HBR IdeaCast Summary

Episode: How Immigrant Entrepreneurs Build Lasting Businesses
Host: Alison Beard (Harvard Business Review)
Guest: Neri Khara Silliman (Entrepreneurship Expert, Oxford University; Author)
Date: April 22, 2025

Overview

This episode explores why immigrant entrepreneurs are often behind some of the most enduring and impactful businesses in the U.S. and beyond. Host Alison Beard talks with Neri Khara Silliman, an Oxford entrepreneurship scholar, founder, and author of Eight Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs. Their conversation dives deep into the mindsets, strategies, and unique attributes that allow immigrant founders not only to build, but also to sustain, businesses that last—offering lessons for all leaders. They also address the policy climate around immigration and its potential impact on innovation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Neri Khara Silliman’s Immigration Story

• Neri was born in Bulgaria to a Turkish minority family and forced out in 1989 due to political persecution ([02:36]).

• Early hardship instilled a focus on education and adaptability, guiding her eventual journey as both entrepreneur and academic:

  “I had two realizations. One was my childhood just ended. The second one was I need to get a good education and it defines everything that I do today.” — Neri Khara Silliman [03:16]

• She later received financial aid to study in Miami, again feeling like an outsider adapting to new systems.

Gaps in the Research on Immigrant Entrepreneurship

• Silliman observed a disconnect between academic theory and real-world immigrant entrepreneurial experience ([04:22]):

  • Traditional research emphasizes "necessity entrepreneurship"—immigrants starting businesses for lack of other options.
  • Few studies consider why immigrant-founded businesses are more likely to last.

  “They rarely ask the question, why are they more likely to start businesses that last?” — Neri Khara Silliman [05:25]

Reframing Longevity

• Longevity is less about company age and more about the impact made within a business's ecosystem ([06:51]).
• Many immigrant-founded companies (e.g., Chobani, WhatsApp, Noom) are relatively young but transformative.
• Impact and integration into the local business ecosystem are key metrics.

The Eight Principles of Immigrant Entrepreneurial Longevity

Silliman succinctly outlines the eight principles, highlighting their universality:

1. Bridging Cultures

   • Cross-cultural skills allow for novel perspectives and the ability to spot market shifts early ([12:20], [13:25]).
   • Example: Chobani’s Hamdi Ulukaya brought elements from his Kurdish heritage to American yogurt ([13:04]).
   • Quote:

     “Coming from two different cultures allows you to read tomorrow’s newspaper today.” — Hernan Lopez, Wondery founder [13:26]

2. Building from the Past Forward and the Future Back

   • Entrepreneurs draw on their histories and "crazy ideas," combining introspection (identity/intention) and forward vision ([10:12]).
   • Advice from Moderna founder Nubar Afeyan: “Trust your crazy idea.” ([10:25]).
   • This approach is applicable to anyone, immigrant or otherwise ([12:01]).

3. Forging Authentic Connections

   • Immigrants lack established networks, so they build deliberate, strategic, and evolving ties ([16:01]).
   • Connections are formed over shared values and experiences, not just geography ([17:11]).
   • Silliman calls this building a “quasi-family.”

4. Building Community

   • Community is central, enabling mutual help and collaboration ([17:45]).
   • Leadership is less about hierarchy, more about communal growth and inclusion (e.g., Ulukaya retaining and empowering former Kraft workers at Chobani) ([18:22]).
   • Quote:

     “There is not this cult of a leader, but rather a cult of a community.” — Neri Khara Silliman [18:12]

5. Generating Profit the Right Way

   • Goes beyond Milton Friedman’s profit-first model; immigrant entrepreneurs view business as existing within an ecosystem of stakeholders ([09:01]).
   • The company’s success depends on suppliers, customers, community, and environment.

