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Rady Takes San Diego Startup Week by Storm

written by Hallie Jacobs

San Diego has been the epicenter for a startup company revolution for years, launching innovative companies in biotechnology, consumer products, mobile applications, medical devices and more. To cater to the needs of the region, the Rady School of Management integrated startup-centric curriculum to encourage students to develop entrepreneurial skills necessary to launching a company or innovating systems and operations at existing companies.

Each year, entrepreneurs and innovators gather at San Diego Startup Week to celebrate the pursuits of local startups and entrepreneurs supporting America’s Finest City’s startup ecosystem. The weeklong event hosts panels, sessions and pitch competitions covering topics relevant to those in the industry. Topics covered marketing strategies, blockchain for startups, design thinking, app development and fundraising for success.

Four Rady School of Management alumni were invited to share their expertise and knowledge as startup experts at a variety of panel sessions.

  • Silvia Mah (MBA ’10) led three sessions – From Bench to Blockbuster, which explored how to turn an idea into a fully-functioning company, Choosing Your Unique Path for Passionate Entrepreneurs, and San Diego Startup Ecosystem, a panel analyzing the current state of San Diego’s startup scene and evaluating future projections. Mah is a startup expert, with two businesses dedicated to launching startups developed by women and minorities.
  • Lauren Lindner (MBA ’15), Director of Strategy for Brain Corp, hosted a talk titled Scaling an Artificial Intelligence Business: How to go from Local to Global. Brain Corp develops artificial intelligence technology with cloud-based capabilities.
  • Marcos Rivera (’07) spoke in part A and B of the Hiring Product Managers: The Who, What, When, and Why for Success. The two-part series explored the intricacies of hiring the right people for the complex position. Rivera works as a Program Director of Product Management for Vista Equity Partners.
  • Julio de Unamuno (MBA ’14) was a speaker in the panel titled Minorities Doing Crazy Sh*t. The diverse panel featured minorities who are leading startups in San Diego. De Unamuno’s company LabFellows, a Rady School StartR Accelerator alum, created a platform that simplifies the logistical needs of life science companies.

UC San Diego also hosted a Pedicab Pitch competition, which featured three experts judging pitches from participants. More than 40 people participated in the event, showcasing their 90 second pitches in one of downtown San Diego’s most popular forms of transportation – the pedicab.

July 3, 2018 0 comment
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AlumniStudents

Supporting Veteran Students at Rady

written by Hallie Jacobs

From young and eager innovators with big ideas to career professionals looking to revamp their industries, entrepreneurs come in many forms. The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego is committed to fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship by making it accessible to all through a number of programs, accelerators and community partnerships. A recent event targeted a very specific audience and highlighted the new Veteran Ventures Accelerator housed in the Rady School of Management.

Throughout the years, a growing number of veteran students at the Rady School are embracing the entrepreneurial spirit, launching sustainable startup companies out of programs offered by the School, such as Lab to Market and the StartR Accelerator.

Sean Haggerty, founder and president of Protector Brewery, took advantage of the Lab to Market program to help his brewery get off the ground. Since completing the Lab to Market sequence and graduating from the Rady School, his brewery has grown significantly, launching a number of beers and securing a brick and mortar location in San Diego.

Haggerty recently spoke at an event highlighting veteran entrepreneurship at UC San Diego.

“The Rady School of Management was integral in the success of Protector Brewery,” Haggerty said. “There are a number of accelerators and incubators at the UC San Diego that serve veteran students and support their unique needs and abilities.”

Globier, a veteran-founded company launched at the Rady School, is also making waves in the food and beverage industry. Noticing a lack of beer in the nightclub industry, Joshua Schaffer (MBA ’17) worked with a fellow student to launch the world’s first glow-in-the-dark brew.

Another Rady veteran pursued a startup in the healthcare industry. Ryan Ruehl (MBA ’18), a Marine veteran, worked with fellow Rady alum Jon Wilensky (MBA ’17) to develop Braykion – a wearable sensor paired with technology that encourages healthcare workers to wash their hands, preventing spreadable infections.

The Rady School launched Veteran Ventures, an accelerator dedicated to helping veterans turn business ideas into functioning companies in 2017. The 10-week program supports veterans interested in learning more about the entrepreneurial process, introducing them to mentors and helping them scale their ideas into successful enterprises. The program is free and open to the community.

Recognizing the former military students bring specialized skills and experience to the School, the Rady School Admissions team worked to provide active duty and veteran students fee waivers for the application to the School as a thank you for their services.

