Global thinking has been the big difference in successful startups. How big is the problem that entrepreneurs want to solve? What is the geographic scale of the problem to be solved? What is the impact on world society? What benefits do you want to achieve for humanity?
This is the kind of question that successful startup entrepreneurs and founders are asking themselves from the ideation stage of their businesses.
The in-depth research that startups do to understand the market now needs to be expanded as much as possible. Sampling a survey needs to overcome geographic barriers and consider cultures, diversities and transforming policy on a global scale.
There are thousands of companies being created around the world and many will succeed. However, most of them will not last 2 years. Scale thinking is not just about bringing wealth to founders and investors in the short term. In fact, scaling is the ability to continue to generate value for your customers and followers in an infinite way. Founders and executives need to combine global thinking with an infinite vision of business. It's like entering a game with the will that it never ends, because “there is no getting there, what exists is the journey”. I know that sounds like consultant jargon and “startuper” motivator, the fact is that everyone says this, but it needs to be put into practice.
Creating global businesses and companies with infinite vision transforms society in a much broader way and makes an impact on humanity in a much more profound and lasting way. When creating a startup, the founder can think about developing an app to solve a specific and specific problem for a company/customer (finite mentality) or they can map a problem that affects humanity or a large part of the world population, and use skills and business partners to create solutions with a global impact in a continuous and inexhaustible way. (infinite business vision)
The Go Global X program, launched at the end of 2020, has this purpose, to generate international connections and take entrepreneurship in southern Brazil far beyond the “neighborhood”.
Creating a favourable environment for collaborative competition and generating international exposure to the innovation environment is undoubtedly the right way to attract new public investments, and much more private investments from the “four corners of the world”. This approach brings a new perspective of attracting talent and generating global business. Naturally, investments in startups that develop in an environment like this become interesting for any type of local investor, and especially foreign ones.
In the first two quarters of 2021, there were two stages of the Go Global X program: “Ideação” and “Validation”. In these stages, startups went far beyond thinking about the product. They had to rethink the customer and the value proposition on a global scale. Quite different than creating a “neighborhood business”. Startups, which this July enter the “Traction” stage, now have the challenge of accessing customers in local markets and especially outside Brazil. Only then will they have a global “badge”.
Sebrae, the Alliance for Innovation that unites Unisinos, UFRGS and PUCRS, together with Unicred and the support of the government of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, bring a new dimension to entrepreneurship in southern Brazil. The Go Global X paves the way for the internationalization of companies, provides opportunities for businesses on a global scale for startups, enhances the attraction and retention of talent, and as a reflex it provides the generation of wealth and stimulates the economic development of the region.
Ideality, a company focused on international entrepreneurship certification, is a partner of the Go Global X Program in Canada. Startups participate in workshops, expert mentoring, and create connections with the world's fastest growing innovation ecosystem, the Toronto-Waterloo corridor. Chats with Brazilian founders of successful startups and evaluations with expert judges are also part of the agenda. We were able to provide a connection with investors and participation in an international “Pitch Competition” seeking to accelerate companies with a “global mindset”. We are very happy to contribute to innovation in southern Brazil and generate real international business opportunities for Brazilian startups.
Global thinking coupled with infinite vision business development form the path to be chosen by entrepreneurs and startups in this new era of interplanetary perspectives and inevitable digital transformation.