gist initative partner survey 2015

7/23/2019 GIST Initative Partner Survey 2015

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GIST Initiative Final Project Report

68

II ResultsoftheGIST LocalPartnerSurvey

GISTcountryandregionalpartnersareessentialtoGISTsmission;theycontributelocalresourcesand

helpbuildopportunitieswithustosupportentrepreneurshipecosystemsandamazingentrepreneurs

whoarereadytolearn.GISTbringsvalueandopportunitiestoentrepreneurialecosystemsin

collaborationwithourpartnersaroundtheworld.Countryandregionalpartnersandtheir

entrepreneurshavebenefittedthroughpartnershipwiththeGISTInitiativeanditsprogramming.A

representativefromStartupMalaysiawithwhomCRDFGlobalcollaboratedsaidtheGISTInitiativewas,

apartnershipthatfeltmorelikeafriendship...supportingeachotherformutualbenefits.

ThroughtheGISTInitiative,CRDFGlobalhascollaboratedwith85organizationsin40countries.CRDF

GlobalsurveyedalloftheseorganizationstogathertheirthoughtsonparticipationwiththeGIST

Initiativeandreceivedcompleteresponsesfrom25organizations,aresponserateof29.4%.CRDF

Globalhadvaryinglevelsofengagementwithpartnerorganizationsbasedonfundingopportunitiesand

ontheindividualsattheorganization.CRDFGlobalreceivedresponsesfrom10ofthe11organizations

thatCRDFGlobalclassifiedastheGISTInitiativesstrongestpartners,basedonthelevelofcollaboration

throughoutthe

program.

CRDFGlobalsurveyedthepartnerorganizationsrepresentativestoseektheirfeedbackabouttheGIST

programminginwhichtheyparticipated.Partnerorganizationsentrepreneurshavereceivedaccessto

businessexpertsandaskquestionsinrealtimeatGISTTechConnects.Theorganizationsentrepreneurs

alsoappliedtoGISTTechIcompetitionswhichbroughtthesemifinalistsinternationalexposure,

mentorshipandseedfunding.TwelveorganizationshavecollaboratedinhostingGISTStartupBoot

Camps,andtheyhavereportedandincreasedlevelofconfidenceamongtheentrepreneurswho

attendedandanimprovementintheorganization'sreputationandcredibility.Wefound

overwhelminglypositivereviewsofthewaysthattheGISTInitiativecontributedtosuccessofthelocal

partners,andwilldetailtheresultsofthesurveybelow.

Interpreting

the

results

CRDFGlobalaskedpartnerorganizationstoprovidetheirfeedbackontheirtimewithworkingwiththe

GISTInitiativeoverallandwiththethreeprogramareasoftheGISTInitiative:BootCamps,

TechConnectsandCompetitions.Firstthesurveytopicisdisplayedwiththeweightedaverageofthe

responsesinparentheses,withStronglyAgreeasa5downtoStronglyDisagreeasa1.Theweighted

averagetakesintoaccountallresponsesanddemonstratesthestrengthofagreement.Thisisfollowed

byachartthatshowsthedistributionofresponses,aswellasananalysisoftheresponsesandsome

quotesbythepartnerorganizations.

The

GIST

Initiative

is

maybe

the

greatest

technology

entrepreneurship

network

and

community

intheworld.BeinganactivememberofithelpedCTICDakarbeingrecognizedinternationally

andgetaccesstogreatUSinvestorsandentrepreneursplusitsalotoffun!CTICDakar


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69

GIST

Initiative

Overall

nalysis

ThepartnerorganizationswereaskedtoprovidetheirfeedbackontheGISTInitiativeoverall.This

particularquestionandresponsesare:

Pleaseindicateyourlevelofagreementwiththefollowingstatementsregardingtheimpactthat

participatingwith

the

GIST

Initiative

had

on

your

organization:

With

the

GIST

Initiative:

Youraisedyourvisibilityasanorganization(4.32)

Yourentrepreneursreceivedaccesstohelpfulentrepreneurialskills,trainingsand

opportunities(4.28)

Youwereabletoformorstrengthenconnectionswithseasonedentrepreneurs,investors

andthebusinesscommunity(4.21)

Youacquirednewideasorskillstobetterserveyourmembership(4.16)

Youwereabletoformorstrengthenconnectionswithaspiringentrepreneursinyour

community(4.04)

ThestrongestagreementwaswiththestatementthatparticipatingwiththeGISTInitiativeraisedthe

partnerorganizationsvisibility.However,weightedaveragesforallstatementsareabove4,which

correspondstoagree,meaningthatonaveragealllocalpartnerswhoparticipatedinthissurveyhave

foundtheGISTInitiativetobebeneficialtotheminallofthefivewayspresentedtothem.

