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Apurva Ganoo, 27, will start as a permanent Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the School of Business on 1 December 2023.

‘I’m originally from India, but I’ve lived most of my life in Finland and Malaysia, and I even did some of my elementary school in a Swedish school in Vaasa, Finland, followed by high school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thus, I speak some Finnish, but my Swedish is better. I did my bachelor’s degree in engineering in Vaasa, and my master’s in international design business management (IDBM) here in Aalto. Currently, I’m pursuing my doctoral studies in management and entrepreneurship studies, and aiming to defend hopefully in 2026,’ Apurva Ganoo says.

Starting as a lecturer in Entrepreneurship will be a change from Apurva Ganoo’s current role. ‘I’m looking forward to working closely in helping to develop the new, upcoming Master’s program in Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Moreover, I’m looking forward to continuing my current work within the local and international entrepreneurial ecosystems, building new partnerships, and continuing to develop new entrepreneurial education approaches, initiatives, and activities.’

Working together and fostering impactful collaborations

Apurva Ganoo has already started teaching one of the courses in the Bachelor’s program. It’s a mandatory course in Entrepreneurship for all the business students. 

The new Master’s program has been made in collaboration with Aalto Ventures Program (AVP) and the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. ‘We work closely with them and also will look towards collaborating with many other units within Aalto, such as Aalto Entrepreneurship Society (Aaltoes), Startup Sauna, and Design Factory. There are already really good players in place, and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel per se.’ 

‘As said, the name of the new Master’s program is Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Both words Sustainable and Entrepreneurship are big, real buzzwords. So we need to be very careful and critical and dive deep into different elements of them.’ 

I like teaching!

There are different missions for universities, teaching being one of the main ones. ‘I think teaching is very important. It’s nice that there is flexibility in what we teach and how we teach. The structure of the program is in place, but like entrepreneurship itself, we aim to develop it consistently. It’s easier to also make the learnings practical for students because entrepreneurship is not only theory, but there are the managerial and practical sides in it, too.’ 

‘I don’t want to have any gap between the students and the teachers. I hope that the students are critical, and they don’t have to agree with what I say. I’m looking forward to having good, open, and fair discussions.’ 

Additionally, Apurva wants to work for a very inclusive subject and unit. ‘I hope we can make it possible for all the students to learn at least the basics of entrepreneurship, so that they can see, if there is something for them. Becoming an entrepreneur itself is of course not for everyone, but all the students could get some elements of entrepreneurship to apply in their own lives.’ 

Professor of Entrepreneurship Ewald Kibler who acts as the Head of the Entrepreneurship Unit is thrilled to welcome Apurva Ganoo to the Unit. ‘Apurva’s role as a Lecturer in entrepreneurship is a significant and valuable addition to our faculty team. His expertise will be instrumental in shaping our Bachelor offerings, and especially in developing our new Master’s Program in Sustainable Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with AVP and Tuta,’ he says.