UAE: Next Musk, Zuckerberg? Firm to train students in entrepreneurship
A digital asset company is hoping to find the next Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerburgs from amongst youngsters in the UAE. Talrop, which will be establishing startup and educational hubs across universities, schools and communities in the UAE, will be introducing entrepreneurship into a student's educational journey as early as possible.
'I would say as early as the fifth grade is a good time because there are two fundamental values that entrepreneurship instills in children,' said Mishana Mohammed, Director of International Operations and Startups at Talrop.
'The first one, which is very much needed in our times, is it teaches you how to deal with failures and how to see those as stepping stones and lessons. The second quality is it teaches students to take ownership of their situation and atmosphere to build their own success. These are two qualities that needs to be instilled right with their academia.'
She was speaking at the Future of Learning: Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship event that brought together key policymakers, educators, startup leaders, and investors to discuss a future-ready ecosystem.
Mishana talked about a group of students, in India, that Talrop spotted and trained in 2017. 'We picked out five students when they were in their seventh grade and trained them in technology,' she said.
'One example is Mahadev Ratheesh who is now the co-founder and CEO of a startup called Deyoze which is based on home automation, IOT and robotics. His competitors are considered to be Apple, Samsung. That is exactly what we are trying to do because we have potential Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs among us in our schools. So, that is exactly where we need to pick out from.'
During the event, Talrop also announced its programme – Build in UAE, Scale in India, Expand Globally. The programme is inviting budding young entrepreneurs to build their ideas in the UAE and test them in India before expanding them to the world.
Jones Joseph, Board Director and COO of Talrop explained that the organisation aimed to branch out into various countries across the world. 'We are in talks with UN ambassadors and government offices of several countries because we are taking this model to every country,' he said. 'In this digital world, we do not solve solutions for our people. We solve solutions for the world.'
He explained that the team was powered by questions about equal opportunities. 'I have seen children who dream of building rockets, but they don't have a science lab,' he said. 'I have seen graduates with degree but no direction. For over a decade we have asked this question to ourselves – what if we give them a little opportunity? What if everyone had the same access to the same tools? We are trying to build a system where no dream is wasted, and no talent is left behind. Borders do not define opportunities.'
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