Lucy Adeniji

I started working at a Zinc VC in January. They invest in early-stage ventures building deep-science solutions tackling urgent health and environment bubble. Some examples of ventures: robot snakes for cancer surgery, urban greening, floating solar, plant-based chemical manufacturing, battery tech, hormone tracking, drug discovery, and more.I'm working on a new 0-1 business spin out with a mission on unlocking the flows of talent across sector. For example, more start-up/innovation expertise going into policy, commercial expertise going into non-profit. It's called Inflection - https://inflection.zinc.vc/

When I joined it was a paragraph on a page. Since then I lead the discovery user research interviewing 40+ people on their background/work as well as experts. Then worked on the initial product design, content development, marketing and organising and running a pilot which we're midway through. We launch the paid product in September and until then I'm working on growth and tech building & tooling. Last week, I organised the soft launch event with keynote Paul Lindley (Founder of Ella's Kitchen). https://lu.ma/egciaeyc

I came to LIS because I wanted to be challenged to think differently. I loved arts & sciences - and the way they made me think when I was studying them in parallel - it felt too early to make a decision to never do one side again.

I also came because practically, higher education is changing - over the past generation a lot more young people are going to university - including Russell groups and it's harder to stand out and position yourself uniquely to employers. Given that and how constrained the job market is right now I'm really glad I have - it's given me a unique experience and degree to talk about which uniquely positions me to work in start-ups.

The paid internships we're brokered every summer was also an attractive draw - real experience and a foot in the door.Other things were getting to the 1:1 relationship with world-class professors, similar to an Oxbridge degree.

As well as being part of something new and ambitious I could shape and be part of (I love cult).

The LIS Student Support service is second to none. I genuinely think this is the part of the LIS experience I've been the most impressed with. Not only did they listen and support me throughout - I accessed 1:1 counselling, and extensions where needed, but even after I graduated and was in employment, I was offered career coaching.Having heard horror stories from friends and family on how impersonal the support can be from large universities I completely reject the notion that 'that's how the real world is'. It's not. Fantastic companies and organisations thrive because they look after the staff and create a culture of belonging and mutual support. The same should be said for universities - too often students get treated as annoying customers rather than valued ambassadors. I can confidently say I wouldn't have made it through LIS or be I am today without the fantastic LIS Student Support service (big shout out to Alisha).