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KARACHI: Lack of focus on critical creative thinking in the country’s education system was identified to be the key reason why graduates prefer joining the rank of job-seekers and not job creators, speakers reiterated in an entrepreneurship seminar on Friday.
Another factor that inhibits growth of entrepreneurship was insufficient sources of funding, the speakers added.
Highlighting the role of start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), National Entrepreneurship Working Group’s General Secretary Saad Amanullah Khan said 80 per cent of US GDP comes from SMEs and 99pc businesses in New Zealand have less than 50 employees.
About sources of start-up funding, he said an angel investor was better than a venture capitalist as they “will likely agree to simpler term sheets, better valuations, and less restrictive terms on potential dilution, voting rights, exit options, and executive roles.”
Working Group’s President Rizwan Razvi talked about National Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development Strategy (NEEDS) project, which aims at developing and strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The programme will achieve its objectives through three core activities: directory (baseline data of the ecosystem’s players and its strengths and weaknesses), online resources (specific information about relevant business regulations, entrepreneurship initiatives, and domain development (entrepreneurship education, access to finance, regulatory reform, women’s entrepreneurship), he said.
Later in a panel discussion on role of opinion leaders in creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem, a participant said the weakest link was perhaps teaching business ideas but drive has to come from within. Another panelist disagreed and stressed that entrepreneurship is not necessarily an inborn skill and could be taught like other disciplines.
The seminar, ‘Entrepreneurship for Economic Growth’, was jointly organised by the Karachi School for Business and Leadership (KSBL) and the National Entrepreneurship Working Group as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative that introduces entrepreneurs to the youth.
Published in Dawn, November 22th , 2014
