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Technical.ly
a day ago
- Business
- Technical.ly
GEC 2025: What the Global Entrepreneurship Congress says about American entrepreneurial leadership
Among the greatest of American exports, hip-hop and basketball have gone entirely global. Entrepreneurship too. Back to antiquity, the first businesses were in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The modern corporation is a European invention, and the longest running company is Japanese. But the Americans made it cool. From the 1980s-era 'greed is good' to post-Great Recession social entrepreneurship, the United States put get-rich businesses on magazine covers and humble small business owners on primetime reality TV. Fitting, then, that the Global Entrepreneurship Congress is an American product that has been mostly held abroad. With origins in the early 2000s, this first-of-its-kind globally-minded pro-startup conference was held in 2009 for 200 attendees in Kansas City, with funding from the entrepreneurship-obsessed Kauffman Foundation. Founded by trained economist and policy wonk Jonathan Ortmans, the conference is organized by what is now called the Global Entrepreneurship Network (or GEN, pronounced like the name Jen), which Ortmans leads. This year boasted more than 3,000 attendees. 'Entrepreneurs are the new diplomats of the world.' Jonathan Ortmans, Global Entrepreneurship Network Over the following 15 years, the Congress was held the world over, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Last week, GEC was held in the United States for the first time since its start — in Indianapolis, a growing city in a Midwestern state with bipartisan support for business growth and a hook into federal research dollars. 'Entrepreneurs are the new diplomats of the world,' Ortmans said on stage. His opening remarks lamented fading enthusiasm for an interconnected global economy. Elsewhere, he spoke optimistically of what remains bipartisan support for business creation. In the conference's keynote conversation with entrepreneur-turned-celebrity investor Mark Cuban, Ortmans boasted that GEC was held in Moscow in the weeks that followed the Russian invasion of Crimea. Back in March 2014, for the conference-attending entrepreneurs and their supporters from around the world, 'nothing was different.' Whether that sounds like a hardworking ethic or aloof indifference, Ortmans argues entrepreneurs crave stability, clarity and transparency, which benefits everyone else. Alongside Ortmans, Cuban presented as even more optimistic, and idealistic, for Entrepreneur The Diplomat. Cuban gushed about the promise of artificial intelligence to unlock the entrepreneurial spirit around the world, leveling the playing field with just an internet connection. Famously, Silicon Valley notables broke toward supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, but Cuban was a prominent outlier and frequent MAGA critic. He was less directly critical at nonpolitical-striving GEC, and Ortmans encouraged him to widen his lens to consider a global audience in the convention hall that came from at least 130 countries. Tellingly, there was no formal delegation from the American federal government, nor its DOGE-cost-cutting Small Business Administration. (One member of a GEC advisory group politely declined to comment and sensibly encouraged this reporter to focus on the international presence and bipartisan support among state and local American officials.) 'There are plenty of places to talk about politics. If you're an entrepreneur, be an entrepreneur. If your business succeeds, the politicians will come to you,' Cuban advised. 'You want your business to outlast any one politician.' In some sense, it's a hopeful throwback to a more innocent time when a jet-setting elite believed commerce would lead to peace and prosperity. That's the optimistic worldview that led the American government to welcome the Chinese Community Party into the World Trade Organization, and the same that encouraged the German government to rely on the Russian state for its energy security. In recent years, there's been a reversal: Global citizens of international capitals have been humbled into a choice, say more, or say less. During the pandemic, social justice protests demanded that entrepreneurs speak out on a growing list of political issues. Ortmans, Cuban and the spirit of GEN's GEC seem to say something different. As one GEC collaborator has told me: 'Entrepreneurship is my politics.' Informed by the modest, Midwestern style of the Kauffman Foundation, the conference was filled with practical advice for entrepreneurs and local economic development leaders. Common-sense policy discussions happened alongside meet-and-greets between commerce ministers from dozens of countries. Each GEC features a dedicated 'compass room' with a UN-style circular white table with microphones. Its orientation stands in contrast to the Silicon Valley investor-catwalk startup conferences, Austin's hipper-than-thou SXSW and and the sprawling and showy Las Vegas consumer technology shows. Ortmans hopped between sessions and off-site events. He addressed both the launch of a national campaign to center entrepreneurs in next year's anniversary of the American Revolution and at a working session of 'national ecosystem resource providers' — of which Technically is one. 