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falviarbaqueroFiled under: Uncategorized
We are really excited to announce that after months of hard graft we’re finally ready to let companies loose on our site! At the moment we’re restricting beta invitations to only companies to upload their opportunities onto the site.
To get an invitation email just click here and fill out the form.
If however you’re a potential entern (student/graduate) itching to get access then do pre-register your interest here too!
We’d love to hear your thoughts and comments as well as any suggestions you may have so please do get in touch with us via the Beta Feedback form or by emailing beta (at) enternships (dot) com
Filed under: Reasons to join a startup
In a recent Business Week article, Darden professor Edward Hess suggests interning in the industry before jumping in and starting your own firm.
“You will learn about the industry supply chain, the key industry financial metrics, why customers buy certain products, and the competition’s products,” he says. “You will learn about the plumbing of a business: The infrastructure of quality, financial, HR, and customer management processes, controls, and information systems. All of this will make your transition to entrepreneurship easier. Work hard and learn everything you can.”
The author suggests trying a spot with a smaller firm over the industry’s largest corporate players:
You’re probably more likely to pick up valuable industry information in a small or midsize company, because you’ll be physically closer to the decision-makers and have more chance to interact with them regularly.
Contact the chief executives and senior managers of the companies you select and let them know about your background and aspirations. Include recommendations from your professors or previous supervisors and attach a one-page résumé. “Wait three days, and then call and speak to their administrative assistants and ask if you can schedule a five-minute phone call. Tell them clearly, concisely, and compellingly why you want to work for them. Make it easy for them to hire you by working for as little as you can afford,” Hess says.
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Came across this amusing post about 17 steps on ”how to be a good intern” . The one about: ”Do not just follow directions. Think about what you are doing while you are doing this” resonated with me.
This is such an important point, the education system doesn’t always prepare us to think for ourselves and thus entering the world of work when taking initiative and being entrepreneurial in your outlook can be a culture shock for some, but nevertheless it is essential.
Check out the other 16 points here!
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I recently came across an article on Egypt’s socio-cultural barriers to entrepreneurship (for link click here). The piece highlighted interesting points; ranging from cultural conservativeness to the lack of government funding and the restrictive local legal framework. For example bankruptcy is considered a criminal offence, and many businessmen have served jail sentences as a result of their companies going under. Just as well Donald Trump wasn’t born in Egypt!
Although the author did indeed point out valid examples, I felt he spent too much time focusing on the country’s structural constraints. Whilst those constraints are indeed present, the stimulus for entrepreneurship is also very strong. For the majority of Egypt’s population, landing a job with a big corporate is not an option (for a number of socio-cultural reasons highlighted in the article). As a result, entrepreneurship is often the best route to success. Anybody that’s ever visited a developing country has been able to appreciate the high level of creativity and resourcefulness. Two crucial elements of entrepreneurship.
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Yesterday Raj and Leah attended the launch of the CBI’s latest report entitled “Future Fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work”. In it the CBI profiles Enternships (page 9) and in particular James Reid’s enternship at Peter Jones Investments – the company owned by BBC Dragon Den’s star Peter Jones.
CBI Director-General Richard Lambert said that “it is even more important during the recession that students gain vital employability skills and experience of the workplace while at university.”
We’re delighted that Enternships features in this report and look forward to seeing more students undertake work placements in entrepreneurial environments such as start-ups and SMEs.
See this BBC News article for more details.
Read this article with interest. Looks like what we’ve been saying has been affirmed by The Economist – always good to know!
I am convinced that entrepreneurship will be the way forward out of this economic mess..so guys – go forth and start-up!
p.s. I really admire the work of the Kauffman Foundation – definitely the leading Foundation championing entrepreneurship. My only wish is that they would do more in the UK!
Filed under: Entrepreneurship
That is the question from an HBS working paper featured in the NY Times this weekend.
The study found that when it comes to venture-backed entrepreneurship, the only experience that counts is success.
The study only refers to the founders, and the definition of success is wall street focused and questionable (by measuring success as going public). They conclude that:
Already-successful entrepreneurs were far more likely to succeed again: their success rate for later venture-backed companies was 34 percent. But entrepreneurs whose companies had been liquidated or gone bankrupt had almost the same follow-on success rate as the first-timers: 23 percent.
This sort of conclusion goes against the Silicon Valley mantra that failure is an opportunity to learn. Perhaps because the majority of startup folks have spent some time at unsuccessful ventures, they understand that some lessons are only learnt the hard way.
Or perhaps the study is wrongly defining success. ”Going public” is not the only, nor the most common, planned exit strategy for entrepreneurs. In fact, I would imagine that a buy-out to a larger firm (like Google) is a more common goal for tech entrepreneurs. And perhaps those entrepreneurs who have IPO’d in the past are more likely to dream of an IPO at their next venture. Either way, bucketing entrepreneurs into “successful” and “not successful” using “IPO” or “no IPO” seems like a false dichotomy, and questionable basis for drawing grand conclusions.
An interesting followup to this study would be the success of startup employees that go on to start their own companies. Do employees of Googles and Facebooks fare better if they start a company than their counterparts from defunct Pownce.com and Pet.com’s?
