It's no secret that the most radical way to impact societal and economical development in the early 21st century is by facilitating opportunities for breakout businesses that harness IT. Silicon Valley and Israel are famous examples, but in Europe much has been achieved by smaller, historically underprivileged countries like Ireland and Estonia. This deck talks about best practices and a list of top 5 strategies that governments and corporations can enact to start pushing the needle towards growth.

1. Max Gurvits
CCC Startups
Putting a Small Country on
the Map with IT
A Recipe for Western Balkans

2. @MxGur

3. Let’s Have a Look at 3 Inventions

4. Speedometer

5. Zero motion point

6. Fastest electric car in the world

7. What do they have in common?

8. ALL are Balkan inventions!

9. But when we look where the
money is made… !

10. Another former socialist republic
Sciences

11. In 2011, Skype got acquired for
USD 8.5 billion…
… exactly the size of Estonia’s budget

12. So how do we RINSE and REPEAT?

13. Keep in mind:
1.3b < 8.5b

14. Let’s take a look at the IT sector in
the Western Balkans

15. Regional IT services markets
Between USD 2m and USD 35m in revenues
Between 2% and 6% of GDP
Employing 15,000 – 20,000 across the region
Growth stagnated in 2010-2014, but slowly
back in 2014-2016

16. Pros and Cons
Abundant tech skills
Fundamental research
No product expertise
No conditions for breakout success
+
_

17. Reason 1: Education

18. Reason 2: Freedom (to emigrate)

19. Reason 3: No Strategy

20. Strategy requires GOALS

21. Remember Japan

22. Look at China today

23. Goal: Move from Technology to
Products

24. This means: shake off the socialist
“Engineering Good, Business Bad”

25. Which Steps Can Region Take?

26. Step 1: Retain the Smart Kids

27. Step 2: Incentivize Specific Jobs

28. Step 3: Help Your Best Startups Learn

29. Step 4: Attract Talent to the Region

30. Keep in Mind, Don’t Just

31. To Be Able to Start With This, a
Country Needs to Instill

32. And to Provide for Minimal

33. Value 1: Openness

34. Value 2: Sharing

35. Value 3: Self-improvement

36. Logistics 1: Brand

37. Logistics 2: Community

38. Logistics 3: Education

39. Don’t forget:
GIVE IT TIME

40. And

41. max@cccstartups.com
@MxGur
@CCCStartups
Thank you!
Max Gurvits
CCC Startups