Former Facebook executive shares impressions:
“Gov’t makes Georgia a heaven for entrepreneurs”

"Georgians are very warm, hospitable and passionate people serious about making a difference, improving Georgia and putting Georgia on the map."

"The passion, talent and Georgia’s entrepreneurial government has all the necessary components to make a dent in the world.”

This description of Georgia came from a blog post by Net Jacobsson, one of the judges of Georgia’s first-ever start-up competition.

Jacobsson is a co-founder and managing partner at SparkLabs Global Ventures. He is a former Facebook executive, entrepreneur and investor with vast international experience from many pioneering companies.

Following the reveal of winners of the start-up competition, Jacobsson described his impressions of the country, its nature, food, traditions, the Government and aspirations on his blog.

I must confess that I didn’t have very high expectations regarding the start-up ecosystem in Georgia prior to my trip. Fortunately I was proven wrong,” he said.

Jacobsson wrote how he was invited to judge the competition and he accepted the invitation since he knew Georgia was known for its "great mountains and fantastic outdoors”. After his Georgian experience Jacobsson said he was impressed by not only the country’s landscape but by the Georgians’ innovative nature and some "amazing facts” about some of the works of its government.

This government is run by relatively young, energetic professionals with a can-do-attitude that basically runs the country like entrepreneurs would run a start-up (with the focus of getting things done),” Jacobsson wrote.

He described his meeting with the country’s Prime Minister as exciting and encouraging.

"Shortly after the awards ceremony, we, the judges, had a private meeting with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Vice Prime Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili, It was clear that they really want to make Georgia a haven for entrepreneurs and a genuinely interested in how they can become better,” he said.

The Prime Minister listened carefully to our advice and promised that this was just the beginning and that he would do whatever is needed to turn Georgia into a successful start-up hub.”

Read the full post here.