 It's not exactly a national holiday, but it's Entrepreneurship Week in India, and O.C. businessman Matt Stewart, chief executive of National Services Group in Irvine, is there "working to advance global entrepreneurship."
Stewart is a loooonnnng-time member of Entrepreneurs' Organization - back to the days when it was Young Entrepreneurs Organization, YEO - and will be the global chairman starting in 2009.
EO is putting on one of its four-day "universities" for close to 200 members, plus their guests. Some will be U.S. business owners - four from Orange County - combining education with foreign vacations. But most will be from other countries: 19 from India, 27 from Australia, 13 from the Netherlands, 12 from Germany and six from the Middle East.
EO has 6,700 members in 38 countries. Their total annual sales are $102 billion. To qualify for membership, they must own a company with annual revenue of more than $1 million and join before age 50 (40 used to be the cutoff, but now the average age is 39).
While in India, EO members will participate in more than two dozen business sessions. But it's not a business, Stewart says. They'll take part in an Indian wedding, rub elbows with Bollywood (India's movie industry) stars among other activities.
EO's other 2008 universities will be in Boston in August and Singapore in October. It might come to O.C. in 2009, Stewart says.
India's Entrepreneurship Week seems to emphasize young people and universities.
"India is going through a growth phase when innovation-based entrepreneurship and the ability to think out of the box will be critical to success in every field in future," Anil Wali, managing director of the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT-Delhi is quoted as saying in this article.
"Entrepreneurship Week is likely to help build momentum in this direction. We are delighted to play a role in this entrepreneurial awakening, which is rapidly taking root across campuses in India."
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