An Ethiopian Family's Journey of Entrepreneurship in the US
Experience the life story of a child of immigrants, from escaping war-torn Ethiopia to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the US.
What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur in the US?
Through reflective narrative, Yoni Medhin documents his father’s traumatic upbringing in war-torn Ethiopia, and escape to the US. Medhin tells the inspirational story of his discovery of personal validation and purpose at the Colorado School of Mines, and how he established his first business, Grain4Grain.
This book explores the successes and challenges Yoni and his co-founder faced in establishing their business, from discovering the necessary technology, to making a critical pivot during the covid pandemic, to closing the business and consolidating their learnings for future ventures. It details the development of Yoni’s family’s entrepreneurship, from barely making ends meet to launching successful health care services, real estate, and businesses.
A story of family, community, and identity, this book is ideal reading for students of Entrepreneurship and Business studies, Sociology, Migration, and Forced Migration Studies.
What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur in the US?
Through reflective narrative, Yoni Medhin documents his father’s traumatic upbringing in war-torn Ethiopia, and escape to the US. Medhin tells the inspirational story of his discovery of personal validation and purpose at the Colorado School of Mines, and how he established his first business, Grain4Grain.
This book explores the successes and challenges Yoni and his co-founder faced in establishing their business, from discovering the necessary technology, to making a critical pivot during the covid pandemic, to closing the business and consolidating their learnings for future ventures. It details the development of Yoni’s family’s entrepreneurship, from barely making ends meet to launching successful health care services, real estate, and businesses.
A story of family, community, and identity, this book is ideal reading for students of Entrepreneurship and Business studies, Sociology, Migration, and Forced Migration Studies.
Learning objectives
Chapter 1 Why am I doing this?
Chapter 2 Origin stories
Chapter 3 The problem
Chapter 4 Coming to (North) America
Chapter 5 The solution
Chapter 6 Foundations
Chapter 7 Launch
Chapter 8 The American dream
Chapter 9 I hate to blame Covid, but it really did mess things up
Chapter 10 Growth, “failure”, and what the future holds
Notes
Suggested questions and assignments
Reference
Recommended further reading
Index
Yoni Medhin is the Founder and CEO of Grain4Grain, an upcycling firm that uses innovative technologies to convert food manufacturing by-products into functional, healthy, and sustainable ingredients.
On Thursday April 10, 2024, we held a seminar in our Topics in Emergent Entrepreneurship series:
This free seminar was a conversation between author Yoni Medhin and Drew Harris, Lived Places Publishing Collection Editor. They talked about how Yoni's entrepreneurial journey as a second generation immigrant was shaped by, but different from, his parents’ entrepreneurial journey as first generation immigrants.
