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Calling all IE IMBA Applicants (January 2016 Intake) Class of 2016!!

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21 Oct 2015, 14:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Coursera: Analizando las Políticas Económicas

¡Analizando las Políticas Económicas ya está disponible en español en Coursera!

Este curso impartido por Gayle Allard, analiza la forma en que los gobiernos utilizan las políticas económicas para influenciar la economía de sus países.

Una vez completado, tienes la opción de recibir un certificado emitido por Coursera.

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This Blog post was imported into the forum automatically. We hope you found it helpful. Please use the Kudos button if you did, or please PM/DM me if you found it disruptive and I will take care of it. -BB

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30 Oct 2015, 02:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Start Up Lab 2015!

As a part of our newly redesigned International MBA we are kicking off the latest edition of the Start Up Lab! The Lab takes place during the third Core Period of the IMBA program comprising 60 sessions taught over 5 weeks. This is part of the IMBA redesign which aims to provide a more hands-on and experimental format to the current MBA learning experience. The OBJECTIVE of the Start-up Lab is to encourage, empower and support early-stage start-up ventures. This Lab consists of 6 Knowledge Streams covering 18 Courses with an average of 3 sessions per course.

Our goal is to create a framework for the students that provides them with the resources, knowledge and network to be able to create and launch viable businesses whether right after the program or in the future. Students will work with some of the best professors at IE, Start-up experts and advisors from the local start-up ecosystem and successful entrepreneurs on a daily basis.

The edition we have 88 students in the Start-up Lab and their are sections in both English and Spanish. Each Stat-up will have at least three and not more the 5 members. The Students have been pitching their ideas and voting between themselves on an online MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS which can be seen here. Start-up Lab website can be seen here.

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10 Nov 2015, 04:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Meet Ashley- IE IMBA and Founder of Markit

By Arabdha Sudhir

How has your journey – post IE been ?

Coming back to the Silicon Valley after IE gave me a new perspective on what I wanted out of my career. Unemployment was very low and jobs were plentiful at startups all over the Valley. I applied to only a few positions that intrigued me, and landed an in-person interview in East Africa. It was then that I decided to commit myself to the region and focus on social impact projects. Choosing to follow my instinct and passion has been very rewarding.

What prompted you to start your initiative?

After working with micro-entrepreneurs in Cameroon, I better understood the tremendous need farmers had for services. At IE my Term 1 team and I found a solution to market access for smallholder farmer. When our Venture Lab team placed as Semi-finalists in Venture Day, we knew we had a strong idea. It was easier to start this initiative with that kind of momentum.

How did the IE experience help you during the process?

The IMBA program at IE gave me and my teammates various opportunities to work on this project — from Entrepreneurship classes, Net Impact’s Impact Weekend, and Venture Lab. Gathering input from my classmates, professors and professionals in social impact, the business model took shape at IE. Having a general management degree under my belt has given me confidence to work in all of our companies “departments,” something I would have needed more external help from before the IMBA program.

How was the experience setting up the project?

The foundations of the business plan for Markit Opportunity were built at IE, but we had yet to understand the true reality on the ground. With the plan to bootstrap the business, I worked for six months after graduation in the Silicon Valley at a tech startup. The first three months in Kenya were all about interviewing and listening, which changed the direction of the business model and influenced our product offering. Now, after four months in country, we are incorporating and growing our team in Kenya.

Would you want to share any tips, advice with current student interested in the same sector?

If you are looking to start your own business for the first time after IE, particularly in the social sector, I recommend acquiring two key assets: cash and a mentor. Our experience working in a developing country has shown us that we usually need more time than we plan for. Having cash helps with that. A mentor in the country and sector you are launching in helps tremendously with introductions, advice about doing business in the sector, and most of all, a sounding board when you’re facing decisions based on limited information. Finally, keep asking questions! There is never enough to learn.

A note to the current students!