“Veterans bring a unique set of experiences and leadership to the MBA classroom.  The insight they bring adds a great deal of depth and exposure to students who pursued a very different civilian career,” said Jay Bryant, Director of Admissions at the Rady School. “Rady Admissions offers application fee waivers and specialized one on one admissions advising sessions for applicants.  Once a current student, veterans have access to a tight-knit network and resources from UC San Diego’s Veteran Resource Center.”

As more veterans join the Rady School of Management community network, the School is eager to continue to cater to the population to support and grow their entrepreneurial skillset.

June 15, 2018 0 comment
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AlumniStartup

Two Rady School Startups Recognized on San Diego Venture Group’s “Cool Companies” List 2018

written by Ashley Anderson

The San Diego Venture Group recently named the 30 startups on their “Cool Companies” List for 2018, and two companies created at the Rady School made the cut.

LabFellows and Epitracker were among the highly-ranked startups selected from 180 applicants this year. According to the San Diego Business Journal, these “Cool Companies” will meet with about 100 venture capitalists and investors from San Diego and beyond this summer. The SDVG organizes these events to connect the startups with investors and facilitate other opportunities for growth.

LabFellows, founded by Rady alum Julio de Unamuno, manages a software that assists biotechnology startups. De Unamuno (MBA ’14) recognized the difficulties that many biotech companies encounter when starting research and development, including the inability to afford necessary lab equipment and the time-intensive administrative duties. After participating in the Lab to Market course and the StartR Accelerator at Rady, de Unamuno began his subscription-based company that allows startups to access and organize the essential resources for research without the heavy administrative or financial burden that traditional labs require.

Epitracker, founded by 2010 MBA alum Eric Venn-Watson, is also making waves in the biotechnology industry. This startup researches incurable diseases and other health problems through a new perspective—nature. The startup researches dolphins and the oceans to gain valuable insights into possible health discoveries for both humans and animals. Epitracker researches small molecules to find nature-based therapeutics that could aid in numerous health issues, including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and skin repair.

Both of these companies will continue to grow and expand with the financial support and recognition of the San Diego Venture Group. The Rady School is excited to see where these startups will take the future of biotechnology.

A complete list of the SDVG “Cool Companies” for 2018 and additional information on the organization can be found here. The San Diego Business Journal article can be found here.

Learn more about Epitracker and LabFellows here.

May 31, 2018 0 comment
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AlumniStartup

4 RADY ALUMS HONORED IN UC SAN DIEGO 40 UNDER 40 LIST

written by Hallie Jacobs

UC San Diego is a hub for the world’s brightest minds to think innovatively and creatively to solve pressing issue and develop solutions to make the world a better place. Students cross the Commencement stage and become alumni poised to put their education into action.

Four outstanding Rady School of Management alumni were recognized on the UC San Diego Alumni 40 Under 40 list, honoring leaders and changemaking Tritons under the age of 40 for their contributions to the greater good.

Byron Myers, MBA ’10
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Inogen 

  • Inogen’s mission—to improve the quality of life for millions of supplemental oxygen users—began in 2001 when Mae, a beloved grandmother, was prescribed oxygen therapy.
  • Inogen launched an IPO in February 2014, becoming the Rady School’s first startup to achieve this accomplishment.
  • Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500™ recognized Inogen as One of the Fastest Growing Companies in North America, and the co-founders were awarded as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs of the Year and Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Coolest Entrepreneurs in America.

Peter J. Preuss, MBA ’14
Director of Business Development, Tecate Group 

  • Professional experience at leading edge of technologies and education in virtual reality, augmented reality, AI, robotics and energy, working to democratize the field of robotics and automation.
  • Success as Director of Business Development at the Tecate Group and at Brain Corporation, working with frontier technologies like robotics, drones and artificial intelligence. At Qualcomm, Preuss worked in the Vuforia Augmented Reality group, where he helped foster the first Developer community and run the first Augmented Reality competition.
  • Passionate about education, science, technology and medical research, his philanthropic roles include vice president of the Preuss Family Foundation, co-chair of the Preuss School Gala, board member at the Ruben H. Fleet Science center and EvoNexus committee member.

Pierre Sleiman, MBA ’13
Founder and CEO, Go Green Agriculture 

  • At Go Green Agriculture, innovation and farming are combined to find new ways to grow healthy food locally and reduce environmental impact. Go Green has become one of the largest organic-hydroponic producers in the U.S, producing 500,000 heads of hydroponically grown organic lettuce per month.
  • Sleiman’s vision is to have “mini-farms” in every urban area of the U.S., supplying local and organic food, eliminating the need for major trucking, creating local jobs and improving food quality. The company reports that by employing state-of-the-art technology, it uses one-fifth of the land typically needed in traditional farming, has reduced water usage up to 80% and enjoys 365 days of production per year.
  • Awards include President Obama’s “Champion of Change” in “The Future of Agriculture,” the 2015 UC San Diego Alumni Emerging Leader Award and San Diego Magazine’s “50 People to Watch.”

