FISHER'S MBA AND BENTOLINGO

Discover how Fisher's MBA Specialization in Technology Entrepreneurship is making one of our current students business idea a reality.

The Mission:

I am Abhi, and I am on a mission to make language learning a personal experience. I am using my MBA education at the Fisher College of Business to launch my second venture: Bentolingo. It is the combination of Fisher College of Business, the Ohio State University and the city of Columbus that makes starting a new venture here an exciting prospect.

The Context:

Before I came to Fisher, I was the CEO of Linguavista, a language services and technology company. At Linguavista, we focused on helping businesses localize their internal and customer-facing content into 170 different languages. As Linguavista was going to be acquired by a Chinese private equity group, I was already thinking of my next venture.

I happened to be in Japan in late 2016. I knew that I wanted to bring my love for learning a new language and culture to others. I was looking for inspiration. And there I came across a bento box in front of me at one of the restaurants in Tokyo. At that moment, I just felt that a bento box is the perfect analogy for how I wanted to shape language learning. It appealed to me that instead of focusing on standardized content and grammar in large volumes, I wanted to design and develop interest-specific content in smaller and customized bento boxes for our learners. I do not believe that language learning should stop with language. In fact, I believe that learning a new language is the first step toward understanding and appreciating a new culture. Therefore, I wanted to bring in features like timed chat, pop culture, music and travel/food rewards to encourage our learners to keep on learning their language of choice.

The Discovery:

However, as the founder of one previous startup, I knew that coming up with an idea is only 5% of the journey. We still had lots of ground to cover: establish a team, develop a business plan, develop a MVP and have market validation, before scaling our app further. At the same time, I was interested in learning more about business and management in the context of entrepreneurship. I did not want to have a disconnect between attending business school and starting a new venture. This is when I came across Ohio State’s Tech Entrepreneurship MBA track. This is especially designed for ambitious entrepreneurs who want to launch a tech venture and need the business skills and the technical knowhow to figure how to develop an MVP and how to scale the business sustainably. It was a perfect fit for me.

The Tech Entrepreneurship Track:

The Tech Entrepreneurship Track is a unique track within the MBA as the pathway for the 1^st and 2^nd year coursework is clear at the onset of the program. The student entrepreneur has the option to look into one of the dormant technologies lying with the Ohio State TEC and see how they can bring it to the market. On the other hand, the student entrepreneur can bring in a concept and see it through development over the course of next two years that finally culminates in a demo day in front of professors, fellow students and alumni at the end of the two-year program. There are courses in the Tech Entrepreneurship track which are taught by professors with venture capital experience and industry leaders in growth and viral marketing tactics. Furthermore, unlike one of the traditional MBA tracks, the tech entrepreneurship track is unique in a way that it enables you to meet people who are invested in seeing Columbus grow as an entrepreneurial hub.

My Progress:

After I came to Ohio State and started taking the classes, one of the very first things I noticed that how easy it is to actually take time out and meet your professors and tell them what you are doing. We should not forget that the interactions between a professor and you should not stop in the class. I took the advantage of getting to know my professors outside of class and spend time with them getting to know them better and in the process tell them what I am working on. As a startup founder, you need to have advisors on board to help you during the initial years. At Ohio State, I have been able to tap into the network of knowledgeable professors and use their expertise on a number of topics ranging from UI Design to the positioning strategy. I was also able to test the validation of my ideas fairly quickly since I could reach out to any number of students on campus at a given time. This enabled me to design my app based on continuous feedback from my target segment rather than coming up with something to force it on to our target segments.

Furthermore, being in the Tech Entrepreneurship program allows you to have the opportunity to visit San Francisco and meet the Buckeyes who have made it big in the west coast. Their support, insights and network connections are immensely important to understand how to drive sales and grow your business. I have been able to develop meaningful relationships with Ohio State alumni to show them what I am doing with Bentolingo and ask for help as needed. I have even managed to walk over to the department of linguistics and the department of engineering to meet new people and find the right talent for our startup. I am told that the Buckeye network is huge and I, for one, have been able to witness the power of this network first hand. Each week goes by so fast. It is important that you put in the effort to maintain these relations amid the fast-

The Difference:

Looking back, I have come a long way since I started my MBA program. I view the Tech Entrepreneurship program as a form of an extended accelerator where you learn and apply the concepts in the class to your real-life startup. The support provided by the world-class faculty members and the Buckeye alumni network in shaping your startup idea is incredible. Columbus is a city that is thriving with talent. If you are driven, ambitious and are willing to work hard, the Tech Entrepreneurship program at Ohio State is suited for you to take your business idea and turn that into reality by the time you are ready to graduate.

• Learn more about the Fisher MBA
• Learn more about the MBA Specialization in Tech Entrepreneurship