While you may have come to IE with specific ambitions, be open to new ideas for your career. Allow the input of your peers to influence you. However, if you have a passion for something big and bold, take it on! There may be naysayers, and it may look difficult, but if you believe your work is meaningful, you’ll put everything you have into it.

Markit was recently the finalist in the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenege, held in Cape Town, South Africa. The team was awarded a cash prize of $10,000 and a mentor from Barclays for six months. Find out more @ https://disrupt-africa.com/2015/11/markit-opportunity-wins-barclays-africa-supply-chain-challenge/

Markit is also looking at hiring talent and they welcome applications from alumni!

We thank Ashley for sharing here experience with us and wish her all the very best for future.

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12 Nov 2015, 04:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: CONGRATULATIONS : IE IMBAs finalists for the AMBA awards!

We´re delighted to inform that two of our IMBAs are in the finals for one of the most prestigious MBA awards- AMBA awards.

María Cecilia Rodríguez Alcalá from Paraguay (Nov 14 intake) is a finalist in The Independent MBA Student of the Year Award (sponsored by The Independent newspaper).

Cecilia came to IE with a brilliant academic record punctuated by major awards. She began sixth in class and now holds a well-deserved No. 1 position. Cecilia is from a liberal arts background, making her capacity to achieve top marks in finance studied from scratch remarkable. Her naturally positive and generous nature made her a go-to person for help among peers, who consider her pre-exam schematics essential reading. Classmates describe how she homes in on highly relevant issues, and teammates describe her as “a truly motivational person, who, whenever you need her, is there.” The school and programme have benefitted enormously from her expert coordination of IE’s Latin American Business Club and her TedX contribution. IE is also set to gain from an e-academy project led by Cecilia using the school’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. It will offer online courses on robotics and programming for community development to all IE stakeholders.

Matan Ganani from Israel (Alumnus, Apr 12 intake) is a finalist for the Entrepreneurial Venture Award as CEO and Co-Founder of his start-up “Never Empty”.

Matan Ganani had a background in law and private education when he came to IE, where his MBA and IE’s entrepreneurial spirit brought a shift of focus to entrepreneurship. IE’s entrepreneurial eco-system served as the primary vehicle to develop the foundations for “Never Empty”, an initiative aimed at tackling the problem of under-utilized venues in public events, while providing further segments of the population access to events they very much want to attend, but considered unaffordable.

We congratulate –Cecilia and Matan, who are both outstanding examples of the best of IE and wish them all the luck !

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Schools: IE Sept'16 (A) INSEAD Jan '16 (WL) Schulich '16 (A) Thunderbird '18 (A)

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Schools: IE Sept'16 (A) INSEAD Jan '16 (WL) Schulich '16 (A) Thunderbird '18 (A)

GMAT 1: 680 Q49 V37 Verified score

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12 Nov 2015, 15:12

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Hello all,

Is there a whatsapp group for the Jan intake?

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18 Nov 2015, 05:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: IE SRF FORUM 2015 – NOV 27th,28th

By Amita Goyal

For each of the last nine years, the Social Responsibility Forum has enabled more than 200 students to interact with peers, professionals and inspiring leaders to learn about topics associated with social impact and business. The Forum has a prestigious and international presence, evidenced by the geographical reach of our speakers and the increasing number of students from other top European MBA programs who attend every year.

This year’s forum will provide an opportunity participate in panel discussions and network with speakers from ‘Non profit’, ‘For profit’ sector along with NGOs and international development organisation such as Telefonica, Google, TBLI, Ashoka Fellows, World Food Program. FSG, to discuss intersection of business with social responsibility.

We are looking forward to making the 10th anniversary of the Forum the best yet, and hope you are able to take part in it. Additional information (program, speakers, networking activities) about the Social Responsibility Forum may be found at https://www.iesrforum.ie.edu

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30 Nov 2015, 12:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: A tête-à-tête with Araceli..

