For the past months, I have been inmersed in the development of a new nonprofit venture: www.mbainternacional.es, the networking space for Spaniards with MBA degrees earned abroad. Until now, to reach a London Business School MBA was very difficult and cumbersome for a Spanish Stanford MBA. There was no easy link and previous networking solutions were not optimized for this public. There was an unmet need.

The founders (check that link out if you want to see a picture of me) of www.mbainternacional.es saw the need and we created an organization to fulfill it. This is a community with many common interests (experiences abroad, MBA degrees,…) and will certainly benefit from this tool.

For me, it has been a unique opportunity to learn. This has been the first time I am involved in an entrepreneurial activity. As the saying goes…

“I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.”
— Confucius

This Confucius guy was smart! I am learning so much from doing it. A few lessons I take with me:

• The creative part of the process has been explorative most of the time, like a toddler learning to walk. At the begining, there was just an intuitive idea. Now there is a whole new organization. The process in the middle is anything but straightforward. And that is the way it needs to be.
• Just launch! It is very difficult to get the right mix from day one, so keep on improving. The recipe is simple: Launch a small beta and get feedback. Improve. Redo process until ready.
• Implementation with scarce resources is an art: Many hours have been put into the project. I have coded all of the site, some of my partners have done most of the written content. Everyone has argued for an against functionalities. Little money spent, many hours invested.
• Positive motivation of others and the self is very important in any project. In a nonprofit, even more.
• Values and vision are key ingredients: Otherwise, it is impossible to advance. Given the high levels of uncertainty, values and vision are the only way to make decissions.

However, if you are reading these, you cannot take the lessons with you, as Confucius says. If you are thinking on being an entrepreneur, the only advice I have is:

• JUST DO IT. And learn on the way. Think about a project you can create, lead and develop. Own it. Enjoy it. Learn from it.

By the way, if you come from a country without such a networking invention and want one for yourself, contact me and let’s explore how to cooperate.

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If you are not an Spaniard, the post ends here. If you are a Spaniard with an MBA degree earned abroad, you might be interested in www.mbainternacional.es’s value proposition (in Spanish):

¿Qué te ofrece MBAInternacional.es ?

• Zona de Network: Herramientas de network para poder contactar con alumni y estudiantes españoles de programas MBA fuera de España. Podrás contactar con los MBA españoles de las otras escuelas (Stanford, Harvard, London Business School, Wharton, Insead,…). Se fusionan así los networks españoles de las diversas escuelas extranjeras.
• MBA-Info: Información aportada por los integrantes de la asociación sobre temas de interés común. Información sobre las escuelas, durante el MBA, búsqueda de trabajo, después del MBA…
• Foros de discusión: Para fomentar el diálogo y el intercambio con otros españoles que han cursado un MBA fuera de España.