CEMS Magazine | May 2011
Interview
Agata Rundo
Interview by Blandine Avot Secretary General, CEMS Alumni Association
CEMS People Doing Business – Part 2 For the second issue running, CEMS Magazine interviewed two alumni, Agata Rundo, CEMS 2008 (SGHVSE) and current CEO of Marketing Wizard, and Alvaro de Ansorena, CEMS 2010 (ESADE-LSM) and now CEO of Fixalo, on their experience of launching a new business.
Q. What motivated you to Q. What are the strongest choose the CEMS option? memories you have retained of your CEMS year? AR. From the very beginning, CEMS seemed to me a unique programme. AR. My CEMS year was fantastic.
AA. CEMS offered great opportunities not only in terms of the quality of the schools that form the alliance, but also for networking with top students. I chose CEMS because I believed the former was very good for my CV and to be competitive, the latter was great for my career and to improve by learning from others.
At that time, I thought it couldn’t be busier than it was. I was managing the CEMS Club in Warsaw and then I was elected the CEMS Student Board President. We ran great projects, organised three awesome meetings – in Budapest, Valencia and Paris - and initiated changes for the student community. The cultural exposure was one of the greatest experiences that gave me the skills to collaborate with various people and complete projects in an international environment.
AA. During the term spent abroad, I worked with students from all over the world, lived with a couple of Italians in a multicultural area of Brussels, and got to understand the Belgian way of life. I have wonderful memories of this and I think this is more than just Management
Q.
How did you make you career move? Was it the intention with which you started your CEMS year? AR. I started my CEMS year with
the intention of working in a multinational corporation. And I did indeed at the beginning, firstly abroad and then in Poland – in the consulting sector. When, in 2009, the team I made up with five colleagues from my university won the Google Online Marketing Challenge in the EMEA region, the direction changed. Very quickly we decided that it was worth using the chance and we set up our SEM, online marketing agency. Such opportunities come only once. It is worth taking the risk and learning from it.
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It gave not only the opportunity to study in different universities in a multicultural environment, but the community itself was for me a tremendous advantage. Travelling, participating in various seminars, meeting corporate partners and professionals is an amazing experience. CEMS is much more than just studying abroad or interesting academic courses. It is a network that lives and it is a privilege to be a part of it. It is a lifestyle.
education! You get to understand how people work and interact with others. CEMS offered me the chance of meeting great people that I retain as really good friends.
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