Hakan Mustafa, Vincenzo Fusco, Nicol Juferova and Elma Tahiratul are in the second year of the International Business and Trade Master's programme. Through the Global Scaling Challenge, they have had the opportunity to apply their knowledge in a practical way to real company cases in an international context. The competition is organised by the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico in the USA.
“The biggest challenge was understanding the products. The technology is highly advanced and very specialised. We come from a business background and had never worked in this field before,” says Vincenzo Fusco.
"Would definitely do it again"
Students from 61 universities worldwide took part. The first round focused on developing a strategy to scale the company Mesa Quantum that produces technology capable of measuring time, position and movement without relying on GPS.
"The most rewarding part was going from knowing nothing about the subject to understanding the product and formulating a business strategy in just a few weeks. It was challenging, but I would encourage other students to take this opportunity. I would definitely do it again when the competition is held next year,” says Nicol Juferova.
A total of 25 teams advanced to the final, where they were challenged to develop a strategy for Applied Surface Engineering, a company that develops advanced surface technologies to reduce drag in aerospace, transportation, and energy systems.
Developed a mindset for scaling businesses
The competition lasted six weeks in total, involving many hours of collaborative work on campus, including weekends.
“We really learned how to manage our time and develop concrete results from an idea in a short period. We did all this alongside our regular studies", says Elma Tahiratul.
Throughout the process, the team received strong support from their mentor and lecturer, Mikael Hilmersson.
"We couldn't have done this without him. It was a valuable teamwork and dedication exercise, and it gave us insight into what it’s like to work with start-ups. We also developed a mindset for scaling businesses," says Hakan Mustafa.
The competition was held online. The team had ten minutes to pitch their strategy, after which they were asked questions by the jury. They placed sixth in the final and were awarded 2,000 dollars.
