NUS Overseas Colleges Program

Student’s React

Ariff MunshiStockholm, Sweden

January 2009 - December 2009

What influenced your choice of location? The American economy wasn't doing very well at that time and I was more interested in the European culture and the innovation coming out of Sweden. I was interested in clean tech, and Stockholm had more of such companies under the program. 

Which startup did you intern with?QuickSolve AB, who were creating a ruby based CMS. The company had to close down half way through. Then I joined Biorecro AB - A carbon mitigation company dealing with biofuels and carbon capture and storage. 

Describe the nature of your work?I did lots of adhoc job and research for the company including writing up text and designing collaterals. 

What were the learnings?What I learnt was more on how a startup works and also the dynamics of working in a small team - within the company and outside of work, where we got a chance to be involved in courses, startup clubs and meetups. 

Have you worked in another market?In Silicon Valley and Brunei.

How was it different?Major differences in work culture and people's personalities. You have to learn to adapt and work with the different styles. 

Ariff is the co-founder of startup, Userscout in Singapore

Naman ShahPhiladelphia, USA

Jan 2013- Dec 2013What influenced your choice of location? I wanted to experience working in the US after my stints in Asia. Philadelphia looked like a great location with a awesome partner school like UPenn. 

Which startup did you intern with?BizEquity, A SAAS based business valuation startup with a good blend of finance and tech.  

Describe the nature of your work?I work as a Business Analyst. It is really like a startup where you wear many hats right from HR to marketing to web analytics but mainstay is data analysis, helping with new clients and their requirements, web analytics. 

What were the learnings?Work trumps talk. Startup is lot of hard work lot of fun lot of passion. Your core values make you win. 

Have you worked in another market?India with E&Y, and a US based Startup called Freshmentors in Singapore. 

How was it different?Very different from an MNC. Work environment is less bureaucratic than India. More liberal. 

Naman is currently in the US on the NOC program and is looking forward to starting up a company in the education sector.

Jay Teo Jun KaiIsrael

January 2013 - July 2013What influenced your choice of location? Israel is the startup nation and it has many interesting technologies.

Which startup did you intern with?Synergy Innovations Venture Capital

Describe the nature of your work?Analyze startups for investment opportunities

What were the learnings?What makes a VC fundable startup

Have you worked in another market?Yes, in the US and Singapore

How was it different?Singapore Startup scene is still being built up, fear of failure still plagues the traditional asian culture. US has a very mature startup ecosystem, it is easy to find a network for support. Israel has that ‘go all out to do it with aggression and with a never say no spirit’.

Jay Teo is looking forward to returning to Israel for work after completing his education

Firdaus AlipIndia

June 2013 - July 2013What influenced your choice of location? (a) Growing urban poor in India implied a growing demand for the company’s product where I was interning and, (b) Culture; Mumbai is culturally diverse city with many migrants from all parts of India.

Which startup did you intern with?Svasti Microfinance

Describe the nature of your work?Operational risk management, mitigating operational risk through behavioral profiling

What were the learnings?That it is very important to have a ‘plan B’ in case ‘plan A’ fails, always be prepared for a rainy day.

Have you worked in another market?Yes, Singapore

How was it different?Internships in Singapore are very fixed and small scale – most of the time, extent of work will not have any bearing on the company’s performance. In India, you have a larger responsibility and the work may influence the company’s performance.

Firdaus is looking at a job after the internship, and in the long run he aspires to be an entrepreneur

Jin Hui AngSilicon Valley

January 2013 - July 2013

What influenced your choice of location? Silicon Valley is the ideal choice to intern at a high-technology startup and take management science and engineering courses at Stanford University.

Which startup did you intern with?Visually, it is a one-stop shop for the creation of data visualizations and infographics.

Describe the nature of your work?I conceptualize and implement email & website marketing, strategies to drive new customer engagement and sales, lead generation, advertising analytics, social media marketing etc.

What were the learnings?The experience has sharpened my abilities to pay close attention to the deliverables and tweaking marketing campaigns to the exact target. Beyond that, I have learnt to employ all possible combinations and learning from each lesson.

Have you worked in another market?I have worked in several other establishments.

How was it different?Being in a startup has taught me to challenge the unknown and be a part of something bigger. It’s more than what the job asks so you need to have a sense of ownership, responsibility and leadership for all your actions. Working with limited resources is both demanding and fulfilling and you can can have a direct impact of the growth of the company.

Jin Hui is currently in the US on the NOC Program and also serves as a digital media consultant for a Singapore based Lifestyle and Raw Foods Company