Estonia - The place to be for an Entrepreneur

What country pops up into your mind when you hear the word "Entrepreneur"? I guess that Estonia as country are known to most European Citizens - but that Estonia is the most entrepreneurial country in Europe might be a surprise to many. In fact the whole Baltic region is considered a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. 

Being a frequent Skype user and based in Uppsala, Sweden, I have learned since long time that Skype is an innovation and an entrepreneurial success for the founder Niklas Zennström and it took some time before I realized that Skype wasn´t a completely Swedish innovation since the development took place in Estonia and with a Danish entrepreneur in the team. I have also been following what Estonia has achieved with their e-Residency and not at least their support for entrepreneurs. Still I was a bit surprised with the report from WEF.

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“e-Residency offers to every world citizen a government-issued digital identity and the opportunity to run a trusted company online, unleashing the world’s entrepreneurial potential.“

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Europe’s Hidden Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial Employee Activity and Competitiveness in Europe

"The report, Europe’s Hidden Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurial Employee Activity and Competitiveness in Europe, looked at a form of entrepreneurship beyond the typical start-up – intrapreneurship – with some interesting conclusions.
Intrapreneurship involves workers formulating and implementing new ideas within organizations, rather than starting their own businesses. In the report these are called EEAs, which stands for entrepreneurial employee activity."
There is a reason why the "Entrepreneurial approach" and mindset are great tools in development for individuals, businesses and organizations as well as regions in the World. Maybe this is what have given Estonia the position they have, not only in the report, but as a small country in Norther Europe able to compete and win in the Global Market. Why didn´t any other country come up with the idea of e-Residency? Oh sorry, they might have had the idea - but Estonians, as entrepreneurs, didn´t stay with the idea - they did it.

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Author

Kenneth OE Sundin - Founder SME Academy