MBA Student Brings Entrepreneurial Interest to Internship

In the course of his program, he was drawn to an internship opportunity with the Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC) in Raleigh because of the many startup companies in the area.

During his internship and MBA studies, Sangoi said that he realized that “merely having a good idea or an amazing technology is not enough to be successful. All the different components of the business strategy – target market, IP position, revenue model, team – play an equally important role.”

Sangoi, a second year full-time MBA student concentrating in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization, will graduate in May 2010. He obtained his undergraduate degrees in his home country, India: his diploma in computer technology from Maharastra State Board of Technical Education in 2003, and his bachelor’s degree in engineering in information technology from Mumbai University in 2006.

He said he chose the Jenkins MBA program for three reasons: “It was an excellent program for entrepreneurship, [it was in close] proximity to RTP (Research Triangle Park) where there are many startups, and because I was offered a graduate assistantship.”

The internship with SBTDC gave Sangoi “an opportunity to implement what I had learned during my first year in the MBA program. The first year involved core courses covering the different aspects of business. This internship helped me increase my knowledge and gain practical experience in the various disciplines of business.”

Sangoi said he believes that working with new businesses through his internship will help his achieve his ultimate career goal, which is to be a web entrepreneur. “After I graduate I intend to work on my own business plan for a web startup. I might work in United States for a promising new venture for a year or so. Then I want to return back to India where I would like to start my own company.”

Before making the decision to intern at SBTDC, Sangoi conducted extensive preliminary research. He knew that because his focus was on entrepreneurship, he would like to work with startup companies rather than established businesses.

“I started by making a list of small technology startups in the Raleigh area. SBTDC was one of the target companies. I attended the information session that SBTDC held at the College of Management and gained important clues to what they are looking for in a summer intern. I tailored my resume to meet their requirements and did information interviews with the previous years’ summer interns at SBTDC. Finally, I applied for the position, did the interview, and secured the internship,” Sangoi said.

During his 10-week-long internship, Sangoi was assigned to work with startup companies Alditri Technologies and Southeast TechInventures (STI). His main duties and responsibilities were “to guide [them] in identifying their core value proposition, understanding their markets, customers and competitors.” Sangoi also helped to develop different components of the business model, including the marketing plan, financial analysis, and funding.

“I started with doing marketing research assessment of entry plans for the client companies. It helped them to select a high priority application for their technology. Then I worked on developing high level commercialization plans for various technologies which would be submitted to the investors for funding. I had to work closely with the inventors and consultants in conducting the proposed work,” Sangoi said.

Sangoi said one of the difficulties of his internship was “working with startup companies which mainly consisted of innovators and scientists who did not have any business background. The biggest challenge I faced was educating and convincing them about the business aspects of the technology. They were… overlooking the commercial aspects. I had to systematically show them the importance of business aspects of the technology by giving examples, highlighting the risks and rewards, and supporting my ideas with concrete market research. I organized meetings with experienced consultants from SBTDC in order to create a lasting impact and convince the scientists.”

Sangoi feels the company flourished from his contributions. “I helped them develop a business model and a commercialization plan which would not only guide the company in the future but also help them acquire funding,” he said.

Through all of the hard work involved, Sangoi enjoyed his opportunity to work closely with businesses that represent the focus of his graduate studies. “It is an intense environment and every day offers a new challenge. There is greater autonomy and authority in the work that you do. It was fun to see the business ideas develop and to contribute to those ideas,” he said.

About SBTDC (Small Business Technology Development Center)

The SBTDC has been helping North Carolina businesses grow and create new jobs since 1984. SBTDC specialists provide management counseling and educational services to small and mid-sized businesses throughout North Carolina. Most SBTDC services are free of charge, and all SBTDC services are confidential.

About Alditri Technologies, Inc.

Founded in January 2008 as a spin-off company based on technology developed at NC State University, Alditri seeks to develop new processes for manufacturing novel high surface area nanoscale materials through the used innovative coating technologies.

About STI (Southeast TechInventures, Inc.)

STI works with university-based inventors to accelerate the commercialization of technologies and intellectual property (IP) in the areas of biotechnology (bioengineering and medical devices), photonics (optics and displays), energy, materials, and nanotechnologies.