I knew coming into the MQM program that I wanted to break into the startup space, I just didn’t think an opportunity would come within a year of graduation. The program equipped me with the skills necessary to hold my own in a fast-paced, results-oriented work culture. On a day-to-day basis, I’m answering the same questions posed by Fuqua professors:

• How can you make a data-driven decision here?
• What business impact does this have?
• Why does this matter?

Life at a Startup

As a product manager (PM) at Informed.IQ, I can see the tangible impact I’m having and how fast I’m learning. I have the opportunity to wear a lot of different hats and am exposed to multiple business functions. Before being a PM, I was a Business Analyst who sat in between the Sales and Product teams. One day I was putting together a deck containing in-depth product analytics for a quarterly business review with a client, the next day I was managing our website, submitting our trademark application, and constructing pricing models for contract negotiations—all things I never would have gotten exposure to in a corporate position.

Job Search

While going through the recruiting process as a student in the MQM program, I knew that I would need to build up my work experience before I could transition to a high-functioning startup. My advice to anyone looking to follow that path is to find a role that matches your skill set at a company you like and make it your goal to make everyone else’s job easier.  

In a recent chat with Fuqua’s admissions team, I explain why Informed.IQ was a perfect fit, how being results-oriented led to my first promotion, and what office culture is like at a startup.

You can watch that conversation here: