Davos Debrief: Bill Gates, Social Entrepreneurs and Wicked Problems

Another Davos has wrapped up and our entire team is still reeling from the awesome experiences we had with our community. This year we had 37 Tech Pioneers attending the Annual Meeting. Below you'll find a brief summary of our sessions.

 

AM11 Program:

 

Workshop: Major Challenges Faced by Entrepreneurs Today

The Technology Pioneers came together the day before the official start of the program to discuss some of the common issues faced by entrepreneurs and to share tips and experiences with each other. What was really cool about this session was how universal the entrepreneurial experience was regardless of geography or industry. It also drove home the importance of sharing best practices in a multi-disciplinary setting as sometimes a different perspective can be a powerful tool in unlocking new solutions.

 

Dynamic Duo: Tech Pioneers & Social Entrepreneurs Collaboration Session 

At the Forum, one of our greatest assets is our various communities and we love to bring different groups of people together to share and learn from each other. This year, we held a joint events with our friends from the Schwab Social Entrepreneurs. The Social Entrepreneurs and Tech Pioneers share a common entrepreneurial spirit. This session explored how these two communities can collaborate on game-changing pardigims that impact both business and society.

 

Ideas Lab: Tackling the World's Wicked Problems 

The Idea Lab is one of my favorite sessions at Davos. Presenters each get 5 minutes and 20 slides to give a brief overview of their topic and to ask the audience one major question that they would like help answering. Then, participants are split into small working groups to help brainstorm solutions some of these issues. This year, we had 4 Tech Pioneers share the Wicked Problem they were working on and ask for insights from the broader community on everything from raising funds to scaling a business.

(Pictures and more details will follow in a seperate post.)

 

Meet the Leader:  An Intimate and Interactive Conversation with Bill Gates

This was by far one of the coolest sessions I've had a chance to participate in – EVER. A group of 25 Tech Pioneers sat down with Bill Gates for an off the record chat about the trials and triumphs of being an entrepreneur. Moderated by our Chief Business Officer, Robert Greenhill, the group also had the opportunity to ask questions. I will say this, I was prepared for Mr. Gates to be brilliant but his really funny sense of humor took me completely by surprise! He's a great story teller and a very engaging speaker.