Adam Klappholz ’12
My Experience
I worked with Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology’s (MEST) business incubator in Accra, Ghana. Currently, MEST’s incubator (MINC) only serves graduates of the two-year entrepreneurship and software-programming school completely funded by the Meltwater Group. Students receive full tuition as well as room and board. At the end of their two-year program, the students pitch their business ideas to MEST. The best ideas get funded by MEST and receive a place in the incubator where they receive capital, mentorship, Internet, and the camaraderie of an entrepreneurship community.
My project was focused on expanding Meltwater’s incubator to include the greater Accra community. The project’s aim was to transform the Meltwater incubator from an insular organization into more of an entrepreneurship ecosystem that would eventually be self-sustaining and benefit Ghana to a greater degree.
MEST’s mission is to demonstrate to the world that Ghana can compete with the West when it comes to software programming – a business that requires little capital expenditure. By demonstrating to the world that Ghana can become a tech hub, MEST hopes to spur development in Ghana through sustainable economic growth from increased efficiencies and high-value added products instead of just foreign aid. My analysis of how to include more of Accra’s community in MEST’s incubator will directly impact Ghanaian entrepreneurs and hopefully increase the tech wave that’s currently crashing over the country.
The MBA program was crucial to my success on this project. Most tangibly, the MBA program gave me the financial and economic acumen necessary to effectively analyze different proposals and solutions. Without the knowledge gained in elementary classes such as Corporate Finance and Accounting, I would not have been able to accurately create financial projections for the incubator. In addition, I found the Financial Planning and Analysis class (FPA) to be crucial to my success. In Financial Planning and Analysis, we analyzed how costs are allocated across a company and between both fixed and variable costs. FPA allowed me to analyze MEST’s cost structure and find areas where MEST could exploit more of its fixed costs to create an improved program without much marginal cost.
Also, the MBA program gave me the interpersonal skills to navigate tricky environments and meet with top business leaders. Without the knowledge gleaned from an MBA, I would have been lost meeting with entrepreneurs, private equity funds and venture capitalists. The MBA program allowed me to speak their language and to effectively impart confidence that MEST was well versed in business. Internships are such short forays into a company’s culture that proved the skills learned in the Leadership core class were helpful in allowing me to get the most out of my short time with MEST.
Lastly, after completing my MBA, I had probably read hundreds of case studies. When I landed in Accra, it felt like I was a character in my own case study. This experience allowed me to take a step back and more analytically decide what course of action would be best and what people would be most advantageous to ask for help.
At the beginning of a consulting project, it’s always challenging to narrow down the scope of one’s work. I grappled with trying to determine the size of the scope and how much work it would be feasible for me to take on. After speaking with the MEST leaders over a period of weeks, we finally nailed down a workable scope and a project whose aim was ambitious, but not impossible.
On the ground in Accra, I faced several challenges. The main challenge was getting in touch with the relevant players and piquing their interest to the point where they would be willing to meet with me. This process took several weeks with most people, and while it could be frustrating trying to get a hold of the most sought after interviews, in the end, my perseverance paid off and I was able to meet with diverse stakeholders.
Lastly, I think it’s always challenging to come into a consulting project and feel like the client knows way more about a given subject than you ever will. I was able to surmount this challenge through diligently meeting with professors, voraciously reading as much as I could about entrepreneurship in West Africa, and not pretending I knew something that I did not. By being upfront and sincere, people were willing to answer my questions and I learned a lot rather quickly.
My main takeaway is somewhat esoteric, but I feel very proud of how my project has turned out. Going into the project, I was uncertain about whether I’d be successful. Over several months, I met several setbacks and challenges, but in the end, Columbia’s preparation combined with my grit was enough to create an impactful report.
Also, I learned a lot about developing economies from this project. Through daily interaction with the MEST entrepreneurs, I came away so impressed by their talent, ambition, and drive. While they were faced with idiosyncratic challenges trying to start a business in Ghana, they never felt bad for themselves and were able to create compelling businesses with much fewer resources than others. Their accomplishments were truly impressive, and I came away with the knowledge that Africa’s growth is going to skyrocket in the upcoming decades. With a population of one billion people, I truly believe that Africa’s combination of ambitious, talented entrepreneurs, natural resources, and amazing culture will propel it in the upcoming years.
