For months, the world has followed the unrest and protest in North Africa stemming from unemployment throughout Tunisia and Egypt. America.gov asked Bilel Bouraoui and several Tunisian entrepreneurs to share their stories of business development amid the strife in their region.

Bilel Bouraoui

My co-founders and I left the San Francisco Bay area for Tunisia two years ago to meet Tunisian venture capital funds managers and start an online social media business. We had no idea that we were going to witness one of the first social-media fueled revolutions.

We were aware of the Internet’s potential to change the region and the country where we were born, but we were far from grasping the extent to which the country’s tech-savvy, highly-educated youth would embrace it and integrate it into their lifestyle. It was obvious that a new generation of incredibly talented and creative young people had emerged. Yet, we had no clues to the plethora of skills they collectively showed.

It all started with Mohamed Bouazizi, a jobless young man from a remote town ending his own life after suffering an overwhelming injustice. As his story resounded so heavily in the hearts and minds of his region’s youth, they all stepped in to denounce a regime that seemingly no longer cares for its citizens.

That was the beginning of a month-long spiral during which the regime repressed its people, news and shocking videos spread over the Internet, and more people joined the revolution. Compassion and rebellion spread virally through social media networks. For weeks, young people across the country spent their days chanting in the streets and their nights exchanging information on the web until the whole nation was on the same wavelength. Pressure has mounted, people have died, and as more of them died, more became united and determined until the regime could no longer stand the pressure and collapsed.

Determination, compassion and creativity are the skills that helped the young people of my country achieve what once was considered impossible.

For an Internet entrepreneur, living the “Revolution 2.0” from the inside was a humbling experience. It is a promise for a better future, not only for Tunisia but for all nations with a young and well-connected population.