Ready for Prime Time? Hair, tie looks good, right?
Gave a talk to The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) in Lahore, Pakistan last night, and it was a thrilling experience for me to be among so many fellow travellers. I feel a bit embarrassed I never stumbled across this group before, which was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. There are currently 13,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 61 chapters across 17 countries. TiE’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiE’s focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs.
If there are going to be new breakthrough products, services and approaches to poverty alleviation, it would not surprise me in the least if many of them came from this group. There is an ideal mix of older, successful entrepreneurs who have “made it” professionally and financially and are looking for ways to turn their skills address the problem of poverty, and young, up and coming entrepreneurs who are still building their companies and are looking for ways to adapt their products into weapons against poverty. Bon chance!
And now it’s time to bid adieu to Pakistan. Heading home.
Rupert