With a diverse population, access to resources, and support from the local government, Barcelona is a great environment for budding entrepreneurs
If you stopped someone on the street to ask what comes to mind when they think of Barcelona, you could get a few different answers.If you asked a sports fan, they might say the soccer team; a holidaymaker might say the beaches; a culture vulture might say the city’s vibrant architecture.
Ask a businessperson, however, and an increasing number might say the city’s booming startup culture.
In 2018 alone, Inc., Valuer, and Startupblink all ranked Barcelona among the top 50 startup hubs in the world, with Startup Heatmap placing the city third in Europe for entrepreneurship.
When you talk to some of the people involved in the city’s startup scene, it’s not hard to see why.
“Entrepreneurial spirit you can sense everywhere”
“There are several things that should be taken into account,” says Jordi Vinaixa Serre, a lecturer in the Department of Strategy and General Management at Barcelona's .
“We have many companies here, and from a social point of view the people in the area have always been used to setting up their own small businesses—the entrepreneurial spirit is something that you can sense, and you come across it almost everywhere.”
This environment is encouraging for new entrepreneurs; for ESADE's part, the school hosts an innovation hub called Creapolis, and students can gain access not only to the Barcelona startup community, but to like-minded students and alumni.
Jordi himself has frequently helped to facilitate startup growth in his specialization area of science and tech innovation—for instance through ‘innovation speed-dating’ on the MBA program.
During these speed-dating sessions, equipped with business smarts are matched with science- and tech-based innovators with ideas for products.
According to Jordi, many promising business ideas emerge, and he is proud of the school’s role in activating Barcelona's potential for ambitious students.
“ESADE allows you to go your own way and see what happens,” he says.
A supportive infrastructure
One student who has done just that is Miguel Sanchez Rubio, a recent graduate from the MBA at ESADE. Currently at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, he has found the buzz of entrepreneurial activity in Barcelona not just encouraging, but very informative.
“I was amazed at the number of events happening in the city, some of them sponsored directly by the ajuntament [the city council],” he says. “This speaks very well of a city that’s forward-thinking in terms of fostering conditions for business development.”
For students at ESADE, the council's commitment to supporting entrepreneurship isn't the only advantage.
Miguel took part in the on his MBA, which works together with CERN in Switzerland as well as two other universities to support students as they pursue an innovative product.
The CBI helped Miguel to create a preliminary prototype for WaterWall, a device which allows users to recycle water internally within the home.
“We have so far presented it in a couple of competitions outside of the CBI program and won awards and recognitions,” Miguel says. “Our next step is to build a full-scale prototype and then continue our journey to look for partnerships.”
With the business landscape of Barcelona laid out ahead of him, and ESADE's support in navigating it, Miguel feels little trepidation about starting his entrepreneurial career.
“The name ‘ESADE’ is like a passport that gives you access to many resources,” he explains, “most importantly a vast number of business professionals and entrepreneurs that are willing to help and guide you on the way.”
An international community
This community of supportive businesspeople is at the heart of the city’s success as an entrepreneurship hub, particularly because of its internationality.
With over 17% of its residents coming from other countries, Barcelona has a decidedly international flavor, and the MBA program at ESADE is home to 40 nationalities.
For Aayesha Khan—another ESADE MBA and the co-founder of El CamBio Lógico, the first store in Barcelona to sell only zero-waste and plastic-free products—this was a huge attraction.
In fact, it was the deciding factor in her choice to start her entrepreneurship career in Barcelona instead of her native New York, itself a world-famous startup hub.
“I wanted to have an international MBA,” she explains. “A lot of schools in the US say they’re international, when really only a small part of the population is from another country—at ESADE, you had the majority of the population coming from [abroad.]”
This exposure has served Aayesha well, not only in her startup project, but also in her continuing corporate career.
“All the jobs I’ve had in Barcelona have been with people from all over the world,” she says. “It’s never just working with people from Spain—the experience of the MBA has helped me a lot.”
