Beza Bisrat (Class of 2024), Batten Scholar and Second-Year student at Darden, graduates this month with an MBA and a successful venture.
Since its founding in October 2023, Ethiopian Delights has met not just a need, but a demand for Ethiopian food in Charlottesville. And coming off a win at the 2024 Tom Tom Festival’s Crowdfunded Pitch Night last month, Beza’s future looks delicious.
We spoke with Beza about her MBA journey and the importance of finding the right community to help nourish your ideas. “Entrepreneurship can feel a little lonely at times, but it shouldn’t. Find your people and lean on them because they’re going through all the same things.”
Read on for a list of the ingredients — tips, Darden courses, professors and student clubs — that helped Beza during her MBA journey.
“Entrepreneurship can feel a little lonely at times, but it shouldn’t."
The Darden Community
Inspired by the businesses and ventures started by other students at Darden, Beza knew she had what it took to start her own. In addition to support from the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and encouragement from professors, she said, “It was talking to other classmates and hearing about their experiences as entrepreneurs, trying to get their businesses off the ground… And I think Darden [helped] especially, because the curriculum is so well-rounded. You learn a lot of different skills along the way. You learn operations, marketing and sales, and all of these skills are key to starting a venture.”
Darden Courses for Entrepreneurs
Beza sites Venture Velocity with Jim Zuffoletti, Paths to Power with Peter Belmi, Writing for Impact and Influence with Steve Soltis and Effectual Entrepreneurship with Saras D. Sarasvathy as crucial Darden courses for entrepreneurs. She called Saras the “Queen of Entrepreneurship at Darden,” revealing that this course made entrepreneurship feasible for her. “In that class it just felt so much more accessible to say ‘I can start this venture. I can do it and I can also take on a full-time job if I want, or have a separate career, and be able to balance all of those things.’”
Darden Student Club Support
Darden’s student-run KPI Club brings together student founders to encourage progress of their key performance indicators. Beza praised the club, saying, “[I]t has been so great to keep me on track and stay connected with other entrepreneurs at Darden. It’s nice to know what is going on in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Up Next for Ethiopian Delights
Long term, Beza hopes that Ethiopian Delights becomes a national player in the Ethiopian food community. When asked what makes Ethiopian food special, Beza shared, “Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that was never colonized by western power, so, there’s a lot of the culture that has been protected and retained. You see that through the food as well, there’s certain grains and ingredients you don’t see anywhere else… It’s flavorful, it’s warm, it’s earthy.”
We can’t wait to dig in. Keep up with Beza’s venture on Instagram (@ethiodelights), City Market in Charlottesville and her website, ethiodelights.com/shop.
