Startup Chile Report #1: A Message about Community to Caribbean Tech Entrepreneurs, Developers, Designers and others

Startup Chile Entrepreneurs talking to us at Movistar Innova, the Start-up Chile Incubator/Coworking Space sponsored by Movistar Chile

YES! THERE IS A CARIBBEAN TECH COMMUNITY! THE STARTUP MOVEMENT STARTED YEARS AGO

Remember a couple years ago when we all used to talk amongst ourselves and saying stuff like ” ohh when are we going to get some recognition; when will some of these government and business people just understand and take our ideas seriously; why bother to startup, if we may not have money to scale and finish; where are other crazy people like me and what are they working on in Barbados, Cuba, Dom Rep blah,blah, blah.”

Well my friends, the edges of the very bright spotlight have begun to shine on the Caribbean Tech Community.

Over the past 18months alone there has been a serious surge of community activities – more online and offline community groups being formed; more meetups, conferences, hackathons and competitions. The number of meetups, conferences, apps competition have increased significantly; franchises like Startup Weekend has landed in 5 Caribbean countries – all playing a role in pulling various groups together to connect, collaborate and compete. The words accelerators and incubators have reached buzzword status,especially amongst the newly clued in.  More aid agencies like World Bank, IDB, CIDA have taken notice and have moved to understand what’s going on, give money and connections to a couple of projects to both align themselves with and bring some additional attention.

We’re also seeing talent scouts from Trinidad and the USA going to Jamaica, Dominican Republic to hire developers and business heads…companies like Medullan, Google, Facebook, Linked in have scooped up Caribbean Talent and yes you read that correctly. ( If you are interested in being hired, email me ingrid@connectimass.com)

I know of developers , designers, digitally skilled people who are doing work for US, European based companies and making sweet dosh, but because of obstacles in their home countries they’re keep most of their money offshore using some service. Yes they have found ‘work arounds’ to export their digital skills and keep the cash offshore until local fees and laws catch up to the rest of the world.

We know that on their own, thanks to the social networks, skype, live streams, books, more local and regional competitions-entrepreneurs, developers and designers are building more things, getting into the habit of idea generation, pitching them and building the prototypes, but there’s still lots of room for improvement there.

We’re seeing American Angel and Venture Capitalists fly down to invest in Jamaican and Trinidadian startups. So no, they are not waiting for studies to be done, politicians and businesses leaders to debate on what needs to happen, in order to develop an angel and venture capital ecosystem to support startups.  Things are moving forward regardless and this isn’t unique to us, it’s happening around the world.

Added to that, Diaspora-based Caribbean nationals are factoring greater into the picture as they bring their successes, expertise, global connections to the table that can help raise the level of knowledge exchange, mentoring, funding and community development. I know of Diaspora-based nationals out of USA, Canada and Europe who have moved back to Jamaica and Trinidad in particular. They have been spurred on by what they’ve seen in the community, read on blogs like this, shared in online groups – fortified by the belief that the Caribbean is full of talent and ideas like everywhere else, they want to be part of that scenario that takes Caribbean Tech Ideas to the World -successfully.

So yes without question, we have a Caribbean tech Community that’s making things pretty exciting for many right now. There have been community leaders who’ve just simply got up and made things happen…Cayman, Barbados, Suriname, Dom Rep, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Cuba the community groundswell is now palpable and visible. And from my vantage point as Founder of ConnectiMass, I see where from country to country we certainly are inspiring each other.

It’s been through the development of the Caribbean Tech Community that I’ve been witnessing first hand myself, the change in the mindset and attitude from job seeking to more entrepreneurial thinking, from suspicion and fear to a culture of transparency and collaboration.

So when next anyone asks if there is a community…tell them yes. When next someone makes the mistake of saying there is no community, just clue them in, they really don’t know and mainstream media in the region until recently, hadn’t cared much about what’s been happening in the Caribbean Tech Community.

Every Caribbean Capital City need a couple of these coworking spaces!
This is Movistar Innova sponsored Coworking/Incubator Space that houses Startup Chile Entrepreneurs

CHILEAN STARTUP COMMUNITY

Now I did that loong preamble about community, first to answer definitively the question about the Caribbean Tech Communty and also because, it was THE one thing that Chilean based Entrepreneurs who are part of Startup Chile programme, said was super important and beneficial to them. In many cases,more important that the US$40k seed money each got for the 6 month accelerator programme.

On Day 1 of the 3 day intense knowledge exchange tour, we had a session at the Movistar Innova coworking/incubator space where the 12 person Jamaican delegation led by Julian Robinson,Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining met up with by Carolina Rossi, Startup Chile’s Head of Business Development. She convened a dozen entrepreneurs who shared the who, what, when, where and why of their personal Startup Chile Story.

Here’s what they said about the importance of community:

-Mexican woman entrepreneur – “The knowledge sharing is HUGE. We support each other and learn from each other.”

-Entrepreneur from Spain- ” So many Great synergies have happened.  The culture of collaboration was organic and great for the growth of the startup process.”

-Australian Entrepreneurs – “ There is a great instant network that you leave here with.”

-Bulgarian Entrepreneur – “You get lots of feedback.”

-Indian Entrepreneur – ” We have access to lots of local artistic talent.”

-Washington DC Entrepreneur – “For me it’s been the diversity of the community.”

-American woman entrepreneur – “The community represents such a huge network, it our sandbox to make mistakes and the access to local design, artistic talent and at great rates was awesome.”

