Impressions from St.Gallen Symposium in Switzerland

I got a privilege to be part of 40th St.Gallen Symposium in Switzerland which took place on 6th-7th of May with the pre-programme on 4th-5th of May. This Symposium provides a platform for some young people from the best business schools across the world to meet with the prominent business leaders from across the globe. I got selected there to represent the BI Norwegian School of Management.

The topic of this year's Symposium (the topic is different every year) was "Entrepreneurs - Agents of Change" - relevant for both my studies, as well as for my academic and professional interests. The event was organized on a very professional level (around 300 students participated in organizing it, guided by the board of trustees). The line of speakers and workshops leaders was very impressive - the most high-profiled event I have attended so far. CEO of Nestle, Chairman of the Board of UBS, Chairman of the Board Deutsche Bank, the Managing Partner of McKinsey&Co, Chairman of the Board of BASF, Minister for the Economy of France, to name a few.

The most impressive for me were the stories from the European, American and Asian entrepreneurs - both of established successful businesses and those among young ambitious "leaders of tomorrow" (I was being labelled a "leader of tomorrow" as well). Very smart people, impressive conversations, good fun with some of the "leaders of tomorrow", new ideas and insights, yet another confirmation that I have a larger responsibility towards this world.

I took many notes during this symposium and decided to type in some of them here.


Global barometer (the survey among the "leaders of tomorrow")

99% of young leaders of tomorrow (400 respondents from across the globe) think that globalisation is good.

The Eastern Europeans are least proud of their countries across the globe. Only 35% are proud, while in total 85% of young leaders of tomorrow are proud of their countries.


Entrepreneurship

Suhas Gopinath (India) started his first business venture when he was 14 in an Internet cafe in Bangalore (he didn't have his own PC) – a freelancer which was dealing with the design of the websites. When he was 15, he first employed people, although his family was against him being involved in the business venture (they wanted him to learn in school properly). Later started with the e-commerce systems, e-systems for education, dealing with the systems that distinguish between real/fake medicine according to the bar code. He now employs several hundreds of people, being 23.
“One advantage with being a young entrepreneur is that you are not afraid of failure”

“Capital without capitalism”: everyone can start up a firm on a kitchen table with a laptop for $300 and have a global audience from the day 1. (Peter Dey, BBC business reporter).

Dr. Bert W. M. Twaiihoven (Switzerland/Holland), an entrepreneur who has established several companies:

• “If you know what you don't know, you are a winner” - there must be people who can be better than you (managers, project leaders etc.)
• Business plan – you are always too optimistic. The success of the technology business venture almost always takes at least 5 years. The first year is always unprofitable.
• Reluctance to change among the people around you: “The only one on the world who likes change is the baby in the wet diapers”
• He was 82 when giving the talk, but was doing a lot of sports with his wife, because it holds one to be healthy.

Angad Paul (GB), entrepreneur:

• “Entrepreneur is the one who creates a long-term wealth, a long-term value”
• “Entrepreneurs surround themselves with the people who are smarter than they are”
• “Money is a measure, a by-product. It is a form of energy”

M. Shafik Gabi (Egypt), entrepreneur:

• “Fortune favours bold and determined”
• “Cash is the king, profit is an opinion”
• “Don't be afraid to fail. If you will, you will fail”

Hiroshi Mikitami (Japan), entrepreneur:
“Everybody can become an entrepreneur. But only some can become successful entrepreneurs.”

Christian von Koenigsegg (Sweden), entrepreneur:

• “I never wanted to build a business. I wanted to build the sports car. That's why I succeeded as an entrepreneur.”
• “If Einstein has figured out how does the universe work while sitting in a cafe, I could have figured out how to build a car without an engineering background”
• “You should only become an entrepreneur if you have a reason to do so. Ask yourself: Do I have something special to contribute? Am I ready to sacrifice?”

