Washington
-- “There is a culture of failure that is unique to
the United States,” said Jonathan Ortmans, of The
Public Forum Institute, referring to the role failure plays
in business activity. “You can fail, and it is seen
as a badge of honor.”
Economic leaders in other countries recognize
that entrepreneurs are a sustaining force for U.S. economic
growth. But they do not always understand that the enabling
environment that fosters U.S. entrepreneurs as they start
businesses includes more than bankruptcy laws to protect
a person’s assets if his or her business fails. The
environment also includes an attitude that sees failure
as a necessary part of the education of a successful leader.
According to Ortmans, president of the nonpartisan
institute, those who run venture funds in the United States,
which loan money to startup businesses in return for a share
of future profits, would not support someone who had not
been through a failure.
Ideas about entrepreneurship, such as the
importance of failure, will be discussed worldwide during
Global Entrepreneurship Week, scheduled for November 17–23,
2008.
During a U.S. pilot entrepreneurship week
in February 2007, Stanford University in California designated
a theme for each day of the week. One day was dubbed Failure
Day. “That is where all the lessons were learned,”
Ortmans said. “Pitfalls were identified, but they
show where resilience is best tested.”
U.S.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation,
with which Ortmans’ institute partners on entrepreneurship
projects, and the business-led, government-backed Make Your
Mark campaign in the United Kingdom will host the 2008 global
event.
At a recent announcement of Global Entrepreneurship
Week, Kauffman’s Carl Schramm and British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown reported that 37 countries thus far have agreed
to participate, among them Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, China, France,
Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Uganda.
Participating nations will focus on activities
that encourage young people to consider becoming entrepreneurs.
Organizers contend that if you ask young people worldwide
whether they are interested in business, 75 percent will
say “no.”
But students will answer affirmatively to
such questions as: ”Do you have an idea for a business?
Would you like to have fun developing it? Would you like
the business to bring value to you?”
In 2007, in addition to the U.S. pilot entrepreneurship
week, there were projects in the United Kingdom and China.
In the United Kingdom, one activity involved
young people being given 10 British pounds and being encouraged
to “Make Your Mark With a Tenner.” Ninety percent
of the participants invested the money in a manner that
made them more money than the original 10 pounds. Many turned
it into 100 British pounds in just one week.
Activities in China focused on science-based
innovation and were centered at universities. Many of the
students’ projects dealt with making money while solving
environmental problems.
One event that was popular in the U.S. pilot
involved giving teams the same three, household items and
requiring them to find unique uses for them. Organizers
report that 300 teams put their ideas -- “hilarious
and creative” -- on the Internet.
Because Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008
will involve young people from so many countries, there
is powerful potential for work to be done across cultures.
Organizers promise many online audio and video connections
to link participants. There will be some competitions in
which teams must form from among young people in several
different countries.
U.S. sponsor Kauffman Foundation is a leader
in entrepreneurship-related research. Past research by the
foundation has shown that during the last decade, one-fourth
of successful high-tech companies in the United States were
founded by immigrants. Earlier in November, the foundation
released a survey that found 40 percent of Americans ages
8-21 hope to start their own business.
A full
list of countries committed, to date, to participating
in Global Entrepreneurship Week is available on a Web site
of event organizers.
More information
on the Kaufman Foundation is available on its Web site.
Elizabeth Kelleher
USINFO Staff Writer
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