Download - GO - the people report 2014
the people report2014 pilot year
the ideaIn February 2014, we launched The GO Project as a yearlong experiment in 21st
Century entrepreneurial talent and ecosystem development. The model: learning was done in
real time, on real ventures, in a co-living, coworking, and co-creating multi-skilled
team, across three continents.
We partnered with local governments, accelerators, corporate backed incubators, and cross-sector organizations in emerging
tech hubs to execute 3 month short-term, high-impact projects. The goal: help build
vibrant entrepreneurial communities by training entrepreneurs, scaling startups,
launching initiatives, and driving collaboration within and across ecosystems.
By years-end, The GO Project has tested a new platform for talent development and
employment with projects and partners in Santiago, Chile, Istanbul, Turkey, and
Yangon, Myanmar.
this reportThis report is about how it all played out:
our successes, our failures, and our future. But most importantly, it is a thank you to the people that made it all happen.
#itsallaboutthepeople The people—our partners, colleagues, and collaborative communities—were the source of inspiration, meaning and lasting impact. They’re now
lifelong friends, mentors, colleagues, and partners.This is our collective story.
DorothyFrom: Monterrey, MexicoFocus: Experiential learning, curriculum design, workshop facilitationBackground: Harvard University Graduate School of Education for Master’s Degree in Psychology, Neuroscience and EducationWhy GO: Explore experiential and unconventional learning methods in varying socioecono-mic environments to ultimately design better education systemsKnown for: Love of cooking and flamenco dancing
MeganFrom: Chicago, IL, USAFocus: Brand strategy, marketing, UX and human-centered designBackground: A Corporate Global Brand Manager and Experience Designer at Discover Financial Services and Diners Club InternationalWhy GO: Gain global empathy,explore entrepreneurship and grow expertise in human-centered designKnown for: Endlessly dancing and listening to reggaeton
the team 1/2”Your Allies of Glory are those people that support you, encourage you, challenge you, hold you accountable, and push you to give your all without excuses.”
- Antonio Neves
MinhFrom: Atlanta, GA, USAFocus: Civic engagement, government backed innovation, urban hacking, social enterprise strategyBackground: Project management and consulting at the City of Atlanta’s Mayor’s OfficeWhy GO: Garner start-up experience within social enterprise space and gain global perspective on socialjustice and city developmentKnown for: Mean dance moves and family style cooking for the team
DorothyFrom: Monterrey, MexicoFocus: Experiential learning, curriculum design, workshop facilitationBackground: Harvard University Graduate School of Education for Master’s Degree in Psychology, Neuroscience and EducationWhy GO: Explore experiential and unconventional learning methods in varying socioecono-mic environments to ultimately design better education systemsKnown for: Love of cooking and flamenco dancing
MandyFrom: San Jose, CA, USAFocus: Content development, writing, video production and editingBackground: Highschool Student and Japan-America Friendship Scholar for Youth for UnderstandingWhy GO: Take a meaningful Gap Year of personal and professional growth at a global scale after high school and prior to undergraduate schoolKnown for: Being nocturnal and our Gen-Z insider
MattFrom: San Francisco, CA, USAFocus: Collaborative consumption, growth hacking, bootstrapping, UX/UIBackground: Senior account advisor at Lyft, Digital Strategist at Om Entertainment Group, and serial entrepreneurWhy GO: To understand collaborative marketplaces around the world and see how local economies were utilizing technologyKnown for: DJing the day to day and a loud laugh
NooraFrom: Turku, FinlandFocus: Graphic design and front-end web developmentBackground: International Relations Assistant at Turku University of Applied SciencesWhy GO: Launch a career in design by developing design assets for entrepreneurs around the worldKnown for: Her eye for second-hand style and endless meme creation
AlfonsoFrom: Monterrey, MexicoFocus: Culture hacking, operations, project execution & quality assuranceBackground: Production Systems Engineer and Supply Chain Lead Consultant at SIEMENSWhy GO: Launch and scale athriving startup with global impact and gain a transformational year of personal growthKnown for: Naming his mustache Camille and hidden drawing talent
MaxFrom: Raleigh, NC, USAFocus: Finance, business development, public speakingBackground: Analyst and Consultant at a Business brokerage and advisory firmWhy GO: Acquire global perspective, undergo holistic personal growth, and transition into the social enterprise industryKnown for: Being mildly athletic and making people laugh
the team 2/2”Your Allies of Glory are those people that support you, encourage you, challenge you, hold you accountable, and push you to give your all without excuses.”
