One year ago, on the 1st of Jan 2015, I decided that I will take on a new challenge in life.
It was a hard one and eventually I chose to take the GMAT. I thought, well, as long as I take my masters within the next 5 years, I have nothing to lose. And for the next 2.5 months, I buried myself in books over lunchtimes and evenings. Halfway through, I thought that since I have been spending so much on GMAT, that I should try applying to the MBA schools too. And this led on to another and another.
By Mar, I have
1. Scored 720 on GMAT
2. Applied to Oxford and INSEAD and got offers from both
Lyanna, thanks for sharing your GMAT study tips with me!
It was a tough choice but chose INSEAD in the end as it seems to provide me with the network that I want, which is a large local community of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
The decision was also helped by the fact that I met ten other alumni and they spoke really well of INSEAD and shared the things they learn.
After the B-school challenge, I thought, what about another one – build my social media presence online. I started focusing on sharing just entrepreneurial and funding news on twitter in July and I started seeing results right away, 100 followers sign up per week. The growth eventually tapers off and now I have more than 600 followers. In addition, I also started writing for techinasia.com since Sep 2015 and now I have written 4 articles in all.
Then, finally, I wanted to know exactly it would be like to work in the VC industry and after two months of search, I found the internship I want. The 3 month stint took me to Silicon Valley twice and opened my horizons to fundraising and investing in startups. The experience also inspired me to start a weekly newsletter for INSEAD students and alumni to share news, resources and opportunities on startup and VC industry.
Well, that pretty much wraps up 2015 and for 2016, I plan to:
1. Pass my exemption exams in Jan 2016
2. Get a scholarship
3. Get a good internship in Jul – Aug 2016
4. Network well and hopefully to a role in London but work for a Singapore based firm in Jan 2017
Wish me luck!
