One of the quintessential MIT Sloan courses is Global Entrepreneurship Lab (G-Lab). G-Lab is a semester long class focused on entrepreneurship in emerging markets: from South America, to Asia, to Africa, to the Middle East.
It is no secret that emerging markets are where major growth in the world will be over the next 10-20 years. G-Lab was set up 10 years ago to help connect MIT students with companies in these emerging markets. The class consists of a semester long project with a start-up company, usually working with them on a strategy issue, i.e. how should they enter a new market? But the project really gets interesting over IAP in January, when the company flies the MIT team to their site for a 3-week full-time internship on the ground in the country.
My team worked with a great start-up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, called Conexia (www.conexia.com.ar) a healthcare IT company that is expanding throughout Argentina, and looking to expand beyond. They brought us in to help them codify and improve their new project implementation process - so that as they expand and grow, they continue to deliver a quality product.
The experience was, without a doubt, a defining moment of my experience here. Not only did I learn a lot about software development and IT (very relevant experience for my future work interests) and learn a great deal about the culture of Argentina, but my team and I had an absolutely amazing time. MIT preaches the policy of Mens et Manus (mind and hand) virtually ad nauseum. And I am consistently amazed by how they back this up.
We had a ton of fun too... my team made a promise to go out and experience Argentina every night in order to make the most of the experience. We also travelled a bit - one weekend to Punta del Este, Uruguay, and after the internship finished we headed down south for a 6 day hike through Patagonia. Some pics:
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