Residual Impact Of Pandemic On Entrepreneurial Choices


American business owners have a rich history steeped in dreams of financial and professional independence.

The path to entrepreneurship continues to be paved by the advanced accomplishments of early-career professionals whose LinkedIn profiles can be adorned with the three key letters MBA.

Illuminate Ventures explored the directions MBA students take, finding professional and compelling appeal for building career paths around singular ideas. More than 80% of her 500 business school students from over 20 prestigious institutions consider entrepreneurship a likely next step after graduation. Managing her partner Cindy Padnos of her Illuminate Ventures was a surprise as an expert in integrating MBA students as interns. “I’m surprised so many people are interested,” she said. [in entrepreneurship]”

Estimates from the Graduate Management Admission Council pre-Covid-19 pandemic were far less bullish about potential correlations between MBA graduates and entrepreneurial pursuits. about 25% were expected to choose the less traveled route.

Sandwiched between these findings was a pandemic that may have strengthened independent approaches to career pursuits.

Policy informs practice

Caught in the beginning of the global shutdown was University of Michigan (U of M), Ross School of Business student Jeremy Leung. He just accepted an internship at American Airlines and has run out of steam. Unable to attend the internship, Leung returned to his home in Australia.

Like many students pursuing advanced degrees, Leung’s résumé was substantial. His work as political assistant to the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs gave Leon an expanded worldview of opportunities. Subsequent classes at U of M gave me a deeper context on the incredible opportunity to participate and see policy and diplomacy in action. He got to see the world from a different perspective that was easier for him to handle,” he says.

Leung represents a growing number of international students becoming entrepreneurs who have a knack for connecting the strategic dots between business and international relations.

A post-government ministerial effort saw Leung move to New York to serve as Director of Business, Innovation and Policy for the American Australian Association. The largest privately funded non-profit organization dedicated to connecting the United States and Australia. Since 2002, the 70-year-old organization has awarded her over $14 million to over 900 scholars through financial and educational bond initiatives.

A brief stint in Mexico as an MBA business consultant for Uber added to Leung’s growing list of experiences and ultimately influenced his future choice to enter the startup space.

international start-up player

Leung’s approach to starting and owning a business was either adapted or born from the aftermath of a global pandemic. Recent data shows that the U.S. economy continues to be fueled by entrepreneurs from outside the contiguous 48 states. His Peter Dizikes of the MIT News Office reports: More than 80%, as stated by Yasmin Amer in his article on his WBUR findings.

The study, co-authored by Pierre Azoulay, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, suggests that immigrants have a significant impact on job creation through their efforts.

“Immigrants found more businesses in every bucket,” says Azoulay. “They build smaller companies, they build more midsize companies. They build bigger companies. [immigrants] We only create growth-oriented startups. We are not just building a self-sufficient business. They create all kinds of businesses, they create many businesses. ”

According to the American Immigration Council’s special report, The New American Fortune 500 2022, “Immigrant entrepreneurs have long been a key part of America’s economic success story. Founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Some of the largest and most well-known American companies that have been made. This includes household names such as Apple and Costco, as well as newcomers to the Fortune 500 list such as Jackson Financial and Caesar’s Entertainment. ”

Leung wants to add her name to the list of success stories that dot the entrepreneurial world. “As I took more and more lessons, I began to see a window of opportunity that allowed me to innovate on my own,” he says. Global opportunities soon turned into Leung’s new way of thinking. His work at an Australian dropship company changed his perspective on the global market. His Leung time spent at Cettire, an Australian dropshipping company, coupled with his acquired international knowledge, spurred his entrepreneurial spirit. “My collective experience has given me the inner confidence to build my own company with a global mindset.”

Now the COO and co-founder of the fast-growing e-commerce and California-based Ascend Ecom logistics company, he reflects on his diversified past. “I realized that my interest was not in finding a traditional or expected corporate job after completing my MBA. I was ready to embrace the e-commerce culture of startups as the pandemic reinforced the need for logistics to support the global economy,” said Leung.


According to Inc. magazine, 85% of MBA students plan to start a business after graduation. “In fact, nearly one in five of his MBA graduates from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2020 launched their own venture. Ten of his MBA from Harvard Business School More than one other person has done the same,” he adds mba.com.

The sheer number of early-career professionals looking to enter the world of entrepreneurship with an MBA is staggering, and the international impact on the global economy continues to be exposed. Her MBA Association annual award for MBA Entrepreneur of the Year went to her Ximena Aleman, an entrepreneur from Uruguay, continuing the trend of international winners.

CEOWorld Magazine’s ranking of the most entrepreneurial countries finds the United States at the pole of independent economic development. Leung and others from under him pushed Australia to his 11th place. “I learned a lot in Michigan. Most importantly, it was a great opportunity to integrate my international experience in the United States, so I had to start a company here,” says Leung. say.

The unexpected acceleration of the global pandemic seems to have sharpened the professional focus of Leung and countless MBA graduates, applying their life experiences to professional success stories.

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *