In praise of chaos

ENAR

What happens when you combine a few crazy startups, visionary ideas and some equally crazy support institutions? In a word, magic. In a country where deep sectarian divisions, a moribund economy, poor security, weak institutions and staggering debt have produced a chorus of naysayers, several plucky startups are showing us how to build a successful ecosystem of enterprises. Their model is to have no model: there is no top-down, structured system, rather a volatile, ever changing concoction of those with ideas and those with means. Chaotic, perhaps, but the verdict is in: it’s working. Entrepreneurs emerging from this four year old ecosystem are starting to show results. Startups from the 2013 Executive Top 20 have gone on to raise subsequent series of funding and open offices regionally or globally. There has even been a partial acquisition. As this year’s Top 20 list shows, Lebanese entrepreneurs have not only been able to