Ignacio de la Vega
Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management, Instituto de Empresa |
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Ignacio de la Vega believes that entrepreneurship’s day is dawning, particularly with the growth of venture capital financing and the emergence of business angels. “There is also a huge improvement in the cultural environment that is benefiting entrepreneurs and their activities” he says. “And so people, and companies, are getting into the entrepreneurial arena.” Ignacio de la Vega is currently working with large firms, like GE, Siemens, Banesto, iberdrola, Pfizer and others, in the development of corporate entrepreneurship activities.
What is still missing, he says, is sufficient support - not just financial but also in terms of information and in tax treatment - on entrepreneurship, this is a gap he believes he and his colleagues can help fill. “This used to be a very dark area with little information and support available. We’re trying to bring some light into that,” he says. "let's not forget that entrepreneurship is the major force in creating employment, collective wealth and innovation". This can be found in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) that Instituto de Empresa and De la Vega lead in Spain (www.ie.edu/gem).
The fact that he is author of three books on entrepreneurial management gives Prof de la Vega great credibility in this mission, as does his role as director and founder of the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Ventures Development (ICEVED) at IE. Also his activities as active entrepreneur and investor allows De la Vega to bring back to the classrooms real and exciting examples and cases.
Another exciting new area for Prof de la Vega is the increasingly popular field of social entrepreneurship whereby non-profit and community organisations can become more efficient through the use of entrepreneurship techniques. “We have a competition for technology-based firms that allows non-profit organisations and multisectorial entrepreneurs and SME´s to develop their projects with an entrepreneurial point of view together with Orange and BANESTO, Escuela Banespyme-Orange” he explains (www,escuelabanespymeorange.com). “And we also working in the development of competition for social projects together with the Sumaq alliance for students at all the member schools” |
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