Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneurial spirit#8217;

Here it is! The community travel guide made for IE Alumni and their friends; the idea came to Joseph Freiha during his International MBA in 2009. How great would it be to have a travel guide where IE Alumni would share their favorite addresses and tips in their home countries or the places they have visited;

When travelling, we do not need lots of addresses; we just need a few good ones shared by friends. FriendsChoices.com includes the traditional travel guide information on Restaurants, Hotels, Clubs, Attractions…; It also brought innovative and exclusive functionalities, making it one of the most complete and collaborative travel guides on the market. Only members can post their recommendations.

Of course, all IE Alumni are invited to join the community!

Go ahead and register! Use your IE email at www.FriendsChoices.com/IE

¡Aquí está! La guía de viajes comunitaria hecha para Antiguos Alumnos del IE y sus amigos; la idea surgió de José Freiha durante su año en International MBA en 2009. ¡Sería estupendo tener una guía de viajes donde  los Antiguos Alumnos del IE pudiesen compartir sus direcciones favoritas y  aportar consejos acerca de sus países de origen o de los lugares que han visitado;

Cuando viajamos, no necesitamos un montón de direcciones, sólo necesitamos unas pocas pero buenas y compartidas con amigos. FriendsChoices.com incluye no sólo la información tradicional de viajes sobre restaurantes, hoteles, clubes, atracciones,… sino que también muestra funcionalidades innovadoras y exclusivas, por lo que es una de las guías de viaje más completas y  colaborativas del mercado. Solamente los usuarios pueden publicar sus recomendaciones.

Por supuesto, todos los Antiguos Alumnos del IE están invitados a unirse a la comunidad!

Seguid adelante y registraros! Utiliza el correo electrónico de IE en www.FriendsChoices.com/IE

There are many posts on this blog and everywhere on the Internet talking about making dreams a reality. Some of them started as a hobby that you put a lot of passion into, and that you decided to make it a “real” job. That’s the case of Joaquin Grech Gomendio, IMBA alum of 2010 and founder of his own mobile applications company, Echoboom Apps.

Since 2007, Joaquin started to program mobile apps; the first one was a Financial Calculator that has been top 10 in the Apple financial apps, and later on, as he was pursuing the IMBA he started to develop Dogfight, a multiplayer flight simulator that has reached more than 3 million downloads.  

“With Dogfight we explored a niche for flight simulator lovers, and with time we realized our supporters wanted more: a historical component behind the airplanes, the missions, and the fun. That’s why we decided to plunge into the next- level adventure: Dogfight Elite an educational game that begins in the World War I, and continues through the World War II”, says Joaquin, that is looking for funding for this new project on Kickstarter.  

Dogfight Elite

What makes Dogfight Elite appealing is that each one of the missions will be based on an historical fact, and it will allow you to play their historic missions. We also found it important that Dogfight Elite could be played in multiple platforms.  You will be able to fly your plane from a desktop computer or a mobile device, including Windows Phone, Android and iOS. Everyone will be able to play it from the sofa or on the go!

Kickstarter is a worldwide known crowdfunding platform that able startups   to pre-sale their products (such as in this example, Dogfight Elite) with different kinds of perks. The list of perks by Dogfight Elite starts with an “early backer” version of the game, and goes to the Marketing Guru perk, where any legal business or organization could have a landmark of their own that is permanently in the game, seen by every player. So far, they have raised more than $5,000 and the most backed reward in the one that gives access to an Alpha version of the game, something that will make the Dogfight Elite creation process an engaging and fun.

We will certainly keep you posted of the developments of this crowdfunded – crowsourced online project.

Good luck Joaquin and Echoboom Apps!

En este blog hemos publicado muchas entradas sobre MBA que se han decidido a hacer realidad sus sueños tras el programa en el IE. Algunos de ellos han comenzado cultivando una afición, que fue convirtiéndose en mucho más, hasta que decidieron hacerla “un trabajo de verdad”. Este es el caso de Joaquin Grech Gomendio, antiguo alumno del IMBA 2010 y fundador de la empresa desarrolladora de aplicaciones móviles Echoboom Apps.

