There’s an old saying that when the going gets tough, the tough get
going. This aphorism can be seen at work in the global response to the current
economic crisis. Entrepreneurs are coming out of the woodwork, initiating
gales of creative destruction that will be felt for years — if not decades — to
come. For example, The Wall Street Journal1 recently reported that microlenders in
the developing world did more business in 2008 than in the last 15 years
combined, providing seed money for all sorts of small businesses.
The Economist2 recently published a special series on
entrepreneurship that highlighted the rise of entrepreneurship almost
everywhere. The report shows how entrepreneurship has gone mainstream,
supported by governments of every kind, by political leaders from right and
left. Entrepreneurs are being encouraged by a burgeoning complex of venture
capitalists, universities, and advocacy groups.
• • • • • •
A key development has been the emergence
of the entrepreneur as a new kind of “social hero.” People like Oprah Winfrey
and Richard Branson have become the “poster children” for the cause. The
European Union, the United Nations, The World Bank, and other institutions have
taken up the banner of entrepreneurship as a way to invigorate economies that
need help.
People from around the world, especially
India, flock to America to work with Google, Microsoft, or other
entrepreneurial companies. Then, they return home to have their own go at
success. A group of Indians came to Silicon Valley in 1992 and founded an
association called The Indus Entrepreneurs to promote entrepreneurship among
ex-patriot Indians through education, mentoring, and networking.3 The group now has 12,000 members in 53
cities spread across a dozen nations. Their conferences are routinely
oversubscribed.
Enabled by modern technologies and
time-tested principles, these and tens of millions of other current and future
entrepreneurs are revolutionizing the global economy. Ultimately, they’ll
provide the economic catalyst for a...