Nazem, Rajeeb and Leah with the 'Oracle of Omaha'
Leah interviewing Rajeeb and Nazem about the launch of Enternships
Warren's local burger joint...
On first, second…and third glance Omaha is not an exciting place. If there are any areas of natural beauty that would lure the intrepid traveller, they remain very well hidden. Why the world’s (second) richest man would want to set up shop here, and stay there for more than half a century, began as a mystery to us. Then, during the Q&A session set up at the Berkshire Hathaway offices for 100 or so lucky graduates and students…the Sage said something worthy of his title – ‘You have to be able to sit alone in a room and think for yourself – it is always important to be able to challenge conventional wisdom’. By that measure Omaha is definitely the investing community’s equivalent of being alone in a room to think.
On the morning of our meeting, conventional wisdom dictated that Warren Buffett should have appeared at best subdued, at worst on the verge of panic. A day earlier Berkshire Hathaway was downgraded by Fitch to AA status, and continued speculation about a potential successor was putting pressure on the BH stock price. Beyond his admission that he had ‘made some pretty dumb moves last year’ none of this seemed to seriously trouble the Sage. He was the epitome of care-free – witty and intelligent, eternally patient with a streak of mischief that was immediately endearing. With no fuss or frills he put us at ease and taught us about life and the world in the way he saw it. Every question asked that was specifically about finance or economics meandered back to a philosophical meditation on the world and our place in it.
When asked about gold Buffett began by pointing out why it is such a bad investment over time (doesn’t generate returns but must pay insurance, storage etc) but concluded that ‘the best asset to have in a wide inflation environment is your own earning power. Always have something about yourself that others value, something that has utility to other people’. A discussion about taxes led him to invite us to consider our social philosophy – how to think about progressive tax systems in a world where all are not born with equality of opportunity.
Buffett stated that everything he knows about investing he knew by the time he was 25. The most valuable lessons he learnt over time were about human interaction and people’s ability to cloak/rationalise behaviour. According to him the qualities that attract or repel you to/from people are all down to human choices, he told us: It is a simple thing but make a list of the qualities of the people you admire and the qualities of those that you don’t….The more you think about the kind of person you want to be the better – that is much more important than beta.
Most importantly to the three enternship pilgrims was his advice to entrepreneurs in the current economic climate, it turns out he had a very positive message:
I never believe in putting things on hold or doing something else you don’t want to do because you think it might benefit you later, but don’t get in an uncomfortable financial position – do whatever is in your means to do. Do something that turns you on everyday…not in the sexual way obviously, that would be distracting [Warren, not me!]
This message comes across in the way that Warren Buffett’s obsession with business translated into more money than he will be able to spend in a lifetime, but none of the egotistical traits it usually comes with. He has has the luxury of knowing he can do whatever he wants, yet what he wants generally seems to constitute reading about companies and playing bridge for hours on the Internet in the evening with Bill Gates.
It was clear that Warren Buffett’s success and the myth that surrounds him has been built on the idea of passion beyond reason and logic. It stands to reason then that to replicate it means doing whatever turns you on in the morning, and doing it while thinking for yourself. Take the path less travelled – it may lead you to Omaha.
Filed under: Uncategorized
The Enternships Team recently returned from a trip to Chicago and in our trip we came across a fantastic diner called “Ina’s”
Over the course of breakfast Ina came over to our table to check that we were enjoying our food and to thank us for visiting. This struck me as a fantastic example of great customer service and personal attention. During our conversation we asked whether she had plans for setting up ‘over the pond’ and she said that whilst she will be appearing in Sainsburys Magazine and has received good coverage in the UK media, SHE was the brand and that it was important for her to be at the forefront of her business. Since we haven’t found a way for Ina to be at two places at once, opening a restaurant in the UK would not be an option (sadly!)
It reminded me of the importance of having a personal touch and developing a strong brand. Ina obviously runs a very successful business (the restaurant was full with a long queue of customers waiting for tables). After doing a basic Google search for “Ina” + “breakfast” + “Chicago” I came across 20,700 results; articles have appeared in CNN, Vogue, New York Times and she has also been on Oprah! This is a lady who certainly knows how to market herself and her business. Word of mouth/viral marketing has definitely worked in her favour as have review sites such as Yelp.com. In fact the only way we came across is was through the Time Out Guide to Chicago (which Naz brought with him!)
We live in a marketing led society where companies spent multi millions ensuring that they get the right messages across and enforcing their corporate brand and indentity. Just as branding is essential for products, firms and services, so too is the ‘person’ in the brand. For start-ups and small firms, telling a compelling story around your Founder or the rationale for the business is a great way of getting media coverage and attracting clients. Effective PR can be a cost effective way of getting your message out there but for you to be “newsworthy” the person and their story is essential. Ina has perfected this and so let’s just say that what we thought would be an ordinary breakfast in Chicago ended up being an interesting lesson in business.
Thanks to Ina for her inspiration and a great breakfast!
Disclaimer: no free food was received in return for this blog post!