Desde 2007 Joaquin comenzó a programar aplicaciones móviles. La primera fue una Calculadora Financiera que ha estado en el top 10 de las aplicaciones financieras de Apple.  Más tarde, mientras cursaba el IMBA en el IE empezó a desarrollar Dogfight (combate aéreo en inglés), un simulador de vuelo de la Primera Guerra Mundial que ha alcanzado más de 3 millones de descargas.

Dogfight Elite

“Con Dogfight hemos podido explorar un nicho de amantes de los simuladores de vuelo, y con el tiempo nuestros seguidores nos han pedido que exista un componente histórico detrás de los aviones y las misiones. Fue a partir de esa inspiración que decidimos poner nuestro esfuerzo en una aventura mucho mayor: Dogfight Elite un juego online educativo que empieza en la Primera Guerra Mundial y continua en la Segunda Guerra Mundial”- menciona Joaquin que están buscando financiación a través de Kickstarter. Cada misión se basa en hechos históricos, y estará disponible para jugar en múltiples plataformas: desde el PC o desde un dispositivo móvil.  

Kickstarter es una plataforma mundialmente conocida de crowdfunding que permite hacer una preventa de un producto a cambio de financiación. En este caso, Dogfight Elite ofrece diferentes beneficios para cada tipo de colaborador. La lista de premios llega a incluir a las empresas que quieran inmortalizar su marca en el terreno de juego, con lo que llaman la recompensa del “Marketing Guru”. Hasta ahora la recompensa más codiciada es la que da acceso a una versión Alpha del juego, lo que hará del proceso de producción de Dogfight Elite una experiencia inolvidable. Hasta ahora han recibido más de $5000 en apoyo y la campaña dura hasta el 4 de mayo.

Ciertamente estaremos muy pendientes de este proyecto basado en el crowdfunding – crowsourcing, que estará disponible a finales de año.

 Desde aquí deseamos buena suerte a Joaquin y a Echoboom Apps en sus proyectos!

To focus on supporting IE Alumni with their entrepreneurial projects, IE launched the application process for its new startup incubator in Area 31 last month. The competition was tough and a lot of teams signed up. Thus,IE is very excited to announce the names of the teams that will join the first edition of the Area 31 Alumni Startup Incubator. Check out the projects below:

• Focus on Women
• Castlebaby
• Remini
• Inkubica Labs
• Beroque
• Pathfinder
• The Talent Bond
• Shared Secrets SL
• Swarmsurge
• IEX5
• camare.ro
• Letsdecco!
• uTree
• MAGARI
• Top Around SRL
• uniQinu
• Innubu
• Trajesamedida.com
• ChangeFusion Europe
• Soysuper
• Emzingo Group
• ecereales.com

Did you know that 60% of people like playing games because they are just thrilled by “competition”? They like trading against their friends and colleagues but they lack a realistic platform where to challenge themselves and others. On top of this, when it comes to trading money in the stock markets, people are keeping a low profile due to the current economic situation. In May alone, the volume of the Spanish stock market (BME) dropped 22.5%.  As the BBC recently reported, the Spanish Government recently restricted short selling for 3 months.

A start-up which recently won IE Business School Venture Day and Madrid Emprende Go contests, Invoost, has a solution to keep those interested in the markets an outlet to keep playing. Invoost creates a social stock market game where people can compete against their friends and others to win real money. IT combines the tournament style play and competitive edge of fantasy sports, the setup of a virtual stock exchange, and the thrill of winning money in a single platform. This creates an educational and exciting opportunity for players to gain bragging rights while beating their friends with something at stake.

You can play the game at www.invoost.com and choose from a wide variety of tournaments with different durations (daily, weekly and monthly). Currently, Invoost offers both stocks listed on the Spanish BME and EuroStoxx 50, but in the coming weeks it will open in the UK with stocks on the LSE and also currencies.

Now, we are experiencing hard times… So, why not learn more about the markets while taking advantage of your trading skills to win job interviews and boost your resume with actual results? Take the Invoost challenge!!!!

The team behind the scenes:

Johan Wilsson (CEO) is a successful entrepreneur with 8 years experience in the online game market having started several online companies.

Jonathan Levy (Product Development) holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Florida and is currently an MBA student at IE Business School.