By ARABDHA SUDHIR

It´s a regular day in Mexico and I´m on the other side of the world in Madrid talking to Araceli. What strikes one about her is the brutal honesty and transparency with which she tells her story.Araceli Campos holds a Bachelors in Marketing. She feels marketing has always fascinated her. She started her career as Marketing Assistant for YUM brands. But on some level, selling fast food didn´t really excite her and she decided to look for more meaning.

In her own words, Araceli was often told by her managers she had the “bug which forced her to do new things” –all the time. She then moved on to leading the Latin American Impact Investing Forum (FLII) along with other programs and events for the impact investing sector in the region .This was again around one of the ideas she loved- that of social entrepreneurship. NEW VENTURES helps foster entrepreneurship in Latin America by investing in seed stage ventures. With more than 800 entrepreneurs who benefitted from this, she felt a huge sense of gratification and fulfilment associated with her work.

Araceli is a huge believer of “Everything happens for a reason” and she felt all her background had paved the road for her to start learning more on aspects of business. That´s when the IE IMBA happened. When asked how her IMBA experience was, she says that she found it quite hard at the beginning. The Gauss curve too was hard to get used to. She hailed from a very contrasting world of startups and found the transition rather difficult. She says – “there were days when I got up and questioned myself why I´m doing an MBA”. But things changed and soon she ended up enjoying the course towards the second half of the program, when she felt she got the chance to work on subjects she was more interested in. Somewhere during the course – she had a clearer picture of who she wanted to be – and that was not a finance guru or a consultant. She wanted to go back to the world of ideas and entrepreneurship. Today she feels grateful and thinks she grew immensely and had amazing insights towards the end of the program. The IMBA, in her words, made her a “well rounded professional”.

After finishing IMBA, Araceli went back to Mexico and joined as the Director of IMPACT HUB, Mexico. She took over IMPACT HUB when it wasn´t in the best shape and consolidated it. The IE experience definitely prepared her better to deal with this role-she says. She had the clarity of what she wanted to do and who she wanted to be in life. Startups, innovation and trends in entrepreneurship were always her true calling.

And what does she have to say about life with IMPACT HUB today?

“It´s amazing- to be a part of something that has such a huge impact! I´ve the opportunity to touch the lives of people in a more significant way. It all seems so unbelievable at times- to have everything! ”. One cannot possibly miss the echo of sheer satisfaction in the last sentence.

What advice does she have for the students?

“Follow your heart and go with your gut. Do what really moves you – be sure you´re doing what you want to do. Otherwise it´s just a ticking time bomb to a burnout.”

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02 Dec 2015, 10:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: MOBILE CHALLENGE AFRICA

The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative at the Bandwidth Barn, Cape Town, South Africa, and will be open to registrations from startups in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

All you need is a working proof of concept, or an early stage start up in the mobile, internet or technology space to be eligible to register.

WHAT DO I NEED TO REGISTER

You will send us a short (10-15 slides) presentation* on your startup at info@mobilechallengeafrica.com by 9th December 2015.

*PowerPoint presentation

Intro (4 – 5 slides) – to cover the need/problem you are solving, and the model

Marketing Strategy (2 – 3 slides) – about the market potential, the competition and the marketing plan

Basic Financials (2 slides) – to cover any capital requirements, and other relevant financials

Operations (2 – 3 slides) – the team and delivery model

Submissions will go through a selection process by judges, based on

a) innovativeness of the concept/startup

b) commercial viability

c) scalability

d) the team

The highest rating submissions will be invited to a regional event in South Africa – fully paid flight and stay – in January 2016.

During the event in South Africa, teams will pitch their ideas to a host of judges, who will rate them and the top THREE teams from the three countries will receive invitations to the Global Final at the 4FYN, Mobile World Capital, Barcelona February 22-26/2016, to compete in the Global Challenge with international teams, for the opportunity to win one week acceleration at one of Europe’s leading accelerators in Madrid, the IE Venture Lab.

