Summit / 3-minute read
The world has changed, and the startup ecosystem has not been left untouched. Valuations are down, investments are scarce, and lay-offs are happening across the field. But the most resilient startups are built in recessions! That is why for START Summit 2023, we will be bringing together the world’s leading founders, investors, and visionary minds to share their stories and their approach to resilience.
Being a founder isn’t easy. Of course, some startups disrupt visibly, but those are the exception. The harsh reality is that most startups need to fight persistently to have a chance of being successful.
How do you get funding? How do you convince investors to spend their money on your idea in times when money is tight? How do you survive without VC money? START’s mission is to provide a platform for founders to share their experiences with these difficulties. We want to “acknowledge failures and show how to get back up” Stefano Botta (Corporate Partnerships). In the end, only resilient startups will survive.
Over the years, START has grown into a global movement with a mission to help entrepreneurs worldwide tackle meaningful challenges. Being resilient isn’t easy. To build courage and keep pushing through hardships, it is vital to get support from the ecosystem. Eric Yáñez (Fellowship participant; Founder of Hipo) stated: “Getting to know other young founders helped me to stay optimistic and made me more resilient.”
As resilience also plays a significant role in the student team that organizes the START Summit 2023, we asked our fellow team members about their perception of our topic, “Reaching for Resilience.” Max Keller (President START Global) identifies resilience as a way of “future-proofing yourself, your environment, and your business.” For him, resilience is about taking a forward-looking perspective and making a conscious effort to build a structural framework within which you can flourish as a person as well as a professional. This supports Sina Werners´ (Talent Development) statement that, in the end, being resilient is only possible if we “adapt and grow in difficult circumstances.” That perfectly reflects the work ethic we follow in our START Global team. As Nadine Aeschlimann (Public Relations) points out: “We try to embrace change and constantly improve ourselves to grow bigger than our challenges.”
Whenever we tend to doubt our capabilities, we try to remind ourselves of the statement of Mateo Bolívar, a young Fellowship participant from Columbia. He already founded his first successful Startup at 18 and was able to pitch it at Shark Tank Columbia. He argued: “If I can do it, you can do it.”
If you want to build your resilience, a great opportunity is getting inspired by the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Visit the START Summit 2023 and see how much impact young founders can have when they reach for resilience. We will showcase how entrepreneurs embrace losses, build resilience, find the courage to stand up again, and dare to conquer uncertainty.
