Tuesday morning in the convention centre #GEC2019 saw the main opening session with a flurry of local press, media and security. Following the formal welcoming, the keynote speech this year was from Jonas Kjellberg, co-founder of Skype, author and investor. Jonas gave a provoking, humorous and self-deprecating talk about his successes but mostly his failures. […]
GEC Bahrain – Day 1
The first day of the congress is always focused on topics which address the concerns and needs of the GEN country organisations and their delegation. The morning was spent hearing from a number of GEN country leaders and small group discussions, some in the large plenary session, and then the afternoon in focused country groups. […]
GEC 19 – Bahrain, Day 0
Sunday was a good time to relax and great old friends as they started to arrive in Bahrain for #GEC2019. The ubiquitous WhatsApp groups have been set up, and the consistent ‘pinging’ heralding a new message will be the background notes for the week as everyone shares info of meet-ups, tales of late flights, and […]
GEC 19 – Bahrain – Arrival
The annual meeting of over 170 countries all coming together to celebrate, learn and network all things entrepreneurship has been a major highlight of my year for nearly 10 years now. Over the years I have made many friends who, like me, have continued to work in the ecosystem in a range of areas, from […]
Human Capital and Entrepreneurship
A few weeks ago I was privileged to speak in Beirut at the Union of Arab Banks conference on ways of making progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I was one of a panel of speakers on the topic of: “Achieving SDGs through Entrepreneurship and Innovation”. One of the themes to […]
Adjusting to ExPat Life?
Making the adjustment to living and working in a new country takes time, and it is wise to prepare well in advance for that. I have been coaching a guy who is still in the UK but has been offered a position in the ME starting soon. Although the company he is joining has given […]
Youth, Innovation, Social Governance and China
Prizes for the first person to correctly guess the connection! Well, as there would be no blog post if I didn’t reveal the link; what ties all the words in the title of this blog together is the 2nd Youth International Innovation Conference where I was asked to speak earlier this month in Shenzhen. The […]
Startups – take the medicine!
Having recently returned from a gig judging a startup competition, I was challenged once again about the nature of feedback, how it is delivered and how it is received. I have judged, given feedback to and mentored probably hundreds of startups over the years and very happy to do so. What makes it worthwhile for […]
Learning about Teamwork from the World Cup!
At the height of the World Cup frenzy, it seemed appropriate to reflect on that most important human ability, that of collaborating to mutual benefit with colleagues, or like minded others, to work together as a team. Now I have to confess that I am not a great football fan, and the only time I […]
The rise of women entrepreneurs in MENA
The continued rise of women entrepreneurs in MENA The recent legislation changes in Saudi Arabia bringing to women the freedom to drive and the programme for continued changes to empower women in the country are attracting a lot of media attention at the moment. Being in the news for having the freedom to drive is […]