S. State Department, also talked about promoting women's entrepreneurship worldwide and the role of the government and civil society in supporting our entrepreneurs.

Nowadays, access to funding remain the biggest challenge entrepreneurs face.

From a CSR point of view, many US companies want to diversify their supply chain, to sponsor and support humanitarian and development projects while involving their employees in community-oriented initiatives and setting the example for others to follow.

Hassan from Malaysia tackled the role of culture and society and reminded us of how important social climate is for entrepreneurs. Allowing failure is crucial: "Fail. Fail fast. Try again." Personally, this is what defines my will to win and my passion for success. I firmly believe that if we have a dream, we got to protect it.

A delegate from the United Arab Emirates shared with us the situation of the entrepreneurship sector in the UAE. Basically, we all share the same challenges although of different dimension.

An interesting statistic that might surprise you: native UAE citizens account for only 10% of the population; and most of them are not interested in entrepreneurship.

Our fellow delegate from the UAE (one of my favorite countries since I attended the Education Without Borders international student conference exactly a year ago in Dubai) mentioned that people have a sense of pride when they hold positions in the public sector even if they work also in the private sector.

I was pleased to hear from a fellow Indian delegate that Canada is famous for having very efficient policies and solid financial institutions. As a finance graduate, this made my day :)

Lucia from London Business School was wondering if there was any difference between incubators and accelerators. To learn more, I invite to look up these two terms on Quora ;)

Last but not least, a participant from Greece talked specifically about the economic challenges his country faces currently and the fact that there is equity demand but no equity supply.

In a nutshell, leading research universities, governments, financial institutions, venture capitalists, business angels, academia and civil society all have a major role to play in supporting the new wave of leaders and innovators.

Stay tuned for my next blog post as I will share my favorite quotes from GEC 2012 including some inspiring words from Richard Branson (Virgin Group founder) as well as other entertaining, empowering and enthusiastic speakers I have had the pleasure to learn from in Liverpool during the GEC summit.

Cheers,

ilyes