A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to go public, startups are new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo-founder. During the beginning, startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to become successful and influential.
The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosperity. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a member of the Atlantic Treaty Association.
Justin Aldrich Rockefeller is an American impact investor and financial technology professional. He is a great-great grandson of John D. Rockefeller.
Scott T. Ford was president and chief executive officer of Alltel from 2002 to 2009.
Rozanne Lejeanne Ridgway is an American diplomat who served 32 years with the U.S. State Department, holding several posts, including ambassador to Finland and to East Germany, and finished her career as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs.
Joy Uche Angela Ogwu is a former foreign minister of Nigeria and a former permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York from 2008–2017. She is the first woman to hold the post of Permanent Representative to the United Nations from Nigeria. Prior to her ministerial career, Ogwu, who is from Delta State, served as Director–General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
Laurene Powell Jobs is an American billionaire businesswoman and executive. She is the widow of Steve Jobs, who was the co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., and she manages the Steve Jobs Trust. She is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute. She is a major donor to Democratic Party politicians.
Jean Case is an American businesswoman, author, and philanthropist who is chair of the board of National Geographic, CEO of Case Impact Network, and CEO of the Case Foundation. She is married to AOL co-founder Steve Case.
An angel investor is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. Angel investors often provide support to startups at a very early stage, once or in a consecutive manner, and when most investors are not prepared to back them. In a survey of 150 founders conducted by Wilbur Labs, about 70% of entrepreneurs will face potential business failure, and nearly 66% will face this potential failure within 25 months of launching their company. A small but increasing number of angel investors invest online through equity crowdfunding or organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share investment capital and provide advice to their portfolio companies. The number of angel investors has greatly increased since the mid-20th century.
Karen Gordon Mills is an American businessperson and former government official who served as the 23rd Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). She was nominated by President-elect Barack Obama on December 19, 2008, confirmed unanimously by the Senate on April 2, 2009, and sworn in on April 6, 2009. During her tenure, her office was elevated to the rank of Cabinet-level officer, expanding her power on policy decisions and granting her inclusion in the President's cabinet meetings. On February 11, 2013, she announced her resignation as Administrator and left the post on September 1, 2013.
Erik Hersman is a technologist, blogger and commentator who specialises in the impact and application of technology throughout Africa. Raised in Sudan and Kenya, he is a graduate of Kenya's Rift Valley Academy and Florida State University, he runs the websites WhiteAfrican and AfriGadget, the latter being a multi-author website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. AfriGadget was named one of Time's "Top 50 Sites of 2008".
Christopher M. Schroeder is an American entrepreneur, advisor, author, and investor in interactive technologies and social communications.
The World Health Summit is an international conference that has been held in Berlin every October since 2009. It has developed into one of the world's leading global health conferences. It was held for the first time on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Charité. 2,500 experts from around 100 countries from science, business, politics and civil society discussed the most important issues of global health care and made recommendations. The academic backbone of the event is the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies. From the very beginning, the World Health Summit has been under the patronage of the German Chancellor and the French President. Since 2019, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has also been a patron of the World Health Summit.
Nick Cooney is a managing partner at Lever VC, an investment fund focused on alternative protein companies.
Jennifer Fonstad is an American venture capital investor and entrepreneur. She is the managing partner and a co-founder of the Owl Capital Group, a venture firm based in Silicon Valley. Fonstad was Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) for 17 years. She is also co-founder of angel investing network Broadway Angels. Fonstad has been recognized as a top 100 tech investor on Forbes’ Midas List twice and was named 2016 Venture Capitalist of the Year by Deloitte. She is also a Founding Member of All Raise.
Yadin B. Kaufmann is an Israeli-American technology investor, social entrepreneur and writer.
Kobo360 is an African tech-enabled digital logistics platform, headquartered in Lagos and connects cargo owners to truck owners, with a physical presence in 6 African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast.
Kara Elyse Nortman is an American venture capitalist, the founder and managing partner of Monarch Collective, and professional sports team owner who co-founded National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Angel City FC.
Geoffrey Woo is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is the founder of Ketone-IQ, Archive, and Anti Fund, a venture capital firm he co-founded with Jake Paul.
Chris Folayan is an American writer, lecturer, and businessman.
