Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Summer Internship...

All of my GSB classmates have been getting amazing offers all over the world for their summer internships. We have about 14 weeks free and a GSB'er likes to try and fit 2 internships and maybe some traveling to truly maximize their "free time." I had been getting a bit nervous when, in late March, all of my friends seemed to be finalizing their summers and I had no clue what I was going to do. I knew I wanted to do something related to entrepreneurship and I wanted a challenge...a great team...a great idea...and something I am passionate about.

Enter Hasso Plattner Ventures - of Africa. It is a new VC startup, based in Cape Town founded by Hasso Plattner (the founder of the Stanford d.School and Founder and Former CEO of SAP Software). It focuses on Mobile, Tech and Cleantech investments. I randomly stumbled across it when searching for possible entrepreneurial opportunities for the summer. I followed up by asking my d.School colleagues if they had any connection to Hasso Plattner, of which numerous people did and they connected me with the M.D. who I hit it off with immediately. It is the epitome of a startup, opening its doors in late February. There will only be 5 of us there and we will be looking for great entrepreneurs to back. I am so excited to be working with great ideas, in a startup environment and interact with a myriad of entrepreneurs.

My thinking is that if I can figure out the elements of being a successful entrepreneur in the challenging environment that Africa offers...I can do it anywhere!

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