Apple’s Steve Wozniak, Netflix’s Randolph to inspire entrepreneurship in Riyadh

One of the most apparent indicators of the burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Kingdom was the recent arrival of several global venture capital funds, including California’s Plug and Play Tech Center. Shutterstock

• Global Entrepreneurship Congress to focus on making it easier for entrepreneurs to start, scale a business

RIYADH: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Netflix’s first CEO Marc Randolph, and a successful star cast of serial businessmen will soon be visiting Riyadh to steer entrepreneurs through the onslaught of the business and health issues that have impaired the global economy.
Called Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2022, or GEC, the event will be held between March 27 to March 30 and will focus on making it easier for entrepreneurs to start and scale a business. 
“We need entrepreneurs to help solve the world’s growing problems,” said Steve Wozniak in a GEC statement, while adding that the need to rethink how entrepreneurs could drive through the global pandemic, tackling climate change or cyber vulnerabilities.
Sharing his views, Netflix’s Mark Randolph said there is a need for entrepreneurs to come together and share their hard-earned lessons from the pandemic and connect with investors and policymakers who are critical to their success.
“Entrepreneurship is not easy. You will be told ‘no’ and that your ideas are impossible countless times,” said Randolph in a statement.
The GEC 2022 will be organized by the Washington-based Global Entrepreneurship Network, or GEN, and hosted by Monsha’at, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises.
“We believe there is a sincere and aggressive effort in the Kingdom to allow new value creation and economic growth potential from entrepreneurship and innovation to flourish,” GEN founder and serial entrepreneur Jonathan Ortmans told Arab News while explaining his choice of holding the GEC 2022 in Saudi Arabia.
One of the most apparent indicators of the burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Kingdom was the recent arrival of several global venture capital funds, including California’s Plug and Play Tech Center, the world’s largest early-stage investment fund, and another California-based early-stage investor, 500 Global.
“It’s extraordinary to see what has happened in Saudi Arabia in the last two years alone in terms of the level of sophistication of entrepreneurs and investors and also the support the ecosystem provides,” said Ortmans, while pointing to the crucial role of the Kingdom’s government in leading the economic transformation, especially the efforts of Saleh Al-Rasheed, governor of Monsha’at.
“Several years ago, Mr. Al-Rasheed joined our Startup Nations Ministerial Steering Committee, in which government actors from around the world meet to discuss regulatory issues, particularly around innovation. We are here because of him. He is the one that thought of it and was committed to it,” added Ortmans.
Al-Rasheed was equally enthusiastic about the event. “To regenerate our economies, we need to invest to unlock innovation nationally, regionally, and globally,” he said in the event’s press release. “The only place you can see how the pandemic has transformed the world’s entrepreneurial ecosystem landscape is at GEC 2022,” he added.
The GEC is held annually, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be taking place for the first time since 2019. The event will include the Startup Nations Summit and the Startup Nations Ministerial, two cabinet-level forums to discuss regulations and policy, with the theme “A New Business Plan for the Global Economy.”
Ortmans is optimistic about the broader outlook for entrepreneurship in the Kingdom. “To people in Saudi Arabia, I would say, ‘you are lucky because this is a very important moment to be in the Kingdom; there is an extraordinary commitment on behalf of everyone.”
Ortmans further added: “You have the support of the infrastructure and a critical mass of peers who genuinely believe that they are part of a new renaissance and at the beginning of an extraordinary economic revolution.
“Whether you’re a builder or backer or an enabler, it is a great time to be in the Kingdom.”