Image courtesy of swinglineblog.com
I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled the Caribbean and met with business people of all types. From government right down to the man in the street. It took some time but I’ve realised why the region is just not on the radar when it comes to technology and enterprise.
Business people in almost every island are terrified of their ideas being stolen. As a result they are disabled into inactivity and completely miss out on the opportunities around them. The default position when working with a new business partner in the region is “will they steal my idea” or “can I trust them”.
Now I must make it clear that I am aware first hand that this does happen in the region. BUT, the only way in my opinion to overcome the problem is to follow models which work in other territories.
Case in point; Hackathon London, last weekend put out a call for entrepreneurs, marketers, developers and designers to come together, develop and even launch a new idea between Friday & Sunday night.
A Caribbean iPhone developer who was invited down said that he was amazed by the fact that 150 strangers would come together, pitch their ideas, get into teams with people they’d never met and over a 48 hour period, develop a new website, mobile application or piece of software – with complete strangers! Some, just for fun, some for experience, some to meet new people and some to start a new business!
Similar events like Launch 48 do exactly the same thing and are very popular events both in the UK and the US. It shows you what’s possible in a short space of time with trust and a “can do” attitude. But here’s the thing, there seems to be the mixture of an ‘entrepreneur’s code’ (to not steal someone’s idea) and ‘competitive spirit’ which keeps enterprise alive and makes the US and UK what they are in terms of technology.
This ‘spirit’ needs to find its way into the Caribbean otherwise it will never be a contender on the world stage. When it comes to the technology business the only way to protect your idea is to either be first to market or better in the market than your competition.
A business partner of mine cites a story frequently which highlights the dangers of keeping your idea too tightly clinched to your chest.
He says that:
“Mary came to me looking for some business advice for an idea she had. She told me that she didn’t want to tell me just yet so would it be ok for her to come back to me? Of course I said.
So 6 months later she gives me a call and says that she hasn’t forgotten about our conversation and is just a little worried about letting her idea out of the bag just yet and will get back to me soon.
9 months later she calls me up saying we need to meet urgently! So I drop what I’m doing and we get together. She proceeds to tell me that two people have started exactly the same business as her just 3 months prior and what should she do?
I reminded her that she had a good 12 month advantage over these start ups and now would have to ‘compete’ because she has lost first mover advantage”
A lot of entrepreneurs are challenged by lack of funds to start a business, but I asked an investor recently what the market was like and he said “If the idea is good enough there are people just waiting to invest”.
There are plenty of 5pm to 9pm entrepreneurs who have fulltime jobs, work evenings and weekends on their idea and finance it themselves. They prove the model on a micro level then attract further investment or partnerships of varying descriptions.
I believe that there’s a clear opportunity for the Caribbean to become the next Silicon Valley. The talent is immeasurable but unfortunately it is equalled by a lack of trust which if not overcome will prevent the region from coming into the future.
Final thought: If you’ve read this and think “There’s nothing we can do and that’s just how the Caribbean is” then I’m afraid you’re part of the problem.