'This is one way back,' Ortmans said of a more pro-growth time. 'Customers matter. Failure doesn't.' Mark Cuban Cuban, who knows something about hip hop and basketball, embodies a brighter optimism than most American elites of late. A thousand of us overflowed conference chairs, and clapped and chuckled at his folksy charm, embodied by the carefully chosen polo-shirt he wore from his Indiana University alma mater,. As ready-for-TV as Cuban is, he still offers practical advice for founders: 'Raising money isn't an accomplishment. It's an obligation.' And in practiced, self-effacement: 'Customers matter. Failure doesn't.' (In contrast, another main-stage panel of Colorado-bred tech startup notables was a snoozefest of self-congratulation from a bygone era.) Cuban advised policymakers and economic development leaders to invest in community, rule of law and lifestyle to attract and retain entrepreneurs: When he chose where to start his businesses, first Indiana and later Texas, 'not one single time did I look at the tax rate first.' Speaking to a crowd with attendees from countries including Iraq, Nigeria and France, he personified his role as the commonsense sage of American-style center-left techno-optimism. Said Cuban: 'An entrepreneur is always an entrepreneur first.'
Arab News
14-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi Venture Capital CEO highlights Kingdom's investments to boost innovation
RIYADH: A Saudi government backed venture capital firm has invested in over 50 funds in various sectors and stages, according to its CEO, underscoring the Kingdom's strong commitment to fostering innovation. On the second day of the Human Capabilities Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Venture Capital's Nabeel Koshak emphasized the growing prominence of national startups. During a panel discussion titled 'Powering Venture Capital Investments to Turbo Boost Innovation in HCD,' Koshhak, said: 'Since inception, we invested in more than 56 funds, we are across multiple sectors, multiple stages.' He added: 'It's good to shed the light on the amazing entrepreneurs and startups being launched here in Saudi Arabia and now going global. And also the companies that are starting globally, originally, and also expanding in Saudi Arabia.' The CEO specifically commended Classera, a Saudi-born education tech company now operating in over 40 countries, calling it a 'learning super-platform' with 50 million global users. Also appearing on the panel, Dong-Su Kim, CEO of LG Technology Ventures in the US, shared insights into corporate venture strategies, saying: 'We invest in promising startups and then we help them get connected with the right people. In many cases, we advise our portfolio companies on how to work with a big company.' Kim also highlighted entrepreneurship as a critical tool for personal growth, adding: 'I think, for a young person to increase your capability, there's no better tool than starting your own companies.' Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, pointed to the evolving mindset of young entrepreneurs. 'What we're seeing now is startups coming from a younger generation who care about more than the return on investment,' he said. Ortmans also noted the massive reach of entrepreneurial initiatives, mentioning that his organization's Entrepreneurship World Cup attracted over 100,000 startups globally. Discussing the impact of artificial intelligence, Ortmans cautioned that while generative AI relies on past data, entrepreneurship thrives in uncertainty. 'One of the things I'm learning is that, clearly, there are some areas where AI will not be useful in the immediate future. One of those is in terms of entrepreneurs— they'll have to learn to operate in unpredictable, uncertain environments,' he said. He expressed optimism about the future of venture capital, stating: 'I think the venture community should be extremely excited because you're going to see some super innovative new ideas coming from a new generation of thinkers.' Ortmans also underscored the vital role of entrepreneurs in job creation, declaring: 'Entrepreneurs create almost all the net new jobs around the world.' The panel highlighted the dynamic interplay between venture capital, innovation, and human capability development, with the Kingdom emerging as a key player in the global startup ecosystem.