Oneorganizationsuggestedholdingregionalcompetitionsandsemifinalisteventsfocusedonattracting

regionalinvestors,asinternationalinvestorsthatgotoGlobalEntrepreneurshipSummitsdonothaveas

muchincentivetoinvestintheregionorasmuchmarketunderstandingasalocalorregionallybased

investor.

GIST

Competitions

ThepartnerorganizationsthatpromotedtheGISTCompetitionswereaskedtoprovidetheirfeedback

ontheexperience.Thisparticularquestionandresponsesare:

Selectyourlevelofagreementwiththefollowingstatements:PromotingtheGISTcompetitions

has:

Increasedtheconfidencelevelsoftheentrepreneurswhoapplied(3.92)

Raisedyourorganization'svisibility(3.92)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Youwereabletoformnewconnectionsor

strengthenconnectionswithaspiring

Youacquirednewideasorskillstobetter

serveyourmembership(4.16)

Youwereabletoformorstrengthen

connectionswithseasoned

Yourentrepreneursreceivedaccessto

helpfulentrepreneurialskills,trainings

You

raised

your

visibility

as

an

organization(4.32)

StronglyAgree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree


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Improvedtheabilityofparticipatingentrepreneurstopresenttheirventures(3.83)

Strengthenedmyorganization'snetworkofentrepreneurs(3.58)

Increasedmyorganization'scapacitytorunitsownventurecompetitions(3.5)

Thestrongest

agreement

was

with

the

two

statements

that

participating

with

the

GIST

Competitions

increasedtheconfidencelevelsoftheentrepreneurswhoappliedandthatpromotingtheGIST

Competitionshaveraisedthepartnerorganizationsvisibility.Eightof12organizationsalsonotedan

improvedabilityofparticipatingentrepreneurstopresenttheirventures,andhalfoforganizationsthat

respondedsaythatpromotingtheGISTCompetitionsstrengthenedtheirnetworksofentrepreneursand

hadincreasedtheirorganizationscapacitytorunitsownventurecompetitions.

Oneorganizationnotedthatthecompetitiongavethemtheopportunitytoseeventuresfromaround

theglobe,andcontinuedtosharethatwiththatknowledgetheywerebetterabletocomparethelevel

ofdevelopmentoftheirentrepreneurswiththesemifinalistsfromotherregions.

GISTBootCamps

ThepartnerorganizationswhohostedGISTStartupBootCampswereaskedtoprovidetheirfeedback

ontheexperience.Thisparticularquestionanditsresponsesare:

Selectyourlevelofagreementwiththefollowingstatements:HostingtheGISTStartupBoot

Camphas:

Improvedmyorganization'sreputationandcredibility(4.5)

TogetherwithGIST,weintroducedforthetimein2009aspecialawardforoutstandingwomenentrepreneursaspart

ofthe

MIT

Arab

Startup

Competition.

Since

then,

women

participation

in

our

programs

has

been

increasing

year

after

yearandin2014,50%ofourwinnerswereWOMEN!MITEnterpriseForum PanArab

GISTandCRDFGlobalservesasapowerfulplatform/linkageforyoungbuddingentrepreneursfromPakistanto

showcasetheirabilitiesandideastotheworld.YoungentrepreneursareprovidedmultipleopportunitiesbyGISTto

competewiththerestoftheWorld.Ourclosecollaborationandpartnershiphasmadethisawonderfulventurefor

promotingtheopportunityamongtheentrepreneursofPakistan.MITEnterpriseForumPakistan

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Increasedmyorganization'scapacity

Strengthenedmyorganization's

Improvedtheabilityofparticipating

Raisedyourorganization'svisibility

Increasedtheconfidencelevelsofthe

StronglyAgree

Agree

Neutral

Diagree


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Ledtoanincreasedlevelofconfidenceamongtheentrepreneurswhoattended(4.5)

Strengthenedmyorganization'snetworkofentrepreneurs(4.17)

Increasedtheabilityofyourorganization'sentrepreneurstopitchtheirventures(4.17)

Allowedmyorganizationtoacquirenewskillsandknowledgetosharewithourmembership

(4.08)

Strengthenedmyorganization'snetworkoflocalmentorsandinvestors(3.92)

Increasedmyorganization'scapacitytohostlargescaleentrepreneurialevents(3.82)

ThestrongestagreementwaswiththestatementthathostingGISTBootCampsledtoanincreasedlevel

ofconfidenceamongtheentrepreneurswhoattendedandimprovedthepartnersreputationand

credibility.Weightedaveragesforfiveofthesevenstatementsareabove4,whichcorrespondsto

agree,meaningthatonaveragealllocalpartnerswhoparticipatedinthissurveyhavefoundtheGIST

Initiativetobebeneficialtotheminthesefivewayspresentedtothem.Onepartnerorganizationsaid,

Itopenedtheeyesofentrepreneursthattheyhadtoworkharderandhaveabetter"mindset",while

anothershared,

this

kind

of

partnership

with

our

organization

had

definitely

apositive

impact

because

therewassomethingconcreteandassessableforyoungentrepreneurs;itactuallywentbeyondthe

speeches.Thatwasreallyremarkable.

