Fifteen

As I arrived to the Shanghai airport, I couldn’t help but wonder what that smell was. It was late at night, I was alone, and the driver waited outside. That smell kept haunting me.

I arrived at the building where I would live for the next couple of weeks. It was tall, very tall, like everything in Shanghai. My Taiwanese roommates waited outside for me. It was midnight. As I stepped out of the cab, I started to wonder what I was doing in China. What would a Puerto Rican, former political appointee turned MBA, be looking for in China? I assume that my employer also asked himself that question, but he probably concluded that anyone adventurous enough to want to work for an American start-up in Shanghai would be a great MBA summer intern.

As I walked in a sea of my own perspiration the next morning, I began to understand why everyone rides bikes in Shanghai. The wind created by riding greatly softens Shanghai’s oppressive summer heat and humidity, and provides the benefit of free air-conditioning.

After walking past the 50-floor building suburbs where I lived, I entered the charming tree-lined streets of the French Concession —or what is left of it. The streets of the French Concession were definitely my favorite part of Shanghai, still relatively untouched by the beast of construction and progress. One of my favorite streets was Taikang Lu, the small narrow alley from which other alleys sprang up. Although I never really learned any Chinese, I did learn that “Lu” was street — vocabulary that came in very handy when trying to communicate with taxi drivers.

As I approached Taikang Lu, ignoring the huge lot of land right in front of it that the government was developing, I entered the charming world of the French Concession, which is what many foreigners imagine Shanghai to look like. With its narrow alleys, men and women driving bicycles laden with all kinds of strange things, artist shops, galleries, cafes, fashion designer boutiques, Taikang Lu was a world in itself. It was a small taste of New York’s Village or at least the Shanghai version of the Village.

Taikang Lu became my world for the next couple of weeks as I worked with the New York partner of The Nicobar Group, a start-up developed by an MIT alum who also founded E-Ink, to develop a branding and marketing plan. My branding efforts went well, and I finished my marketing plan. However, the most fascinating experience I had this summer was neither strolling Taikang Lu in Shanghai nor crashing on the sofa of a few Sloanies (Ishan Bhaumik ’08, Kaushal Challa ’08 and Vikas Khandelwal ’08) to save money.

What really enriched my summer was the chance to work with two entrepreneurs in the making, each of them different in personality and skills. One of them was a Cornell engineer and HBS MBA, and the other an MIT engineer and Stanford MBA. One of them was extremely outgoing, while the other was more organized and focused. One of them was in charge of Business Development and Sales and the other one was in charge of the outsourcing process in Shanghai. They complemented one other, knew each other’s weaknesses and strengths, and worked hard every day to achieve the balance that their partnership required.

I learned how to run a global start-up in two of the greatest cities of the world: New York and Shanghai. I learned how important it is to keep your humanity and humility as an entrepreneur, yet be confident and focused. I also learned, as an entrepreneur, how to develop initiatives with a positive social impact. For example, the Nicobar Group’s World Changing Program (WCHP) is developing strategies to partner with non-profits in poor countries in order to manufacture goods in China that will raise the purchasing power of the poor. The Nicobar Group will launch the WCHP at the World Economic Forum in China this year, which is very exciting news!

Although I don’t know where my path will take me in the next couple of years, I can say with confidence that I have encountered two great global entrepreneurs that I have no doubt will be successful. As I reflect on my own life, I know that I will take with me this seamless vision of the world and some day, not too far away, I will create my own global initiatives.

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