Student Entrepreneurs Re-inventing the World: The Kairos Global Summit

This year I had a rather unusual birthday, spent with an incredible group of 350 college student entrepreneurs, plus 50 mentors of which I was one, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The Kairos 50, a group of the most innovative student-run businesses in the world, had the morning to share their work, share ideas and elicit valuable feedback.  Sixteen of these businesses were 3D printing, in my opinion one of the most fascinating technological advances and not what you would necessarily think it is.  Another dozen of the businesses were non profit or social enterprises.  The afternoon was filled with roundtable discussions and the fast pitch of businesses that are candidates to be included in the next Kairos 50.  My role as a mentor was to challenge these entrepreneurs to think about society and the environment in the way they establish and run their enterprises.  They didn’t need much coaching on this as many were well on their way to being good corporate citizens.  The founder of Kairos asked this question “What if today’s most influential leaders were friends 30 years ago, working together to solve the world’s problems?” This is a very powerful question, or really a statement, as I do believe I was with many of the world’s future leaders.  And their mission: “At the Kairos Society, we view today’s global problems as opportunities for entrepreneurs to focus on the meaningful businesses and innovations that will radically change the world for the better. Not only for our generation, but for the generations to come.” This thinking fits squarely with my view of shared value.  Business solutions executed in a way that benefits not only the bottom line, but its employees, local communities and society in general.   I was honored to be a mentor, but I am afraid that I learned more from this talented group than what they learned from me.  This made me happy, as the gifts I received that day were enthusiasm and inspiration for a bright future for the world. www.kairossociety.org