6. Frying in Your Own Oil

   • Drawn from family wisdom: self-sufficiency and cautious scaling are critical ([07:36]).
   • Avoid the trap of over-borrowing and focus on sustainable, profitable growth.
   • Quote:

     “Grow at a rate that also matches your profitability. And you are self-sustaining as a company first, because this will allow you to be a lot more creative.” — Neri Khara Silliman [08:04]

7. Reframing Rejection

   • Immigrant entrepreneurs anticipate setbacks and treat “no” not as an endpoint, but the beginning of negotiation ([18:58]).
   • Example:

     “No is the beginning of business. No is the beginning of negotiation.” — Isaac Larian, MGA Entertainment founder [19:14]

8. Daring to Play Your Own Hand (Luck)

   • Strategic risk-taking and preparation allow founders to recognize and act on opportunities (“create your own luck”) ([19:54]).
   • Success is tied to hard work and leveraging prior principles—luck is not random.

Application to Both Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs

• All eight principles are relevant not just for business founders, but also for innovators within organizations and early-career professionals with strong visions ([24:19]).
  • Example: Duolingo's founder creating Captcha at Google ([24:42]).

Addressing Counterexamples and Research Limits

• Not all immigrant founders are successful—failures (e.g. WeWork) exist ([20:54]).
• The principles apply broadly, including to small and local businesses ([22:37]).

Policy and Broader Implications

• Rising anti-immigrant sentiment may have dire innovation and economic consequences ([25:24]).
  • Tightening borders risks losing the entrepreneurial benefits immigrants bring.
  • Example: Udemy’s founder moved to the U.S. specifically for a nurturing entrepreneurial ecosystem ([26:13]).
• Silliman reframes her work as non-political, instead advocating for human-centered, ecosystem-based policies.

The Underlying Value of Kindness

• Kindness is the unifying “secret ingredient” for all eight principles—enabling resilience, community, and positive-sum success ([27:04]).
  • Quote:

    “Without kindness, you cannot practice community. Without kindness, you cannot reframe rejection… And for me, it's the secret ingredient that allows for everything else to happen.” — Neri Khara Silliman [27:08]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Bridging Cultures

• “Immigrants see the world and look at a problem from a very different angle. They can look at a problem and ask a question that normally other people wouldn't ask.” — Neri Khara Silliman [12:34]

On Rejection and Resilience

• “No is the beginning of business. No is the beginning of negotiation.” — Isaac Larian [19:14]

On Creating Luck

• “Luck, again, it's quite strategic. It's linked to hard work. So it doesn't happen to you simply because you were there at the right time, met the right people...you need to put in the hard work and utilize all the other Principles I talk about.” — Neri Khara Silliman [19:54]

On the Value of Kindness

• “Because it's for me what unifies all the principles that I talked about...it's the secret ingredient that allows for everything else to happen.” — Neri Khara Silliman [27:04]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:36] — Neri’s immigration and personal backstory
• [05:41] — Why focus on longevity over quantity in businesses
• [07:36] — “Frying in your own oil”: self-sufficiency in business
• [10:12] — Building vision from “the past forward and future back”
• [13:26] — Advantage of bridging cultures
• [16:01] — Forging and nurturing strategic connections
• [17:45] — Community-building vs. traditional leadership
• [18:58] — Reframing rejection and failure
• [19:54] — Strategic luck and recognizing opportunity
• [24:19] — Application beyond entrepreneurship (intrapreneurship)
• [25:24] — The policy climate: anti-immigrant sentiment and economic impact
• [27:04] — Kindness as a cross-cutting, unifying value

Conclusion

The episode stresses that while the challenges immigrant entrepreneurs face are unique, the principles that enable their success—resilience, adaptive vision, community-building, financial discipline, and kindness—are universal and replicable. Neri Khara Silliman’s research and personal experience both reveal that policy environments that welcome and nurture diversity will be better poised for innovation, while exclusion harms long-term economic vitality. At the heart of all sustained entrepreneurial success, immigrant or otherwise, is the power of kindness and interconnectedness.

For further exploration, check out Neri Khara Silliman’s book and additional HBR resources on entrepreneurship and leadership.