The session at INACAP was very different than all the other sessions we had during our trip. The opportunity to interact with the chilean students to exchange our views on entrepreneurship was very refreshing. I am taking the entrepreneurial finance course this semester with Professor Goldberg where we have looked at several startups based in Cleveland and Silicon valley. Hence being able to get a perspective on entrepreneurship in a different country was really special.
Through my interaction with our Chilean counterparts i learnt that education on entrepreneurship was one of the biggest hurdles in creating a viable environment for startups to flourish. Initiatives like start-up chile have definitely helped but more work needs to be done. The most fascinating part of the conversation for me was to learn how there was a set structure in the Chilean society when it came to pursuing a career. According to my Chilean friends career choices are still traditional and being an entrepreneur is still not considered a safe career choice.
I could relate to this sentiment very well since India was at the same stage a few years ago and being an entrepreneur wasn’t considered a great career move by any stretch of imagination in the Indian society. Things have changed quite a bit since then and there has been more support in the society. I feel Chile is at the same stage and if a proper ecosystem is built from grounds up more people would be encouraged to pursue it as a career. We have learnt from various speakers during our trip that Chilean economy is majorly commodity based and hence a thriving and vibrant community of entrepreneurs will help in changing this in the long term. I wish all the best to my Chilean counterparts in making this change happen and hope to see some good results come out of the current initiatives being taken by the government.
Through my interaction with our Chilean counterparts i learnt that education on entrepreneurship was one of the biggest hurdles in creating a viable environment for startups to flourish. Initiatives like start-up chile have definitely helped but more work needs to be done. The most fascinating part of the conversation for me was to learn how there was a set structure in the Chilean society when it came to pursuing a career. According to my Chilean friends career choices are still traditional and being an entrepreneur is still not considered a safe career choice.
I could relate to this sentiment very well since India was at the same stage a few years ago and being an entrepreneur wasn’t considered a great career move by any stretch of imagination in the Indian society. Things have changed quite a bit since then and there has been more support in the society. I feel Chile is at the same stage and if a proper ecosystem is built from grounds up more people would be encouraged to pursue it as a career. We have learnt from various speakers during our trip that Chilean economy is majorly commodity based and hence a thriving and vibrant community of entrepreneurs will help in changing this in the long term. I wish all the best to my Chilean counterparts in making this change happen and hope to see some good results come out of the current initiatives being taken by the government.