Imtiaz Middle East founded in Dubai in 2009 is focused on program design and delivery in the areas of entrepreneurship development. Today Imtiaz is responsible three regional chapters under the Global Challenge empowering young entrepreneurs in the mobile sector.

IE Business School ranked #3 Business School in Europe by the Financial Times, IE is an international institution dedicated to educating business leaders through programs based on our core values of global focus, entrepreneurial spirit and a humanistic approach.

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23 Dec 2015, 11:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Meet Abdulaziz-IMBA student, entrepreneur, calligrapher and founder of DESIGN KAAF..

By Arabdha Sudhir

There are some times when you meet people and it doesn´t take second guessing to tell who they are. For Abdulaziz, it was fairly easy to tell he was an artist. And so when the story flowed and none of his life seemed “planned”, it somehow made total sense.

By his background, Abdulaziz is an architect from Kuwait and he had been working in construction for some time. In his own words he was “never interested in either art or calligraphy before”. But this was until he visited the Qatar Islamic History museum- where he saw the display of ancient Arabic calligraphic art and that was when his life started taking a new turn! He felt mesmerized by the lettering – “it was like travelling into time”.

However, it was difficult to decipher the calligraphy. He took a few pictures-determined to find the meaning. These he then compared to different scripts in old Arabic calligraphy. After quite some studying and research, he wrote his own name in Kufi-the style he had been trying to decipher all this while.

Technology and social media really have revolutionized the world and it was Abdulaziz´s turn now. He wrote his name in Kufi and shared it on Instagram – where it became a huge hit. He had 300 followers in 2 days straight! Everyone was tagging him suddenly and his follower base grew. Friends requested quotations soon and orders followed.

Soon Abdulaziz started his calligraphy classes and formed a group of calligraphers who shared the same passion. Between calligraphy in cafes and classes, he started a lean startup creating necklaces, accessories, cufflinks and other accessories with Kufi calligraphic art. The supply grew to the Arabic regions, US, Spain, Turkey, China and South Korea. He called his company ´DESIGN KAAF´ – KAAF originating from Kufi.

When his business grew, he thought about taking a formal business course. Aziz was always drawn to Spain and the Spanish architecture. He loves the history here as well. At the same time, he wanted a course that was not the typical MBA and had its center in entrepreneurship. And he felt he had lots of ideas that he wanted to build and develop. This is how IE happened!

So how was his IE experience? , I ask.

“Connecting with people from different countries, cultures, religions added so much to my perspective. There were different ways to do things and I saw that. On reflection, now I have friends in so many different countries and this huge network to learn and grow from.

On the academic front, the courses were rather different- IMBA at the end taught me an ATTITUDE towards everything – the attitude to pursue all dreams and take risks in life. ”

Abdulaziz says, at some point down the line, he realized that he would not work for any other company when he can work for himself!

Recently he was chosen as the representing artist from Kuwait for the launch of Mont Blanc special edition designs in Dubai. This was while he was doing his IMBA at IE Business School. Abdulaziz also engraved a limestone with Kufi calligraphy for the president of Kuwait.

Abdulaziz recently graduated from IE and his plan next is to go back to Kuwait and start work with the B2B side of Design KAAF.He also has other startup dreams he would like to pursue.

And what note would he like to leave us with?

“Life´s like a puzzle..you never know the entire picture- but every piece is related and at the end it´ll all come together- so never stop dreaming.”

Thank you Aziz- and we wish you all the luck ahead!

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14 Jan 2016, 06:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: IMBA Success Story: Bhuvan Rustagi, Co-Founder and COO of Lendbox

We are proud to share that one of our very own IE Alumni, Bhuvan Rustagi, was recently featured on YoSuccess.com! Bhuvan is currently the Co-Founder and COO of Lendbox. He graduated from IE in the IMBA Class of November 2012 intake. In addition to his MBA from IE Bhuvan also has an ACCA and5+ years of management and finance experience in PwC Africa (Assurance Consultant) and as a Mergers and Acquisitions Specialist with Alvarez and Marsal in Mumbai. His latest venture called Lendbox is a leading Peer-to-Peer lending platform for India. Bhuvan co-founded this startup with an aim for making it a one-stop solution for all financial troubles faced by anyone.

