STUDENT & ALUMNI FOCUS CEMS Alumnus of the Year 2013 Igor Takeshi Nishimura Ben Simsa - CEMS alumnus 2012 (USyd-Ivey-St Gallen) and Anna Lemke - CEMS student (Team Leader Alumni Relations, Student Board representative for University of Economics, Prague)
Igor graduated from CEMS in 2006, taking the tri-national track through EAESPFGV, ESADE, and HEC Paris. He is not only a CEMS Alumni Association Board Member, but also its Treasurer. Currently changing career course, Igor is moving away from finance to take on new entrepreneurial challenges. In December of last year he was voted Alumnus of the Year and has great insights into his CEMS journey and the opportunities represented by being a CEMS student. Q: Did the CEMS network contribute to your professional achievements? If so, how? A: Yes, absolutely. I feel privileged because I had the choice to become an entrepreneur through great opportunities. The CEMS network helped in several ways. If
I need to reach investors, specialists or even recruit reliable and competent collaborators, I can fully rely on the relationships I have developed during my life living and working abroad. I tend to say that I’m completely sure about what and whom I don't want to work with, but I’m very open to being surprised and discovering new passions. Q: What are your plans for the future?
(L-R): Guillaume Klossa (President, CEMS Alumni Association), Igor Nishimura and Roland Siegers (CEMS Executive Director).
A: My idea is to focus on projects with social impact in Brazil, leading initiatives and/or engaging investors who want to support them. My current project is to develop a multi-family office that will allow me to explore the expertise and relationships that I have developed during my experience working and living abroad.
Q: What advice would you give to current CEMS students? A: Dream big - the amount of effort that you will dedicate to develop a small business will be the same amount needed to develop a big, complex and global business. Get out of your comfort zone: I believe that, in general, business schools don’t teach students the necessary skills to take risks. Schools teach students to avoid risks. You will never know your limits if you don’t test them.