Tyler Maglione (Operations & Finance) holds a BBA from the University of Notre Dame and is currently an MBA student at IE Business School.

Gessica Lomonte (Marketing) Gessica has a Master’s Degree in Translation and just graduated from the Master in Management at IE.

As you might know, the IE Business School family is fully committed to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit within its day-to-day fabric – from how we teach in the classroom and develop new programs for the next generation of students, to how we engage with the external community of investors, government agencies and start-ups. So, have you ever wondered what IE entrepreneurs are up to these days and what companies they created? To get an idea about the broad spectrum of start-ups that are rooted in the IE experience, just have a look at the following examples:

• www.holoholoapp.com
• www.renewen.com
• www.imaste-ips.com
• www.ambiox.com
• www.iactiveit.com
• www.tripku.com
• www.salinesdeformentera.com
• www.invoost.com
• www.nimgenetics.com
• www.neuvoo.ca/en
• www.pamoja.se
• www.busuu.com
• www.schmoozyfox.com
• www.albfoundation.org
• www.prexus.co

• 

  IE rocks!!! Winners, Infosys Instep Business Plan competition— with Nouman Ismail and Apoorva Goyal at Infosys Technologies Limited

  IE start-up “Shared Secrets” is getting close to launching its Private Beta version. If you haven’t done so yet, you can still book your spot!

• The iPhone version of “holoholo” is out! Download the app and Live the City!
• 22 teams, students from MIT, Princeton, Duke, INSEAD, LBS, ESADE and many more… but IE wins Infosys Instep Business Plan competition!!!
• Alice Neves, Tripku Co-Founder, just helped to announce the winners of the next round of Start Up Chile on Twitcam!!!!
• For those interested in adventure sports such as hiking, climbing, skiing or any other, IE students are trying to create an IE Adventure Club: “Diverse experiences sparking unique ideas” -quoting Tom Malloy.

‎

Joaquin Grech, alumnus of the international MBA at IE Business School, talks about his experience as an entrepreneur and what he went through before founding his current company Echoboom – the problems, his responsibilities, past failures and future plans.  Echoboom designs and develops mobile applications that are in line with the needs of the market and clients, to offer the final user a memorable experience. “Dogfight” for instance, a WWI based multiplayer flight simulation that is packed with action, is available on Apple and Android devices, and has been downloaded over 2 million times. Check out the video below as the situations Joaquin describes might help you to prevent some future mistakes or inspire you to follow this idea that you always had.

Joaquin Grech, ex-alumno del programa International MBA en IE Business School, nos habla de su experiencia como emprendedor y los obstáculos a los que se  enfrento antes de poder formar su actual empresa Echoboom – sus problemas, sus responsabilidades, sus fracasos del pasado y sus planes a futuro. Echoboom es una empresa que diseña y desarrolla aplicaciones para dispositivos móviles que abarcan las necesidades del mercado y de los clientes en general, con el propósito de ofrecer una experiencia memorable para le usuario. Por ejemplo, “Dogfight”, un simulador de vuelo con más de 2 millones de descargas lleno de acción basado en la Primera Guerra Mundial en el que pueden participar múltiples jugadores y que está disponible en las tiendas virtuales de Apple y Android. Consulta el video que se encuentra debajo ya que experiencias como  las de Joaquín te ayudarán a prevenir posibles errores en el futuro y te inspirarán a perseverar con esa idea que siempre has querido que se convierta en una realidad.

We are thrilled to announce that from September 2012 IE Business School´s entrepreneurs will have a physical co-working space from where to launch their global startups.

IE Business School has kept its finger on the pulse of the startup scene in Spain producing multiple high growth potential spin outs and driving the development of Spains Startup Ecosystem via initiatives such as The Venture Lab, PasiónIE, Venture Network, Venture Days, Spain Startup & Investor Summit, and Spain Startup Co-Investment Fund.

