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CEMS Magazine | Summer 2012
Student & alumni focus
Interviews conducted by Torsten Röwekamp CEMS 2003, UoC-UB; Vice-President, CEMS Alumni Association
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CEMS people doing business ____ CEMS
Magazine once again brings you in-depth interviews with CEMS alumni who took the decision to go out into business on their own.
CEMS Magazine first spoke with
neers, doctors, researchers, and specialised consultants from more than 50 countries. And if we do not have the “perfect match” within our network, we go out there and find the best experts for the inquiry worldwide. Just try us and contact me at bl@ innosquared.com or +49 (0)211 175 246-19.
Benjamin Lüpschen, CEMS 2004 (UoC-St. Gallen) and founder of Innosquared, an Expert Network Service company.
What is the most exciting part about your job?
How did the idea behind Innosquared come to life? From my time in Corporate Development at Henkel, I know how it is when you deal with new topics and questions every day: you are fighting a short deadline and you have no reliable data at hand. So you have to make do with desk research or study market reports. But even if you can use a research department, only too often you find yourself buried in data with no pointers where to look specifically. My co-founders and I thought how great it would be if there was an expert you could ask directly, with whom you could discuss the important questions person to person. And so we set off to unlock the worldwide knowledge and make it usable for your everyday business.
What exactly do you do? We identify and recruit experienced professionals from all over the world. These experts provide our clients with first-hand expertise and assessments in short phone consultations, surveys, or workshops. A project might cover the value chain of a specific consumer goods market in South East Europe, buying criteria for medical supplies in German hospitals, a comparison of different internet technologies in Senegal or best practices in online marketing worldwide – you name it! Our network of experts is growing fast. We have front-line managers and top-level executives, engi-
Satisfying very demanding clients from consulting or investment companies is challenging and very fulfilling. I am in contact with fascinating people every day. When you see how you are establishing a relationship with a client because they understand the value you are providing and your commitment, you just know you are doing something right.
YOU AND YOUR PARTNERS ALL LEFT YOUR JOBS TO FOUND INNOSQUARED? DO YOU HAVE TO BE CRAZY TO LEAVE SECURE, WELL-PAID JOBS FOR AN IDEA? Crazy? No. Convinced? Definitely! Of course, you have to be willing to take the risk, or you would not be an entrepreneur. But we all believed in the enormous potential of our idea and our service. To see now how this idea has transformed into a