LSE - Small Logo
LSE - Small Logo

Bardia Bijani

Marco Kogler

June 1st, 2023

MISDI Alumni Entrepreneurship Series: FuzeQube Group

0 comments | 6 shares

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Bardia Bijani

Marco Kogler

June 1st, 2023

MISDI Alumni Entrepreneurship Series: FuzeQube Group

0 comments | 6 shares

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Meet two of our Alum, Marco Kogler and Bardia Bijani, Co-Founders of FuzeQube Group. In 2020, Marco met Bardia whilst studying the Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation (MISDI) programme. Read how their journey from taking the same classes through MISDI transpired in to working together as Co-Founders.

 

Welcome to our alumni, Marco Kogler and Bardia BijaniWe are delighted to speak with you.

Programme and graduation year: MSc Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation (MISDI) 2022

Company name: FuzeQube Group

 

How did your time at LSE (Department of Management) contribute to your success/achieving this incredible feat?

Marco started his journey with LSE in 2016, pursuing an Undergraduate degree in Management. During his studies he played an active role in the student community, leading the LSE Consultancy Society, as well as co-founding a boutique innovation consulting firm with some of his peers. In 2020, Marco met Bardia studying the MSc MISDI programme. They both had slightly different intentions for the course, Marco wanted to further explore the intertwining link between business strategy and emerging technologies, and Bardia wanted to expand on his BSc and improve his sociotechnical know-how to ensure a thoughtful approach to digital business.

The environment and community we found as MSc students at the LSE exceeded our expectations. We were impressed by the quality and diversity of people on the programme and in the alumni community and were privileged to connect and exchange perspectives with many of them. It was those inspiring discussions that contributed enormously to our learning experience, helping to foster the concepts taught in lectures and seminars, and the practical projects that we were tasked with.

The highlight of the programme was the pedagogical approach, unlike comparable programmes, which are mostly focused on knowledge creation, MISDI takes a step further by encouraging thoughtful inquiry and a thorough understanding of the causes and sociotechnical consequences of digital innovation. This provides students with filters to assess and understand phenomena in completely new ways – something that has been very useful as we expand the structures around FuzeQube and advise other enterprises on how to enable ecosystem dynamics.

Much of our philosophy is inspired by our learnings from the LSE, and for that, we are truly grateful.

 

What inspired you to set up your business (tell us a bit about your career journey)?

Both of us are repeat founders – Marco on the service side through a boutique consulting firm specialising in strategic innovation and organisational change for luxury brands; and Bardia on the product side through an enterprise that designs multiple-tools for unique target audiences. After four rewarding years working on these endeavours, it was clear that we had caught the entrepreneurial bug and wanted to expand our horizons further.

Being in the same circles and taking some of the same classes through MISDI is what brought us together. We soon realised that our visions and values aligned, we became close friends and ultimately decided to build something meaningful together.

Driven by values and long-term thinking, we founded the FuzeQube Group, with the goal of developing an ecosystem that enables scalable innovation through the strategic use of complementary resources and the collaboration of driven individuals.

Seeing the power of human cooperation as a core element of our business, we regard our ventures not only to drive innovation in multiple sectors, but as vehicles to enable outstanding, but often overlooked talent to swiftly progress into leadership positions. We deeply believe that combining applied education and entrepreneurial empowerment can play a key role in fostering young people’s potential, as well as bridging socio-economic divides.

Much of our philosophy is inspired by our learnings from the LSE, and for that, we are truly grateful.

What are your plans for the future of FuzeQube?

FuzeQube is currently in the validation stage of its roadmap, where our consulting work and early-stage venture building are informing and providing evidence for the longer-term structures. Once we feel confident in the foundation we have set, we will look to raise funds for our ecosystem to grow at a significantly faster rate to accommodate meaningful scalable innovation.

Our consulting work currently focuses on all aspects of ecosystem building and looks at how collaborative structures in various contexts could help corporations and startups in everything from resource management to creative product development. Equally, we have a few ventures in the works under the umbrella of FuzeQube. Over the next few months, we will focus on further strengthening the ecosystem behind our brands, and research how we can best enable them to grow.

The concept proofs that follow will put us in a position to actively raise capital for some of our ventures later this year, and for the ecosystem later on. Seeing how ecosystem dynamics are embraced by the organisations we work with, as well as how they help our ventures results in a strengthening of our investment case, and reliable data with which to improve our approach.

We have amazing people aiding us in our endeavour and are excited to keep growing FuzeQube with them in the months to come.

 

Do you have any advice for current students wishing to set up their own businesses?

Bardia: Give it a chance. As an LSE graduate, you will have all the career opportunities you need at your disposal, and it will always be tempting to accept a job with a top firm when application season looms. At the same time, there is never a better time to turn passion projects into reality. Give it a chance, as those career opportunities aren’t going anywhere.

Marco: Trust the process. Running your own business can be challenging at times and requires strong resilience and perseverance. Great things are not built in a day – they take time and patience. So, always prioritise mindful, sustainable building over short-term thinking, keep trusting your abilities and ideas when times get tough, and remember to celebrate small successes along the way. If you are doing the right thing and don’t give up, things will fall into place.

 


Get involved with our alumni, volunteering opportunities and connect with the Department of Management.

About the author

Bardia Bijani

MSc Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation (MISDI) - class of 2022

Marco Kogler

MSc Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation (MISDI) - class of 2022

Posted In: Entrepreneurship | The Student Lens

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *