In your own words: Andrea Baccenetti, Co-founder & COO

"The picture is taken at my office, hosted in the Rainmaking Loft. As a young and small startup we love working in a co-working space, where we can benefit of being in a large community of fellow entrepreneurs” (private photo)

What were you like when you studied at CBS?
I was really engaged and determined. The full time MBA programme requires a good amount of effort during a very intense year and a full engagement is necessary. I can't recall many days without a case study to read, a paper to write or a project work team meeting to attend.

How did you get your first job after graduating from CBS?
I actually started working before graduation. I was lucky enough to partner with a fellow student and we started working on our start-up, VoiceBoxer, well before graduation.

Which moments in your career have been defining - and why?
I think that you build your career every day; I had the luck of working in different industries such as telecommunications and the oil & gas industry in different roles, which all prepared me a lot for the role that I have today in a completely different industry, which is in between language services and technology.

Nevertheless I can recall three really defining moments in my career.

The first is when I started leading a team - that was one of the first challenging steps in my career. Guiding other people to work towards a common goal was very exciting to me and I worked very hard to succeed.

The second moment is when I enrolled at CBS for the Full-time MBA. That was a decisive experience: an educational method I was not used to, an international class of experienced professionals and a lot of learning to do. It has definitely changed me a lot.

The last, but absolutely not least, is when I started working with my business partner on VoiceBoxer. By far, it’s been the most exciting professional journey I have ever had.

What is the most valuable experience you gained at CBS that you still use in your daily work?
There are many experiences and learnings from various classes that I use on a daily basis but I think that the final project work, or Integrated Strategy Project as it is called in the MBA jargon, is what I can call the most valuable. The project required combining learnings from different courses and applying them on a real company business case, while dealing with an international team, the university advisors and the company to deliver the project. This is no different than my day-to-day reality and the CBS experience was extremely important for teaching me how to succeed in such a context.

Have you maintained a relation with CBS since you graduated?
I’m involved as a mentor for the current MBA class in different projects. I think that maintaining a relation with CBS is important for several reasons. First, being involved with the current class always gives me the opportunity to be updated on the latest teachings. Second, since the MBA class is small in number, it is good to seek for networking opportunities also with alumni from different years. And third, I get the opportunity to contribute to the programme with the sharing of learnings and experiences that I cumulated after the programme.