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The New Deal of the Mind (NDotM) is a coalition of leading figures from the UK’s cultural and creative industries who have formed a not-for-profit charitable company that seeks to boost employment in Britain’s creative sector – for the good of the entire nation. The NDotM believes that the creative industries are vital to the regeneration of the UK economy and highlights the potential risk of a generation of creativity being lost to the recession.
The initiative, less than a year old, has already formed a coalition of Cabinet ministers and leaders of the creative sector who realise that we must act immediately to address the problem.
Further information about the scheme can be found on their website, www.newdealofthemind.com
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I’ve recently come across the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE) after researching the topic of start-ups and entrepreneurship in the Middle East. This Jordanian-based foundation has played a pivotal in promoting entrepreneurship in the region. Whilst there has always been a vast amount of entrepreneurial talent in the Middle East, it has often lacked the structure to support seed ventures. It’s good to see that the QRCE is filling that gap and giving young people in the region a platform to put forward their ideas.
An example of this is a recent program launched by the center; the MENA 100 business plan competition. The primary objective of this initiative is to encourage existing / potential entrepreneurs; and connect them with potential sources of finance to generate business transactions.
If you’re interested in competing and hold a Middle Eastern/ North African citizenship, check out the QRCE website or go directly to www.mena100.org .
In the very early days of the Enternships adventure, the idea of an international exchange program came to me as a logical step in our expansion. It made sense not only from a financial standpoint, but also from educational and, dare I say, cultural one.
I’m a firm believer that travel helps one broaden his horizon and gain maturity in the process. Business and travel have always been closely interlinked, the former often being the rationale for the latter. In most cases, International trade and migration has helped draw cultures together. Doing an enternship in a foreign country is a fantastic way to learn about a foreign culture, their way of doing business, working together etc… It’s also a great excuse to be adventurous and try something new.
Being Franco-Egyptian, I’ve had the privilege to grow up in two different cultures. This dual perspective reinforced my belief that communication between cultures is vital and should be promoted as early as possible. Like many people, I was glued to my TV set last week to listen to President Obama’s speech in Cairo. A particular passage caught my attention, due to its relevancy to our mission here at Enternships:
On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America. At the same time we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a young person in Kansas can communicate instantly with a young person in Cairo.
On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.
President Barack Obama, Cairo, June 4th 2009
President Obama’s speech was welcomed with much enthusiasm in the region, and he did a great job of highlighting the role of business and entrepreneurship in not only promoting economic growth, but also mutual understanding and respect. Although next time Barack, have a word with us before quoting our ideas!
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Obstacles and hardships are commonplace in business. Everybody experiences setbacks in their career, which feed doubt in yourself or the project you’re involved in. Most entrepreneurs will have fallen more than once before eventually making it. Others came dangerously close to giving it all up before ultimately succeeding.
One such entrepreneur is Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent smoothies.
Mr Reed, who founded Innocent Drinks with fellow Cambridge graduates Adam Balon and Jon Wright, told Sky’s Jeff Randall Live that the trio almost gave up on their smoothie dream until a last-minute intervention by an investor.
“We’d thrown in the towel basically. Innocent was a business which was not going to happen,” he told. However, an email sent round to friends asking if they knew any rich people led to a £250,000 investment from US businessman Maurice Pinto.
From selling just 24 on its first day, the company now sells over two million bottles a week.
(To read the full article click here)
Innocent’s story is a familiar one for many successful entrepreneurs. Persistence and faith, both in yourself and the project you’re involved in, helps to overcome tough challenges. The battle is only lost when you give up.
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Enternships.com is now partnering with Sandbox. Sandbox is a trusted global network where extraordinary young achievers under 30 come together. It’s an inspiring meeting place where a selection of young thinkers and doers connect, exchange ideas and talk about innovation.
Sandbox will complement Enternships’ services from two sides: It provides exclusive access to the most talented students, as well as to newly founded start-ups that evolve from Sandbox’ match-making activities. With the help of Sandbox Enternships.com will be able to extend their activities from the British market to a global scale.
We are looking forward to a great and fruitful partnership.
Filed under: Entrepreneurship
Mick Jagger knows a thing or two about taking chances after university...
There was a time when being in a rock band was the ultimate in campus cool. Now it seems that once again being in a startup gives you instant cool.
The former blue chips of Wall Street can no longer offer long-term job security and generous end-of-year bonuses, giving this new generation of MBA graduates the impetus to pursue their own business ownership dreams.
If business schools are smart, they will rush to embrace this entrepreneurial generation and give them the tools they need to realize those dreams… Startups in a downturn are hardly new. Cisco, Apple, Gap, and Genentech were all created during recessions.
Matt Symonds for Business Week; April 27, 2009
This quote comes from an interesting article highlighting the role of business schools in the current downturn. Click here to read the full article.
Filed under: Survival tips
Carrot or stick?
I was at a business meeting last week where I had to endure the company of a particularly rude counterpart. The guy was being excessively brash, in a situation where it was completely inappropriate. The aim of the meeting was to touch base, but in his mind he must have thought he was in a souk, haggling for a carpet. I left the meeting with a rather low opinion of him and, by extension, his company. Now had he not acted like a psychopath during our brief encounter, I’m sure the outcome would’ve been totally different.
I’m a firm believer that in most cases the carrot beats the stick. It’s true that sometimes you have to fight your corner and being a nice guy doesn’t always work. However, it’s important to know when to switch ‘it’ on. Always acting like tyrant will only get you so far because ultimately you’re dealing with people. Nobody likes to be barked at, and most people have problem with excessive authority. Often, seduction tends to go a lot further than coercion.
Finally, reputation is important in business and especially so for startups, where everybody tends to know each other. In that environment, a bad rep can break your business before you even get it started. Whilst building a good reputation is a long-winded process, breaking it is surprisingly easy.
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I recently came across an article on Egypt’s socio-cultural barriers to entrepreneurship (for link click here). The piece highlighted interesting points; ranging from cultural conservativeness to the lack of government funding and the restrictive local legal framework. For example bankruptcy is considered a criminal offence, and many businessmen have served jail sentences as a result of their companies going under. Just as well Donald Trump wasn’t born in Egypt!
Although the author did indeed point out valid examples, I felt he spent too much time focusing on the country’s structural constraints. Whilst those constraints are indeed present, the stimulus for entrepreneurship is also very strong. For the majority of Egypt’s population, landing a job with a big corporate is not an option (for a number of socio-cultural reasons highlighted in the article). As a result, entrepreneurship is often the best route to success. Anybody that’s ever visited a developing country has been able to appreciate the high level of creativity and resourcefulness. Two crucial elements of entrepreneurship.
Nazem, Rajeeb and Leah with the 'Oracle of Omaha'
Leah interviewing Rajeeb and Nazem about the launch of Enternships
Warren's local burger joint...
