Our table was stacked with movers and shakers from around the Cleveland entrepreneurial scene. We had a representative from Corfo, an arm of the Chilean government that fund entrepreneurial ventures. Another person was representing Inacap and their business incubator. And then we had two entrepreneurs, both in the realm of triple bottom line businesses. One entrepreneur had developed a composting machine for farmers’ markets. The other was working on smart house technology. All Chilean participants were clearly passionate about starting new ventures or supporting their growth.
Our conversation revolved around two themes: ideas and funding. There was a discussion around the abundance of ideas. The representative from Corfo felt that the abundance of ideas was there, while the entrepreneur said the ideas existed, but were not developing due to lack of collaboration. Another entrepreneur said that funds were available but there was a lot of bureaucratic red tape to get to it, while the Corfo representative defended the need to protect the investment of public funds. The conversation was lively and diverse. It was an engaging experience to switch between hearing about the Chilean experience and explaining how we felt Cleveland was progressing on the idea and funding fronts.
A big thank you to Inacap and the US Embassy for organizing the event and arranging great giveaways. I can’t wait to try out recipes from the cookbook!
Our conversation revolved around two themes: ideas and funding. There was a discussion around the abundance of ideas. The representative from Corfo felt that the abundance of ideas was there, while the entrepreneur said the ideas existed, but were not developing due to lack of collaboration. Another entrepreneur said that funds were available but there was a lot of bureaucratic red tape to get to it, while the Corfo representative defended the need to protect the investment of public funds. The conversation was lively and diverse. It was an engaging experience to switch between hearing about the Chilean experience and explaining how we felt Cleveland was progressing on the idea and funding fronts.
A big thank you to Inacap and the US Embassy for organizing the event and arranging great giveaways. I can’t wait to try out recipes from the cookbook!