Entrepreneurs See the World Differently; It's All About Creating Opportunities

Photo credit:  Pascal Muradian.  All rights reserved.

The 7th Annual World Entrepreneurship Forum, held in Lyon, France October 19-22nd, brought good things to life for anyone who is an entrepreneur or aspires to become one.  Forty countries were represented with more than 200 members attending from five continents!  Ideas and opportunities came from everywhere - speakers, moderators, members, sponsors, workshop presenters and partners.  Here's a sampling on some of the talented people we heard from over a three-day period:

• Tony Meloto, Founder of Gawad Kalinga, The Philippines on "pitching for social entrepreneurship."
• Abdallah Absi, Founder and CEO of Zoomaal, Lebanon on "pitching for crowd funding."
• Atef Alshabrawy, Founder and CEO of the Islamic M&SE's Bank and SME's advisor to the Federation of GCC Chamber of Commerce, Bahrain, on "pitching for Islamic finance."
• Arnaud Mourot, Co-director of Ashoka Europe, France on "inventing the future of entrepreneurship at the BoP.
• Aishwarya Mahajan, Regional Head Livelihood Education and Regional Manager of Jaipur Office, Aide & Action International, India on "inventing the future of entrepreneurship at the BoP."
• Dylan Wilk,  Founder of HumanNature, United Kingdom, on "inventing the future of entrepreneurship at the BoP
• Colin Jones, Senior lecturer of entrepreneurship at the University of Tasmania, Australia on "Entrepreneurship 3.0:  Critical knowledge and skills for entrepreneurs and how to develop them."
• Mohammad Reza Dayyani, Founder and Chairmain of the Board - Iran Entrepreneurs Forum, Founder and CEO of Entekhab Investment Development Group, Iran on "doing business in Iran."

Other impressive speakers included:

• Letizia Molatti introduced the socio-economic enterprises concept to bridge the gap in society. 
• Richard EU narrated his experience of handling failures in his family business while inducing family values in his organizational hierarchy. 
• Marita Chang, recipient of the young Australian entrepreneur 2012 award, described her journey from a simple university workshop on robotics to starting-up her company Robogals Global. 
• Chief Nyamweya, spoke about how he embedded happiness as one of the core values of his business.

And that's not all.  There were more terrific speakers and awardees from The Award Ceremony Gala Dinner - too many to list here.  To learn more on who else participated at the amazing World Entrepreneurship Forum, see pictures from each day and become a member, visit:  World Entrepreneurship Forum.  Press kits and news releases, go here.

In closing, entrepreneurs see the world differently.  We are all about creating opportunities, especially ones that can change the world. Thomas Edison is a great example of an entrepreneur who went on to create thousands of ideas that created value over time.  In their own right, the World Entrepreneurship Forum members and participants are all budding Edisons.

Note:  I am in the photo above with all the other participants at the World Entrepreneurship Forum 2014 in Lyon, France.  Next year's Forum takes places in Hangzhou, China.  Watch for more details soon.