Student Reviews
Transformative Journey at ESADE Business School
My time at ESADE Business School has been beyond remarkable. From the moment of the application process, the staff has been super helpful and responsive on every single email! The faculty are highly engaging, the peers collaborative and the curriculum cutting-edge, encouraging me to push my own boundaries and broaden my understanding of business. With practical learning at its core, ESADE has provided me with crucial skills for success in the real world. Not only is this school an ideal place to develop yourself; it's also home to so many fantastic opportunities, friendships and growth. If you're ready for change and want to thrive in the business world then this is definitely the university for you!
Esade review
As I am just starting off in September, I do not have any hands-on information about the education or the university itself. However, I can tell you about the experience I have had with the admin staff, which was always extremely positive. As I am a scholarship student, I had some hardships with reserving my place as I needed to wait for the result of my scholarship application, otherwise, I would not have been able to attend the university. They kindly offered me to hold my place without paying which was a big help for me. Additionally, any time I had problems with the IT system or any administrative task they would always help me in a day or two.
Bachelor Business administration
ESADE University stands as a beacon of academic excellence and innovation. With its dynamic programs, world-class faculty, and vibrant campus culture, ESADE offers a transformative educational experience. From cutting-edge business education to a commitment to societal impact, ESADE surpasses expectations. It's a remarkable institution that nurtures tomorrow's leaders.
Excellent education.
ESADE is a quality university, the professors are the best in the area and this is evident in the student's academic progress. Additionally, the university is responsible for providing opportunities to access the world of work. It is a university internationally recognized for its quality and excellence. It is located in the best neighborhood of Barcelona.
Excellent teachers and classes and a superb international experience
If you are looking for a law specialization master's degree (LLM) in the non so traditional areas of law, and you are seeking for an international fully enriching experience, ESADE is your best choice.
ESADE started as a business school so the MBA and other business degrees are their core. Nonetheless, law education and in particular the specialisation master's (international business law and intellectual property and ICT law) are also on the top Europe's LLM of their fields. They combine an excellent program, with the best teachers available in Barcelona and with a more than enough amount of resources to study and help the student to get initiated in their career field. Also, this is the best international experience out there; personally, I got to share a classroom with other 25 students, where only 6 of them were Spanish, the other 19 including myself were a mixture of different nationalities, especially from Latin American countries.
What an enriching experience!
The program was super complete and touched on all the key points I considered important in a Master of Law, Intellectual Property and Technology. In addition, I was able to take advantage of business, communication, leadership and other disciplines, so important in the training of a complete and multifaceted professional. It is also great that all teachers are lawyers, so they can practice the knowledge they teach us on a daily basis. In this way, they are able to transmit theoretical knowledge to us with a much more practical approach, super useful for our future. In this way, we are able to penetrate the network of contacts in our areas, which can be extremely beneficial for our career.
I also believe that the University is really concerned with the students, in helping them in everything they need, which can be demonstrated, for example, in the current pandemic situation, since it has always tried to act in such a way as to harm the students as little as possible, providing the support and compensation that they considered fair.
In conclusion, I would like to thank ESADE for providing me with one of the best experiences of my life, in which I have made friends for life, and from which I leave with excellent academic preparation, ready to face the challenges of a professional career.
The online platform and the involvment of students and teachers
The online platform is very agile to work and gives you great flexibility to follow the program. Secondly, I was surprised by the involvement of students and teachers. This has made the program very interesting with links to extensions of the agenda. Quite a good surprise. I would clearly recommend it.
Great class cohesion, superb study location, super professors
I loved the class cohesion with plenty of international students from all over the world. Great to have that mix during a practical business project to do with the local economy of the Costa Brava.
Studying in Barcelona is simply amazing, and even though the university is not directly in the center, it is in a really nice part of the city with great views over the old town and the sea. I always enjoyed my walk from the metro station to the school.
The professors were nice and motivated, and as classes were small, it allowed a very good learning atmosphere.
Amazing experience!
The professors are qualified, passionate, and dive deeply into the topics while always making class engaging. Hands-on experience with companies to solve real issues - offering a great opportunity to apply the learnings and gain more relevant experience. The study tours and minor class trips are also adding value to the course, along with many career and social events, which help create a good environment. Would highly recommend!