"Life is sacrifice and risk taking, and nothing that doesn’t entail some moderate amount of the former, under the constraint of satisfying the latter, is close to what we can call life. If you do not undertake a risk of real, reversible or even potentially irreversible, harm from an adventure, it is not an adventure." —Nassim N. Taleb
For generations, young people have been given one formula for success: “Study hard, get good grades, go to the best university, and by hook or by crook, get a well-paying corporate gig that will set you up for life.”
If this formula ever worked, it’s broken now.
Millions of young people have learned the hard way that universities provide little of the practical knowledge required for success—or even getting a job—in the ever-changing, just-in-time global economy. There is no such thing as a job security.
The “lucky ones” who get positions with the big corporations quickly learn that this is a modern form of serfdom. They often feel alienated and frustrated, without any “skin in the game” giving them a piece of the brighter future.
Add to this mix increasing levels of automation, which is eliminating hundreds of millions of jobs around the world—and with AI help, it’s not just unskilled labor.
So, what should young people do? Despair? Not at all!
Remember the process economists call “creative destruction.” Yes, the old way of doing things is dying, but new ways are being born. Innovation is creating millions of new professions, spearheaded by this wonderful group of people called entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is hard work, but it gives people the chance to create whatever life they want. Entrepreneurs don’t wait for permission to live their dreams—they do it! Just look at Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, as two examples of what’s possible. And entrepreneurship offers a critical key to health, not just wealth: the ability to choose who you work with.
Ultimately, entrepreneurship is a path—arguably the best path—for achieving purpose and personal freedom in life.
CYCLE 2018 VISION: We see the entrepreneurial and creative spirit as a sustainable path to personal freedom. And personal freedom is the key to a freer society. There can be no liberty in a world in which no individuals understand, value, or exercise their freedom.
CYCLE 2018 GOAL: To help young people take the next steps in their life journey, explaining the entrepreneurial perspective and giving them practical know-how they won’t find anywhere else.
We will be conducting open discussions about most important challenges in the constantly changing world. Students can ask difficult questions and get specific advice and perspective from proven entrepreneurs. This event’s intention is to deliver the knowledge participants need to identify entrepreneurial opportunities and to scale businesses from startups to successful companies. We will exchange experiences, get to know each other, and participate in the community of entrepreneurs spearheading positive change around the world.
If you are a student, we hope you’ll join us for the latest edition of what has been a transformative, life-affirming experience for many young people over the years.
Lobo Tiggre 
is a writer, entrepreneur, and investor. He specializes in natural resource speculations– he has been teaching economics, entrepreneurship, and personal effectiveness for 15 years. Topic: business planning 101.
Virgis Daukas 
Virgis Daukas started Liberty Camps along with Steve Browne 25 years ago. Cycle is one of the projects that emerged since then. His interest is not just economic or political freedoms, but freedom from all conditionings that society, religion or state forces on individuals.
Vadim Fiddle, 
USA, has 30+ years of entrepreneurial experience, with unique knowledge of building businesses, worldwide distribution, and 10 + years of mentoring experience in several countries.
Vadim’s mission is to assist aspiring entrepreneurs via individual mentoring, promoting micro finance in developing countries, etc. During the camp, he will facilitate discussions centered on philosophy of entrepreneurship, importance of using the entrepreneurial and creative spirit as a sustainable path to freedom.
Jurgen Van Pletsen, 
Australia, a long time entrepreneur, with unique knowledge in business growth and marketing. Blink Technology, managing director. Jurgen was voted Top 50 SME Leader in Australia. Topics: Executing ideas in ever changing marketplace, building long lasting successful enterprise. Learning importance of sales execution.
Will be conducting presentation remotely.
Smita Majumder, 
Entrepreneur | Brand Strategist | TEDx Speaker | United Nations Global Goals Advocate | Mentor USA | Co Founder & COO YoungPRENEURS India
Youngpreneurs India is India’s first entrepreneurship academy for teenagers. Its mission is to create the next generation of globally competent, entrepreneurial citizens by introducing entrepreneurship education at the high school level.