Thepreparationofthismajoreventpertainingtoentrepreneurship inAlgierswithknown

entrepreneursfromtheU.S.,gaveusahugevisibilityandwecouldstartingdevelopingour

organizationimageandmarketingtowardpromotionofentrepreneurship inourcountry.For

instance,theWorldIntellectualPropertyOrganizationhasdecidedtodrafttwopagesinits

internationalguideaboutourorganizationintermsofourcapabilitytodriveentrepreneurship

programsAlgerian

Startup

Initiative

GIST

TechConnects

ThepartnerorganizationswhohostedviewingsitesfortheGISTTechConnectswereaskedtoprovide

theirfeedbackontheexperience.Thisparticularquestionandresponsesare:

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Increasedmyorganization'scapacityto

Strengthenedmyorganization'snetwork

Allowedmyorganizationtoacquirenew

Strengthenedmyorganization'snetwork

Increasedtheabilityofyour

Improvedmyorganization'sreputation

Ledtoanincreasedlevelofconfidence

StronglyAgree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree


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Selectyourlevelofagreementwiththefollowingstatements:HostingtheGISTTechConnect

viewingsiteshas:

Providedattendingentrepreneursaccesstoimportantentrepreneurialinformation(4.05)

EncouragedfurtherentrepreneurialconversationsaftertheTechConnects(4.05)

Raisedyour

organization's

visibility

(3.84)

Servedasameaningfulopportunitytobringtogethermyorganization'smembership(3.84)

Theweightedaverageofthelevelofagreementwitheachofthefourstatementswasclusteredaround

4,whichcorrespondstoagree,meaningthatonaveragealllocalpartnerswhoparticipatedinthis

surveyhavefoundtheGISTTechConnectstobebeneficialtotheminthesefourwayspresented.One

organizationshared,ParticipantswerehappywiththequalityoftheTechConnectbroadcastsand

foundthecontenttobeinsightful,stimulatingandeasytounderstand.Attendeessharedtheirpersonal

storiesandotherssharedideas.Theenergyintheroomwasintense!

OneorganizationreallymaximizedthebenefitsoftheTechConnectsthroughsocialmedia.They

promotethe

event

via

our

social

media

and

encourage

participants

to

watch

it

from

home.

For

our

own

GISTTechConnectviewingsites,theaudienceisveryhappy.Inadditionwerecordtheeventsand

broadcastthemafterwardsthroughthesocialmedia.

TechConnectsgavemyTeamMembersachancetoexperienceGISTwhichhadbeenalife

changingaffairforme.AfewhavebeenencouragedtostarttheirownStartupsandweare

supportingtheminthisendeavor.FarmSpaceAfrica

Wewereabletogatheroverhundredpeopleinoneplaceandafterthelecture,healthy

discussionsgaveuponwayforwardandmovingtonextlevel.TechnologyIncubationCenter

Benin,Nigeria

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Raisedyourorganization'svisibility(3.84)

Servedasameaningfulopportunitytobring

togethermyorganization'smembership

Providedattendingentrepreneursaccessto

importantentrepreneurialinformation(4.05)

Encouragedfurtherentrepreneurial

conversationsaftertheTechConnects(4.05)

StronglyAgree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree


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ThoughtheresultsshowthatalloftherespondentsrecognizedbenefitsoftheTechConnects,manyalso

providedideasofhowtoimproveTechConnects.Logisticalconcernsincluded:

Internetconnectivityissues

Timezonedifferencesmadetheselectedbroadcasttimelessthanidealforsomeparticipants

Desirefor

two

way

video

connectivity

to

facilitate

in

even

more

interactive

discussions

LongertimebetweenannouncementofandthedateoftheTechConnects.Theirorganization

founditdifficulttomobilizeontherelativelyshortnoticeoftengiven.

Suggestionsweregivenaboutlanguageandculture:

SuggestionforTechConnectspeakerstobetterenunciateandusebasicEnglishvocabularywith

thisinternationalaudience

Difficultyoflocalentrepreneurstoculturallyconnectwithinternationalspeakers.The

suggestionwouldbetoincludespeakersfromallregionsduringthevariousTechConnects.

gist initative partner survey 2015

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