From Co-Op to Career: Rick Wang's Journey

When Rick Wang, MSIM '25, joined the MS in Innovation & Management (MSIM) program at Tufts, he was looking for a hands-on education that would bridge his background in finance and business analytics with his growing interest in startups. Through the project-based MSIM curriculum, he developed hands-on skills in leadership, innovation, and business, and was eager to apply what he had learned to real problems at a leading edge organization.

The Tufts School of Engineering's Graduate Co-Op Program gave Rick the perfect opportunity to take his learning to the next level and dive directly into the startup world. He landed a co-op experience at Tochi Snacks, which produces health-conscious snacks infused with global flavors.

We recently caught up with Rick to talk about his co-op experience, and how the skills he gained through the MSIM helped him turn his co-op into the next big step in his career! Read on to learn more about his journey:

Can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to pursue the MS in Innovation & Management?

• I grew up in Hong Kong until I came to the U.S. to pursue my bachelor’s degree at Boston College. I graduated in 2022, double majoring in finance and business analytics. Back then, I was sure I wanted to pursue high finance in London. Right after my degree, I went to do my masters in Banking and Finance degree at King’s College London. Within three months, I realized that a career focused solely on financial modeling in Excel and Stata wasn’t the path I wanted to pursue. During college, I had spent two summers working with startups, where I got exposure to the fast-paced environment of building something from scratch. That differed greatly from what I had been doing in my graduate coursework, and it made me realize that I wanted to be closer to startups and innovation. This ultimately led me down the path of doing the Innovation & Management program at Tufts.

What made the MSIM program at Tufts stand out when you were choosing where to continue your studies? 

• What ultimately led me to the MSIM program was the emphasis on hands-on learning. The opportunity to build your own ideas from scratch, pressure test it, and develop it into a minimum viable product was exactly what I was looking for in a program. Compared to other more traditional master’s programs, the MSIM program gave me the space to experiment, fail fast, and build more practical approaches to the everyday problems that real people face.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned through the MSIM program?

• What stood out to me the most in the MSIM program was how integrated different disciplines were in our startup groups. I was working with students with backgrounds in biomedical engineering, computer science, and product management. This group dynamic allowed us to create ideas and solve problems from all perspectives in life. The collaborative element was definitely the most valuable part of the program for me.

Congratulations on your co-op at Tochi! How did you find this opportunity and what made Tochi the right fit for you?

• I found the co-op through the Handshake platform at Tufts. It was initially for an entirely different role as a social media and marketing intern, but I was drawn to the company’s mission and opportunity to get exposure to the consumer packaged goods startup world. I reached out directly to explain my background in strategy and finance, and they were open to shaping the role into something that better matched my background and experience. That flexibility let me take ownership of several expansion projects and helped me realize just how much opportunity a startup can offer when you're eager to step up and take initiative.

How have you been able to apply what you learned in the MSIM program to your role at Tochi?

• The MSIM program gave me structured frameworks to approach complex, open-ended questions. One specific instance was when we were evaluating how to expand our popcorn line into new retail spaces. Rather than just going off of gut instinct and vibes, I was able to utilize frameworks in market segmentation and customer discovery to make data-driven decisions. I utilized market data to identify category trends, layered consumer survey data designed to gauge consumer perceptions, and mapped our brand’s competitive positioning against other competitors in the space. This three-pronged approach allowed me to lead expansion efforts across the west coast, targeting health-conscious retailers and large warehouse stores across the region.

How has your co-op experience impacted the trajectory of your career?

• After my co-op, I went back to finish some elective credits while working part-time at Tochi as part of an internship course in the MSIM program. Tochi then extended me a full-time offer after the semester was over and I had graduated from Tufts!

What advice would you give incoming MSIM students who want to secure impactful co-ops / internships? 

• If you haven’t started already, start networking and take the initiative in building your career. If I had never messaged Dina, the CEO of Tochi, about my interest in the brand, I would have never been given this opportunity to lead strategy at Tochi.