Meet our MSt in Entrepreneurship students

My name is Bingbing. I am starting a business that looks to improve the mental health and emotional resilience for young children since their early childhood. The Business School has seen many, many entrepreneurs, successful ones, come and going and has really craft, I think, the technique to help people learn, help people think, help people develop. One thing that really resonated with me in this programme that I found absolutely special and precious, that is the diversity of the people.

When I first joined, because I’m still early on the other side I think compared to some of the other people in the programme, I was kind of thinking, oh my gosh, could I fit in? Is it the right place for me? But then afterwards, I realised just how diverse the cohort is. And when you put all of these people together, something miraculous always sparkles from all kinds of conversations and drinks we’ve had and all the fun times. And that’s something that I’ve absolutely loved about the programme.

My name is Suraj Thakrar, and I work for a family business, which is called Turnells of London. The best thing that I have found about the MSt in Entrepreneurship has to be the people I’ve met. I hate to be cheesy, but I’ve genuinely learned so much about different industries. And I think that’s really valuable for me because in a family business, you’re so often surrounded by people doing the same things as you and with the same interests as you.

But what’s great about the cohort here is that everybody has an interest in entrepreneurship, and they have the confidence to start their own ventures, or at least contemplate it. My mentor works for a very famous customer relationship management software company, and he’s quite senior there.

And he’s given me so much insight into the value of systems. And then combined with the lectures that we’ve had in systems, and thinking about how our processes currently are, has given me a lot of opportunity for reflection on how we can improve what we’re doing, become more efficient, and scale.

My name is Eliot, and my sector is hospitality. The cohort is, probably for me, one of the best things about the programme. It’s the diversity, range of experience, and knowledge. And so you’re guaranteed to pick up insights into areas that you had, perhaps, little prior knowledge of before but also to see areas you might be more experienced in in a new light.

So I think I was particularly drawn to the academic rigour it could lend to my professional experience but all focused within the context that’s all about the practical application. So picking up theoretical insights from some of the industry leaders, but all the while, focused on actually making things happen.

It really has meant that the external disruptions have had a minimal impact on the actual learning experience. And aside from that, I think in times like these, there are many more subjects that could be of more use in something like entrepreneurship, which ultimately, is all about creating value.

So I would say, I’m very much at the start of my entrepreneurial journey. And my sector is hospitality, and there’s a lot of uncertainty with regards to how I will achieve my ambitions within it. However, the one thing that I am sure of is applying to this programme has definitely been a step in the right direction.

My name is Dr Millicent Stone. And I’m CEO and co-founder of iOWNA, a digital healthcare solution for clinicians to share patient-centric information with their patients, to enable them to have a better outcome and live longer, healthier lives.

I’m doing the Masters in Entrepreneurship programme, and the single most important, useful piece of knowledge was learning the word, value, and how to discover value for my venture, and how to create value, and how to execute to give value to my customers.

There was one thing I learned on the programme that I never had any inkling about, and that was systems. It’s taught by Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat and I found it extremely hard at the time to learn, but I put the effort in. And now I apply systems to every facet of my life not just my ventures, and it’s hugely helpful.

If you’re thinking of this programme, one of the most useful things is to understand that just because part of it is remote, it doesn’t impact at all on the experience. In fact, it’s a way of working, and a way of life in the work world now. So I think if anything, Cambridge Judge Business School have really grasped how to deliver high-quality education in a hybrid manner, face-to-face and remote. And it’s been a wonderful experience.

My name is Sharena Shiv, I run a property management company and I also have a podcast show called, Start Up Start Now. So I would say the best thing about the programme is the fact that now I did my undergrad five years ago and graduated, I’ve now come back into the classroom and just being around lecturers that are entrepreneurs themselves and people that have embarked on the journey.

I love the fact that there’s like over 60 of us from 30, I think it’s like 35 different countries, which just means that everybody comes and gives a different perspective on things. On this course you don’t need to move physically, you could do it from anywhere in the world. But with that I’ve wanted to take advantage of being part of the Cambridge experience. And there is something really special about that.

So kind of getting also those experiences of meeting other students, meeting world leaders I think is really important. And who wouldn’t want to come here and grow their network at the same time?

My name is Michael Quartey, MSt Entrepreneurship, first year student, and my venture is Eczodex. As an entrepreneur, you tend to believe that you’re on this journey alone, and that you’re the only one in the world who’s crazy enough to try to come up with your own ideas to solve problems. And joining this course, it was reassuring to know there are many people interested in entrepreneurship. And it’s great to bounce ideas off a collective group of like-minded peers.

You’re already in the right group. You have a great network of people who are open to creativity, to taking risks, and to embark on a very uncertain journey as we all know, especially the very early stages of a startup. So yeah, the chances of you finding a founding team are much higher by joining a programme of this sort than on any other type of business school. I would encourage anyone who believes that they can do something else to take a step back, come back, study, and then move forward.