Obama Calls On Startups To Bridge Global Economy

While all the chatter around Brexit is sending a wave of fear across the world about what global markets will look like in the upcoming days, weeks and months, there’s one group of entrepreneurs that the President of the United States is calling upon to do their part.

Startup leaders who can innovate, pivot and bring new ideas to bridge the world economy as it reels to get back on its feet with looming economic uncertainty.

Obama spoke to a group of around 2,000 entrepreneurs and investors at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University on June 24, and instead of focusing on the negative, he used his time to speak about the opportunities ahead.

“The world needs your creativity and your energy and your vision,” Obama told the crowd. “You are going to be what helps this process of global integration work. … I believe we are better off in a world in which we’re trading and networking and communicating and sharing ideas, but that also means cultures are colliding, and sometimes it’s disruptive and people get worried.”

“You’re the bridge. You’re the glue,” he said.

Obama took the stage with Silicon Valley leaders, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and entrepreneurs Mai Medhat, Jean Bosco and Mariana Costa Checa. The leaders discussed the challenges they face and how working together across private and public borders could make it easier to encourage entrepreneurs to join the startup world.