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Jonathan Ortmans

Can Costa Rica Catch Up with Chile?

Last November, Costa Rica joined the global movement to unleash startups by celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). The response surprised its local champions. Costa Rica´s host, Yo Emprendedor, managed to get strong support from 28 key partners from across the private, public, NGO and education sectors—including the Ministry of the Economy, the largest media group in the country and angel investors.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on May 14, 2012
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Category:  Global 
An Entrepreneurial Approach to Your Health Care

One of the prime reasons I founded the Public Forum Institute was a strong belief in the role ordinary citizens can play in addressing chronic stalemates on vital national policy issues. After moderating hundreds of congressionally-chaired health policy forums over the years, I conclude it will be other developments outside of top-down reform that drive improvements in health care. It seems inevitable that with so many people’s income dependent on our health care industry, even the most well-meaning politicians face a never-ending path of discourse in their efforts to improve health care without disrupting such a large chunk of the American economy. The revolution in consumer data may be just one of those new game changers.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on May 07, 2012
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Category:  Health Care 
Globally Minded Lithuanian Startups Get Top Government Help

While the Baltic countries are small compared to their EU partners, they are said to have an outsized role in generating new start-ups, particularly through their big ideas in the tech sector. Today, we look at Lithuania, which has been campaigning aggressively through Global Entrepreneurship Week in the Baltics and has rapidly been gaining a place on the entrepreneurial map.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on April 30, 2012
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Category:  Global 
Poland’s Regional Play

The Polish startup scene is looking increasingly vibrant. For some time now, technology blogs have been covering Polish startup expos, competitions and meetings such as Startup Weekend, PitchRally, E-nnovation and Startup Fest that are happening with some regularity across major cities. And Poland was one of the first winners of a Global Entrepreneurship Week Award. Is Poland poised to take the lead in Eastern Europe?

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on April 23, 2012
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Category:  Global 
Start-Up Chile’s Global Footprint

As part of our ongoing discussion about the globalization of the startup movement, we look today at one nation’s strategy that appears to be very effective. Present at the recently concluded Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Liverpool were the leaders of Start-Up Chile, an almost two-year old initiative that has rapidly gained traction around the world. However, while it carries a similar name to other national initiatives around the globe, it has a very different approach.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on April 16, 2012
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Category:  Global 
Romania's Reach for the Future

The New York Times reported last October about Romania´s sparkling start-up scene and its pool of technology talent. Microsoft, Intel and Oracle have long seen this and invested here, working close to thousands of tech startups that breathe innovation into their companies.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on April 09, 2012
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Category:  Global  Growth & Poverty 
The JOBS Act: How Business Should Get Done in Washington, DC

The JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act is one small step away from becoming law after its fast passage in Congress and President Obama has given reassurance that he will sign the bill when it gets to his desk this week (probably Thursday). The passage of the JOBS Act last Tuesday during a politically charged time is proof that entrepreneurship promotion is a bipartisan issue. As the clock moves relentlessly toward November, both sides of the aisle found common focus and set out to solve the entrepreneurial access to capital problem. The American public should be proud of how functional Washington was these past few weeks.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on April 02, 2012
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Category:  Capitol Hill 
Brazil and the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in 2013

With stadiums rising across the country for the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics, it is clear Brazil itself is rising on the world stage. The country’s economic growth has led it to overtake the UK as the world's sixth-largest economy while the announcement last week that it won the bid to host the next Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) will spotlight the role that entrepreneurs have played in the country’s newfound economic prowess and international standing.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on March 26, 2012
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Category:  Global 
Liverpool’s Legacy

I have just returned today from the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in Liverpool where a weeklong festival of entrepreneurship floated powerful ideas about everything from seeding startup communities to smarter national top-down policies. This week I take a quick look at last week’s GEC and why it matters as a symbol of the democratization of entrepreneurship.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on March 19, 2012
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Category:  Global 
Global Entrepreneurship Congress: An Evolution

The following is an excerpt from the latest Impact Report for Global Entrepreneurship Week that outlines the evolution of the annual gathering of startup champions and entrepreneurs from around the world. You can download a copy of the Impact Report from the homepage of the Global Entrepreneurship Week website.

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Posted by: Jonathan Ortmans
on March 13, 2012
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