Getting down to business

We were lucky to be welcomed with such beautiful weather when we arrived on Sunday, but today was cloudy with a few periods of very light rain. Still, we had a very enjoyable day as we started on the primary focus of our trip--conducting business visits and making connections between how Chilean businesses operate and what the students have learned in the Emerging Economies class, as well as during their time at Kelley overall.

To get to our first stop, Instituto Vertical, our group of twenty-two had to split up and take six taxis to another part of the city about twenty minutes away. Needless to say, this was no small feat and our arrival at Instituto Vertical was a bit staggered. During the visit we learned about the various dimensions of Instituto Vertical, but we mainly focused on their educational programs that employ experiential learning methods to teach leadership and other professional skills in the context of outdoor activities such as mountain climbing.

While most of us cannot directly relate to the impressive climbs that the staff has done all around the world, the connections that the General Manager, Aldo Boitano de Moras (pictured above with our group), made between adventurous activities like mountain climbing and the challenges of international travel struck a chord with us. When you force yourself to venture outside of your comfort zone, there is extraordinary potential for learning, not only about the new environment that you're in, but also about yourself and your potential. He also stressed the importance of reflecting on what you are learning, which we'll be doing regularly throughout our trip.

After lunch, we walked to Start-Up Chile, a government-funded initiative that provides grants and support to globally-minded entrepreneurs to bring them to Chile to start their enterprises, with the overall goal of making Chile into the entrepreneurship and innovation center of Latin America. Diego Philippi, who is in charge of Networks, answered various questions from the students, explaining the application and selection process, the benefits that the selected applicants receive, and how the program differs from the venture capital route.

We also heard from Corey Wride (on the far left, next to Diego), an entrepreneur from the United States currently living in Chile. We enjoyed learning about his professional experiences as an entrepreneur, but it was also really interesting to hear about his experiences as an American living in Chile and what it was like for him and his family to adjust to this new culture. He had very positive experiences to share, and while we have only been here two days, we are beginning to understand why Chile is such a great place to be!