Will be conducting presentation remotely.
Marius Parescius 
is a serial entrepreneur from Vilnius, responsible for building multiple successful enterprises, as well as Business Hive, a startup incubator. Topic: blockchain technology.
Edmundas ‘Eddy’ Balcikonis, 
Edmundas ‘Eddy’ Balcikonis is a serial IT startup entrepreneur, currently preparing to launch a new project EddyTravels.com. Previously Eddy co-founded TrackDuck.com, which was acquired by US based InVisionApp.com. Eddy also advices B2B SaaS startups and investors, helps Buran Venture Capital and other funds as a venture scout. Currently Eddy is excited about opportunities available with blockchain technology and will share his research and ideas during the conference.
Discussion topic: Pitfalls of VC, importance of organic growth, knowing the right moment to raise funds. Innovative ways of fundraising, crowd funding, bitcoin, blockchain technology, etc
John Chisholm 
CEO, John Chisholm Ventures, San Francisco-based entrepreneurial advisory and angel investment firm. Trustee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Past president/chair, worldwide MIT Alumni Association. Trustee, Santa Fe Institute. Founder & former CEO/chair of Decisive Technology (now part of Google), first company to automate surveys via the Internet. Founder & former CEO/chair of CustomerSat (now part of Confirmit), leading provider of enterprise feedback management systems. Author of Amazon best seller, “Unleash Your Inner Company: Use Passion & Perseverance to Build Your Ideal Business”. Contributor to Forbes on entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, economics, education, complexity, freedom, and regulation.
Will be conducting presentation remotely.
Lena Sokolovska 
is a co-founder and managing director of Uoga Uoga- natural and organic cosmetic manufacturer. Quitting the high paying job as a financial analyst in a hedge fund and becoming entrepreneur was a turning decision in Lena’s career. Topic: Importance of proper alignment among startup founders.
Mitch Thrower, 
Mitch Thrower is a financier, entrepreneur, author and a 22X Ironman triathlete. He is the Founder and Chairman of Events.com, an innovative cloud-based Event Management Platform provider that provides a state of the art mobile-first SaaS application that enables the full event life-cycle, connecting event organizers and event goers. Thrower graduated from the Executive Institute at Stanford University. He has competed in 22 Ironman Triathlons, including 13 World Championships. He is the only photo journalist to ever photograph and film the Ironman Triathlon World Championships while competing in the event.
Topics: Entrepreneurship as an Endurance Sport, Overcoming Challenges, and 10 Secrets of Entrepreneurship.
Will be conducting presentation remotely.
Sarunas Dignaitis 
has been a vocal proponent of informal education, used to run Sekmes Mokykla, independent educational organization. During this process he’s learned how traditional education kills young people’s creativity and thirst for knowledge. Sarunas will conduct discussion panel on personal responsibility and new way to look at day to day entrepreneurial activities.
Doug Casey, 
the original “International Man”, is a legendary speculator, author, globetrotter, entrepreneur, and libertarian, as well as a veteran CYCLE teacher.
Will be conducting presentation remotely.
Kazimieras Sadauskas 
is an OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) expert from Lithuanian company NRD Cyber Security. He provides consultancy services and gives training on OSINT methodologies, information analysis and information security topics.
Evaldas Damanauskas 
serial entrepreneur with excellence in business strategy and development. Dreamer, visionary, creator, strategist, manager. These five words describe me as a professional and the direction of my qualities that I strive to improve every day.
“I grew up my competencies in business strategy and development during the last ten years of practice. My last projects were in fields of real estate development, p2p lending marketplace and interactive online television, where I was a co-founding member and business developer. My responsibilities in the projects were – structuring finances, monetising and building a business logic. Also, I served as a person responsible for investment attraction for projects.
Topic for the presentation: “Finance attraction – are you ready for this?”
Poliarizuoti Stiklai- Sarunas Maciulis – will give a concert on 20th of August!
