Video remarks: Stan Shih, Founder and Honorary Chairman, Acer Group
Panelists:
Audrey Chia, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore Business School
Stephen Cummings, School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington
Nic Lauten, Executive Program Director, Kula Project
Moderator: Sarah Jack, Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurship, Lancaster University
This panel examined entrepreneurship as a deeply contextual practice shaped by inequality, identity, and cultural norms, not merely a universal route to innovation or economic success. The panelists challenged the dominant Silicon Valley narrative of entrepreneurship, noting that in many regions, especially in the Global South, people turn to entrepreneurship out of necessity rather than opportunity. The discussion underscored that entrepreneurial success is often determined not by ambition or merit, but by access to capital, networks, and supportive institutions.
Co-founder of Acer and CAPRI board member Stan Shih shared his philosophy of Acer’s founding
Speakers highlighted how grassroots innovations, such as solar cooking devices, menstrual health products, or regenerative agriculture practices, emerge from real-world constraints and local knowledge systems. However, these community-rooted models often remain unrecognized or unsupported because they do not fit traditional investor expectations or high-growth metrics. The speakers emphasized that policy frameworks must shift away from purely market-oriented models toward approaches that value social impact, inclusivity, and collective ownership. Several of the speakers discussed how indigenous entrepreneurship, in particular, offers alternative visions of value creation based on reciprocity, stewardship, and long-term well-being rather than extraction or scale.
The speakers also cautioned against romanticizing local innovation without addressing the structural barriers that limit its growth. Even the most promising ideas struggle to thrive without enabling ecosystems: affordable financing, education, infrastructure, and policy support. The speakers called for entrepreneurship to be redefined and restructured in a way that empowers communities to act as co-creators of their own development. Innovation, they argued, must be democratized and built with and for communities rather than imposed from elite centers. They advocated a broader, more inclusive understanding of entrepreneurship that centers dignity, resilience, and shared prosperity.
