Matthew Rusk Student Entrepreneur in Residence

It was fantastic to meet Joe Pearce and Emily Davies after the Graduate Acceleration Showcase at Deloitte in late June. Similar to the event I was fortunate enough to be invited to as a student, where SETsquared university students pitch their business ideas to a room of entrepreneurs and experts, this event was aimed at recent graduate entrepreneurs.

The event itself was the “culmination of a 5-month programme to hone each graduate company’s pitch”, helping students to critically develop their business idea, as well as promote it and network with other likeminded entrepreneurs. Taking students through this process I think is a great approach to focus minds on start-up thinking – helping students to understand and communicate the problem that they are trying to solve, the solution that they offer and the business model that can make money by providing that solution.

It also encourages students to put into words their business ideas. Learning the art of business model creation, developing support and exercises around it, is every bit as important as the businesses themselves at this stage. As Joe always says, “we back the jockey not the horse” – in other words the University of Exeter is continuing to invest resources into developing entrepreneurial students, giving them the skill sets to develop businesses that achieve various degrees of financial success with a profound impact on the development of the student(s) themselves. If you are interested in applying to a future Graduate Acceleration programme simply email .

Here at mgrmusic.com the team have been delighted to announce the launch of Singing Lessons Cambridge, working with a fantastic singing teacher called Rossella Pugliano. Rossella has many years of experience teaching singing lessons, helping her students to rapidly develop their vocal ability. She is based in central Cambridge and is able to provide singing lessons to students of all ages, across a wide range of different musical genres. It has been fantastic to have Rossella join the team as mgrmusic.com launched its latest music hub. The plans are to continue to launch music hubs across the UK, offering music lessons with experienced and professional music teachers – alongside a wider international growth strategy. As ever I will keep you up to date with how the team progresses these plans over the next few months!

Posted under Student Showcase