- Antonio Neves
NooraFrom: Turku, FinlandFocus: Graphic design and front-end web developmentBackground: International Relations Assistant at Turku University of Applied SciencesWhy GO: Launch a career in design by developing design assets for entrepreneurs around the worldKnown for: Her eye for second-hand style and endless meme creation
CecilyFrom: Providence, RI, USAFocus: Content production, media and communicationsBackground: Content producer for e-commerce startup and startup Youtube channel, film productionWhy GO: To build a platform that empowers entrepreneurs by sharing resources, connecting across globalnetworks, and expressing their voiceKnown for: Quick wit, hats and a killer shoulder dance
KevinFrom: Houston, TX, USAFocus: Sales, public speaking,workshop facilitation and pitchcoachingBackground: Program design and coordinator at Transformative Action Institute and serial entrepreneur ofsocial enterpriseWhy GO: Learn about people and social enterprise across cultures and continents to launch and lead a for-profit impact company in thefutureKnown for: Being able to makefriends with anyone anywhere
the chance collision that started it all
We met at StartingBloc’s New York Institute in June 2013. This was where the concept of
The GO Project was born.
“We bring together entrepreneurs, activists,educators, and innovators working to create
change...We do this through a transformative5-day experience where Fellows learn fromproven change-makers, are pushed to take
bigger risks, and find new life-long allies.”
- StartingBloc website
long-distance planningAs a group from different career stages, disciplines, and
geographies, we built our team and planned the pilot over Google Hangout for 8 months - every Monday night.
jillian & andresAfter planning for 6 months, we were
introduced to Jillian from ProChile at a networking event in Chicago.
She introduced us to Andres who ran crowdfunding and entrepreneurship
initiatives at ProChile in Santiago.
our first baby Jillian and Andres brought us to Santiago, Chile to launch our first pilot in March, 2014.
stg
santiago model: collaborating across the
chilean ecosystemWe were introduced to leaders across the
community to drive collaboration and build cross-sector initiatives. There, we worked
alongside partners at Mujeres del Pacífico, Plan C, Fundación Chile, ASECH,
and Pais Digital.
bugraDuring our pilot in Santiago we met Bugra, COO of Startupbootcamp Istanbul. He brought us to Istanbul, Turkey for the second phase of our pilot in June, 2014.
ist
istanbul model: in-house mentoring at
a startup acceleratorWe worked with Startupbootcamp Istanbul’s
inaugural class to scale nine early stage tech companies, and coordinated the
program alongside the Startupbootcamp Istanbul executive team.
julianFinally we met Julian, the founder of Ideabox
Myanmar. He brought us to Yangon, Myanmar in October, 2014 for the third and final
phase of our pilot.
ygn
yangon model: developing community
incubator and coworking space
We ran initiatives and events alongside ideabox Myanmar’s young entrepreneurs, tech startups, and community leaders like
Phandeeyar, SuleTech, mWomen, Geek Girls, and Koe Koe Tech.
s t r a t e g y c o n s u l t i n g
d e s i g n & d e v e l o p m e n t
c o m m u n i t y b u i l d i n g
i n n o v a t i v e e d u c a t i o n & t r a i n i n g
the workOur team acted as an entrepreneurial
swiss-army knife to fit our local partners’ needs. The goal = build vibrant
entrepreneurial communities.