Ashley Van Zeeland, MBA ’12
Chief Technology Officer, Human Longevity, Inc. 

  • Career is focused on commercializing life science technologies and developing synergistic relationships between commercial and academic research pursuits. Co-founded Cypher Genomics, now part of Human Longevity Inc., producing groundbreaking work in the genetics of autism and supervising large-scale genetic sequencing studies.
  • Listed in San Diego Business Journal’s 500 Influential Business Leaders of 2016.
  • A passionate alumna, Van Zeeland received 2016 UC San Diego Alumni Emerging Leader Award, has served as a Rady School Alumni Board Member; Rady School Advisory Board Member, California Institute for Innovation & Development (CIID); and Rady School of Management Spokesperson for their “Rady Made” and “Never Stop Starting Up” Campaigns.

 

May 25, 2018 0 comment
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Alumni

Alumni Spotlight — Sara Jones (MBA ’13)

written by Sara Jones

Sara Jones, M.Ed. MBA
FlexWeekend 2013, Rady School of Management
Founder and CEO, Plum Blossom Creations
Author, Getting Ready: Your Journal to Help You Deal with and Heal from Sexual Harassment
Author, Stories from Athena’s Garden, blog, www.storiesfromathenasgarden.com
Public Speaker

What impact has Rady had on your career progression?

I cannot begin to express the value of this. When I lost my job in DC, I had very few career options. I immediately called up Rady and asked them if I could reapply. They said yes and they accepted me. This was 2011. I had been accepted in 2006 but did not matriculate. Now jobless and moving back to San Diego, I relied on the Rady Career Center to help connect me with a local part-time job.

My expertise up to this point was in education and emergency management, but as a Rady FlexWeekend student, I was learning about entrepreneurship and high-tech innovations. After a few months of searching, I started with a local software firm as their Director of Client Education and Strategic Advancement, part-time. Immediately upon graduating, I moved into full time and was promoted to also be the Director of Marketing, a skill and talent that I did not know I also had until I took Professor Ayelet Gneezy’s class. I quickly realized that marketing and education are very similar – they both teach you about things you, the customer, want or need to know about or that the company wants or needs you to know about.  A few years later, I was promoted to Senior Director of both positions.

But the seeds of innovation for my own company, Plum Blossom Creations, had been planted a while back and in 2015 I began my blog. I started very slowly at first. I had a demanding day job with responsibilities in two relatively high-level positions and these took much of my energy. As I put the ending period on the first draft of my memoir, the nation started discussing my newest area of expertise. I knew when the #MeToo movement took hold, that I needed to finish my book and start teaching a different kind of topic altogether – how to deal with and heal from sexual harassment. The 2nd book to be written but first to be published, Getting Ready: Your Journal to Help You Deal with and Heal from Sexual Harassment, came very quickly after that.

From Lab-to-Market, to real-world experience, to incubator and investor exposure, Rady has helped me become aware of my talents and my passions as well as helped me understand how to think about and grow into being an entrepreneur.

Has your Rady MBA enabled you to change industries or functional areas or even achieve a promotion? 

Initially yes, and long term yes.

Tell us a fun fact about you, or something people may not know about you.

I love to hike. I had the opportunity to hike for four days along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru when I lived in Brazil back in the late 90’s. On the longest climb day, it was a glorious thing to be sitting along the trail for a break with our guide, four of my friends and eight other hikers in our group from around the world. We enjoyed the effort, each other and the moment so much that we spontaneously burst out into a chorus of “I’m on top of the world” by the Carpenters. I met one of my totem animals on that trip. I’m currently training for a section hike along the Appalachian Trail which, this year and the launch of my new business, may become the Pacific Crest Trail. The bucket list hike may have to wait a year.

What was your favorite class and why?

I loved almost all of my classes at Rady – I found the finance classes to be very difficult to work through. I really tried to be a sponge and learn as much as I could and my professors all had lots to share and teach! Even though I got the most out of the marketing classes, it was the Advanced Management Communications course taught by Todd Salovey that I really enjoyed. Worth only 2 credits, with little to no team work and with no exam, it was supposed to be my “easy” class. But perhaps it was because I let myself relax in that class that I opened up and really let the professor show me how to find my core and then find my voice. Less than 2 years after that class, I started my blog and now I am a published author with a second book on the horizon.

