EU Alumni Rodin Affourtit & Tom Miessen on Founding a Thriving Business in Spain

Since meeting during their MBA in Entrepreneurship at EU Business School, Tom and Rodin have pulled their skills and ideas together to set up a successful business in Barcelona.

Their company, StudiesIn, a partner of EU, supports students in their choice of higher education and relocation abroad. Established in 2019, the company’s cumulative revenue is 1.5M€ and they are on track to reach 1.1M€ in annual revenue by the end of 2024 and 2.3M€ in 2025 – a fantastic achievement for any young entrepreneurs!

How did you meet?

Rodin: At EU! We didn’t like each other at first, but after collaborating on a project together we discovered that our strengths were extremely synergetic.

Tom: I’m more the structured and analytical guy, so I’m good with numbers and processes, while Rodin’s more creative and innovative. He’s the dreamer and I’m the realist. We were succeeding in project after project, and by the end of the MBA we realized that it would be great to have a company together.

What made you decide that you wanted to be entrepreneurs?

Rodin: My father is an entrepreneur, so I’ve seen him struggle but I’ve also seen him flourish. He was very dedicated, but also had the freedom to determine his own course which is something that has stuck with me. I never really fitted into the rigid corporate environment.

Tom: I always worked alongside my studies, and after completing an internship for a car company I was offered a full-time job. A lot of people would have jumped at the offer because it was a great company. But once you start in this kind of business, it is likely that you remain in it for the next 30 years. So, I decided to turn it down and go travelling around South America. While I was there, I did all kinds of jobs but realized that I didn’t want to work for someone else and just accept orders without question. I prefer to create my own rules.

Could you tell us about your journey to founding a company together?

Tom: While I was still at EU, I had an internship at an American tech company in Barcelona, and once I graduated I started working there in sales. I did that for about a year and a half and also wrote my thesis on strategic alliances in the Internet of Things there. I analyzed all their partners in German-speaking markets and created a tool that helped increased the chance of closing sales opportunities depending on which partner you assigned it to. I posted about it on LinkedIn, which is how I was approached by a translation tech company where I started a partnership management role before creating StudiesIn.

Rodin: When I finished my studies at EU, I went back to Amsterdam and started working for one of the biggest coffee companies in the world. I was key account manager there before realizing that I didn’t want to work for a corporate company with old processes, so I moved on to a project development company that was helping to build skyscrapers in Amsterdam. I liked it, but I didn’t have much contact with the product because each project would take two to three years to finish. So, I thought: “If I have the opportunity to start a company, I will jump on it.” Then Tom and I started brainstorming and tried to launch a company in Spain. It took a long time, and the moment that we finally found our first clients coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. We couldn’t get any students to Spain, and we ended up buying out our partner, but we had time to contemplate the whole idea and come up with a more tech-driven solution and raise money.

How would you describe your company culture?

Tom: On the TV show Suits, their credo is that they only hire from Harvard. Well, ours is that we only hire people who have studied abroad. Cultural exchange is very important to us, and we currently have 12 employees across 11 different nationalities. We have a hybrid model in which people can choose whether they work from home or at the office.

Rodin: We have developed a system to train people to become educational consultants, so if a candidate has their heart in the right place and the soft skills to work with students, we are able to train them up on the rest of the job.

In the office, we just sit at one big table. Communication is key so we decided to break down all barriers and this allows us to bounce ideas off each other. We are also experimenting with hiring overseas, which brings us to consider how we can make those employees feel connected to the company. Keeping remote employees engaged is one of the most important aspects of having a successful team.

What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur?

Rodin: Not the sleepless nights! Firstly, we both live in Barcelona, and the environment we have been able to create here is incredible compared to our home countries. But I also enjoy the dynamic aspect; if we have an idea, we can test it and roll it out in a matter of weeks.

Tom: For me, it’s the autonomy, feeling that I’m building something with value and the fact that we call the shots.

Did you participate in any specific entrepreneurial projects during your time at EU?

Tom: One of our teachers threw us in at the deep end of our new venture creation project, which was very valuable. We went from ideation, conceptualization and building a prototype to pitching to investors, all in three months! We created an innovative concept for a foldable trashcan frisbee that could be given out by brands at festivals to promote their products. It went very well: we got the prototype and were about to pitch to Heineken. I don’t know why we never pursued it, it’s such a great idea!

Rodin: You learn by doing. Sometimes you can spend a lot of time dreaming about an idea, but at EU I learned that you just need to dive in. It was the same with a lot of our projects, and once you got started you were able to improvise and refine the idea under time pressure. It was really helpful!

We were lucky to get to know each other and work together in a controlled environment during our studies, rather than going in as founders who don’t know one another. Many co-founders fail because they fall at the first disagreement.

What are your three top tips for aspiring entrepreneurs at EU?

Rodin: Firstly, see the school as an opportunity to source possible business partners and learn how to work with each other. Another tip would be to build your network because that is key to raising money and collaborating with business angels.

Tom: If I were to study again, I would be more proactive with networking, ideas and approaching people. It is your responsibility to go and get it. This is your chance to get to the next level in your career so make the most of your classes!

Tom and Rodin are proud to share that StudiesIn is the market leader in Spain, and they are now looking for further investment to expand their operations in Europe. They are a member of the SuperCharger Ventures Cohort, the world’s largest EdTech Accelerator, and are about to open an expansion hub in Malta.

Take a look at their Demo Day pitch on YouTube to learn more about the company.