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What makes immigrants to the US so entrepreneurial

 
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 2:23 am    Post subject: What makes immigrants to the US so entrepreneurial Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2016 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What percentage of immigrants arrive with the necessary investment capital?
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The American Dream is dead.
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papuadn



Joined: 19 Sep 2016
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Be sure to attend its funeral, or it won't attend yours Wink
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twowheel



Joined: 03 Jul 2015
Posts: 753

PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

^^^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

PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

papuadn wrote:
Be sure to attend its funeral, or it won't attend yours Wink


Yogi Berra (R.I.P.), is that you?

twowheel
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