Dear all,
I will be covering my engagement in the Cambridge University – Judge Business School “Startup Generation Global Fellowship” (from now on simply SG program) on the FFA blog (for the ones that don’t know us, please visit our website) that will help you understand a little bit more about the story and background of FFA (as the Founder and CEO).
In 2010 I hit a milestone, I finally found what I would be focusing on in the next years and hopefully decades of my professional life. I had been following the trends in disruptive innovation, business incubation and entrepreneurship (getting inspired by the biggest innovators of our times, like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg) and wanted to focus on these topics and I did ever since.
Through my unwavering grit and determination, developed through my early years in tech blue chip corporations and in investment banking, I pushed forward into a market dominated by large international consulting firms and institutions, steadfast in my belief that, if I would put full focus on this, I could offer something better, something more effective in regard to innovation for companies of all sizes mainly in Europe.
Why did I apply?
The SG program is part of our aim in getting international exposure and getting interconnected and involved in global entrepreneurship and innovation networks, since we have been more active on a European scale in the last years.
Did you face any obstacles?
I was initially not admitted to the program, because I did not reply to the SG program acceptance RSVP in time. I was feeling bad, because I did not find the 10 minutes needed to send a response E-Mail. But it somehow reflects the problem that entrepreneurs (especially first time entrepreneurs) have: The need to focus to be effective and efficient at work and the need to participate to new projects, to network and to do outreach work.
Introduce your program and how the Fellowship will help you
Fast Forward Advisors (short FFA) is a forward-thinking boutique consulting firm, focused on mainly and merely on two topics: innovation and internationalization. We focus our work in Europe and our clients are both large firms, SMEs and startup companies.
The SG program will help me in getting useful feedback from peer mentors, experts and advisors on our existing project pipeline and will help me in reaching out to interesting stakeholders.
What people associated with the program do you think will help you most?
I am most looking forward to opportunities to engage with Jay Mitra, Brad Feld and Karen Wilson as they have impacted the global environment on topics which inspire me to move forward. I also know that I will be surprised at how and when and by whom I am impacted throughout this process.
I am also looking forward to discuss problems and solutions regarding the projects of the other Fellows.
SMART Objectives statement
My SMART Objectives over the next six months are set as follows:
– I project an additional 10% activity growth based on our evaluation of the Fellowship’s potential impact on development of our relationships in North America
– Have collected at least 50 constructive feedback sessions with peer mentors, advisors, faculty and other fellows from the SG program network.
I will be evaluating progress every month and posting the metrics in my blog posts.
Closing
I’m excited to be in this awesome Fellowship program and I expect a lot from me and from my peers, mentors and advisors.
In 2014 FFA will be entering exciting phase of growth and business development efforts and we will be extremely focused to make it happen. I will be very happy to share the insights in our blog.
Cheers,
Frank
written by Frank M. Saviane (CEO)
