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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 2:23 am Post subject: What makes immigrants to the US so entrepreneurial |
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What makes immigrants so entrepreneurial, identified in students who studied abroad
By Gina Hall, Denver Business Journal | 2 November 2016
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/news-wire/2016/11/02/what-makes-immigrants-so-entrepreneurial-may-apply.html
Immigrants to the U.S are almost twice as likely to become entrepreneurs as native-born U.S. citizens. But why?
While immigrants represent only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they make up 27.5 percent of the countries’ entrepreneurs, according to Inc.com. A quarter of all technology and engineering companies started in the U.S. between 2006 and 2012 had at least one immigrant cofounder, according to the Kauffman Startup Activity Index(PDF).
So what inspires immigrants to start successful companies? Is it work ethic? Systemic discrimination? According to a study recently written about in the Harvard Business Review, the answer is in cross-cultural experiences.
“Cross-cultural experiences may increase individuals’ capabilities to identify promising business ideas,” Peter Vandor and Nikolaus Franke, the authors of the study, wrote in HBR. “By living in different cultures, they encounter new products, services, customer preferences and communication strategies. This exposure may allow the transfer of knowledge about customer problems or solutions from one country to another.”
The researchers cited Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington (Greece), Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz (Austria), Tesla’s Elon Musk (South Africa) and Google’s Sergey Brin (Russia) as prime examples of the trend.
But being born outside the U.S. wasn’t the only road to inspiration. The researchers discovered the ability to think creatively also surfaced in students who had spent time studying abroad.
The researchers tested the entrepreneurial capabilities (i.e., the ability to identify profitable business opportunities) of 128 students before and after a semester of living and studying abroad. They asked them to come up with business ideas in the context of media and food retailing. The researchers did the same for a control group of 115 students that continued their studies at their home university. The business opportunities were then rated by four venture capitalists and industry experts blind to the source.
The group with the cross-cultural experience saw a 17 percent increase in their VC/expert ratings of their business ideas after the semester abroad. The ratings of the control group’s business ideas actually declined 3 percent at the end of the semester.
“A temporary or permanent migrant can decide to replicate a profitable product or business model available in one country but not in another,” the researchers wrote in Harvard Business Review. “Successful companies such as Starbucks (inspired by coffee houses in Italy) and the German online retailer Zalando (inspired by Zappos) exemplify the potential of this strategy.”
The researchers added that their findings imply that managers ought to pay special attention to people who have such cross-cultural experiences, since they've been primed to identify opportunities that others without those experiences are less likely to recognize.
(End of article) |
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2buckets
Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 515 Location: Middle East
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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Opportunity not hindered by "class" structure. Rule of law, (mostly). Ability to work hard.
"Most people miss opportunity when it knocks because it comes dressed in overalls, and looks like work"
Thomas Edison |
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papuadn
Joined: 19 Sep 2016 Posts: 131
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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What percentage of immigrants arrive with the necessary investment capital? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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Not everyone makes it. The American Dream can be just that - a dream. |
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Dr X
Joined: 04 Jul 2016 Posts: 84 Location: Everywhere
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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The American Dream is dead. |
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papuadn
Joined: 19 Sep 2016 Posts: 131
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:54 am Post subject: |
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Be sure to attend its funeral, or it won't attend yours |
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twowheel
Joined: 03 Jul 2015 Posts: 753
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:36 am Post subject: |
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^^^Indeed.
George Carlin (R.I.P., you are definitely rolling in your grave these days) said something to the effect of "the American Dream...you have to be asleep to believe it".
twowheel |
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twowheel
Joined: 03 Jul 2015 Posts: 753
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:36 am Post subject: |
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papuadn wrote: |
Be sure to attend its funeral, or it won't attend yours |
Yogi Berra (R.I.P.), is that you?
twowheel |
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