18 Feb 2022

Get to Know Past NVC Winners: Rumi Spice

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With the New Venture Competition (NVC) Finale right around the corner and in celebration of the competition’s 25 years at Harvard Business School, we caught up with some of the past participants across the three tracks (Alumni, Student Business, and Social Enterprise) to learn more about how NVC and their time at HBS helped shape their entrepreneurial journey.

Tickets are now available for the NVC 2022 Finale on March 31, 6:00 – 7:00 pm.

Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI)

Kimberly Jung, Co-Founder and CEO, Rumi Spice

NVC team:
Ben Bines (MBA 2015)
Kimberly Jung (MBA 2015)
Emily Miller (MBA 2015)

What inspired you to start your company or organization?
As military veterans, we wanted to lay a sustainable foundation for peace for Afghanistan through social enterprise and capitalism.

How has HBS helped with your entrepreneurial journey?
The Rock Center, Social Enterprise Initiative, and HBS helped to fund our entrepreneurial journey through grants awarded to offset our student loans, the generous space and community at the Innovation Lab, assigning us mentors, allowing us to participate in and win the President's Challenge pitch competition, and providing us with a vibrant and extremely supportive community in which to learn and grow as entrepreneurs.

What part of the NVC journey was most helpful for your team?
Putting together our business plan and learning to pitch—fundamental skills for any entrepreneur to learn. At the startup stage, being able to convey our vision for the future in a way that inspires and excites other people is extremely important.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Be able to pivot and take advantage of opportunities swiftly and aggressively. Know that your co-founder relationships are akin to a marriage—it's hard and you have to work at staying together.

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