Before doing great things, you have to learn
Interview with João Almeida
João Almeida is currently a PhD student of the Doctoral programme Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Aveiro. João started his journey as a Junior Entrepreneur in 2014, at Aveiro Smart Business (ASB), a Junior Enterprise focused in Consulting.
In his path as a Junior Entrepreneur, he held the positions of External Vice-president and President, in 2015 and 2016, correspondingly.
In the year after, he took the challenge of being the President of Junior Enterprises Portugal (JADE Portugal at the time), leading the Portuguese Confederation to what it is today.
However, this was not enough for João: in 2018 he joined Junior Enterprises Global, as a Global Public Affairs Manager. Thus, he completed a total of 4 years of experience in the Network, with distinguished positions locally, nationally and internationally.
This strong relationship with the Network is still present nowadays. To this day he is still connected to the movement, more passively, as a member of the Strategic Council at ASB.
João developed his Masters thesis in Junior Entrepreneurship, later published in a renowned magazine with the title: “Understanding the role of EO in Junior Enterprises”.
Due to his achievements with his research, João had a scholarship for the further development of this topic, which led him to write four more papers, two of them focused on Junior Enterprises.
João also participated in several international conferences, winning an award for best paper in Entrepreneurship Education Research at the Conference “Research and Education for Entrepreneurship GEM-CEE” held last September in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
What motivated you to start this journey?
When I started my journey in the Junior Enterprises movement, I had no previous idea of the concept. At the time, my Junior Enterprise held an exceptional campaign for the recruitment process: a door, painted in the colour of our brand (pink) at the university. That sparked my attention, so I decided to apply. During my first year, I did not know what the movement was exactly, as the dissemination of the concept was not as advanced as it is nowadays. So during my first year, I was not really that involved and did not have that ambition to go further, until I had an invitation to hold the position of External Vice President of my Junior Enterprise, where I started to get to know people, to understand the movement better, and thus to become more ambitious in my path within the Network.
What are, in your opinion, the main challenges for the Network?
The Junior Enterprises are currently doing a great job at contacting companies, at attracting students to join the network. Yet, there is still a big challenge to show to the universities, and professors, that Junior Enterprises are not a common student association.
It is not an ordinary extracurricular activity. It helps to prepare students differently since it is not a formal entrepreneurship education. It delivers so much more. So to me, the biggest challenge, when I combine my academic path and my experience with the Network, the Junior Enterprises are becoming more and more interesting for the companies, very popular amongst the students. However, the professors and universities do not give it the rightful value. My vision to Junior Enterprises is that they complement the formal education of Junior Entrepreneurs with real experience in a specific field.
How did the experience in the Network influence your career path?
My Bachelor degree is in Languages and Business Relationships. When I was taking my bachelor, my objective was to later work at a company in a commercial or international expansion department. Then I decided to do my Masters degree in the field of Management, due to the influence and experience I acquired in the meantime in my Junior Enterprise.
Then, since I was in the Portuguese Confederation, my supervisor at the time (Masters thesis), challenged me to work on the Junior Enterprises topic. Since it is an understudied topic, although it was a challenge at the time, it allowed me to publish many papers regarding the impact of Junior Enterprises. This latter allowed me to obtain a research fellowship, where I continued my research on Junior Enterprises and later led me to the path I am now on, a PhD student.
When I started this journey, I could never imagine that I would be in the position that I am right now.
Why did you choose to pursue a PhD, given that you had an opportunity to work in a company?
I had three opportunities (to work in a company) that came to me without me actively searching for them. One of them was actually from a partner from the Network and the other two from people I worked with when I was in the Junior Movement.
However, when I started working with my supervisor on the topic of Junior Enterprises, I decided that the better option was to continue doing research. Although the theme of my PhD thesis is not related to the Junior Enterprises movement, I am still doing research related to this theme. My PhD is “How Entrepreneurship and Innovation can help rural areas and the local ecosystems of less developed places grow”.
What advice would you give to the Junior Entrepreneurs?
When you are in a Junior Enterprise, you have to know that before doing great things, you have to learn. A lot. And then, you have to put it to practice. When you talk about Junior Enterprises, the majority of people will think that they will achieve a lot. But in the first year, just like a company, you will be on the learning stage. You will have tasks, lots of which you will not like. But you have to do them so that you can learn.
The advice I have for you is not to quit at the first obstacle, because if you do not, you will probably do great things, not only in the Junior Enterprises movement but more importantly, in your life.
João is available to provide advice and training in the following areas: Strategic Planning, External and Internal Analysis, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
If you are a Junior Enterprise, own a business or would like to get to know more about the areas of speciality of João, you can contact him on Linkedin.