You can find an in-depth article about Bhuvan and his accomplishments, in addition to a great Questions and Answer section where Bhuvan imparts some very usefull knowledge here at this link. Below we have share what we feel is one of the best quotes from Bhuvan.

“Listen before you speak, ignore the haters, work hard, be kind and don’t forget to laugh and help people grow and you will grow with them and everything else will just fall into place.”

-Bhuvan Rustagi, IMBA November 2012 Intake

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22 Jan 2016, 05:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Key Dates September 2016 IMBA Dates

Now that we have start the January intake of the IMBA we are getting ready and gearing up for the September 2016 intake. For those of you who are applying for that intake or may already be admitted or enrolled, below you will find some of the key dates that you should keep in mind.

Key Dates September 2016 IMBA Dates

Intensive Spanish Course: August 3rd to 28th 2015
Opening Ceremony: September 3rd 2015
LAUNCH: September 4th to 11th 2015
Core Period: September 14th 2015 until February 26th 2016
Lab Period: February 29th until April 8th 2016
Elective Period: April 11th until July 8th 2016
Integrative Final Exercise: July 11th to 15th 2016
Graduation: July 22nd 2016Best of luck to you all!

Please keep in mind these dates and make sure you plan accordingly!

Best of luck!

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29 Jan 2016, 03:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Check out what Lola Garralda has to say about Entrepreneurship @ Area 31

Click here to view the embedded video.

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01 Feb 2016, 05:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Erik Schlie, Associate Dean of IE International MBA,talks about the ´UNCONVENTION´

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02 Feb 2016, 10:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Mobile Challenge Africa

Author: Simon Gifford

Co-founder Mashauri Limited; Adjunct Professor IE Business School; Director: Genesis Management Consulting.

What do reducing infant mortality rates, supporting bursary providers in administering their grants and providing payment mechanisms for small businesses in East Africa have in common? In this case, they are all winners of the Mobile Challenge Africa competition held in Cape Town, South Africa last Friday.

I was privileged to be a judge, together with Roger Norton from Playlogix and Crecencia Chauma from CiTi in deciding which of the 10 finalists should be sent to Barcelona to pitch at the Mobile World Congress – the biggest mobile event in the world! The event was held at the uber-cool The Bandwidth Barn in Cape Town.

IE, together with Imtiaz, sponsored the competition. Cataline Tejero, Assistant Director, Middle East and Africa opened the event, introducing Abu Cassim ( IE MBA 2012) the master of ceremonies and clarifying IEs strong positioning in supporting entrepreneurship both inside the MBA courses and outside in events such as this competition and the IE Venture Day series.

The standard of the entries was high and the passion and energy of the founders was palpable. The sub-saharan African economy is not the easiest place to be doing business at the moment – collapsing commodity prices, deteriorating exchange rates, unstable electricity supply and high unemployment are just some of the challenges. But observing the enthusiasm and visions of the entrepreneurs you would be forgiven for believing they were operating in boom times – and that is true entrepreneurial spirit.

After all the presentations, the judges retired to make the tough choice of selecting the winners. Six entrants seemed to be in a slightly higher league than the rest, but deciding on the top three was no easy task. All had great ideas, good teams and had achieved some traction. The two factors that ultimately cost the runners up their position were overly complex business models and / or the required need to change entrenched behaviour of existing players. The eventual winners were: Gifted Mom – a system to help pregnant mothers and so to reduce maternal and infant mortality; Lipaplus – a mobile payments system for Africa and Mali Mobile – a last mile mobile payments system for bursary providers and students.