Mark C. Medish, U.S. Diplomat
“Entrepreneur is a combination of a great explorer and a great bullshitter”

Morten Lund (DK), co-investor of Skype, failed as a newspaper investor, multiple entrepreneur:

• “Forget about the ideas. Ideas mean nothing. What matters is a team”
• “Money comes from sales”
• “There is no formula” - no unique recipe for success
• “Vision is everything. But be sure you don't mess it hallucination with it”
• “Network is the key” - learn to communicate
• “Technology is the key”
• "Try. Self-confidence every day."
• Being positive. The power of minds.
• Being crazy vs. the mainstream
• "Go with your interests and hobbies"
• “Look for good people. Good people will succeed with anything”
• “Don't over-strategize”. Forget about BSC, McKinsey and similar
• “Find people who you share values with”
• “Try to stay in love”
• “It's all your fault”. Don't blame the others
• "7 out of 8 businesses die. So, don't jump into anything."
• "Do branding."

Would we have had such a financial crisis if there would have been more female leaders around?

Christine Lagarde, Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment of France (my absolute favourite governmental representative there):

• “There are too many dark suits around. And not enough legs [in financial world]”.
• “If Lehman Brothers had been “Lehman Sisters,” today’s economic crisis clearly would look quite different.”

Nature vs. Civilization - 1:0

People around the world (at least in the territories that call themselves "civilized" world like Europe) are used to be in a driver's seat. We are used to be able to govern what is happening around us. You want to go on holiday? No problem - you book the ticket in the Internet, pay for it with your credit card, take a place - and you're there.

Not this time, however. I am one of those thousands unlucky ones who couldn't take off from or land to many airports across Northern and Central Europe due to eruption of the volcano in Iceland and subsequent spread of the ash from it. My flight from Oslo to Turkey could not happen today. My 1-week holiday has been cancelled and with it - a certain shared joy that I have been waiting for.

However, I have been surprisingly calm about it. After all, people are spoiled with the false belief that they can control everything. The Mother Nature is mightier than us and I - as a big admirer of the Nature on our planet - feel just humble about it.

A beautiful Internet ad

I have recently stumbled upon a marketing campaign of clothes collection at YouTube. Rarely do I see such a beautiful advertisement meant for Internet - with a subtle humour and intelligence. And it is quite an interesting example of using the social media for marketing purposes.

A personal leadership message from Steve Jobs

Thanks to an assignment at my university I watched a commencement speech of Steve Jobs at Stanford University in June 2005. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc., the co-creator of Macintosh computer, Pixar Animation Studio, iPod, iPhone, and, more recently, iPad.

A truly inspiring speech from a person who is hard not to respect for his achievements.



Few quotes from his speech:

"...the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

"I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

The end of my first entrepreneurial venture

In January 2009 Marko, Viljo and me launched a small entrepreneurial venture offering eco-tours to Croatia and Kazakhstan in Estonia - Reisid Vabadusse. In December 2009 we decided to close the project. The main reasons? The inability to get together sufficient amount of groups for the tours due to the economic downturn, more-difficult-than-planned business model and changes in regulation (higher obligation of deposits for tourism companies that is difficult for us to handle).

A combination of these factors made us believe that the venture shouldn't survive its first year. As it was a testing year anyway, it was quite rational decision for us.

The blog related to ecotourism and tourism in general will be continued.

So, what would my personal income statement related to this venture be?

Outflows:

• Around 2500 EEK (ca. 150 EUR) of investment not returned
• Many hours of work together with my devoted partners

Inflows:

• Experience in preparing, starting up and driving own business venture - everything from writing a business plan to marketing and sales
• Good understanding of tourism and travel industry
  
• Personal entrepreneurial lessons (e.g. importance of well thought-through operational plan)
• Great moments of synergy and fun experienced together with two positive and reliable people

All in all, it does not look all that bad for a first venture. There are new ideas in relation to Reisid Vabadusse too.

Life-changing technology

We can often read and hear that technology has changed our lives. And it indeed has. But how about changing the very way we sense the outside world?

Norway is the best place to live in the world

According to the annual UN human development index, Norway is indeed the best country to live in. The index takes into account life expectancy, literacy rate, school enrolment rate and the country economy.

What I as a foreigner having lived for longer than one month in four different countries before and living now in Norway can say about it? Is it really the best place to live?

Below are my personal reflections on that matter which I have gather throughout past 15 months of living here, talking to different people (both Norwegians and foreigners like myself), reading books and articles about it.