FOR CARIBBEAN TECH ENTREPRENEURS

So as we acknowledge the importance of community in its many forms, I urge aspiring and current Caribbean Tech Entrepreneurs, developers, designers, marketing and business heads to do the following:

1. Get involved in the community, start a group or event if there isn’t one where you are. Fact is, there is a fast growing Caribbean Tech Community. Here is a mini guide I put together of groups and events that I know about, helped launch and been privy to know about and be invited to. Click here.  If I missed anyone, forgive me and please send me the info to ingrid@connectiMass.com. You have zero excuse and if you hear yourself saying “I feel so alone”, that would be because you want to be.

2. Don’t wait on government or the business sector, instead, lead them. Yeah I was one of those in the early days who cried that they just don’t understand and we need their support. And yes, of course we do, but we cannot wait and thankfully we have not waited. Frankly that’s how it’s typically worked in the major startup ecosystems I have experienced in Silicon Valley, New York and London – the community leads the entrepreneurship and innovation movement by organising themselves, building things and get some attention – then the pulse rises so much that government and business sector gets tapped on the shoulder and responds. So while we don’t need government and business to be the firestarters, we will need them in some respects to help with the scaling process (laws,policies etc that will facilitate and protect) that can really impact the economic growth of our Caribbean nations.

3. Be a problem solver. Not a Poser. Stay local. Create for the Caribbean and Global. Don’t get stuck on being only a problem spotter, spin it over in your mind and create a solution for it. Remember we live in the Caribbean, yes it is paradise but it’s paradise with problems, so let’s turn our minds to fix them. While Tourism, Exports and Mining have led to the majority of the Caribbean’s riches, there is lots to be disrupted and improved when you mash it up with Technology, so let’s get to it. Not to mention Government and their inefficiencies. Do you know that governments are one of the world’s largest spenders on IT solutions? Then why aren’t you building things to disrupt and help make that sector better too. Then of course, we are all humans, so chances are  the problems we see here, exists elsewhere, so what you think may just be a local solution, can easily become a global one. A problem-solving, global mindset will yield success.

4. Beware the co-opters,sharks and charlatans. But you do need smart, mutually beneficial relationships. The world is in startup mania – you can’t miss it – the blogs, videos, magazine articles, tv news – it’s everywhere and here in the Caribbean too. Consequently, the co-opters,sharks and charlatans will rise, be smiling and want to get close to you.

Personally I’ve had a few kicks in the pants myself over the past year.  People who talk and deliver nada, people who want to take photos with you and are only focused on taking – the words reciprocity and collaboration are not in their vocabulary. People who only want to hire you but will never encourage or facilitate your own success outside of the paycheque they are giving you. People who paint themselves as white knights who know it all. People who promise cash,sponsorship whatever but leave you high and dry. And I know you all could add your own “dance with the devil” stories.

I urge you to share those stories with others in the community, so we can save each other some heartache. Also, business date and do your due diligence on the people and entities that approach you…don’t be blinded by the dangled carrots, or give instant trust because he or she has a title or was in the newspapers or a magazine. Ask around, Google and LinkedIn them, check local associations and business group sand most of all…trust your own instincts, then act on them.

5. Only do business with people who believe what you believe. Now it’s almost natural at times to do business with those closest to you, your college mates, office mates etc, but you must be clear  that they share the same values and vision as you do. It will not work any other way. Remember when your mom used to tell you ” Show me your friends and I tell you who you are,” ? Well it applies to business partners etc too.

We’ve heard the stories of teams of people from colleges who enters a competition together, because you have worked on school projects before…you may win or not then everything gets shot to hell. There are fights over Intellectual Property, the direction of the business etc. So I beg you…if you are serious about a startup- only do business with people who believe what you believe. It’s ok to get to know individuals, say no and piss off a few people, every successful entrepreneur has had to walk that path. So have the confidence to say no and of course this applies to business partners and investors too.

WHAT IS STARTUP CHILE?

So this is the first blog post from me about my recollections of Startup Chile, from which I returned exactly one week today.  It was a walk down memory lane for me. And just in case you are not familiar –  Start-Up Chile is a program of the Chilean Government to attract world-class early stage entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Chile.

It is executed by Corfo via InnovaChile, that seeks to attract early stage, high-potential entrepreneurs to bootstrap their startups in Chile, using it as a platform to go global. The end goal of the accelerator program is to convert Chile into the definitive innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America; this is a mission shared by the Government of Chile and is a primary focus of the Ministry of Economy. In 2010, the program, at that point just a pilot, brought 22 startups from 14 countries to Chile, providing them with US$40,000 of equity-free seed capital, and a temporary 1-year visa to develop their projects for six months.

WHY DID I GO?

Disclosure: I was invited by Minister Julian Robinson and World Bank because I am a tech entrepreneurs now on my 4th startup in the social media space and am also the founder of ConnectiMass a 6 year old non-profit that promotes tech entrepreneurship and innovation in the Caribbean by producing media content and events for aspiring and current Caribbean tech entrepreneurs. This blog is also a part of the ConnectiMass initiative.

THE JAMAICAN MISSION

The mission led by Julian Robinson, minister of state in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, which included three young software developers: Roxanne Wanliss, Joel Dean and Stephen Gentles. Dr Stacey-Ann Wilson, adviser to Minister Robinson, Reginald Nugent, adviser to Anthony Hylton, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce; Audrey Richards, consultant to the Development Bank of Jamaica, Sandra Glasgow founder and managing director of Biz Tactics Limited and Dionne Palmer, incubator manager at the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Technology Jamaica

Startup Chile’s knowledge exchange tour was sponsored by WorldBank and was represented there Fabio Pittiluga, senior social development specialist in the Sustainable Development Department for Latin America and the Caribbean, and consultant to the bank, Ivan Gonzalez.