Hult: When did you decide to go into business together? Julian: At Hult London in 2013. I was doing my MIB, Toni his MFIN, and the careers team put us in touch to work on a side project together. We realized we both had similar ideas, and it made sense for us to go into business together; we launched MBJ LONDON that same year. H: Has your Hult network benefited your business? J: We’ve hired a lot of alumni for various roles over the years, from interns to senior positions. At one point we had ten alumni on our team. If we were looking to hire leadership, Hult would be one of the first places we’d come. A lot of our clients are alumni, at least 20-30; every event we run, 40-50% of attendees are Hultians. I’ve also mentored another alum who wanted to start a tech business, and I really enjoyed that. Toni: We worked with some professors as well in the very early stages, and they gave us guidance and shared their experience when it came to consulting more broadly. After we graduated, we kept coming back to campus, to the alumni events, career events, and met people that ended up working with us. You know what to expect from Hult alumni—you know they’re going to deliver. H: So, it’s a strong network? J: I was only at Hult for a year but it’s still one of my strongest networks. Not a day passes that I don’t have contact with at least one alum, excluding Toni of course. Most of my close friends are Hult alumni one lives just five minutes away from me and, actually this weekend, I’m having three Hultians over for sriracha tasting!

T: From both my undergraduate and master’s at Hult, I think the network— connecting with people from all over the world—has been the most important aspect. And I’m still meeting alumni now from all different years, not just my year. Everybody is very open and willing to share contacts and experience. I mentor a few students myself, just informally.

H: Why is it so tight do you think? J: I think it’s a combination of like-minded people being thrown together in a completely new environment. Most students are from overseas, and then you travel together for Campus Rotation—it really strengthens the bond.

T: Exactly, everyone is open to learning about different cultures and perspectives. It’s difficult at first, but I think it’s a very good setup for real life. If you’re at a startup or a big company, you have to work with people from all different sorts of backgrounds. H: Are you guys close as friends? J: We were business partners before we became friends but now, Toni is one of my closest friends. This year I will be a groomsman at his wedding! We’ve been through a lot together these past few years, always side by side. We launched MBJ LONDON in 2013, by 2017 we had grown way too fast and were on the verge of going bust. We had to scale right back, which has enabled us to be super agile and creative; we actually just had our best year. Entrepreneurs are always saying “things happen for a reason,” and it’s true.

T: It is true. I wouldn’t go back and do anything differently because it’s brought us to where we are now. It’s mistakes you learn from; if you have never failed, you have not learned the many lessons that come with failure.