(Post) MBA Blog

Today we had the pleasure of having Richard Dellabarca over to the Judge for lunch.

Richard is a Judge MBA from a couple of years back, and like many, chose to stay in the Cambridge Bubble after graduation. He is Commercial Director and Company Secretary for Artimi, an UltraWideband start-up (headed by Jack Lang) that promises to revolutionise consumer electronics connectivity.

Although we had only 1 hour with Richard, we all felt that it was one of the most productive sessions of the term.

Richard got started with Artimi via the Entrepreneurship Summer School here at Cambridge. He met a couple of engineers working on UWB and, as he says, things just 'clicked'; there was a personal chemistry and a sense of trust that was very important to all involved.

His insight into the required skillsets of an entrepreneur was very useful. He raised money for 5 years in investment banking although he still found the MBA he picked up very useful. However, in terms of the sheer complexity of entrepreneurship, he admitted that 90% of what he knows now, he learnt while on the job, and this is coming from a qualified barrister and chartered accountant, which goes to show that entrepreneurship is certainly not the easy option.

Among the roles pointed out by Richard as suitable for MBAs in start-ups, top of the list cam Financial Director, marketing and business development. Richard highlighted the need for early credibility - even the little things like cards, letterheads and a website count.

Another couple of insights:
Quoting Jack Lang, Richard said it takes $1 to make and $10 to market a new product at start-up stage. Also, contrary to popular opinion, it may be beneficial to sell the start-up before customers are acquired and sales come in, because sales narrow the band for valuation - if you're confident in your negotiating skills, it may be better to retain and leverage valuation flexibility.

____________