“When I first moved in, he was selling whiskies and craft beers, and it came about that he wanted to get better at the product side,” Alexander explains. These lessons proved invaluable in helping him launch a startup in Shanghai.Īlongside studying for his MBA degree, Alexander spent much of his time working on the launch of a beverage startup with his roommate in Shanghai. In areas North of China's Yangtze river, for example, business culture is broadly aligned with independent Western ideals, whereas in the South there's often a greater reliance on interdependence and collective thinking. He also became aware of the varying characteristics of different regions.
ANOTHER WORD FOR RUNNING OUT HOW TO
He further developed this understanding during the program, which offers a curriculum combining business fundamentals with a large focus on the intricacies of Chinese business culture.Īlexander learned how to design products that would appeal to local consumer profiles and the broader Chinese market. “As a foreigner, I got a much deeper understanding of China and their way of thinking,” he adds. “I met a lot of amazing people, local Chinese people from Shanghai, a lot of people from Suzhou and from Beijing-it helped me gain a much stronger network that wasn’t just expats,” he explains. While the typical MBA cohort comprises a mix of international and domestic students, studying on a Chinese MBA gave Alexander a different experience. “You have to be ambitious if you go out to China, so I wanted to see how well I could make the best version of myself,” he says. Despite Jiao Tong offering an International MBA taught in English, he also decided to test himself by studying in Chinese. He decided an MBA was the logical next step in his career: “I wanted to build on what I knew and understand a little bit more about the business side,” he says.Īlexander decided to enroll in the Antai MBA program at Shanghai's Jiao Tong University-one of China’s top-ranked MBAs-which had a campus nearby. Things were running smoothly in Shanghai, and he’d become well used to the daily work of leading a business. It was the beginning of an exciting journey that’s seen him launch an international beverage startup and become a leading entrepreneur in Shanghai.Įnrolling in the Shanghai Jiao Tong Antai MBAĪfter a few years at eGISS, Alexander felt he needed a new challenge. The experience gave Alexander his first taste of running a business. eGISS, a Danish IT firm, offered him the opportunity to set up the company’s first Chinese office, where he would work as managing director. In 2013 Alexander decided to uproot his life and move to Shanghai. There, he enrolled in an exchange program to spend a summer in Shanghai, where he fell in love with life among the bustling streets of China’s premiere business hub. A high-flying CEO and Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur, it’s no surprise that Alexander Petersen is someone always searching for the next big challenge.īorn in Denmark, Alexander moved to Canada to study for his bachelor’s degree in business.