Gloria Batllori – ESADE Business School

Starting your own business is a process, and an MBA can be a key factor in increasing your chances of success. Luck is being prepared when opportunity knocks and bad luck is being unprepared. Among many other things, an MBA is about preparation. The benefits of an MBA fall into three categories:
– Management education: technical knowledge and leadership competencies
– Personal transformation: changes brought about by the business school environment, often necessary for future entrepreneurs who wish to start their own company.
– Networking: access to a network of international managers.
Learning the process, understanding all the steps, and identifying tactics for success in each stage – that’s how an MBA can help you start your own business. At ESADE we have several initiatives and programs which help students to start their own business.
There is EGarage at ESADECREAPOLIS, an on-campus spot dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s a workspace plus a lecture area – a place where teams can brainstorm and work on their businesses together. It also holds weekly events where local and international entrepreneurs share their experiences.
The Entrepreneurship Lab for MBA students includes elective classes on entrepreneurship and events for students interested in start-ups. Entrepreneurship Lab participants get to meet monthly with like-minded students and network with business investors and mentors from the Barcelona start-up community. Every year the school also takes nice treks to start-up communities outside of Barcelona (Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, etc.).
Students who are serious about pursuing a business idea can apply to join the MBA Accelerator. Accepted projects are given office space in the adjoining ESADECREAPOLIS business park, assigned a mentor, and introduced to investors who might want to invest in the business.
Furthermore ESADE has its own network of angel investors looking to invest in start-ups. Many of these angels are ESADE alumni or have close ties to the school. They hold regular meetings where entrepreneurs pitch their businesses and raise money from the network.
Gloria Batllori is Executive director of the MBA program at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. She has graduated from ESADE with a Master in Dirección de Empresas and has a Master in International Management from AGSIM – Thunderbird. She is also a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) and has been an ESADE Lecturer since 2000. She is working as a strategic consultants in the investment area.