44 From Education to Entrepreneurship

HUGH VAN PRAET / GUIDING PROGRESS

At the beginning of being an entrepreneur, you are often alone. For this reason, it’s essential to create an environment where the entrepreneurs feel supported. Is it through easy access to credit, mentorship or an ecosystem, to name a few. Additionally, there are many regulations to comply with within Europe (or European countries such as Belgium) before starting a business. This is why regions outside of Europe (N.America, Asia) are doing better than Europe/us. In the Economist US and China have venture-backed companies valued at over $1bn at 1.25 and 0.75 respectively and in Europe, less than 0.25 (Google search “harder better faster stronger Pitchbook Economist”) One actionable idea is to create an organisation, ala Futurpreneur in Canada, where an entrepreneur can easily access credit. When this happens, a pro-bono mentor is teamed up with this entrepreneur. This organisation could also look at other ideas to reduce existing European hurdles that encourage entrepreneurship.

ALEX AMO / SCIENCE FOR CHANGE