My first Publication Alumni Magazine21-online | Page 8

ISSUE 21, JUNE 2019
a professional in this area, I’m an engineer. So, for me that
was also a bit difficult and I still have doubts whether I have
done something wrong.
Maybe you could reach out to the Alumni community
for some marketing advice. I’m sure there are plenty of
marketing people out there.
I’m sure too. Could do that.
Looking back, what are your best and worst memories
from ACS?
Worst memory is my first day at ACS.
Really?!
Yeah, for me it was really scary. I was in 8/7 and at the
time this was the section with people who spoke the least
English. So, I’m in this classroom and then Ms. Struch
comes in the room and starts speaking in English and we
don’t understand a word. And then, Ms. Marinova came
and she started in English and she realized by our looks of
surprise and fear and then she said: Не разбирате нищо
от това, което ви казвам, нали? And then she switched to
Bulgarian. But all of that was quite bad. Then I had math
class and we started, from day one, with a lot of work and
for me that was something new. So, I actually went home
after my first day at ACS and I told my mom: “I’m switching
schools!” But I’m happy I didn’t because I liked it after that.
Best memories? I do have quite a lot. I must say I was really
happy with the musical I was in in my senior year, “The
Producers”. It was a bit controversial, and it was produced
at a monitor for another four or five hours. I also wanted
to have some Bulgarian suppliers, but then I realized it’s so
difficult to find people to work here and the communication
with some of them was a complete nightmare, so eventually,
the last two years of the project, I invited a friend of mine,
who is also an engineer, to join me, just for this project, not
the company as a whole. He took over communication with
local suppliers and that worked out better.
“Funny thing is, I was quite bad
at math and physics, and now
I’m an engineer and I actually
made the top of the class at the
University of Sheffield.”
Excellent. When can I buy one?
Well, you can sort of pre-order one now, because being a
small start up with no resources or investment, I am going
to launch with a funding campaign, which will go live in a
couple of days, so it will run between early May and early
June. And if we get funding through that, people who
supported the project early on will start getting their bikes
around August or September, depending on their location
in the world. If that goes right, hopefully people will be
able to buy them, starting August, but if you support the
funding campaign, you will be getting a much better price.
by students, but there was Mrs. Cattelle, who really helped
us organizationally. I think, in a way, she made it happen,
together, of course, with the actual seniors – producers who
were also from my class.
Now that you’ve come back on several occasions, is there
anything new that you like, or anything that you miss?
I wouldn’t say I miss anything. Of course, I like the new
buildings. I don’t think I could get used to the new name of
Ostrander, but other than that ... I mean it’s a pretty nice
place and it still has the same feel about it. I feel that in a
way it hasn’t so much changed, but rather evolved.
What has been your biggest challenge with Vinghen so
far? Apart from communication with Bulgarian suppliers?
Well, I think that was it actually. And then also probably
some of the marketing, because I’m not sure how exactly
to market the product. I mean, I’ve done a lot of research
into my target group and what the market is, but I’m not
As a matter of fact, the two-building complex with the
“Whitaker Auditorium” is the America for Bulgaria
Campus Center. Ostrander is Ostrander.
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