I recently attended the the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of New Champions (WEF AMNC). People are more familiar with WEF’s Davos event for the rich and famous. AMNC is the base camp before the summit climb for entrepreneurs and social champions forging their path to glory.
What hits you first is the scale of the event and its meticulous execution. From the airport to drive in to the event to the fantastic venue. What stays with you are the people you meet and their phenomenal vision, energy and life story.
The first person I met was an Afghani woman working with an aid organization in Kabul. After finishing her day job, she helps women create an income source to support their families. Remarkable stuff! What blew my mind was imagining how she does that in a tradition bound country faced with incessant mortal danger from extremists and terrorism. Even in these horrible circumstances her fortitude and capacity to care are unblemished.
You may have heard about how Estonia became E-stonia. But hearing the story from Kersti Kaljulaid, the lady President of Estonia, is something else. People sometimes discount the digital achievements of Estonia by pointing to its tiny population. Over 100 countries have a population of less than 5 million but no other country, big or small, comes close to delivering 99% of government services online. One can even become a digital citizen of Estonia from any corner of the globe. Of course this attracts hackers, digital crooks and other malcontents. As President Kaljuliad explains it is not just a matter of tight cybersecurity but also designing processes that eliminate risk. With the right balance of security and openness E-stonia has managed to avoid debacles faced by digital champions like Facebook & Google+.
The third superwoman I met at AMNC is the founder of a successful Silicon Valley tech startup. All entrepreneurs overcome multiple challenges but being a woman can make the journey harder. Worse it can be lonelier as husbands are less forgiving of workaholic wives. I spent a lot of time with her before she spoke of her traumatic childhood with absent parents and in her words being “white trailer trash”. Overcoming such odds to make it in hyper-competitive Silicon Valley requires uncommon determination, passion and intellect. She is not just an inspiration to women but to entrepreneurs of all stripes.
Hats off to WEF and China for pulling off an extremely successful event. A big thank you to Startup India for enabling the trip. Most importantly, a shout out to all the wonderful people I had the good fortune to meet and get inspired by.