On March 11,?2023,?International Business School?Suzhou?(IBSS) and the?XJTLU?International Innovation?Hub?partnered to hold a gathering for?entrepreneur alumni.?The event saw entrepreneurship stories and experience shared by IBSS?Associate Professor,?Dr.?Xiao?Wang;?IBSS Alumni Relations and Corporate Recruitment Manager, Mrs.?Yao?Zou; and?International Innovation?Hub?mentors Mr.?Jiewei?Gong and?Mr.?Junye?Shen. Over 40 alumni, expert guests, faculty attended the event.
Hosted by Innovation Service Manager of the International Innovation Hub, Mr. Chengxiao Wang, this gathering focused on?the services?offered?by the?XJTLU?International Innovation?Hub to support entrepreneurs?in the early development of their startups. The event also featured the entrepreneurial experiences of XJTLU?Maker Space?alumni, as well as up-to-date information on?entrepreneurship talent policies, investment and financing trends. The last session of the event saw?investors and entrepreneurs?engage in dialogue on a range of relevant topics.
During?the opening session,?Mr.?Wang introduced the vision and mission?of the XJTLU?International Innovation?Hub, then going on to talk about the?development goals of?the XJTLU Maker?Space?and the business incubation process.?After discussing a variety of?entrepreneurship training activities?offered by the hub,?he?invited?all?present at the event to become?active?participants in the future growth of?the?Maker Space.
Mr. Chengxiao Wang
Following this opening speech, IBSS?Alumni Relations and Corporate Recruitment Manager,?Mrs.?Yao?Zou,?gave a detailed introduction into the?potential corporate opportunities and benefits for alumni?offered by IBSS.?In addition to organising regular seminars, forums and alumni?gatherings,?IBSS?offers a wide range of lifelong-learning?options that?include?workplace skills training. The school also offers customised?executive training programmes and a range of part-time?Masters programme opportunities?to suit the needs of working alumni.
Mrs.Yao Zou
Mrs. Zou finished her talk by noting that,?"We are all part of the?XJTLU?community,?and it is when we work together that the brand?of XJTLU?has?a positive?influence?across our business community."
Dr?Xiao?Wang,?IBSS Associate Professor and?Management?Programme Director, shared an overview of the development of?maker?spaces at home and abroad, as well as?the strategic?role?of ecological thinking?in entrepreneurship and innovation.?During his talk he elaborated that?maker?spaces originated from the practice of business incubation systems in Western countries.?At the same time,?China's science and technology sector has?developed?new?strategic focus areas?based on current?trends in?innovation development, with these encouraging?innovation and entrepreneurship service organisations represented by maker spaces and innovation incubators. In?a future characterized by the?rapid development?of automation and machine learning, creativity?as a skill and career?will become more and more prominent.?As we?innovate?and develop?our maker?spaces, the formation of?an excellent?ecological network among enterprises,?especially small and micro enterprises,?is integral to promoting excellence within?the entire industry cluster ecology.
"In the future, the three?core?creative activities?(entrepreneurship, innovation and excellence) will become an increasingly important engine?for?driving economic development”,?Dr.?Wang said.
IBSS alumni?and Suzhou?Permaculture?Technology?Co-founder, Mr.?Jingchang?Gu,?followed Dr. Wang’s talk by sharing his entrepreneurial journey on running a?Chinese restaurant in?the?UK?and then returning?to China to start a?new agriculture venture.?He shared his current business model and path he followed to develop a sustainable agriculture company. Mr. Gu also highlighted a number of new opportunities in his field related to?sustainable agricultural technology, integrated development models, technology-enabled agriculture and?the?valorisation of ecological resources.
General Manager of?the?Suzhou Nanotechnology University Science Park Management Co,?Mr.?Yunfeng?Dou,?then?shared policies related to?high?technology entrepreneurship and talent in?the?Suzhou Industrial Park?district. He went into detail on how the science park was run, provided some examples of current ventures in the park, as well as the application process for new ventures.?
Dr. Xiao?Wang?hosted the last session of the event, which featured?a discussion with investors. Entrepreneur alumni?in the audience asked questions?and exchanged view?with Suzhou?Yueyahu?Venture Capital Founding Partner,?Mr.?Jiewei?Gong, and?Yida Capital Investment Director,?Mr.?Junye?Shen,?concerning their current challenges as entrepreneurs and trends in the entrepreneur investment space.
After the gathering concluded, participants said that they had learned a great deal of useful knowledge on all of the topics discussed, with many saying that they were looking forward to the next sharing session.