The rest of the IE trip made by myself and Catalina incorporating Accra, Johannesburg and Nairobi, put us in contact with many other businessmen and women where we were delighted to find the entrepreneurial spirit alive and thriving. As an example, when asking the young African Uber driver taking us to Johannesburg International airport what led him to become an Uber driver, he replied that it helped to supplement income from his other two enterprises: organising transport for groups of international visitors; and helping small business owners create a brand and a professional image for their business.

Watch out Europe – Africa is awakening!

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04 Feb 2016, 03:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Anton’s Private Equity case writing adventure during his exchange at RSM!

By Anton Moolman Herholdt

On my academic exchange to Rotterdam School of Management there was an open invitation to interested full-time and exchange students to join RSM’s 6th Annual Private Equity Competition as case writers. I took on the challenge with no prior experience in private equity, and led a 3-person case writing team to deliver the case to be used for this prestigious competition in November 2015.

As a South African business student, I leveraged my knowledge of the current local energy crises to create a relevant and real-life scenario for the case to play off in. Together with my team we created a fictional Rotterdam-based Solar PV manufacturer interested in entering the South African market under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program.

The 10 participating teams from top business schools acted as analyst teams of a fictional Amsterdam-based green energy focused private equity fund and had to co-develop a business case for market entry. The case was very open-ended in nature, causing for a interesting and much discussed range of solutions.

It was fantastic to meet up with my fellow IE classmates in Amsterdam during my exchange. The competition was a major success and the experience I gained invaluable. I am currently working with the Erasmus University Case Development Centre to publish the case for teaching purposes.

I would like to thank my fellow writers Jarna Gandhi (RSM) and Refilwe Mauda (GIBS), Julia Peterle (RSM) for organising the competition, and Tao Yue for her professional input on the case writing process.

I could never have anticipated this learning opportunity during my MBA! #ietookmehere

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11 Feb 2016, 10:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: MEET AREA 31 STARTUPS: HACKITY APP

“Improve your neighborhood. Transform your city. Creates, supports and involve in the solutions. Make your neighborhood a better place to live.” -Hackity App-

Hackity App is a platform that aims to improve your city and make your neighborhood a better place to live. The app allows users to make proposals for improvements in their city by uploading photos to the platform, where together with the community they will be able to reach a possible solution. We interviewed two of the founders: Maria Isla and Eusebio Reyero to tell us their experience as entrepreneurs and with Hackity App:

The idea was born as a result of smartcities and the way these are evolving. They realized that citizens have no say in this process of advancement, and that their voices had a right to be heard so that their ideas for improvement could be implemented within the cities. Then, it was in Dublin in the startup competition: “Hack the city” that Hackity App was born.

The way it works:

“At IE there is no parking space for bikes, therefore people leave them locked in the entry gate where there is not much space. As a result, someone could suggest the construction of parking spaces for bikes in IE’s street, and together with the community a solution would be sought.”

“In a future phase we hope to include in the platform the ability to contact with the town hall so that large transformations can be implemented. So for instance, if there is a problem concerning a roundabout, the community would not be able to fix the problem without the town halls’ help”. At the moment they have opened their conversations with Madrid’s town hall. As their technical solution is more or less resolved, they will just have to find a way on how to collaborate.

The good thing about Hackity App is that even though the platform works at a local level, it can be easily replicated in as many cities as wanted. Their main goal was that cities should not only be more intelligent but at the same time cities should improve the citizen’s quality of life. Today, 54% of the total population resides in cities, however, by 2050, the metropolitan population will increase to an 80% of the population. Nevertheless, during the past years, cities have not changed at all, and they are not adapting to people’s’ needs, as cities need to become public spaces for the people that live in them. In the end, the ones who know and live in the different neighborhoods that compose a city are the neighbors themselves. Therefore their knowledge implies an extremely valuable piece of information for the management of the different neighborhoods.

