Interview with Enternships' Rajeeb Dey
Enternships founder Rajeeb Dey talks Oxford Entrepreneurs, networking and raising money after graduation.
Rajeeb Dey was the longest serving President of Oxford
Entrepreneurs and graduated in June 2008 with First Class Honours
in Economics & Management from, Oxford University.
Raj is consistently involved in pushing entrepreneurship in the UK
with a background in social enterprise and education. Amazingly,
Raj founded the English Secondary Students Association (ESSA) at
the age of 17. He is a Trustee of UnLtd - the Foundation for Social
Entrepreneurs, a Trustee of the Phoenix Education Trust, a Next
Generation Network Advisory Board member for the UK-India Business
Council and Commissioner on the Carnegie UK Trust's Inquiry into
the Future of Civil Society.
He has received a number of prestigous accolades for his work,
including the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Award, YouthActionNet
Global Fellowship, Waldzell Institute's Architect of the Future
Award, Bank of England Windsor Fellowship and Fellowship of the
Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
He won the 02 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009 and has
been named "One to Watch" for 2010 by the Courvoisier The Future
500 Network.
Hi Raj. Great to get a few minutes of your time. You've had
a fabulous response from launching Enternships nation/worldwide.
How much time and planning went into getting everything running?
Was it important to aim for a 'perfect launch'?
We 'soft-launched' the website in May 2009 but the development
work into the site had begun many months before. The idea actually
came about whilst I was studying at Oxford and running the Oxford
Entrepreneurs society - one of the largest networks of student
entrepreneurs in Europe. At the time it used to be a very basic
listing website for jobs / roles in start-ups which were aimed at
the members of Oxford Entrepreneurs. After graduating I decided to
focus on launching it as a standalone platform to connect students
and graduates to exciting work placements in these dynamic
companies so focused between June 2008 - May 2009 on getting the
new website ready.
With any type of website where you need two sides to use your
service i.e. in our case - companies to list roles and
students/graduates to apply its essential to get the word out to
both audiences simultaneously. Therefore we were waiting until
November 2009 and used Global Entrepreneurship Week as the platform
to officially launch the company (by which point we had close to
1000 companies with profiles on the website).
It's hard to say whether you'll get a 'perfect' launch as there
are so many variables and ways of measuring success and luck plays
a big part. We happened to launch during the peak of the graduate
jobs crisis and subsequently have been fortunate to have received
widespread media coverage; you have to be aware about the timing of
your launch and what else is happening at that time in the media/in
the economy and find ways of making yourself relevant and
interesting (if you are looking to receive good media
coverage).
You graduated from Oxford University and have an amazing
network of contacts in business and the media. What was the key to
getting well connected? Did being an Oxford graduate give you an
advantage that other students may not have?
I started developing my network from a very young age - even
before joining Oxford. My first experience in the world of
entrepreneurship was when I was 17 and launched a national
organisation for school students - the English Secondary Students'
Association (ESSA). This gave me the opportunity and experience of
dealing with the media, politicians, and senior decision makers
during my teens which has been great experience. It also made me
realise the importance of having a strong network and making sure
you meet as many people as possible and share your ideas and
thoughts. You have to be proactive about creating your network and
that means attending events using social media tools like Twitter,
LinkedIn and Facebook but it is not just about amassing business
cards. You have to add value to your network so always think when
you meet someone, who else do you know who you can introduce them
to so that they both benefit? In the process you strengthen your
own network and if it's a valuable introduction you will reap the
good karma ;-)
Being an Oxford graduate can have its benefits as there is a
strong alumni within the world of business however it's what you
make of it. Simply being from Oxford will not give you an advantage
if you don't make use of the 'brand'. I was very conscious to use
my time as President of Oxford Entrepreneurs to reach out to as
many high profile entrepreneurs to invite them to speak - many of
whom I am in touch with still today. I think its within every
students ability to be proactive about making connections; join a
society, take roles of responsibility and reach out to people you
admire - you'll be surprised how in most cases they are willing to
engage with you and support you in your endeavours.
You started Enternships with low running costs. How would
you advise students or graduates to surround themselves with a team
on little or no costs?
Talk to your friends about your idea- they may be interested in
joining a start-up or doing something in the interim whilst looking
for a full-time job. Given how tough the jobs market is right now
there are lots of talented people looking for experience. Your
peers can often be the perfect co-founders and can help you keep
costs low.
And what should we be thinking about the concept of
'failure'? Should it even exist in our minds?
Some would say that failure should not be an option; if you stick
at it long enough you will succeed. While this is true in some
cases I think that you have to be realistic and balance what's in
your heart with what is in your head. Sometimes entrepreneurs
suffer from 'vanity' and live in a bubble that they are doing
something which will change the world, whereas frankly it is likely
to go nowhere. Knowing when to cut your losses is important. If
however you truly believe in your proposition and you can afford to
continue persevering - then go for it.
In general, failure is something which should be embraced. I think
there is a lot of stigma associated to failure (especially in the
UK), whereas in places such as the USA it is far more acceptable
and in many cases celebrated. Failing often shows that you have
tried hard and pushed yourself - it may be that the market is not
ready for your product/service however it's what you do afterwards
which is what counts. How have you used the learning in developing
your next venture? Have you given up altogether? You shouldn't - a
true test of an entrepreneur is how they pick themselves up after
failure.
How important is to try and start low cost? I believe that
many potential entrepreneurs do not start because they think it
will cost too much to start and the risk of failure is too
high.
It is essential to keep costs to a minimum ('bootstrapping' as
it's called). In today's day and age it is possible to work from home, use
free telecommunication tools such as Skype and launch a venture -
especially in the internet arena - with very little money. We need
to banish the UK of the 'fear of failure' which prevents many
people from even having a go at being an entrepreneur. In my view
you should give it a go and see - especially when you are young and
have very low overheads, less responsibility (e.g. a family to
support etc) and in reality you have very little to lose. You are
not wasting time as no matter what happens you will be learning in
the process and what is the most important thing is to ensure you
are having fun in the process!
Do you think that the new economy and the new way that businesses
work (cutting excessive financial waste, no real 'jobs for life'
anymore, etc) demands that all of us become more entrepreneurial
and not just a select few?
I think we will see an increase in the notion of 'portfolio'
careers. Gone are the days of the 'job for life' and in fact it's
not only about changing jobs numerous times in your career in some
cases I think we will find people with a portfolio of roles and
responsibilities simultaneously (which is certainly the case for
me!) It is therefore extremely important to be entrepreneurial in
nature - to spot new opportunities and grab them with both hands
when they arise and not be afraid to try new things. We must
constantly innovate and ultimately it is entrepreneurs who are the
future wealth and job creators of the economy so we should do
everything we can to support and nurture the next generation of
entrepreneurs.
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