NOW, IE Business School will have a physical location to embody all of these initiatives and to reflect our own entrepreneurial spirit even more.  Working with architect Fernando Serrano and his team, with advice from Max Olivia of The Hub Madrid we are confident this incubator will be a truly creative place acting as a hub for IE´s entrepreneurs and the wider startup ecosystem in Spain.  500M2 of innovative co-working space in the basement of Maria de Molina 31 will be our new home with 100Mb bandwidth, wi-fi, chill out zone, amphitheatre, kitchen, lockers, and a whole lot of fun and creativity.

The new incubation space will be the new home of the Venture Lab which incubates up to 100 startup teams per annum; our mentors and investors in residence;  and the Venture Network which celebrates startups from all over Spain and beyond in its weekly pitch slam event.  The centre will also welcome new initiatives like Think, Team, Go! and the occasional Hackathon working with our techie friends and collaborators. J

 However, we have one small problem – our wonderful incubation space and innovation centre needs a name…

As our beloved startup community we need YOUR help in picking a name for the centre.  We want this space to be an open and accessible resource to the whole startup ecosystem therefore we invite all of you to help us select the name that best reflects the soul of our startup activities.

• Please visit online poll to submit your vote!
• VOTE HERE - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2G39PGC
• Voting ends 25^th July!

All participants will be invited to our launch event to open the centre at the end of September J

Happy voting!!!

Have a great summer and see you all in September!

Liz

@ldlfleming

Estamos encantados de compartir con vosotros que a partir del mes de septiembre del 2012 los emprendedores de  IE Business School podrán disfrutar de un espacio físico de trabajo donde podrán comenzar a preparara y lanzar sus startups.

IE Business School ha sido un actor principal en el ecosistema emprendedor creando startups  e impulsando el sector a través del lanzamiento de ambiciosas iniciativas innovadoras tales como The Venture Lab, PasiónIE, Venture Network, Venture Days, Spain Startup & Investor Summit, y Spain Startup Co-Investment Fund

Ahora en IE Business School habrá un espacio físico donde se podrá plasmar y expresar todas estas iniciativas y reflejar nuestro propio espíritu emprendedor.  De la mano de nuestro arquitecto Fernando Serrano y todo su equipo, y con el asesoramiento de Max Oliva de The Hub Madrid, estamos seguros de que esta incubadora será un lugar verdaderamente creativo y actuará como el hub de los emprendedores del IE, llegándose a convertir en un amplio ecosistema de las startups de España.  El espacio innovador y de co-working con una superficie de 500 metros cuadrados  ubicado en el edificio de María de Molina 31 será nuestra nueva casa donde se podrá encontrar zona de banda ancha de 100 MB, wifi, espacio de chillout, anfiteatro, cocina, taquillas y sobre todo un montón de diversión y de creatividad.

El nuevo espacio de esta incubadora será también la nueva casa del Venture Lab donde se dará apoyo a unos 100 equipos startup al año; nuestros mentores e inversores de la casa; los contactos de Venture Lab que se desarrolla cada año por toda España y cada semana en su evento semanal de pitch.  El centro además tendrá nuevas iniciativas como Think, Team, Go! y ocasionalmente unos Hackathon con nuestros amigos y colaboradores tec. J

A pesar de que parece que todo está a punto, tenemos un pequeño problema y es que necesitamos un nombre para el espacio…

Ya que perteneces a nuestra querida comunidad de startup necesitamos TU ayuda para elegir el nombre del centro.  Nos gustaría que el espacio sea un recurso abierto y accesible para todas las personas que componen el ecosistema por lo que os invitamos a ayudarnos con la elección del nombre que mejor refleje el alma de las actividades que vamos a celebrar allí.

• Por favor visita nuestra votación online!
• VOTA AQUI - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2G39PGC
• Votad antes del 25 de Julio del 2012.

Todos los participantes estarán invitados al evento de inauguración del centro en el mes de septiembre! J

¡Gracias por las votaciones!

Disfrutad del verano y nos vemos en septiembre.

Liz

@ldlfleming

IE Business School has recently been considered one of the best schools in the World for Entrepreneurship by BusinessBecause.com. 

Venture Lab, at IE Business School, is highlighted as a great opportunity to turn disruptive and innovative ideas real by creating very strong feasible business plans. In Venture Day business plans are presented to Venture Capitalists in order to create relationships that can result in successful funding. On another note BusinessBecause.com also places emphasis on the the 25% of graduates that are actively involved in entrepreneurial activities 5 years after having completed the International MBA program.

