It’s easy to understand the importance of innovators and entrepreneurs to the economy, but it’s much harder to figure out the best ways to encourage more entrepreneurship. In an article for TechCrunch, Vivek Wadhwa explores Start-Up Chile, a program that he calls “Chile’s Grand Innovation Experiment.” Most initiatives to create the next Silicon Valley have failed, Wadhwa argues, because they use a top-down approach that fatally leaves out the most important ingredient — the entrepreneurs themselves. Start-up Chile is therefore unique because, rather than building office parks and partnering with VC’s and universities, it focuses on attracting innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world to Chile, where they will start their own businesses.
The Institute for Justice’s City Studies series examines the political red tape that keeps entrepreneurs from getting their businesses off the ground. The studies focus on “real-world entrepreneurs from eight different cities across the nation,” such as Los Angeles’ Jill Bigelow. Her “most frustrating experience while trying to open her restaurant was when an inspector would not allow her to open because her previously approved wall tile did not have enough ‘reflective value.’” Despite being in the top ten most economically free countries, the U.S. clearly has a long way to go towards truly supporting entrepreneurs.
Watch the Institute for Justice’s entertaining video that highlights some of the aggravating roadblocks that entrepreneurs face:
Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation recently launched its first Women in Science and Engineering Business Idea Competition. “We know that more women than ever are leading U.S. businesses and hold a nearly three-to-one majority in undergraduate and graduate education, but too few pursue the path of high-growth entrepreneurship,” said Lesa Mitchell, vice president, Kauffman Foundation. “The Women in Science and Engineering Business Idea Competition is designed to illuminate world-changing concepts that have significant commercialization potential, and to escalate their visibility so that more female scientists and engineers are encouraged to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas.”
Also, be sure to read our fascinating Kaizeninterviews with two highly-educated female entrepreneurs, Reena Kapoor and Judy Estrin. Both women share their thoughts on the effect of culture on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Mary Mazzio is an award-winning independent filmmaker, Olympic rower, and former law firm partner with Brown Rudnick. She received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, a law degree from Georgetown University, and studied film production at Boston University. Her company, 50 Eggs, LLC, has produced five independent films shown across the United States on television, in classrooms, and in theatres. We met with Ms. Mazzio outside of Boston, Massachusetts, to explore her thoughts on entrepreneurship and the challenges and excitement of making documentaries.
Kaizen: You’ve been a lawyer, an Olympic rower, and now a documentary filmmaker. When you were young, did you have any idea your adult life would be so varied?
Mazzio: Not at all. Although as a kid I remember always having a sort of boundless enthusiasm for whatever it was that I was doing. So I always thought that good things would happen in the end but I had no idea.
Virginia Postrel, author of The Future and Its Enemies and The Substance of Style, writes on the importance of self-delusion in entrepreneurship. We all know that most businesses fail, but the entrepreneur is in part motivated by an irrational confidence that she will succeed. Successful entrepreneurs, says Postrel, “overestimated their chances of striking it rich. But they beat the odds — to everyone’s benefit. These ‘lucky fools’ create new sources of wealth, new jobs, new industries offering less-risky opportunities, and new technologies that improve life. Society plays the role of the casino, enjoying the spillover benefits from foolish bets.”
Magatte Wade: “How an African Entrepreneur is Working to Solve African Problems”
Magatte Wade is a serial entrepreneur who was raised in Senegal, educated in Germany and France, and began her entrepreneurial career in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she co-founded Adina World Beverages. Her current project is The Tiossano Tribe, Inc., a high-end skin care products line. Magatte writes and speaks for many audiences, and is on the boards of several non-profits that support African causes, including Afropop Worldwide, the SEEDS Academy, AllforAfrica.com, and ASNAPP.
Michael and Magatte will give their talks in conjunction with Dr. Hicks’s Business and Economic Ethics class on:
In our latest issue of Kaizen we feature an interview with Mary Mazzio, award-winning documentary filmmaker, Olympic rower, and former law firm partner with Brown Rudnick.
Also featured in Kaizen are student essay contest winners Rebecca Logan, Jaime Binning, and Joshua Branch, and guest speaker Douglas B. Rasmussen.
A PDF version of Kaizen is available here. We will soon post separately the full interview with Ms. Mazzio.
If you would like to receive a complimentary issue of the print version of Kaizen, please email your name and postal address to CEE [at] Rockford.edu.
The Institute for Justice has an inspiring series of five reports on the beneficial effects of entrepreneurship on the entrepreneurs themselves and on their communities. The reports also highlight the entrepreneurs’ struggles against unnecessary regulations. Says the author of one report: “If the impact of this one entrepreneur in a relatively small Mississippi community can be as wide and deep as documented in this report, imagine the transformation entire communities of unhampered entrepreneurs could create in America’s largest cities where hope and opportunity are in such great demand.”
The Kauffman Foundation published the findings from their study, “Are Women Entrepreneurs Different From Men?” The researchers asked successful, high growth male and female entrepreneurs what factors they believe led to their success. Some the key factors that female entrepreneurs valued more highly than males were professional and personal networks and support.
It’s easy to understand the importance of innovators and entrepreneurs to the economy, but it’s much harder to figure out the best ways to encourage more entrepreneurship. In an article for TechCrunch, Vivek Wadhwa explores Start-Up Chile, a program that he calls “Chile’s Grand Innovation Experiment.” Most initiatives to create the next Silicon Valley have failed, Wadhwa argues, because they use a top-down approach that fatally leaves out the most important ingredient — the entrepreneurs themselves. Start-up Chile is therefore unique because, rather than building office parks and partnering with VC’s and universities, it focuses on attracting innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world to Chile, where they will start their own businesses.
