Hi,
Are you still employed full-time with your Chinese manufacturing employer or have you quit? If you're planning on applying R2 and you've been employed these last 18 months you'll need recommendations from your current boss + one other person. That person could be your co-founder but it would be better if it were someone with a little less biased opinion.
You could list the start-up in a separate entrepreneurial section or in the chronology of work experiences.
Your #s look good - my only question is whether you haven't borrowed a little too much from the business model of your current? former? employer. Given that it cost you so little to get it up and running the thought did come into my mind - I'm not sure how b-schools and future employers will view that.
Quote:
I have just come to this section on my resume and am wondering what I should do.
The bulk of my work experience is in Chinese manufacturing (I am an American with second-language fluency in Mandarin). I have co-founded a start-up with a friend of mind that is mimicking the business model and operations of an employer of mine. The start-up capital was very minimal so there was not the need to find VC and we have been working on all the materials we need over the last 18 months to hit the market in the next few weeks.
It has taken promotional material creation, web development, negotiations, legal considerations (such as product warranty), hiring contractors, and a number of other considerations and experiences that come when starting a business, but we dont have results at this point. Ideal scenario is the business becomes profitable by the time I submit my applications in January.
Should I put this as a separate section on my resume?
Are B-schools going to expect a letter of recommendation from my co-founder?
Is it going to improve or decrease my chances of acceptance since I dont have results just yet?
Others have suggested I wait and apply next year but the company is really low-maintenance so I can continue while at business school and I already have the experience outside of the initial start-up via working for my old employer (that the whole model is based on), so an extra year will not necessarily provide a huge increase in experience or knowledge. I think the MBA will allow me to achieve greater things through my business in real-time without wasting the time needed to prepare everything after I graduate. I also believe there is a realistic shelf life on this enterprise of about 5 - 10 years, so I will get the most out of it by starting it now and learning how to expand and adapt to the changing market.
I have a 750 GMAT, 3.5 GPA with about 50 months full-time work experience and I am applying to GSB, Sloan, Kellogg, Booth and Cornell. I think (hope) Kellogg is realistic and Cornell is my backup, the rest I understand are a stretch.
Any insight would be appreciated.