Some recent entrepreneurial successes include companies such as Zinkia, RenewEn, BioOncoTech and CityDeal recently acquired by Groupon.

For the complete article please click here.

One of IE Business School’s key values is entrepreneurship. The school was founded in 1973 by a group entrepreneurs and we are proud that 10% of our alumni start their own ventures after gradauation. Jeremy Melul, International MBA Class of 2009 graduate,  decided to start his own company Jogabo after finishing the program. We interviewed Jeremy where he shares his experiences with the MBA but also his current situation with his new venture:

Hi Jeremy, could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Jeremy Melul, I am both French and English and I graduated from the 2009 International MBA program. I currently live in London UK but I am a citizen of the world after having lived in London, Paris, Brussels, New York, Boston, Palo Alto, Sydney, Cape Town, Madrid and Pune. I work for my own startup, “jogabo”.

Why did you come to Madrid and IE?

I came to IE because I was looking for a more innovative program and something more geared towards entrepreneurship. I also wanted to diversify my US centric network a bit. After having done my Bachelor at Tufts, and my Master at Stanford, Europe was really my only option and I have to admit that the advantages of being in Madrid and getting to re-learn Spanish in such a wonderful environment really influenced me. Oh and did I mention the weather in Madrid?

Describe your International MBA experience
It was an amazing experience but it sure went by fast. Obviously I got a lot of the knowledge I was seeking coming in as an Engineer looking to get the bigger picture on things. But that is obviously not the only reason I decided to get an MBA.

Tell me about “Jogabo” the company you founded
Jogabo is the social and easy way to play soccer. Our aim is to make amateur soccer “bonito” by connecting soccer enthusiasts, facilitating the organization of games and adding a social layer of fun and competitiveness to the beautiful game. If you look at how people get their games organised or how they go about looking for playing opportunities it is quite astounding and archaic. It is a painful and inefficient process that requires using multiple disconnected tools and usually leads to many people actually not playing, which to me is the biggest concern. At any given time and location, there are many games being organized and many players potentially looking for other players. Unfortunately, they are just not aware of each other’s interest, and are not connected in any way. When you think about all the tools that are out there, be it smartphones, facebook, twitter, location aware devices (you name it), this shouldn’t happen! What we are doing is building a location aware web application for the soccer community that allows users to organize games, share their plans and discover opportunities to play in their area. Organizers can create games, invite players and get simple tools to manage their event. Players can follow games their friends are planning, as well as games that match their location and interests thereby helping them discover playing opportunities they would ordinarily be unaware of.

How did the program help you found your company?
We are a lean startup and are bootstrapping the company for now. This is obviously not what Business School prepares you for. However, the program has helped me prepare for steps we will take in the near future once we start looking for funding and we start hiring people. It is good to know that I am well equipped to tackle the future because it gives me the confidence I need to be able to just concentrate on “now”. And in startups, it is all about what is the most important thing that we need work on RIGHT NOW!

What is the next step for “Jogabo”?
The next step for us is to launch the site in closed beta, which is what we are working on non stop to make our deadline. I am actually in the US right now so that I can work closer to my technical co-founder. You know how the story starts right? “Two guys, in a garage…” so I guess we are trying to improve our odds a little bit that way.

What do you recommend to people starting the IMBA?

I have two main recommendations for new intakes. First of all, get involved in extra curricular activities through the Clubs and take a leadership role if you can. It really enhances yourwhole experience. For me it was the Football Club (obviously) and my MBA experience would not have been the same without it. It was a lot of work in addition to the existingcourse workload: organising the internal league, the 11-a-side team, the teams tournament travels to Paris, Barcelona and Los Angeles and starting the IE GreenLaces Cup. Looking back through, it was a hell of an experience with many opportunities to bond with some of my peers outside of my section. Secondly, take advantage of every minute of your MBA because it goes by fast and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Work hard but don’t forget to play hard.

Students at IE Business School that are interested in Entrepreneurship can also join the Entrepreneurship Club or participate in Venture Lab where students have the possibility to develop a business idea and make it real.