How did your view of entrepreneurship/innovation change throughout your time at the Rady School?

I’m not sure my view of entrepreneurship and innovation has actually changed. I think what happened is that I learned how to live into them. I learned to value my innovative side and find the path to successfully manifesting it. I learned to have the courage to be an entrepreneur as well as how to recognize when to risk being one!

What advice do you have for prospective students?

Go for it! All of it. The curriculum is rigorous. The professors are demanding. And the team work reveals the worst (and best!) side of you. Regardless of the challenges, commit to the process. Trust that you are in good, caring hands and open up to the interpersonal work.  It’s where most businesses succeed or fail. Why not practice in the best incubator, before you risk it all with the innovation you want to bring to the world.

How have you applied your studies to your career?

Everyday!

What is the best thing about being a Rady alumni?

I ended up being the only woman in my cohort for a good portion of my track. In my time, the student body had “Rady Ladies” but the group focused mostly on the full-time students and did not reach to the level of professional growth focus as the Women of Rady. As an alumna, I am very much enjoying being a part of the newly resurrected Women of Rady chapter of the NWMBA. The very recent Rady Women’s Forum, Discussions and Action Plans for Vibrant Leaders, was a fantastic achievement in planning as well as an invaluable tradition for years and alumnae to come! I respect our current students so much for the time they put into this group and the impact it has on not only the current students but we alums as well.

May 3, 2018 0 comment
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AdvancingAlumniStudents

Negotiating is an Art: Tips from Rady Graduate Career Connections

written by Terra Saltzman-Baker

Negotiating for what you’re worth can be a challenge even for seasoned professionals.  Typically, people don’t like this part of the interview conversation or talking to their boss about a raise, yet they still fixate on it.  Negotiating is an art, not a trick.  At the UC San Diego Rady School of Management, graduate students learn these helpful tips from their Careers Team:

  1. Forget about the money. Too much time is spent “researching” salaries and anticipating a low offer. Focus on getting the interview, then winning the interview.  Without this, you won’t have an offer to negotiate. It is when the hiring manager determines that you’re the right person for the job that you now have leverage. Focus on what’s important.
  2. Understand your worth. That’s right, it is about your history, what you’ve learned in grad school, and how that all matches with what the employer is seeking. Also, all candidates are not made equal. Specific skills and experience are worth more to certain employers — it’s not only about the degree or years of experience. It’s best is to talk to someone close to the industry or the hiring market to get real time input on realistic salary expectations.
  3. Be careful when doing the research – size of the company, the industry, where the job is located all factor into the numbers. A small public company in the southwest will pay differently than a public company in the northeast. Use validated compensation data tool, such as Payscale.com, which includes the complex factors, or again talk to someone close to the industry to help set your expectations.
  4. Be a good judge of your counter negotiation. It’s not about the dollar difference, but the percent difference. If someone offers you $80,000, I’d strongly advise that you don’t counter with $100,000. You may be thinking “it’s only $20,000 more” but it’s really  a 25% increase. I doubt anyone is going to try and lowball their offer to you by that much. It’s not logical. So take emotion out of it and think about what a reasonable response is (I suggest starting with a “thank you for the offer…can we discuss” approach). And remember, if you like the offer, it is ok to accept without negotiating. Some companies start with their best offer, knowing the market is tight and the best talent is important for the company’s success.
  5. Last, set yourself up for a non-emotional conversation when it comes to compensation. Build a spreadsheet of either your last or current compensation package in one column (line item specific – base salary, bonus, 401K, vacation, benefits, stock, etc.) and then the offer in the adjoining column. This side-by-side comparison opens the conversation up to a simple business discussion and allows both sides to come to an offer that is fair.

Yes, it can be that simple! Remember, both sides want the offer to work out and to start you out as a happy employee. Keeping this in mind should decrease some of the stress you’re already feeling. Good people want to hire good people – the rest is simply a professional conversation. Happy negotiating!

April 9, 2018 0 comment
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Alumni

Innovative Disruptions — Jimmy Wu

written by Hallie Jacobs

Alumni from the Rady School of Management share how they used their degrees to disrupt their industries to bring innovative ideas, products and programs to the market. 

Jimmy Wu – Foreign Exchanges Made Easy

Sending money abroad? Prepare to spend an exorbitant amount, thanks to transaction fees and exchange rates. And don’t forget to provide confidential information, such as your bank statements, addresses and phone numbers. Rady School of Management alumnus Jimmy Wu (MBA ’17) recognized the currency exchange system was broken, and was costing him and his family a fortune, when transferring money to and from his home country of China– so he set out to disrupt the industry.

