Snapshots 28 beijing.dulwich.org
Five years ago, they were girls roaming the corridors of DCB. Fast forward to the present, they are leading IQBar, a fast-growing online education start-up with a student base of over 77,000 and operations in China and in the UK. <strong>The</strong> <strong>College</strong> magazine catches up with these entrepreneurial alumni – Helen Cao, Founder & Co-Director, and Cindy Yao, Chief Strategy Officer – to inspire our current students. Alumni Helen Cao DCB Class of 2014 London School of Economics and Political Science BSc Economics, MSc Law and Accounting Currently based in Liverpool, UK What are you working on now? This is my fourth year running IQBar, and within the past four years, we have completed stage one course developments, training and teaching quality assurance systems. We are aiming to promote our services to a wider market, while upholding and improving teaching standards and user experience. We are launching a brand-new online library in early 2020 to bring in a wide diversity of resources and titles to Chinese students. We are looking to build an international school students’ community and secure a new round of funding to scale up our operations and to further improve user experience. What was your motivation behind starting IQBar while you were still a student? I started IQBar while I was in university, when all the experiences of studying in international schools, applying for universities, and living in a new country were fresh in my mind. At university, students who went to international schools in general adapt better and more quickly to the university way of teaching than students who went to local Chinese schools. However, there is insufficient teaching resources in China to provide international education to fulfil the market needs. Setting up an online platform can alleviate such shortage, helping to spread international education, which I believe is the best education system. What are some unexpected challenges you have faced with when growing the business? How did you deal with them? We live in a century of data explosion; to stand out from all the information is very tricky. To keep finding new ways of marketing and exploring our brand identity is an ongoing task. We aim to grow through referrals and word of mouth to keep marketing cost at minimum. Thinking back to your DCB days, what were some of your memorable moments? How has being at DCB shaped who you are today? I set up the Manga and Animation Club, joined jazz band and cooking club, and participated in interschool maths competitions. DCB gives students the opportunity to try a wide range of activities, rather than concentrate solely on academics, to follow interest and passion, and to persevere in challenges. What would you like to tell current DCB students? Try different areas before going into university, find out where your interest and passion lie, since these will be the drivers that keep you moving through challenges and hardship. Enjoy university life; don’t let studying and internships take up your life. If I can turn back time, I’d spend more time having fun. (Not saying running a start-up is not fun, but there are better ways to spend your early 20s.) Cindy Yao DCB Class of 2014 London School of Economics and Political Science BSc Accounting and Finance Currently based in Beijing What are you doing now? I joined IQBar earlier this year, responsible for fundraising, investor relations, developing the international curriculum business line and implementing other key strategic initiatives. Tell us about some internships or jobs you’ve had. I did several spring and summer internships during first and second year of university at HSBC, Barclays and BAML and this helped me to secure a full time offer at second year of university at HSBC. After graduation, I worked two years at HSBC London’s Consumer and Retail M&A team and Debt Capital Markets team. Why did you join a start-up instead of staying in the established corporate world? It has always been part of my long-term plan to do or join a start-up, but I have never seen it coming so fast! I met Helen earlier this year for a general catch-up, and that conversation re-ignited the entrepreneurial spirit hidden within me. Hence, I spent some time doing my due diligence around the business, the team, the industry and decided that I should give it a try – now is better than later to be the risk taker. <strong>The</strong>refore, I made the big transition from UK to China, from finance to edtech, from MNC to start-up. Start-up life is challenging and rewarding – the personal development is immense. It forces you to step out of your comfort zone and constantly think about new ways and execute new initiatives. Thinking back to your DCB days, what were some of your memorable moments? How has being at DCB shaped who you are today? My most memorable moments must be all the good times with friends. I have made some lifelong friends at Dulwich, and they are my best high school memories. DCB builds a very enriching environment that encourages students to explore different areas and opens up possibilities for them. I was part of Interact and student editor clubs and participated in Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards, drama and charity events. Out of these activities, drama was the most daunting, memorable and rewarding activity. I continued these initiatives in university and was the VP of LSE’s largest Chinese society. DCB was academically enriching and provided so many opportunities for personal development. What would you like to tell current DCB students? Take your time and explore. Society gives us so much time pressure to go to a top university, get a good job, earn a good living, settle down, have family. It is important for us to find ourselves amidst these expectations and build our core foundation and values of life. Life is more than just money, job and being successful. What I love about DCB and the IB curriculum is that it gives you so much freedom to choose and explore. Every path can have amazing views – live life to the fullest! <strong>The</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> (Beijing) 29
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