Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Babson Entrepreneurs

Being a Global Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson College

Today on Living Entrepreneurship, we are featuring a guest post from Akhil Nair MBA’18, founding partner of Parzenn Partners. Since graduating from Babson, Akhil has accelerated his venture through Babson’s Global Entrepreneur in Residence program. Here are his thoughts on the GEIR experience!

Akhil and his team have accelerated their business advisory firm Parzenn Partners during his time as a Babson GEIR. From left to right: Akhil Nair MBA’18, Amrutha Killada MBA’19, and Dhvanish Shah MBA’18.

Babson College’s Global Entrepreneur in Residence program is perhaps one of the most impactful programs offered by any educational institute in the US to support immigrant entrepreneurs. Being the No.1 school in the world for entrepreneurship, Babson’s GEIR program has not only helped support many immigrant entrepreneurs but also has given them an opportunity to give back to the larger Babson community.

I was given the opportunity to be a GEIR in 2018. I was in the early stages of my startup venture, but I was lucky that the selection committee at Babson’s Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship saw the potential in me and helped me live my American Dream. Apart from providing an opportunity to apply for a work visa, the GEIR also helps open up opportunities in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Boston. Being a 100 year old school, one can find Babson alumni in almost all major organizations, big and small, and across all levels. Being a GEIR goes a long way in opening up those doors and unlocking potential which otherwise wouldn’t exist.

Personally, the best part of this program is the opportunity to give back to the
Babson community. Over the last 2 years, I have interacted with over 100 budding entrepreneurs – both students and alumni – as a small part of their entrepreneurial journey. I was also given the opportunity to be one of the mentors in the Butler Launch Pad’s Fast Track Cohort Program, which is a year-long cohort program for select entrepreneurs who have a promising business ideas and are at various stages of establishing their startups.

Akhil led a How2Tuesday session this fall about How 2 Grow Your Services Business. Check out our recap of his key points by clicking this link!

Every so often when I come across one of my past cohort mentee’s startups in the news for their success and achievement, it really does evoke a sense of pride in me. Moreover, the unending enthusiasm from these young student entrepreneurs gives me even more motivation to push myself and to work harder in my own venture with even more vigor.

It has been quite a journey being part of Babson’s wonderful entrepreneurial ecosystem for the last 3 years and I consider myself to be quite fortunate indeed.

Thank you to Akhil for sharing these reflections on the Babson GEIR experience. For more information about Babson’s Global-Entrepreneur in Residence program, visit this link. And to learn more about Akhil’s growing business advisory services firm, visit parzennpartners.com.