The are planning to keep expanding as Hackity App is already being used at an international level, as the app started to operate in London. When expanding, they do not focus on cities, but rather on country level. The reason for this, is that once the platform has entered a certain neighborhood in a country, it can easily expand to other cities. Hackity App already counts with users spread throughout the world: US, Mexico and Brazil among others.

For their founders, the greatest difficulty that they encountered was shifting from zero to one. Changing from working part-time in the project while having another job, to devoting their time fully to the project. Nevertheless, they stated that it is more attractive to work for YOUR project than it may be to work for other people, even if you enjoy that too. You are surely more motivated when the project is yours, especially when one observes the incredible global reach that the project has managed to achieved. Sometimes the results obtained and the journey travelled would have been impossible or hard to achieve if you work for other people.

“As an entrepreneur, the learning capacity that you acquire is unbelievable. You tend to discover that you have certain abilities that you would have not discovered otherwise, and that applies to all of our team members. I think that if we all look at ourselves a year ago we would all be surprised by how much learning we have been able to obtained.”

According to Hackity’s founders, the best piece of advice that they would give an entrepreneur that is about to start would be: “Understand that ideas evolve and that one cannot pretend to not “corrupt” an idea. Ideas evolve, and during the process of uncertainty, the company builds itself. Do not wait for your product to be perfect, launch and make media noise, there will always be things to improve, don’t wait for the perfect moment because it will not arrive.”

“What we are really excited about is seeing people that have been able to fix problems, as a hole on sidewalk of the street. Some weeks ago someone mentioned on Hackity App that there was a flaw in the sidewalk of a certain street, and two hours later someone had fixed it with cement, just like that.The most beautiful thing about all this is to see that people believe in your idea and that they are looking for improvement in the city and in the world.”

Check out more at: https://entrepreneurship.blogs.ie.edu/2016/02/11/meet-area-31-startups-hackity-app/#sthash.lcfxKPVg.dpuf

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16 Feb 2016, 12:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: The IE Business School MBA Is Taking LEGO Into The Digital Era !

Written by Marco De Novellis

With the dawn of the digital era, the traditional LEGO model faces its greatest ever challenge. Yet MBA grad Freek Duppen, a senior development manager at LEGO Group in London, thinks that the toy manufacturing giant is more than ready to adapt.

According to Common Sense Media, 90% of US children have used a computer and 81% have played video console games by the age of eight. And in the UK, one in three children own their own tablet, according to a 2014 report by communications regulator Ofcom.

However Freek, from IE Business School, is responsible for leveraging LEGO’s operating model and driving new innovation to integrate digital and physical play.

Previously, the pioneering young professional worked at Capgemini Consulting in the strategy and innovation space. But, determined to take his career to the next level, Freek relocated to Spain for an MBA.

How can LEGO respond to the demands of an increasingly digitized world?

We consider digitization as a way to make our core business — the physical LEGO model — even more attractive and exciting to consumers. To do this, the company leverages digitization over a broad range of topics.

A good example of this is our recent launch of LEGO Dimensions, a “toys-to-life” product that blends video gaming with physical products. It allows you to build mini-figures, vehicles and gadgets out of bricks, and then transport them into the video game. It combines characters and worlds from different LEGO themes, so you can have Gandalf and Batman running around in a Simpsons’ world!

We also leverage social and digital media to reach our consumers. We get over a 100 million views each month on our LEGO YouTube channel, providing content to kids to spur their imagination and helping them create new storylines for their physical play experiences.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA?

I wanted to beef up my business knowledge. I really enjoyed consulting, but I was still curious about what else was out there, and I felt like my learning curve was flattening.

I figured an MBA would be a great structural break, which would broaden my horizons and allow me to make a more informed decision on what to do next.

Why did you decide to pursue a career at LEGO?

I had already worked with LEGO as a consultant and I was truly impressed by its corporate culture, people, and the simplicity of how it went about certain things.

What advice do you have for MBAs considering a career at LEGO?

Make sure you have a good understanding of the company culture. At heart, LEGO is a Danish, family-owned company, and with that comes a specific way of doing things.