Why it is (arguably) not good to live in Norway?

• The weather can be depressive at times. Not so much sun, long and dark winters, much rain - hardly fitting an image of paradise.
• People may not seem that friendly and talkative, hard to get friends.
• People (especially young ones) may seem not being able to have fun without getting utterly wasted and losing their human dignity.
• If you are an entrepreneur, be ready to be taxed heavily. Not the country to get very rich easily.

As for me, well, I am not very much influenced by the weather. In fact, I like Nordic/Baltic kind of weather much more than the one in South - I cannot really stand the heat. And I don't mind rain/snow at all.

Coming from Estonia, I do not expect to call a guy I know for couple of days a "friend". Besides, Norwegians are, as a matter of fact, much more helpful than many others.

I do not usually miss going to the parties, so as for humble opinion, people can get as drunk as they like unless they harm the others.

One cannot get very reach in Norway easily indeed. On the other hand, it's hard to get very poor here too - I am going to come to this one next.

Why is it good to live in Norway?

• Whatever work you do - shop assistant, waiter, bus driver - you are paid as much as to be able to afford quite a decent life. And I mean it - every Norwegian can afford to go on a vacation abroad at least once a year, everyone can eat healthy and diverse food, everyone is able to have a nice apartment. If there are some poor people here, they are poor by choice.
• Great social security - health insurance, unemployment 'safety net', pensions for older people and for people with disabilities - everything is in place and is available for everyone to use.
• Nice green cities without excessive traffic jams or high air pollution.
• Good education available for everyone - the level of education is rated among the highest in the developed countries by the OECD.
• Stable economy not generating high levels of unemployment. Now, in the midst of economic recession, Norway has unemployment between 2,5 and 3 per cent (for comparison, average in Europe around 6-7%, in USA around 10%).
• Equal opportunities for all members of society (no society can be completely equal, of course - that's nonsense) - women get roughly the same wage as men, homosexuality is not considered a disease, being a non-Norwegian descendant is neither shameful nor disadvantageous.
• There is a lot of beautiful, unspoiled nature that is taken care of.

Anyone reading this blog post can perhaps understand what is my opinion on whether it is good to live in Norway...

If I was to dig a little bit deeper...

...what are the reasons of Norway being arguably the best country to live in?

This list is a subjective, yet is based on careful observations and analysis.

• In my opinion, the most important, the social trust. I can indeed trust people here. I am not afraid of theft or cheating as much as anywhere else I have lived so far. That minimizes such phenomena as corruption or discredit towards the others.
  
• Norwegians behave (in by far the most of the cases) in a sober and sensible way. No rush, no excessive emotions, people listen to the others. It prevents many dangerous situations and allows for a careful analysis and good planning.
  
• Respect for a human life and basic human rights. Unless you behave against the norms of society (criminal, drug-addict etc), you can expect your human dignity to be untouched.
• Quite innovative nation which strives for constant improvements. It has its traits of conservatism, but just exactly as much as needed to preserve social norms and values.
  
• Effective economic and social model based on consensus. No major quarrels in politics, no big disasters in the economy (in comparison to elsewhere).
• Somewhat luck. The discovery of the oil in the North Sea in the 1970s has definitely helped. However, even when adjusting economic performance for all non-oil&gas related activities, Norway still has one of the most effective economy in Europe.

The list can probably go on further...

...but what are the conclusions?

When having expressed such thoughts of mine here in Norway, I was accused to be over-optimistic in these respects. Well, I say - do not do mistake - I am not claiming Norway is a perfect country. But Norway is definitely the best country in many respects from what I have seen so far.

One indication: from conversations with my class-mates of non-Norwegian origin I've understood that virtually all of them would like to stay in Norway after the graduation.

Will I be one of them? Never say never. But it does not belong to my best-case scenario as for now. :)

P.S. All photos here are from my own collection - all made in Oslo and Oslo area.

What dreaming means to me...

...one can read about it in the October edition of the magazine for young entrepreneurs in Estonian.

Short summary in English: big dreams are powerful. They make you strive for more. They make you innovate. They must be the very core of what you are and what you do. That's what I have discovered throughout my life so far.