Global Entrepreneurship
entrepreneurs, other than those from poorer Latin
American countries,
would want to move their start-ups to a remote place like Chile. The available data indicates that so far this is not the case:
“To date, Start-Up Chile has received more than 1,600 applications from 70 countries, with the majority coming from the U.S. Nearly 500 entrepreneurs have participated in the program and there are now 220 foreign start-ups in Chile that employ 180 locals and 143 abroad. The first batches of foreign startups have raised $8 million in venture capital financing from firms in Argentina, Brazil, France, the U.S., and Uruguay.”
Furthermore, there is evidence that the real objective of the program to
implant the start-up bug into
the local ecosystem is working. In July 2011, the Chilean government opened a program for them. From 600 applicants, 60 teams were selected. No one suggests that there
Start-Up Chile has received more than 1,600 applications from 70 countries, with the majority coming from the U.S.
would have been this level of interest locally in starting a company if it was not already taking place right in front
of them. Unfortunately, other
governments remain in thrall to top down initiatives, such as marinas and casinos that target the trickle down rich. Or special economic areas where considerations of real estate trump where entrepreneurs would like to live and work. Job creation comes from small companies with breakthrough ideas getting big. It does not come from large companies or from non diverse populations.
I didn’t get to meet Nicolas Shea but I did send him a message that for me, Start-up Chile was as brilliant and
as radical an idea as the Grameen Bank started by Muhammad Yunus. Entrepreneurship is the natural state of progress. The only reason it doesn’t spring up everywhere is that there is something stopping it. What if instead of talking about companies creating jobs when all they are doing is hiring people, we started to focus on business creation and started to look at how to give every crackpot idea a go to become an employer. That has got to be better than just a dole payment or a training course to become an employee. Yunus and Grameen got the Nobel Peace prize in 2006 “for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below”. Long way to go and all that, but if one day we see Nico, Vivek and Start-up Chile in Oslo City Hall, there is probably much more job creation and much less unemployment around.
Images all show variants of Chile’s capital, Santiago
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