I had the chance to represent Meltwater Group in London last weekend with my colleague, Victoria, when we sponsored the National Student Enterprise Conference (NSEC) “Business NOT as Usual”, event arranged by the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) and University College London (UCL). Hosted at UCL, the NSEC attracted students from all over Europe currently setting up or already running their own businesses. For two days these young entrepreneurs engaged in intense lectures, panel discussions and informal networking on topics such as Finance for Startups, Innovation in the 21st Century, Social Media Marketing and Project Planning to name a few. Events such as this have vast potential for networking and relationship-building among future business leaders, with keynote speaker lists and discussion panels containing some of the most successful young founders and CEOs. The majority of the participating students were already multi-start-up entrepreneurs, highlighting the impressive level of drive and creativity among the participants. Needless, to say, I was impressed with the caliber of the students at the NSEC.
The theme of the event — ‘Business NOT as Usual’, provided us with the possibility to meet some of the most driven entrepreneurs in the software industry, and at the same time spread the word about Meltwater Group’s non-profit branch, the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), based in in Accra, Ghana. MEST is currently hiring for their Teaching Fellowship position, which is an opportunity to live and work abroad at MEST, contributing to the curriculum and training of the students. Established in 2007, MEST is grounded in an idea that the vast potential of young people can lead to extraordinary achievements given the right support and guidance. MEST was definitely an appropriate fit with the theme. In 2010, as the participants of ‘Business NOT as Usual’ are the living proof that being a software entrepreneur takes initiative, guts and hard work, but is relatively easy to make happen – all you need is a laptop, internet access and a great idea. MEST is in Ghana to provide that opportunity to ambitious, talented people with a lot of potential.
To understand the significance of the Teaching Fellowship, you might be interested in learning more about MEST’s objectives. Every year out of a vast applicant pool, MEST accepts a new class of Entrepreneurs-In-Training (EITs) to undertake an intensive two-year course, enabling them to create the initial business ideas and models for software companies that will compete in the global markets. After these two years, EITs with the most promising business plans are accepted into the Meltwater Incubator, where they are granted seed funding, office space and perhaps most importantly, mentorship in order to get their business off the ground. The class of 2009 recently graduated, with teams moving straight on to the Incubator.
Teaching Fellows at MEST function as the link between the class of EITs and the Senior Faculty. They are responsible for giving lectures and managing weekly tasks, teaching on a spectrum ranging from programming skills to business plans. They function also as mentors and personal coaches. The close contact with the EITs, who are among the most driven graduates in Ghana, provides the fellows with enormous networking possibilities in an up-and-coming Ghanaian software industry. MEST graduates will unquestionably be in the forefront of this development, thus in many ways, the Teaching Fellowship position is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
MEST is currently accepting applications Teaching fellows for the academic year of 2010/2011. The fellowship application deadline is coming up soon — April 11th, with a start date in Ghana on August 2nd this year. Interested? Go to http://meltwater.org/en/vacancies to submit your application!
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What a great event Eirik. Such an inspiration crowd, I can’t wait to follow the next steps of these young entrepreneurs.