PEER LEARNING EVENT ON

Guidance supporting entrepreneurship learning and entrepreneurship in Europe

Policy, practice and future potential

Thessaloniki, Greece, 25-26 November 2010

YES European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs

“Improving young entrepreneurship in Greece and Europe”

Dimitris TsigosPresident

dimitris.tsigos@yes.be

About YES

• Background– The European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs– Founded in 1988– 16 Countries– 40.000 YE– 18-45 years old

• Objectives– To foster business cooperation and networking activities between

young entrepreneurs– Establish links with entrepreneurial organisations in Europe and

elsewhere– To maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Institutions of the European

Union

Entrepreneurship in Europe [1/2]

• Young Entrepreneurs in Europe cannot be satisfied by the current entrepreneurial culture and activity

• In comparison to the US & Canada, or even the BRIC countries, one could argue that European entrepreneurship is conservative and slow-moving– According to EBAN, angel investments in Europe are approx. 4

Bn€ Vs 19 Bn € in the US• While EU27 GDP is ~ 20% higher than US

• The academic & research community in many European countries is less entrepreneurship-oriented than in the US & Canada– European leadership in R&D can result to leadership in

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship in Europe [2/2]

• The common European market still remains an objective– Very few companies consider “Europe” as their

domestic market– Cultural barriers proven harder to overcome than

legal / regulatory– Many European startups find Distributors and VARs in

countries like US, Canada & Australia easier than they do in Europe

A Strategy for Improving Entrepreneurship in Europe

• Short-term: Access to capital– Immediate results– Focus to angel investments & soft-loans– EU-funded schemes for leveraging angel investments

• Mid-term: Access to markets– Efficient mediation services for supporting small, growing businesses

to access customers all around Europe and in any other region– Support European startups to access the global market

• Long-term: Build entrepreneurial culture– Changes to the educational system towards creativity and self-

confidence– The European society should accept entrepreneurship, especially

startups, as a progressive activity

The YES Action Plan [1/2]

• Boost start-up entrepreneurship– We envision Europe as a start-up paradise

• Quality of life and cultural heritage in Europe are ideal for creative startups

– Combined efforts to overcome the access-to-capital barrier• Cooperation with EBAN – The European Business

Angels Network and the European Investment Fund• Strategic cooperation with the “Entrepreneur

Commons” movement– World-wide peer support group for entrepreneurs

The YES Action Plan [2/2]

• Materialize the common market– We support our members to consider “Europe” as their

domestic market• It’s better to have a domestic market of 500M people!

– Organize quarterly B2B match-making events • Connect customers and suppliers from different EU

member States• Boost the creation of Distribution and VAR

networks– We are working closely with Enterprise Europe

Network

Thank you