The Global Startup Movement - Startup Ecosystem Leaders, Global Entrepreneurship, and Emerging Market Innovation

Austen Allred is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lambda School. Lambda School trains people online to be software engineers at no up-front cost. Instead of paying tuition, students can agree to pay a percentage of their income after they're employed, and only if they're making more than $50k per year.

On this episode you'll learn:

-Why have investors and VC's avoided investing in Edtech during this last wave of startups?

-When and why we reached peak university.

-What does the future model of education and workforce development look like?

Chris Olsen is the Cofounder and Partner at Drive Capital. Chris started Drive Capital in 2012 after serving as a partner at Sequoia Capital for six years, where he focused s investments in growth stage opportunities. Chris and his cofounding partner were early on the trend of investing into the next wave of startups coming out of the midwest and his thesis turned out to be true in a big way having recently closed on a second fund totaling $300 Million.

On this episode you'll learn:

-Why did Chris decide to launch his fund in Columbus, Ohio?

-How does Chris think the new Opportunity Zone legislation will affect venture capital in the midwest?

-Where in the midwest does Chris think the hottest startup scenes are?

Toro Orero is the Founder and Managing Partner at Draper Dark Flow, a silicon valley venture capital fund (backed by Tim Draper; Founder, DFJ) for African startups that can change the world. More recently he is the Founder at TravelGee.AI, a startup looking to combine Artificial Intelligence with Adventure and Travel.

On this episode you'll learn:

-What lessons has Toro learned investing in African startups over the years?

-What traits do African founders need to have that differ from their Western counterparts?

-What are the common misperception western VC's still have about investing in African startups?

Dr. Konstantinos Tsanis is currently leading the innovation and transformation arm of the first digital bank of Africa, Alat, created by WEMA Bank. He is a seasoned financial technology and digitalization executive, with 12+ years hands of experience across different continents and industries [FinTech, Energy (Oil, Gas and Utilities), Consulting, High Tech, Academic, Military and Financial], having worked on several market wide FinTech projects such as the E-Bond or FX trading platforms in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, among others.

In his past roles he focused on the growth of the corporate incubator within Thomson Reuters, with a particular focus in FinTechs, Start Ups and SMEs across MENA.

On this episode you'll learn:

-How do the Nigerian banks and regulators view Fintech startups?

-What are the biggest differences between startup ecosystems in the MENA region and the GCC region?

-How is the Nigerian economy viewed by international investors?

Peter Karenge is the President and Founder of BizSolutions 360, a full service architectural, engineering and consulting firm, that has designed, built, financed, operated and managed projects and programs around the globe. He's an architect and entrepreneur who is passionate about creating sustainable solutions that transform communities and power growth.

Born in the economically poor Eastlands Estate in Kenya, and raised by determined parents who believed in hard work, discipline and the importance of education, Mr Karenge now is determined to leverage his capabilities to innovate economic empowerment solutions that alleviate poverty and create employment, especially for the more vulnerable people on a BIG scale.

On this episode you'll learn:

-How would Peter advise a US-based investor interested in making their first investment in Africa?

-What was it like growing up in poverty in Kenya

-How has his experience with sports affected Peter's business career?

This panel discussion features two startup ecosystem builders in Puerto Rico Carlos Jiménez of YEES PR! and Denisse Rodríguez Colón of Colmena66 and the Puerto Rico Science Technology and Research Trust. We discuss the story of the startup community in Puerto Rico post Hurricane Maria and how the community bounced back more resilient than before.

With YEES PR! Carlos focuses on educating Puerto Rico's future entrepreneurs. Denisse leads Colmena66, an ecosystem building initiative looking to connecte business development resources to each other and to a national network of best practices.

Justin Stanford is the co-founder and managing director of 4Di Group an early-stage technology venture capital fund based in Cape Town, South Africa. Having founded his first startup attempt at the age of 18, Justin has been involved in tech startups and entrepreneurial endeavours ever since. In 2009 Justin co-founded the Silicon Cape Initiative, an organization designed to highlight and catalyze South Africa's nascent emerging tech startup ecosystem.

On this episode you'll learn:

-What valuation discrepancies exist between startups in East Africa and South Africa?

-How has the VC ecosystem in Cape Town developed since 2009?

-What is Justin's advice to 18 year olds today who want to be entrepreneurs?

Pedro Vieira is co-founder and CEO of Beta-i - an platform dedicated to build innovation ecosystems that is leading the transformation of a new humanised digital innovation and is the Managing Partner of LC Ventures a pre-seed / seed Venture Capital Firm. Pedro was the host and a mentor of SeedCamp Lisbon, a facilitator and co-director at Startup Weekend Lisbon, and was the co-director and a mentor of the first Founder Institute Lisbon, in addition to several other mentoring initiatives.

On this episode you'll learn:

-What were the early days of getting the Startup Community off the ground like in Lisbon?

-What benefits has Web Summit brought to the Lisbon Startup Ecosystem?

-What are the common traits Pedro sees in the successful founders in Lisbon?

Lisa Besserman,is the Founder and CEO of Startup Buenos Aires (SUBA), a community organization and educational accelerator aimed to inspire, connect and support startups and entrepreneurship in Latin America. SUBA provides tools & resources to cultivate a strong and sustainable startup ecosystem in Buenos Aires, while serving as an outsourcing hub for Argentina's top tech talent. Lisa is an active participant in the global startup community. She is a Google, Startup Weekend & The Next Web Mentor, and Internet Week Speaker.

On this episode you'll learn:

-How did Lisa and her team discover the revenue model for Startup Buenos Aires?

-At what stage do Argentine startups typically outgrow the domestic market?

-What role has the national government taken in supporting the local startup ecosystem?

Johnni Kjelsgaard is the Founder and CEO of GrowthAfrica. Since starting GrowthAfrica, Johnni and his team have helped to accelerate 152 startups with $42 Million in total venture capital being raised by startups going through their accelerator.

He has spent most of his professional life in Africa, and has been directly involved in over 20 start-ups and joint ventures. Johnni represents various organisations and investors on a board level, advising on a policy and strategy level.

On this episode you'll learn:

-What opportunities does Johnni see in secondary cities in East Africa?

-What are the biggest differences between great seed investors in Africa and great Series A investors?

-What skills does Johnni see as most lacking in native entrepreneurs across Africa?