[FutureCom Brazil] How to boost an emerging digital economy? Aim at SMEs!
From São Paulo, Futurecom was the occasion for David Dean, senior advisor at the Boston Consulting Group, to present a report dealing with the factors accelerating or decelerating the digital economy. Intitulated “Greasing the Wheels of the Internet Economy”, it analyzes how countries can benefit from identifying obstacles to digital driven growth, with special emphasis […]
A journey into the Singapore startup ecosystem with Florian Cornu
For the Coursera MOOC I’m following on « Beyond Silicon Valley », I had to interview a local entrepreneur to better understand the concept of a startup ecosystem. Living and working in Singapore for two years now, I chose to interview Florian Cornu, whose experience started with corporate innovation finance industry beforehand in London for AXA. He then came to […]
Make in India: meet 5 promising Internet of things startups from Bangalore
Internet of Things in India is becoming quite trendy, as a lot of the conversations happening at Bangalore’s top tech event Nasscom Product Conclave showed. Make in India vs. Innovate with China: two economic policies for Asia’s giants This trend also benefits from a broader support from the government. Back in September, India’s new Prime […]
MOOC – Beyond Silicon Valley #4: Leveraging Anchor Institutions
We saw how government, philanthropic institutions and intermediary organisations were all helping entrepreneurship in their own way. They don’t have the same time-frame, objectives, or resources, and as such, their combined and coordinated effort create what we would call a startup ecosystem. This week in Coursera’s MOOC “Beyond Silicon Valley”, we take a look at […]
Baby e-commerce in Vietnam with Taembe cofounder Don Phan
For one of our research projects, we have been in touch with taembe.com, an e-commerce website similar to Diapers.com for Vietnam. As I was asking a few questions on digital innovation for parents in South-East Asia, I found it useful to share the interview I ran with Taembe co-founder Don Phan. Born in the US to […]
Startup Books #3: Startup Rising, the Entrepreneurial Revolution in the Middle-East, by Christophe Schroeder
So far, Startup Rising: The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle-East is one of the top startup books we have read, and that we recommend. In a dense, 200+ pages, author Christopher M Schroeder not only gives a kaleidoscopic view of an exciting region, he also shares his own journey, started with “a first mentorship experience […]
MOOC – Beyond Silicon Valley #3: Jumpstart, a case study for Intermediary Organisations
In the two last sessions of Michael Goldberg’s, we saw how governments, as well as donors and philanthropists played a role in Cleveland tech ecosystem. This week, we will study what Jumpstart is. Launched in 2004, this non for profit intermediary organisation helps startups by providing pre-seed funding, developing angel networks, and connections for follow-on […]
The best of ConDatos, the top Open Data event of Latin America
Last week, a most important serie of Open Data events took place in Mexico City. The biggest megacity of the whole American continent was chosen to hold the second edition regional conference for Open Data: ConDatos, after the success of the 2013 edition in Uruguay. The main exhibition was enhanced by many parallel conferences, meetings, […]
Start-Up Chile: effective support to the entrepreneur or actual struggle?
Start-Up Chile is a well-known program of the Chilean government to attract early entrepreneurs and support start-up creation in the country, consisting of a USD 40K grant, a visa to work in Chile, plus some extra practical help like mentoring, networking and free access to a coworking space. Beyond the money+visa hook, how does an […]
[FutureCom Brazil] Submarine cables: the long-term bet of Google in the emerging markets
After having invested in the pacific transcontinental cables, Google will keep on developing network infrastructures. This time, the Montain View giant will team up with Latin American companies and African operators to link the United States to Brazil, and unexpectedly, Angola, via submarine cables. (Submarine Cable World Map, as of 2007, Wikicommons) Four companies from […]
