Cuban interns tackle American entrepreneurship

Cuban interns tackle American entrepreneurship
New tech accelerator teaching business skills from ground up
Kate Rogers | @katerogersnews
CNBC.com

While many young Americans can launch start-ups with a strategic
collection of resources, would-be entrepreneurs in Cuba face many
hurdles launching ventures. In the communist nation, mentorship
opportunities—and even basic necessities such as consistent broadband
connections—can be scarce.

A new initiative wants to change this by giving young Cuban interns a
chance to learn about American entrepreneurship on U.S. soil. The unique
program follows President Barack Obama's sweeping reforms in January
that restored diplomatic relations with the country after 54 years.

Nearly a week ago, four young Cubans arrived in New York to begin their
internship at the Grand Central Tech accelerator, which hosts start-ups
for a year as they grow and scale.

"Entrepreneurs that start their own companies expect to own the fruits
of their labor, but that's not currently the case in Cuba," said Miles
Spencer, a tech entrepreneur and angel. "However, everything related to
entrepreneurship—from problem solving to innovation and helping
people—Cubans are great at," said Spencer, who founded the Greenwich,
Connecticut-based nonprofit C.A.A. that runs the "Innovadores" internship.

Kate Rogers | CNBC

Cuban interns Gabriel Garcia, Gabriela Rodriguez and Raul Perera (left
to right) are participating in a NYC-based tech accelerator program.
Through mid-August, the four interns will work alongside American
start-ups to learn about entrepreneurship within the areas of science,
technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM fields.

The interns will take their skills back to Cuba, and hope to create a
similar circle of like-minded innovators in their home country. The
interns are soaking in everything New York's tech scene has to offer,
including basics such as how to run a business and craft business models.

Unlimited access to U.S. technology including broadband connections are
also big draws for the interns.

"You have all the right equipment here, where there is less in Havana,"
said Raul Perera, 20, who is studying telecommunications at the
Instituto Superior Politécnico José. " I would love to see all and learn
and try to pass that on to people in Havana and Cuba."

The accelerator's origins date back several months ago when Spencer
attended a speech by John Caulfield, retired chief of the U.S. interests
section in Havana. Caulfield described the challenges to
entrepreneurship growth in Cuba.

While in Cuba, "I saw so much talent go into the arts, music and
painting because that's where you could make hard currency and travel
abroad," Caulfield said in an interview with CNBC.

Cuban citizen Armando (L) and U.S tourist Lisa Fragoso wave U.S flag
while passing the U.S. Interests Section, in Havana July 20, 2015.
Perera and other interns are learning the ropes from a variety of New
York-based start-ups. "I hope they take back the culture and spirit of
an early-stage start-up—that it's really hard but that it is possible,"
said Kate Ryder, founder and chief executive of Maven, which offers
on-demand video appointments with health and wellness providers to women.

Ryder is working with Gabriela Rodriguez, a physics student at Havana
University. Rodriguez sees the accelerator as a building block for her
trajectory into launching her own start-up one day.

"I should be ready for it," said Rodriguez, 18 "There's a lot of
potential in Cuba, a lot of smart people who work really hard, but
there's maybe not so much opportunity. We would like to give back and at
least help them to have that."

Source: Cuban interns tackle American entrepreneurship -
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/24/cuban-interns-tackle-american-entrepreneurship.html