Learn to think like an entrepreneur at HEC Paris

Konstantin Artyukhov shares how his EMBA specialization has helped him to employ an entrepreneurial mindset within a corporate environment.

Becoming an expert in something is a crucial point in anyone’s career and the HEC Paris Executive MBA offers students the chance to take a specialization to further strengthen their knowledge of an existing sector or take a deep dive into a new industry. As part of our Specialization Series, we’re chatting to HEC Paris EMBA alumni about how their specialization has given them an edge.

Konstantin Artyukhov, Regional General Manager at AB InBev – the world’s largest brewing company – has over 14 years of experience working in finance, business integration and general manager positions of large corporations.

Having worked in a corporate environment for the duration of his career, Konstantin wanted a challenge to get outside of the comforts of corporate structure and push himself to think like an entrepreneur, to bring new ideas and ways of working back to his corporate team.

We spoke to Konstantin about his experience with the EMBA specialization, ‘Innovate Like An Entrepreneur.’

Why did you choose this specialization?

Konstantin Artyukhov (left) traveled to Babson College in Boston as part of his specialization ‘Innovate Like An Entrepreneur’.

In the modern world if you don’t innovate and do not follow the trends, you become irrelevant very fast. Working in corporations is comfortable as there is easy access to resources, experts, technologies, and insights as well as a stable salary.

Entrepreneurs live in a different world.

They have extremely limited resources and sometimes must fight like gladiators to get their work across the line.

The ‘Innovate Like An Entrepreneur’ specialization allowed me to look at business and the world around me through the lens of the entrepreneurs, who are not afraid to try to strategies which is what the business world needs.

How was this specialization relevant to your career?

Even though I am not an entrepreneur and work in a big corporation, this specialization was 100 percent relevant to me and my career.

I used most of the acquired knowledge to change the way my team worked. We changed our mindset from the “corporate” to “entrepreneurial” one. As a result, the team became more focused with our new ways of working, and significantly improved the financial performance of the region.

Did the specialization meet your expectations?

Yes, it did. The specialization was extremely insightful and by the end, I had adopted not only new ways of thinking, but practical ways to implement an entrepreneurial approach.

Can you tell us about your experience studying abroad with this specialization?

The program is split into two parts. The first one takes place in Paris. The second in Babson College in the US.

It is a great advantage of the program as it gives you the opportunity to deep dive into contrasting entrepreneurial ecosystems in different continents.

Babson College is globally recognized as one of the leaders in entrepreneurial education. That week was truly an eye opener!

What was the key takeaway from this specialization for you?

Do not over-complicate and do not search only for “pure innovation.”

Innovation is not only about the creation of something new like Uber or Alibaba. It can be incremental.

A small enhancement of the existing product can make a big difference. If you have an idea, don’t be afraid to try it. Go with an MVP (minimal viable product), learn from consumer’s feedback, then keep developing and scaling.

You can learn more about the specializations offered as part of the HEC Paris Executive MBA here.