Mumbai, March 30, 2023 – Over 300 founders and CEOs from Africa and South Asia came together in Mumbai this month to participate in the 2023 Stanford Seed Transformation Network Summit.
The attendees have all completed the Stanford Seed Transformation Program, a business growth program designed for established entrepreneurs from sub-Saharan Africa, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh that is led by world-renowned Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty. Upon completion of the 10-month program, participants become members of the Network.
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The three-day summit consisted of company visits, lectures, small group discussions, masterclasses, and networking. Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni from across India hosted an evening gathering, led by Stanford University alumna and Managing Director of Seedfund Advisors Paula Mariwala. Stanford alumnus Nadir Godrej, managing director of Godrej Industries, one of India’s largest businesses, engaged in a fireside chat with JesperB. Sørensen, senior associate dean for academic affairs and professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Professor Sørensen, who also serves as faculty director for Stanford Seed, the institute that runs the Seed Transformation Program, noted that when the program first launched 11 years ago it consisted of just 30 entrepreneurs from a single country. By comparison, more than 300 like-minded, growth-oriented leaders from 30 different countries were gathered this year.
Sarah A. Soule, the Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior, and Baba Shiv, the Sanwa Bank, Ltd., Professor of Marketing, challenged the business owners gathered to treat their constraints as opportunities for innovation and asked them to consider whether they had created a climate of psychological safety for their staff.
In a post-event survey, more than half of the respondents stated they had met another business owner at the summit with whom they now planned to conduct business. “We know that, historically, 38% of Network members have conducted business with another Seed program participant,” says Darius Teter, executive director of Stanford Seed. “We hope and believe this event has fostered even more business connections.”
Applications are now open for the 2024 cohort of the Stanford Seed Transformation Program. Growth-minded founders/CEOs from Africa and South Asia with revenue between USD $300K- $15M can apply at http://stanfordseed.co/stp2023summit
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