Sponsored by the University of Warwick

Meet Takis Malavetas and Gregor Tuertenschaller: two wide-eyed entrepreneurs from Greece and Austria, who met at the University of Warwick on an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship where they discovered a shared interest in e-grocery delivery. Their business, HomeRun, now delivers groceries for the likes of Tesco, Marks & Spencer and WholeFoods.

Takis and Gregor stayed on after graduation to develop their business: Warwick provided them with the contacts, salaries and working spaces they needed to start up, and Christian Lerke, a student from Germany joined them as technical partner. The trio delivered to students on campus to learn about the business and later got invited to Y-Combinator, the most prestigious startup incubator in the world, based in Silicon Valley. After angel and investor funding they are  now successfully running a business in London, where they have grown to employ over 10 people.

The success story of how HomeRun came to be is by no means exceptional. Dhruv Jain, a 24-year-old from New Delhi in India, launched PrintOctopus, an e-commerce platform helping Indian designers earn money through printed merchandise, after studying Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Warwick. He said: "My supervisor worked as an e-commerce consultant, so what he taught me was real and practical. I could bounce ideas off him and he kept me thoroughly grounded. What’s really interesting is how my business plan evolved during the year. By the end of the course, it was completely different to how it was when I started.”

Being an entrepreneur is tough, with nine out of 10 startups failing, with a lack of good mentorship and business-specific knowledge in finance, operations and sales & marketing often the main culprits.

CB Insights recently combed through 101 post-mortem essays published on Medium by founders to reveal that 42 percent of startups failed because there was no market need for their product. A rookie mistake that could easily have been avoided with proper research, training and guidance. Could further training in entrepreneurship be the answer? 

Experts running the University of Warwick’s MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship seem to think so. As Jay Bal, Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Warwick, explained to us, the number of skills needed to be up to the job of starting a business can be quite dizzying: from the latest in tech to human resources, marketing strategy, supply chain and logistics management, not to mention accounting and finance, you need to have a finger in every pie. Even if you are going to recruit talent and get involved in only a few of these disciplines yourself, you should be able to have critical discussions with experts about all areas of business using the correct domain language. This is a key focus of a master's degree in entrepreneurship, ensuring you gain a broad overview of many different disciplines as well as the business terminology you’ll need to thrive.

Refine your business proposition

Idealistic rookie entrepreneurs will often make the mistake of assuming that customers will simply buy their products. Attracting new customers remains one of the biggest challenges for startups today, and having constructive customer feedback and an infallible business plan will go a long way towards helping you hit your targets.

Entrepreneurship often runs in the veins, with many students who want to start their own business and study a master’s program coming from a family business background. If that family business connection exists, a good entrepreneur should build on those firm foundations and understand their best chance of success lies in growing a new business out from the family business, rather than starting from scratch. The University of Warwick’s MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship encourages and supports students in following this path if appropriate, by investigating the transformation of their family business.

That’s the rationale behind the year-long final project featured in the Warwick’s MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which is worth 50 percent of your final mark. It involves developing a business idea with an eye to launching it at the end of the course. Students come up with their own idea and a member of staff will mentor them through the process.

The University of Warwick also offers bespoke startup advice to students and runs a small business support service that can help link students with many businesses in the region so they can get work experience in design, marketing, finance or human resources, while resolving day-to-day issues. There are also opportunities at Warwick for students to test their products on small businesses in the region so they are able to refine their business propositions, compile customer satisfaction data and build a financial track record before they graduate.  

Sponsored by Ecole Polytechnique

The fast pace of technological advances, from smart cities to cyber-security, means there’s never been a better time to pursue a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics). There are plenty of job opportunities for talented graduates in a number of emerging industries, and studying the right degree or specialization at university can give your career prospects a real boost. If you’re not sure what to choose to study, check out these five exciting STEM study areas.

1. Data science

Working as a data scientist, you would be collecting and analysing huge amounts of data, ranging from IP addresses to web logs, to help a business gain a competitive advantage. You could expect to earn up to $125,400 depending on your location and years of experience, according to PayScale. Average salaries tend to be quite high because of a widening talent gap for graduates with big data skills. In fact, there’s a predicted shortage next year of 1.5 million managers and analysts with big data skills in the US. Doing a Master in Data Science for Business will equip you with technological, strategic and business skills and prepare you for data science jobs in the private sector.

2. Environmental energy

Like ecotechnologies, environmental energy is a growing field, with many new opportunities for graduates interested in using their management and technical skills. A report by the International Renewable Energy Agency said we will need to increase renewables to 36 percent of the global energy mix by 2030 to meet our Paris Agreement target of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2°C. Studying Energy Environment: Science Technology and Management (STEEM) will give you all the expertise in engineering and applied sciences you need to thrive in the sector.

3. Internet of Things

From medical devices to watches, the future is digital, with lots of job opportunities for entrepreneurs, engineers and consultants with a passion for the internet of things. A Master in Internet of Things: Innovation and Management will give you the IoT know-how you need through the lens of law and regulations, management, communications, electronics, software systems and sociology. This particular master’s degree offers an entrepreneurship track, for students interested in joining the latest IoT startup or starting a business after university, as well as a strategic management track for anyone interested in working as an IoT consultant.

4. Smart cities

The largest 300 cities are currently home to 19 percent of the world population and nearly half of the world’s GDP, according to a report by the American think tank Brookings Institution. To accommodate fast rates of urbanization and preserve their environment, many cities need a sustainable economic strategy. If you are interested in math and economics, working with smart cities could be for you. A Master in Smart Cities and Urban Policy would provide you with a high-level understanding of how cities are changing in terms of things like economics, energy, and environmental policy through the lens of research and industry. You would then be expected to move into managerial positions in transportation, energy, environment, real estate and as an economic advisor in local government.

5. Cybersecurity

Stories of corporations being attacked by viruses and malware are constantly in the news with big lumps of money stolen in a single click and infrastructure pirated in a matter of seconds. Working as a cyber security engineer, you could earn up to US$130,800 depending on your location and years of experience, according to PayScale. Studying Cybersecurity: Threats and Defense will inculcate you with the expertise you would need to work in computer security and data protection. Among other things, you would learn how to adapt to new threats and find new defenses every day.

Of course these are just some of the many master’s degrees - all fully taught in English - offered by Ecole Polytechnique, who has been featured in the QS World University Rankings® 2018.

Check out their master’s degrees in Ecotechnologies for Sustainability and Environment Management and Economics, Data Analytics and Corporate Finance.