d e s i g n & d e v e l o p m e n t
e m p o w e r i n g w o m e n e n t r e p r e n e u r s
i n n o v a t i v e e d u c a t i o n & t r a i n i n g
m e d i ap r o d u c t i o n &p r o m o t i o n
strategy consulting
Equity Crowdfunding Strategic Plan - Santiago
PlanC crowdfunding platform 2020 Strategic Vision - Santiago
24/7 startup communication & support - Istanbul
Startup pitch coaching - Istanbul
community building Launched weekly documentary night at
STGO Makerspace - Santiago
Updated ASECH Membership On-boarding Experience - Santiago
Promoted, branded, and managed Demo Day - Istanbul
Planned and coordinated SuleTech coworking space launch
- Yangon
Launched Creative Breakfast monthly events - Yangon
innovative education & training
Researched Framework for Innovative Primary Education
- Santiago
Coordinated Khan Academy Translate-a-thon events and strategy
- Yangon
Taught Interactive workshops in branding, growth hacking, bootstrapping and more
- All hubs
HacKIDemia introduction and workshop partnering - Yangon
Lead Pitch Coaching Workshops - Istanbul
design & development
Designed UX/UI of Chilean Mining Industry Web and Mobile application
- Santiago
Managed customer insights and brand redesign of accelerator startups
- Istanbul
Managed customer user testing and focus groups - All hubs
Designed and executed full-suite design of brand, marketing, pitches, stage set and collateral assets
for Demo Day - Istanbul
Designed and executed full-suite design of brand, marketing, pitches, design and collateral assets for
empowering women entrepreneurs
Designed curriculum and launched pilot “I+M Lab” innovation course for women entrepreneurs and
women executives - Santiago
Developed Geek Girls tech community training workshops
- Yangon
Managed launch of a women’s empowerment mobile magazine mobile app May Ma Di
- Yangon
Coordinated and presented at Connected Women’s Conference
media production & promotion
Demo and promotional videos for Startupbootcamp Istanbul Demo Day
- Istanbul
“Accelerating Genius” campaign to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Istanbul
Program videos for GSMA award competitions - Yangon
Event and company promo videos - Yangon
Wrote and managed blog and social media activity for partners
- Istanbul
Created, produced, and directed ”35 Under 35” campaign to promote young entrepreneurs
- Yangon
personal wellbeing & team dynamics
We argued and let our egos get the best of us. We ignored our basic needs and made little effort to
achieve balance and stability.
We’re in this for the long haul, so now we make more effort to achieve balanced work habits. Allowing ourselves ”off
duty” time means that when we’re on, we deliver.
being complacentWe sometimes failed to recognize when to step up
and take initiative. We let complacency take ownership instead of us.
One of our mottos is “say yes and show up.” We’ve trained ourselves to recognize where help is
needed and how to add value.
failing 1/2This past year was an experiment, and we
messed up a lot. We see failures not only as an important way to drive transparency, but
as an endless opportunity for learning. Here are some of the ways we failed and
what we learned from them.
not setting the right expectations
Not setting expectations from the beginning led to confusion and misunderstanding with our
process and outputs.
Now we set expectations at the beginning, with ourselves, the team, and our partners. This keeps channels of
communication open and transparent.
lack of structureWe didn’t establish structure and systems that would
create efficiency and up-to standard delivery on projects. This made us inconsistent and sometimes unreliable.
Creating process and building infrastructure from the beginning not only makes our jobs easier and more
efficient, it makes our results better.
failing 2/2
12 Startups mentored
347,288 Flight miles or 558 905 flight kilometres racked up
32 Countries visited
13.9 Times around the world
go by the numbers
121,883 Direct Network likes on Facebook
14 Articles published
53 Videos produced
13 Partnerships established
26 Events launched, hosted and staffed
1 Lost tooth
go by the numbers
100%Percentage of fellows finding a job or opportunity post-GO:
Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute
Harvard Masters Program: Mind, Brain, and Education
Fulbright Scholarship Program
Co-founder, Bindez
Startup Executive, Good Labs
with the 5 remaining members sticking together to continue to build and scale GO as an education tech global startup
27,900 Hours spent using ’complimentary’ wifi
10 Languages spoken proficiently
∞ Memes shared
global communityWe’re thankful for all the amazing people we
met, worked with, learned from, and shared ideas, projects, beers and laughs
with. You are forever a part of our community of mentors, partners, innovators and
free-thinkers that span the globe.
global communityWe’re thankful for all the amazing people we
met, worked with, learned from, and shared ideas, projects, beers and laughs
with. You are forever a part of our community of mentors, partners, innovators and
free-thinkers that span the globe.
”The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk,
mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never
yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow
roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
- Jack Kerouac
Thank you Javier Álvarez for the concept inspiration. Thank you Fulvia Morales and Charlie Harless for the StartingBloc pictures in pages 12 and 13 of this report. All other images and illustrations by GO.
Copyright Global Opportunity (GO) 2015.
2015 and the futureOur pilot in 2014 proved there is a demand for this type of global career building and entrepreneurial
ecosystem development.
This report closes out The GO Project as the pilot year experiment. Five of our founding members will continue on in 2015 to refine and expand the model
with the traction built and lessons learned with our global community of trailblazers worldwide.
See you in 2015!