Synopses & Reviews
Why the next Steve Jobs is just as likely to come from Lagos, Acapulco, Lahore, or Mumbai as from Silicon Valley.Elmira Bayrasliand#8217;s colorful narrative brings readers inside the world of high-growth entrepreneurs as they overcome vexing obstacles to build businesses that create jobs and economic growth andand#151;perhaps most importantand#151;shift mindsets. Here are the people who personify the transformative force of entrepreneurship from parts of the world that will be the source of the overwhelming amount of economic growth over the next twenty-five years.
Band#252;lent and#199;elebi applies creative genius as he searches for the talent needed to roll out a wireless mesh technology, convincing skeptics from Europe and America that a breakthrough like this could be developed in Turkey. Tayo Oviosu grapples with the poor infrastructure and political chaos to bring financial services to the vast majority of Nigerians who lack access to banks and other financial institutions.
Bayrasli takes us on an extraordinary journey, with fascinating eyewitness accounts of courage, endurance, and ingenuity, as people in some of the worldand#8217;s most challenging societies build globally competitive products and services that garner international praise and investment. As these extraordinary entrepreneurs create new economic possibilities in their countries, it becomes clear that the same game-changing creative development that happened in Silicon Valley in the 1960s is occurring right now in unexpected places on and#147;the other side of the world.and#8221;
Review
and#147;A foreign policy/business expert examines how entrepreneurs in developing countries are revolutionizing 'business, investment, economics, politics, and society.'and#133; The author uses her uniquely bifurcated vision to explore how entrepreneurs in non-Western countries are overcoming obstacles generally unknown to Western entrepreneurs and to show how the next Steve Jobs will likely not be an American.and#133; Throughout this eye-opening and informative book, Bayrasli offers fascinating insight into how hardship and marginalization may prove to be even greater "mothers of invention" in the 21st century than First World social and economic privilege. A sharp, thought-provoking study.and#8221; and#151;Kirkus Reviews
Review
and#147;Meet seven entrepreneurs who have persisted and prevailed despite difficult circumstances (including outright harassment) in order to achieve success in some of the most corrupt corners of the worldand#133;. By conveying the ingenuity, courage and smarts of these entrepreneurs, Elmira Bayrasli shows us people can thrive and create opportunities for others even in the most hostile and difficult situations.and#8221; and#151;
SUCCESS Magazineand#147;Bayrasli (cofounder, Foreign Policy Interrupted) tells of seven innovators from across the globe in countries such as Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, and examines how they handled the risks associated with doing business in these nations. Dangers include lack of capital, infrastructure, and business networks. Corruption and red tape are also significant factors... Potential entrepreneurs will find the stories inspirational and will be encouraged to follow their dreams regardless of the circumstances.and#8221; and#151;Library Journal, Starred Review
and#147;A foreign policy/business expert examines how entrepreneurs in developing countries are revolutionizing 'business, investment, economics, politics, and society.'and#133; The author uses her uniquely bifurcated vision to explore how entrepreneurs in non-Western countries are overcoming obstacles generally unknown to Western entrepreneurs and to show how the next Steve Jobs will likely not be an American.and#133; Throughout this eye-opening and informative book, Bayrasli offers fascinating insight into how hardship and marginalization may prove to be even greater "mothers of invention" in the 21st century than First World social and economic privilege. A sharp, thought-provoking study.and#8221; and#151;Kirkus Reviews
"[An] absorbing debut...Bayrasli does an admirable job of showcasing these pioneers and arguing that, despite their challenges, the next big breakthrough will come from them or someone like them, not from Silicon Valley.and#8221; and#151;Publishers Weekly
and#147;Bayrasliand#8217;s tightly written, engrossing book jumps right to the important point: entrepreneurship isnand#8217;t limited to what Silicon Valley can create and spreadand#133; This fact-filled, hopeful book will be a boon to future-business-minded readers and a wake-up call to those thinking the U.S. holds the reins of creating new growth.and#8221; and#151;Booklist
and#147;From the Other Side of the World challenges Americans in one of the few areas we are still convinced we are world-beaters: technological innovation. Elmira Bayrasli tells engaging stories of seven entrepreneurs from around the world and harvests a rich trove of insights about what it really takes to create something new and turn it into a successful venture. Itand#8217;s an engaging and instructive read for business leaders and foreign-policy mavens alike.and#8221; and#151;Anne-Marie Slaughter, president and CEO, New America, and Bert G. Kerstetter and#8217;66 University Professor Emerita, Princeton University
and#147;In these amazing stories from around the world, Elmira Bayrasli shows us that entrepreneurial spirit has gone global.and#8221; and#151;Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus
Synopsis
Elmira Bayrasliand#8217;s worldview was turned upside down when a woman in Bosnia told her, and#147;thanks for the help. But we need work and jobs, not foreign aid.and#8221; That prompted Bayrasli to embark on a worldwide quest to find how talented people have overcome insurmountable obstacles to build high-growth businesses that are driving wealth and building communities, regions and countries. Through seven remarkable stories, Elmira Bayrasli shows why the next Steve Jobs and the next Apple, Google or Facebook is as likely to come from Nigeria, Pakistan or Mexico as Silicon Valley.
She discovers that what distinguishes techies in Silicon Valley from women selling bamboo stools in Bangladesh isnand#8217;t their sophistication but simply the conditions that are necessary to sustain and scale business ideas. In the absence of these obstacles, global entrepreneurship can flourish.
Bayrasli paints compelling stories of extraordinary entrepreneurs creatively battling corruption, lack of infrastructure, capital shortages and underdeveloped supplier and customer networks. She offers solutions that can be utilized by entrepreneurs everywhere, and shows why micro-finance, social entrepreneurship, and foreign aid are not enough. Most importantly, she shows how the key to building successful entrepreneurial ecosystems is to provide the framework that enables start-ups to scale.
About the Author
Elmira Bayrasli has a twenty-five year career in global economic and entrepreneurial development. She worked with Madelineand#8217;s Albrightand#8217;s team at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and with Richard Holbrookeand#8217;s special negotiating office to break the Cyprus stalemate and for the OECD in Bosnia-Herzegovina. More recently she has worked with the non-profit Endeavor, a prominent New York-based nonprofit that supports global entrepreneurs operating high-growth companies in emerging markets. Elmira is the founder of the World Policy Instituteand#8217;s Global Entrepreneurial Project and co-founder of Foreign Policy, Interruptedand#151;a media enterprise with the goal of increasing the number of women commenting on foreign affairs on op-ed pages and television. Her Forbes blog column is entitled Entreventures and she has written for Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, VentureBeat, the Huffington Post, the MIT Innovations Journal and the New York Times.