“I’d been running my own business for several years, but I felt stuck. We weren’t able to scale beyond another competitor in my market. So I looked at that company’s annual investor report, and I found out that most of the board of directors had an MBA. There seemed to be a connection between having an MBA and managing the size of a business. I also found out that Tokopedia’s founder, William Tanuwijaya, got his MBA while growing his startup.
From there, it seemed obvious that getting my MBA was the answer if I wanted my business to grow.”
“After deciding to pursue my MBA, the next question was where. I’d have to invest my time and effort, so I thought, “Why don’t I just aim as far as I can?” The first country that popped into my mind was Japan. I’ve always been interested in Japanese pop culture–the music, manga, etc., so I searched for an English MBA program in Japan and found GLOBIS.
The admission requirements included one thing that I didn’t have: a bachelor’s degree. However, I believed my “streetwise” entrepreneurial background would bring diversity into the program, so I still applied and got accepted after passing an extra preliminary screening process.”
The MBA degree itself does help my profile. I’ve earned better recognition in my business circle. But the main benefit is the experience. What I learned from the GLOBIS MBA allows me to see many opportunities I never could before. But I also obtained the knowledge and network to create opportunities on my own. I now truly understand the GLOBIS mission “to develop visionary leaders who create and innovate society.” I worked for 10 years, started one company, and managed it for three years before going to GLOBIS. But within a year of graduating from the GLOBIS MBA program, I invested in and grew three companies. That says it all.
My favorite memory is a thought I had whenever I was commuting to the GLOBIS campus: “What new things will I learn today?”
