#166 Inside the Sofaer Global MBA with Manuel Fajardo ’20
“After this MBA I’m going to pursue an entrepreneurial idea that I have. This school has supported me in everything – all the classes, all the projects, all the professors – has supported me to pursue that entrepreneurial idea… In Israel, the connections are made by people – word of mouth. So if you have a great idea here, you need to find someone who knows someone and they will connect you with a decision maker at a VC fund. And if your idea is a great idea, you’ll get the seed money immediately, no questions asked.”
– Manuel Fajardo
Why did a Colombian civil engineer choose to do his MBA in Israel?
Manuel Fajardo shares his journey to the Tel Aviv University’s Sofaer Global MBA, and how the program’s focus on new venture creation has helped him pursue his business idea.
About Manuel
Manuel Fajardo will graduate from the Sofaer Global MBA this Fall. Before getting his MBA, Manuel worked as General Manager of EDS LA PAZ, and as COO and Chief Engineer at Agregados el Rodeo in Colombia. Manuel got his degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes.
Questions
- Introducing Manuel Fajardo (0:00)
- Why Manuel decided to study in Israel (3:38)
- Is Israel safe? (10:18)
- Attending a young MBA program (12:10)
- Tel Aviv University’s ties to the start-up ecosystem (13:55)
- Manuel’s business idea (17:45)
- Sofaer’s entrepreneurial curriculum, competition and opportunities (19:00)
- What Manuel found surprising about studying in Israel (24:05)
- Being in a small MBA class with less than 40 students (27:20)
- Working in Israel post-MBA (30:25)
- Manuel’s post-MBA career plan (31:50)
- Manuel’s biggest takeaways from the MBA (32:45)
- Is it tough to get a job in Israel as a foreigner? (35:20)
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