Platforms to showcase your Entrepreneurial Acumen
Amidst the chaos of work every day, this lockdown has been relaxing and productive. One thing that practically everybody witnessed is the transition of our ‘work-style’ from physical workplaces to work-from-home or remote working which although has opened doors for women who earlier could not travel for work but also has made it difficult for the petty laborers to earn. But, looking beyond the immediate crisis caused by Covid-19, we have to start thinking about the situation once lockdown ends and life gets back to normal. Being locked up in our houses would have triggered our clever brains to start something of our own. Have you ever wondered where you could go and give those ideas a shot? Where could you find the best bunch of people to work with? Where would you get an actual feeling of being in ‘Shark Tank’ while not having a perfect business? Here we are, with a list of such platforms where you can go and experience being an entrepreneur.
Global Entrepreneurship Week
Global Entrepreneurship Week is an international initiative that inspires millions to explore their potential as an entrepreneur while fostering connection within their ecosystem. This event occurs annually over a span of one week incorporating tens of thousands of events, activities, and competitions each November. Each year, each country participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) designates a host to amplify its national GEW and to run events and activities during GEW. Powered by the Kauffman Foundation, Global Entrepreneurship Week has expanded to 170+ nations since its launch in 2008 with 20,000 partner organizations now serving as a community-building backbone.
TiE Global
TiE aims to connect the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem from early-stage entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, professionals at leading corporations, venture capital, angel investors, thought leaders among others. Its mission is to foster entrepreneurship through five pillars- mentoring, networking, educating, funding, and incubation. There are currently 15,000 members (including over 3000 charter members or mentors) in 61 chapters across 14 countries. Besides its flagship event, TiECon — the largest professional conference for entrepreneurs, TiE now has a wide range of programs including Special Interest Groups (SIGs), TiE Institute, Deal Flow Meetings, TiE Young Entrepreneurs, and, most recently, TiE Women’s Forum and CEO Forum.
Startup Bootcamp
Startup Bootcamp is basically an accelerator that supports early-stage startups to rapidly scale their companies by providing direct access to an international network of over 2000 alumni founders, corporate partners, and investors. It does this through an intense three-month program for which the startups have to get through the selection process. In addition, the teams benefit from €15K in cash per team to cover living expenses during the program, free office space, more than €500K+ in exclusive partner deals from leading technology providers such as Amazon, HubSpot, SendGrid, and others. Each program culminates with Demo Day, a 1-day event with up to 1000 guests who join to support the startups as they continue to scale their businesses.
MIT Bootcamps
MIT Bootcamps are intense week-long innovation and leadership programs that challenge participants to develop a venture in a week. Innovators come from around the world to learn from MIT faculty and MIT-trained mentors. Admission to MIT Bootcamps is highly selective and based on the following five criteria: rigor, initiative, contribution to community, team and cultural fit, and entrepreneurial potential. Many boot campers have found their co-partners and have launched startups from the Bootcamp; almost around $36 million have been raised as funding by now.
Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp is a 4-day long where participants from around the globe come together and form teams to work on an idea agreed by the members to eventually design a sustainable business model. The best models are awarded as the winner and best team. GEB brings successful entrepreneurs and specialists from various parts of the world as guest speakers. It also invites successful joint venture companies, venture capitalists, and angels every year who are the potential investors for your business ideas.
Techstars
(i) Techstars Startup weekend: Within 54 hours you’ll pitch your ideas, team up with cofounders to prototype your product, get feedback from mentors, present to industry judges, and win exciting rewards.
(ii) Techstars Startup week: In this free, five-day celebration of entrepreneurship, you’ll get a chance to meet with local business leaders, take workshops, take sessions from industry experts, and work with like-minded founders to build opportunities around your city.
Future City Summit
Future City Summit is a platform for a young enthusiastic crowd with like-minded enthralling visions for the future to come together with the combined perspective on the development of future cities with the underlying and future technologies. People from different countries share prospects of their respective homelands and strive towards a better ecosystem for the future. The typical 4-day event consists of a number of networking sessions, panel discussions and a cultural night to close the program.
While the coronavirus pandemic is certainly affecting regular work, it has provided us with plenty of time which can be utilized for developing the self-discipline to learn the skills required to formulate sustainable business ideas that could be experimented on global platforms. Gear yourself up to have a birds-eye view over the way businesses are transforming right now and the requirements of the coming future.
