Last week four Year 12 students had an amazing opportunity to visit the Microsoft ScaleUp office in London. The students were invited to the offices of the global start-ups programme for a day of learning experiences.
Microsoft Scaleup (previously Microsoft Accelerator) is designed for new business start-ups and offers entrepreneurs access to expert sales, marketing and technical support. The pupils started the day by attending a series of talks from the company’s COO and other staff; they shared their personal experiences in the world of business start-ups and highlighted the difficulties they encountered in the process.
During lunch the students, all of whom are interested in entrepreneurship, were able to network and share experiences with members of the company. Ivan Avanesov, L6 said: ‘We had a chance to speak to these innovators and ask our own questions, which was great because we also made many new connections.’
They also visited the working spaces for the variety of start-ups that the ScaleUp hosts, gaining an insight into the industry and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Inci Gurun, L6, said: ‘One of the most useful insights I gained was about the obstacles and realities of enterprise which often go by unmentioned. Realising that successful new enterprises included much more effort, risk and reward than I had assumed, inspired me to maybe one day create one.’
