Combining business and study

Steve Price
Master of Entrepreneurship

An interest in entrepreneurship and having his own start-up business underway brought Steve Price to the University of Otago for further study.

Steve is nearly at the end of his Master of Entrepreneurship degree and had just started his own company, atFax, when he set out.

Having held senior management roles in the technology industry, and also working as a National Sales Manager for a telecommunications company while getting his own business underway, you'd think Steve was quite busy enough.

But “I'd always wanted to do a Masters, and I wanted to challenge myself. The Master of Entrepreneurship was right in line with what I was doing and Otago has the best reputation and a course that was internationally-recognised”.

His own company

His company, atFax, is a business-to-business supplier of cloud-based fax services, replacing the analogue lines in fax machines with new technology.

Steve says the degree helped him keep focus on his new business, and “provided me with the confidence and knowledge to succeed”.

“Parts like the feasibility analysis were quite timely to what I was doing so the degree has been really useful.”

Steve has been part of the Dunedin cohort for the degree – which is also offered through the university's Queenstown campus – which means he's been visiting from his home-base in Auckland six-weekly for modules.

“It's a great learning environment at Otago – a fantastic campus and a great mix of people.”

Plenty of support

He's also found plenty of support available when he needs it: “Teaching staff and support resources could not be more helpful.”

He's enjoying himself so much, he's now looking at further study.

“From an academic perspective, I am keen to undertake a DBA.

“I'm also going to continue to look for entrepreneurial opportunities to challenge me.”