English Learning Guide

Competency 1
Unit 8: STARTUPS
Workshop 2
Centro de Servicios Financieros- CSF

Name: Cohort: Date:

Training program: Instructor:

STARTUPS: STRATEGIES FOR A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

This workshop attempts to introduce the global idea of what the word startups means bearing in mind the
strategies needed to design, create and develop a startup project. Here, some vocabulary learnt in the previous
guides will be recycled to help you understand the definition and concept of startups, giving examples of
Colombian and international successful business in different matters.

Objective: from the development of this workshop, you will learn the steps and strategies to be considered to
develop a startup project using vocabulary in English.

1. Work individually, explain the meaning of the words in the chart. Then, try to create new words using the
prefixes and suffixes given and explain the definition of the new word (the first one is an example):

WORD NEW WORD DEFINITION OF THE NEW WORD

Advantage dis advantage a factor which makes someone or something less useful
Pay
Satisfied
Estimate
Act
Turn
Relation
Conscious
Fund
Trade
Known

2. Skills practice: do the following activities to practice the learned vocabulary and English structures.

2.1 SPEAKING PRACTICE: presentation of your model company

NAME: ____________________________________________
There are many examples of successful people who have become great entrepreneurs and important business
leaders because of the good management of the resources and implementation of the ideas they had… But, how
did they do it? This is a question that many people want to ask, but maybe it is not the correct question. Probably,
It would be better to start asking something like “what was the first step taken to do it?” Don’t you think so?

Now, for this activity prepare and present a poster illustrating the services and characteristics of your model
company. The classroom must be organized as a business fair so that all presentations can be simultaneously
shown, and all the classmates can see what the companies offer, their slogan, logo, history, etc. The idea is that
all groups present all the information related to the company and the audience asks questions as much as
possible to get to know the company of their colleagues.

Before moving around the business fair, write down 5 questions individually that you would like to ask to your
colleagues about their companies.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

2.2 READING PRACTICE: Reading about Orange Economy

Before reading the texts, answer the following questions:

 Which are the biggest and most profitable goods that Colombia has and offers to the world?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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 What is the most innovational Colombian company? Why?
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___________________________________________________________________________________________
 What is a “creative economy” for you?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

COLOMBIA: IS THE ORANGE ECONOMY THE SOLUTION?

During his presidential campaign, the now president Iván Duque referred
repeatedly to the orange economy as a way to grow the Colombian
national economy. What does it mean? The president defines the orange
economy as “the set of activities that in a directed manner allows ideas
to be transformed into cultural goods and services, whose value is
determined by their content of intellectual property."
Thus, the orange economy would be an economy of ideas, which, when
converted into goods, can have a specific value and a significant income

NAME: ____________________________________________
to the country. This is why the orange economy is composed "by areas related to the cultural economy and the
creative industries, at the intersection of which are the conventional cultural industries and the support areas for
creativity", in the words of Duque, quoted by the newspaper The Republic.
In this way, our culture could, in a certain sense, be consumed. Cinema, music, dance, and fashion could then be
the basis of our economy. Undoubtedly, the international market has its eyes on Latin American culture, which
has become the target of consumers and investors.
In Latin America, creative economies moved around 200,000 million dollars last year, according to figures from
La República. According to El Espectador, the orange economy generates around 3.3% of GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) in Colombia and employs 30 million people in the world.
With these figures, it could be thought that the potential of the orange economy is undeniable. There are also
examples of regions of the country in which creative projects have been implemented that generate income for
the region. That is the case of San Andrés and the initiative 'Backstage to the future: Caribbean', which
encourages the study of the ancestral knowledge of the islands and promotes its intangible heritage.
It is also the case of Delirio, salsa and circus academy in Cali for which, according to its founder Andrea
Buenaventura for the newspaper El Tiempo, 690 people work in just the production part. Another example of
orange economy projects is Artesanías de Colombia, which is at the head of Expoartesanías, a fair that in its
latest version sold close to five million dollars.
However, according to the Ministry of Culture, the orange economy generates an impact of only 1.5% on the
national economy. This figure is not negligible, but neither is it sufficient to affirm that it will be the basis of the
economy and that it will double GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in less than ten years, as the president already
said. The orange law, moreover, has not been put into execution, as there are still no protocols to administer
funding to cultural actors.
With all these, orange economy bases the growth of new companies in function of the creativity and impact of
the goods and/or services offered, reason why it is important to follow a sequence of strategies to reach a good
position in any industry, moreover when running a startup. According to Neil Blumenthal, cofounder and co-CEO
of Warby Parker, there are five steps to have success in a startup and these can help any entrepreneur at any
time:

According to the text:

Look for the definition/meaning of the underlined words in the text.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

NAME: ____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer the following comprehension questions.

- How do you consider the orange economy represents an opportunity to run startups?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
- Look for information about the given examples of creative projects in Colombia and write about it. Are there
any others you may know? Share.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Complete the chart below with the information given in the text. Then, add more information if you consider
to do so.

Cultural goods Cultural services

Colombia

USA

Europe

Asia

- According to the text there are different things that can be sold as part of the orange economy (cultural goods
and cultural services). Based on your experience and what you know about your country, mention some of the
most important companies that are part of or have been part of the orange economy in the following chart:

Cultural goods Cultural services

Colombian
Companies

NAME: ____________________________________________
2.3 LISTENING PRACTICE
With the previous text you could probably realize what the orange economy is and how important it is for
Colombia’s economy. Despite the little GPD that the orange economy represents to the country, it is expected
to be bigger in the following years. Now, watch and listen to a video about orange economy (video 1 – workshop
2) and answer the following questions:

What is the mission of the orange economy

according to the IDB (Inter-American
Development Bank)?

Which are the four main items that

represent the
orange economy?

What is the future of Latin America and the

Caribbean according to the video? Why do
you
think it says so?

Now, watch the following video about startups). Look for the key vocabulary, make notes and complete the
following chart to List the main differences between a small business and a startup, then answer the question
below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26DOtwPN7s

SMALL BUSINESS STARTUP

What do you think the relationship between the orange economy and the new startups around the world
is?

NAME: ____________________________________________
2.4 WRITING PRACTICE:
For this task, imagine that you are creating a new business that can impact in the world with a new product
and/or service (a company different to the one that you already have). As a potential successful company, it is
important to follow a business plan to be implemented by you and your coworkers. Take into account the basics
of the Orange Economy. Complete the following Business Plan with the information of your new company:

NAME: ____________________________________________