Drei Ratschläge an Dein 14jähriges Ich!

When you are in the last year of your study or of your university it would be great if you already think what you are going to do after you graduate. Travel a lot because I think when you travel I think you really learn a lot from life and that is very advisable that you travel alone because when you are travelling with somebody from your hometown it is sort of like bringing your life with you when you are travelling and so you are not so open probably to new experience to new lessons and the third one will be to keep yourself being inspired that is like a never ending fuel to what you are going to do in the future.

Was steht auf Deiner Visitenkarte?

My name is Marina Kusumawardhani I am a co-founder CEO of a startup company called Generation Social Entrepreneurship Academy.

Was ist das coolste an Deinem Job?

I feel like I can create a lot of impact with my work especially the social impact and also environmental impact and especially as an entrepreneur meaning as a someone who set up their own company you can do this in a more influential way because basically the company is doing what you feel like you want to do and also you can approach partners basically in an equal way, because you are not approaching them as an employee but you are approaching them as potential partners, and you can actually negotiate and discuss with them in a strategic level which is I think really great.

Welche Einschränkungen bringt Dein Job mit sich?

Well there is a lot of limitations there is a lot of restriction especially as a startup this not like you came tomorrow like 9-5 and you get in the end of the month a fixed salary but you have to create even the company’s wealth. Here you are like working on something which is not yet like major you put a lot of risk actually.

Worum geht es in Deinem Job?

Generation Social is basically a training company whose mission is to train especially youth in social entrepreneurship especially social business as being defined by Professor Mohammed Yunus the Nobel Peace Laureate 2006. What we do is we train youth to become social entrepreneurs and also we try to fund the business ideas t can so that it can grow into a sizeable company to get investments or loans from other sources. Well as a CEO of the company I am basically in-charge of managing the team that’s first of all and the second will be to make sure especially the financial sustainability of the company, and the third will be to make a lot of reach out especially to potential partners and clients who would like to work with us together in realizing the course. As a startup company basically you are a working I don’t now may be 10-12 hours per day in front of computer. Emails especially trying to communicate with so many people around the world. We have a project in Uganda and we wanted to train youth in Uganda who are the ex-soldiers of the Koni guerrilla who are now like unemployed and this is a big danger because they can actually just go back to military again if they don’t find a job so why don’t we just train them to become global energy entrepreneur there sort of dimensional problem you solve the unemployment, you solve the energy poverty and you try to make up an effective project together with the UN.

Wie sieht Dein Werdegang aus?

I came from Indonesia, all the way from Indonesia to Austria that’s like 12,000 miles away and I studied my bachelor program actually in Indonesia but I finished my master study in Vienna in the Technical University right after my study finished I went to Bangladesh directly to do this research I told you to also meet Professor Yunus and also to discuss with him a lot of things and after these summons in Bangladesh I went back in Austria and that’s in end of 2012 and start working at Unido UN Vienna and while building the idea that we have actually start back then in Bangladesh and in the last middle of 2013 we legalized the company in the US and so it is 6 months for since middle of 2013 until now.

Ginge es auch ohne Deinem Werdegang?

I definitely think that is really possible for people to become entrepreneurs even with irrelevant degree because I think to become entrepreneur social entrepreneur also the most important thing is to have leadership and also to have sales skills and that is sort of a street smart than the university smart. In my case my background helps me because I was studying renewable engineering and cooperate finance and it just helps me to just understand easier what we are trying to do but I think that is not really the core thing that you have to do as a social entrepreneur.