Re: Startup ecosystem

From: S Moonesamy <sm+mu_at_elandsys.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:39:58 -0800

Hi Elizabeth,
At 21:51 16-02-2016, Turbine Mauritius wrote:
>Just a quick note regarding SM's comment " I don't see university
>students showing interest."
>
>Having a open event or a kiosk where students are expected to show
>up doesn't work in most environment, whether in Mauritius or abroad.
>This has been my experience everywhere

Yes.

>However, when interacting with a closed audience (some would say
>"captive" - the best way possible!), the students quickly start
>sharing fantastic ideas and projects that they never would have
>discussed in any other setting. This has happened while visiting 3
>different universities in Mauritius, when interventions in specific
>classes led to great exchanges.

I agree that having such an audience would be more effective.

>To link this back to Vincent's suggestion to hold the event during
>DevCon, it seems like a great idea because 1) the audience will have
>a certain interest just for showing up to the DevCon itself 2) it
>will be a "forced" opportunity for said audience to meet the
>start-up community, whether they act on this opportunity or not, and
>3) hopefully it will spark some members of the audience to have
>discovery moments such as the ones witnessed during my campus tour
>last year that were great eye-openers for everyone involved.

It's an open event though. It is not a good idea to mix "startup
community" with "outsourcing community" as it might cause some issues
in future.

>By the way, Fast Company published their list of the world's most
>innovative companies yesterday and it just so happens that Africa's
>third most innovative company is African Leadership University,
>based here in Mauritius. Having been a facilitator there, I can
>vouch for the discovery moment method that is proving to change the
>way people think about education, but mostly how people think about
>changing mindsets.

:-)

>If this thread on developing the start-up ecosystem in Mauritius
>should serve any purpose, changing mindsets should be at the top of the list.

I agree on what you wrote about having changing the mindsets at the
top of the list. Is anyone on the island willing to do that given
that it means talking about problems?

Regards,
S. Moonesamy
Received on Wed Feb 17 2016 - 08:41:26 PST