LEGO places an above average emphasis on collaboration skills. People are very much expected and encouraged to collaborate, both within and across functional areas. Being able to demonstrate that you can work effectively with other people will certainly benefit your application.

Why did you choose to study at IE Business School in particular?

IE was my number one choice from the start.

What I appreciated most was the innovative nature of its curriculum, which is largely customizable to one’s own needs and preferences.

It has some really practical “lab” modules, which bring your newly-acquired knowledge and skills to life, and great infrastructure to support entrepreneurship.

What does a typical working day at LEGO mean for you?

Our work in the operating model team revolves around talking to and facilitating meetings with stakeholders in the organization, analytical work on the operating model itself, and problem-solving in the form of driving task forces — all powered by great coffee and the occasional game of foosball!

How have you profited from your MBA experience?

An MBA helps you to move forward, faster in your career. The experience of continuously being challenged — academically, culturally, or otherwise — truly boosts your personal development and is hard to replicate in a corporate setting.

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22 Feb 2016, 09:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: Key Dates IMBA Sept 2016

Please take out your agendas, personal planners and calendars to update the key dates for the International MBA Program that starts in September 2016:

Intensive Spanish Course: August 8th to September 1st
Opening Ceremony: 2 September 2016
LAUNCH: 5 – 13 September 2016
Term 1: 15 Sept – 22 November 2016
Term 2: 29 Nov – 22 February 2017
Labs: 6 March – 31 March 2017
Graduation Day: 21 July 2017

Please remember that IE has a rolling admissions process which means that there are no explicit application deadlines.

Preparad vuestras agendas personales o calendarios para actualizar las fechas claves del International MBA Programa que empieza en septiembre 2016:

Ceremonia de Apertura: 2 de septiembre 2016
LAUNCH: del 5 al 13 de septiembre 2016
Periodo Esencial: 15 de septiembre 2015 al 22 de febrero 2017
Lab Period: 6 de Marzo al 31 de Marzo 2017
Graduación: 21 de julio 2017

No olvides que nuestro proceso de admisión es continuo, es decir, no tenemos fecha límite de solicitud para ninguna de las dos convocatorias anuales.

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23 Feb 2016, 09:01

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FROM IE Business School - International MBA Blog: A Game of Poker

By FELIX VALDIVIESO

Here Norman Kurtis, professor of consumer insights & behavior at IE Business School, talks about poker and how players’ behavior is similar to that of consumers in general. He says, for instance, that the concept of aversion, which means that the amount of suffering most consumers experience when they lose $100, is greater than the amount of joy they experience when given $100, is also seen in poker. His main point though is that the biggest change in the market research industry in the past 50 years is not the advent of online research, but rather the increased access to more relevant information from different sources that tell a holistic story (traditional research data, transactional data, social media data, web data, etc.).

Prof. Kurtis is half American, half Spanish, and has over 20 years of experience helping brands ask the right questions from a strategy, marketing and consumer insights perspective. He has worked at American Express in New York, at Accenture as an associate partner, and he was the CEO for Spain of marketing & market research agencies like Kantar and Ipsos… He is currently the vice dean of behavior & human development at IE School of Human Sciences and Technology. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from London Business School.

Don’t miss seeing him play poker. Who do you think won? Anyway, don’t believe everything you see…!

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Schools: ESADE '18 (A) Rotman '18 (II) Sauder '18 (A) Schulich Jan '18 (S) IE '18 (A) Bocconi '17 INSEAD Jan '17

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Schools: ESADE '18 (A) Rotman '18 (II) Sauder '18 (A) Schulich Jan '18 (S) IE '18 (A) Bocconi '17 INSEAD Jan '17

GMAT 1: 710 Q48 V39 Verified score

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02 Mar 2016, 09:00

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Hi guys,

For someone aiming consultancy, is it better start at Sept or Jan intake?

I am most concerned about internship opportunities.

Please help me!