Hugo Winn

To Hugo, true success in business means leaving a mark on the world and building tools that provide people with jobs, opportunities and access to basic services.

After an early career in start-ups, Hugo had ambitions for something bigger. Wanting to grow his career and create change on an even wider scale, he joined the MBA programme at London Business School as the SARI Foundation Trust scholar.

After completing a BA in Anthropology and MSc in Politics and Communication ten years ago, I began my career in the world of political communications. As I started out, it was important for me to do work that would directly impact the everyday lives of others but I found that politics could be quite demotivating. Many conversations would be had but real change never seemed to materialise.

What I really wanted was to create solutions for people, in a way that would have immediate and tangible impact. I became more interested in transitioning to a commercial role, and my career gained new momentum at what3words – the geolocation company I helped scale. I was part of the Growth team that oversaw the acquisition of new users and customers. What3words brought me into contact with tech in emerging markets, as millions of our users were in the Global South. This interest led me to Nairobi where I was Head of Strategy for a growing digital network of emergency first responders, Flare Emergency Response. Expanding these companies was exciting work. I’d made an impact at small, agile companies at a young age, but after 4 years in the start-up space, I wanted to round out my management experience and make myself a credible candidate for larger corporate roles.

I felt an MBA would give me the skills, professional experience and network I wanted. I needed to build the generalist skill set that would equip me to deal with the kinds of issues that I’d face in a leadership capacity at a large organisation and broaden my network a little bit outside of my field. I knew the LBS MBA would offer me this. As a Londoner who had worked in Africa and MENA for most of my career, I had a new appreciation for London as a dynamic and international hub. Though I considered other schools, I could see myself in London long-term and it was a bonus to be back with family.

The team at the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development really helped me understand the LBS offering. It’s a research institute within LBS that specialises in the intersection of business and society, and how to improve lives through business. Coming from a non-traditional background, the insights they provided helped me craft my application. They were a great resource for me during the programme too – as well as providing industry introductions, they were on hand to discuss my career ambitions, point me towards meaningful social impact opportunities and provide guidance around my post-MBA plans.

Being on a two-year programme meant I had the time to build a strong foundation. Coming from a non-traditional background and not knowing much about subjects like corporate finance or accounting, it would have been overwhelming to tackle a heavy workload while navigating the recruitment process into one year. LBS has high standards of academic teaching in these kinds of core subjects, and I had enough time to enjoy my studies and delve into new areas.

We covered major themes in macroeconomics like global trade and inflation. And professors helped me explore some of the more niche topics I wouldn’t have even thought about beforehand. For example, the Pricing course was really rigorous, philosophically interesting and something I probably wouldn’t be learning or thinking about outside this setting. Another memorable course was Negotiation and Bargaining, during my exchange semester at Yale University – I still use the skills I gained regularly. By my second year, I’d started to specialise in venture capitals and private equity, so alongside general management skills, I was able to specialise and deepen my financial knowledge.

I was a member of the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club and served on the executive committee. We ran the annual venture capital investment competition, an international VC competition for MBA students to compete and learn at the same time. Essentially, students conduct diligence on a deal, draw up a term sheet, and pitch a panel of investors (acting as Managing Partners) for capital. I supported the winners from LBS as they went on to the international competition.

I was constantly being challenged to put what I was learning into practice. I chose Dubai and Abu Dhabi for my Global Experience, themed ‘Building a Future City’, and got the chance to study the vast economic and social developments happening in the Gulf, while critically analysing the threats and opportunities they may face. It was a great opportunity to understand a different part of the world better and spend quality time with classmates. LBS has an exchange programme too. I spent a semester studying at Yale, applying my learning in a new context and gaining insight into the American perspective.

The cohort was a melting pot of people from different backgrounds and nationalities – from British investment bankers to Spanish consultants and Chinese lawyers. I learned alongside a dynamic, international group of students. We had people from Ukraine, Russia, Israel and Palestine in the same room, all with different views but brought together by the same intellectual energy. Provocative discussions facilitated by the skilled professors made the experience so much more enjoyable, and it was inspiring to learn alongside people who have achieved so much in their respective fields. The diversity is also great because whenever I’m in a new country today, alumni are always keen to connect and happy to help - from facilitating meetings to recommending where to grab dinner.

I now have a remarkable opportunity to impact millions of lives. I joined a private equity firm after graduating and moved into one of their portfolio companies – a really exciting business called Solevo that’s distributing resources to hundreds of millions of farmers and small businesses across Africa. Drawing on my skills and experience gained on the programme, I’m leading our efforts to launch a services business to help customers get credit, financing, insurance and other services through digital tools. If we can formalise agriculture in Africa, it could lift tens of millions of people out of poverty. We are putting options in the hands of farmers, small shops and distributors all over Africa in a relatively short space of time and enabling them to buy inputs, which is the source of farming, in a much more effective, efficient and affordable way.

Being part of making this change happen is incredible, and I wouldn’t be doing so without my time at London Business School. Aside from all the financial and management knowledge, one of my biggest areas of growth was self-awareness. From the Career Centre team to the faculty, you are surrounded by seasoned experts who help you identify the best career path for you and clearly map out your longer-term ambitions. I now recognise my specific strengths, where they fit in around other people’s skills, and how I can use them to deliver results.