10 Questions for Hong, Aalto Startup Center’s New Business Trainee

To help our startups learn a bit more about Hong, we held a brief interview with her.

Q1:Tell us a little bit about yourself 👋

Hong: Hello. My name is Hong and I am happy to join Aalto Startup Center as the new Business Trainee in the coming months. I landed in Finland 3 years ago for my Master’s studies at Aalto and gradually enjoyed the Finnish sauna culture as well as the honesty of people around here.

Q2: What is your master’s studies about?

Hong: My major is in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management. Most of the courses equip me with domain knowledge about the startup ecosystem, how startups are established from scratch, develop themselves, and important components to operate a business at startups. Besides research courses relating to grand challenges that entrepreneurs try to solve, I had opportunities to participate in valuable hands-on projects to build innovative business ideas for Aalto University’s partner companies.

Q3: What’s your professional background?

Hong: I have a background in business administration and always find myself amazed at how management studies contribute to our social interactions. Previously in Vietnam, I worked in several areas: marketing, partnership, business development, and communications, both in the private sector and the government sector. I particularly develop my interest in business development at SMEs and share genuine attention to the academic research career in entrepreneurship. My expectation is to meet these two paths at one point in the future career.

Q4: What is your role in Aalto Startup Center?

Hong: I joined Aalto Startup Center as a Business Trainee and work closely with the Business Advisors on the initiatives that relate to our on-going programs. The tasks vary from marketing, startup application process and evaluation, startup financing or go-to-market planning for startups.

Q5: Why did you want to work at Aalto Startup Centre?

Hong: It is honestly a good match with my studies and work profile. After two internships at startup companies, I would like to delve into entrepreneurial topics at an institutional level with more hands-on knowledge after my graduation at Aalto School of Business; and the work at Aalto Startup Center perfectly matches that expectation. After my first day of work, I can’t be happier with the energy I received from both the team and the coming initiatives.

Q6: What is your impression of Aalto Startup Center？

Hong: Aalto Startup Center is resourceful, in terms of both opportunities and knowledge I can absorb from the team. Each team member at Aalto Startup Center is experienced, approachable, and full of open-minded work attitude, which I feel very grateful to join in the first place. Most importantly, the team has business advisors from diverse profiles. Any touchpoint with them opens a new perspective for me to direct my career development or, for startups, to grow their business network and exposure to potential clients.

Q7: What do you like to be a business developer?

Hong: Flexibility is the element I enjoyed the most when aiming to become a business developer. Being a builder or a developer of any businesses requires a diverse knowledge background and a hands-on attitude to empathise with different stakeholders to scout business, which means that one should be flexible and receptive to turn any initiatives into opportunities. For me, this is a challenging yet enjoyable adventure that I would love to learn more in the future.

Q8: What’s your work style?

Hong: I develop myself as a diligent and proactive learner. Therefore, I like to spend time focusing on my job and reflect on them with other team members, even in a different line of work or discussed topic. Doing this way help to make my best effort to do the work and not stay in my own bubble of awareness.

Q9: How will you spend 2021?

Hong: My goal is to become more advanced at one skill set, for example business development, digital marketing, or doing quantitative analysis. I would like to be healthier and more productive, both at work and in normal life, so that I can enjoy every day efficiently.

Q10: What would you like to say to our startups?

Hong: It would be always a life-long learning journey so please be open and be bold. Joining Aalto Startup Center Community is a great and beneficial starting point because it offers you any help whenever you need it. Let’s connect! I look forward to learning new things with you in the future.