Sixteen young Ghanaian graduates Saturday graduated with diplomas from the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, East Legon in Accra, with the onerous, almost biblical commission to go and shine amongst men, believing in their capacity to be global winners.
Jorn Lyseggen, Founder and CEO of Meltwater Group, told the young entrepreneurs who had undergone the school’s two-year training programme in software entrepreneurship – programming, software development, business plans development and entrepreneurship skills -that success was possible from anywhere in the world, Ghana inclusive.
It is the reason they must take their destinies into their own hands and confront the world and in the process banish failure. Failure, he said, will come only if they fail to try.
“Today we are living in a wonderful world. Never has individual talent had greater opportunity to change the world. To create a software copy for example, all you need is a computer, a computer costing a few hundred dollars and after that, it’s up to you – your imagination, your drive and your conviction. We hope entrepreneurs being hatched from MEST will inspire generations; the young minds, perhaps in this neighbourhood. We hope that role models from MEST will inspire local youth to believe in themselves, to believe in their own abilities to start companies, to believe in their own abilities to go outside of Africa to compete internationally, to compete with anyone else out there as long as they put their heart and minds to it.
“We want to make a statement here at MEST. We want to make a statement that talent is talent everywhere. Success can be created anywhere in the world and why not Africa.”
While urging the graduates not to forget what they had learned during their training, Jorn Lyseggen said the curriculum was expected to have equipped them with more than technology to also help them develop perspectives, critical thinking, values and success principles.
“My hope is those learnings are the ones you will carry forward. I hope that you will carry these learnings for the rest of your life… that you’ve already developed critical thinking and don’t accept things for face value. .. Don’t listen to people that tell you this and that doesn’t work. Trust your gut; trust your own instincts…”
The graduates are also to be generous and give people they meet the benefit of the doubt even if they cross them, (for no one has ever been wrong for being generous); see the world in positive light rather than in negative terms (see solutions instead of problems, friends and partners rather than enemies or competitors); and live by world class standards where they will be proud associating with developments rather than settle with anything less than spectacular.
Jorn Lyseggen also told them that while it is desirable to pursue success, it is even more desirable to be patient because they cannot afford to be obsessed with changing the world today. Success may not come immediately, and while it may also be desirable to start off perhaps with a job opportunity or adventure with life to identify what exactly graduates may decide to settle with, they should never stay away from serving humanity, and more importantly, doing the things that make them happy.
Other speakers at the graduation – Fredrik Reff Sydnes, MD of Meltwater Foundation; Peter Van Djik, Senior Faculty; Brian Flynn of Esplanade Partners; and Kyle Doherty, a Business Fellow of MEST – all of them part of the training instructors of the EIT (Entrepreneurs in Training) Class of 2011, expressed confidence in the ability of the trainees to excel in their chosen fields.
Drive, reliability, determination, ambition, creativity, conviction, and efficiency are all required to make a good entrepreneur, said Peter Djik, but they will also have to grab opportunities that come their way, even when the world spins.
“You guys rival just about any company in Silicon Valley” and “your parents should be really proud of you,” because they are gifted, said Flynn, who counselled them to watch what they do with their gifts because they will have to live with whatever choices they make. They should also not wilt under criticism, neither should they give up when things turn out tough. They should be relentless.
A member of the graduating class, Kwame Anane, on behalf of his colleagues, expressed profuse gratitude to MEST for the opportunity, training and mentoring they had undergone, convinced that they had emerged better persons and prepared to challenge the world.
The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology – was established in Accra in 2008, through the non-profit Meltwater Foundation, with the aim of creating jobs and wealth locally in Africa by supporting and training young African graduates in the field of software development and entrepreneurship to help them become software entrepreneurs.
During the intensive two-year programme at MEST, Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) work with experienced business executives, university graduates and current MBA members from top universities worldwide to develop software applications and prepare them for launch in the global marketplace.
University graduates accepted into the MEST programme receive a fully sponsored hands-on training in software development, basic business fundamentals and entrepreneurship in a fast-paced, challenging, start-up environment, and during their two years at MEST, the Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs) work with world-class executives from around the world to create their own software prototypes and ultimately start their own companies.
Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana
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