USYNO simplifies global currency exchange by connecting users who have different currencies rather than relying on banks to initiate transfers. Utilizing the free and real-time payment tools in different countries, people get the target currency they need without making costly international money transfers.

The USYNO system is also safer and more secure than using traditional forms of currency exchange. Rather than having access to an individual’s entire bank account, the system connects others to payment tools. USYNO does not hold the money and does not ask users to provide confidential information that banks require. All the features allow users to pay significantly less and transact much faster.

The innovative approach to currency exchange is disrupting the multibillion dollar industry, generating interest in the company. USYNO was recently accepted into the prestigious EvoNexus accelerator – a premier tech startup incubator in Southern California.

Wu was inspired to scale USYNO into a fully-fledged company after completing the coveted Lab to Market sequence housed in the Rady School of Management, which teaches students how to turn ideas into market opportunities. The company has also received investments from the well-known LA incubator MuckerLab.

“The extraordinary entrepreneurial atmosphere at the Rady School motivated and encouraged me to start my own business,” Wu said. “The Lab to Market courses and accelerators gave me confidence that I can make my idea happen. Without the resources and connections I have access to at Rady, it would be much more difficult to achieve today’s milestones at USYNO.”

March 23, 2018 0 comment
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AlumniStartup

Alumni Spotlight — Christopher Russow

written by Hallie Jacobs

Christopher Russow graduated from the Rady School of Management’s FlexMBA in 2014.

“I actually started in the FlexEvening program, and during my second year at Rady I ended up switching to the FlexWeekend program for greater flexibility,” he said. “This is a perfect example of why the Rady FlexMBA was perfect for me, as it gave me the flexibility to manage my career, my personal life and my pursuit of an MBA degree all at the same time.”

After graduating in 2014, Russow’s MBA experience helped give him the confidence to leave his previous job to go out on his own and pursue a career as an independent consultant. After consulting for a few years both domestically and in Europe, an opportunity came his way in 2017 to start a business with a former boss and mentor Sean Marsh, who is now his business partner.

“Our startup, Tangello, is disrupting the mortgage industry by creating a mortgage-less solution to affordably finance and buy a home that you love,” Russow said. “Starting your own business isn’t what it looks like on TV, and the skills I learned at Rady, as well as the support of the Rady School and my cohort, have really been invaluable.”

Outside of his current role with Tangello, Russow enjoys spending time with his wife Gabi, investing in real estate and other startups, and tinkering with classic German cars.

Why did you decide to come to the Rady School?

I had been thinking about getting my MBA for several years, and shortly after moving to San Diego to start a new job, the desire to get my MBA bubbled to the surface once again. I weighed the options available to me locally, as well as what I could commute to (either by car or plane) and decided that the Rady School of Management FlexMBA program was the right one for me.

The first thing I thought about was the fact that UC San Diego is part of the California Public School System, and as a lifelong supporter of public education, this was very important to me. Second, there are a bunch of great aspects to Rady’s program offering; the faculty are outstanding, the program is flexible and perfect for people who are working full-time, and it’s centered around entrepreneurship and the idea of cultivating startups and helping its alumni to enter the startup world. Finally, you just can’t beat the location, both of the school (you can see the ocean from campus) and of San Diego itself.

What was the most valuable thing you learned while at the Rady School?

It’s hard to really pick one thing as the “Most Valuable” thing that I learned while at Rady. I could talk about the Business Model Canvas, which is an incredible tool that anyone starting a company should utilize. I could also talk about the Lab to Market program, which isn’t really “one thing” but was a critical part of my Rady education. But even more than what I mentioned above, the thing that really stood out to me was the overall shift in the way that I evaluated business opportunities before my MBA and how I evaluate them now.

Before Rady, any time one of my friends mentioned their “new innovative startup idea” I would share in their excitement and enthusiasm, but not really understand if that idea had strong potential or how it could become a real business. After Rady, I feel like I can comfortably evaluate (on the back of a napkin sometimes) the potential of new business ideas and can quickly assess the value of those ideas in real time. This skill, of being able to evaluate opportunities, is what eventually drove me to start a company, based on what I felt was an incredible opportunity in a market I had a competitive advantage in.

What advice do you have for prospective students?

Take your MBA program seriously. I know that should go without saying, but it’s easy to get caught up in work, life, etc. and let some of the deliverables from your MBA program fall by the wayside. The reality is that what you get out of your MBA program will be directly correlated with what you put into it. Attend events, lectures and social gatherings. Take classes that are outside of your comfort zone and that challenge you. The MBA experience is about filling any gaps in your skill-set, forging lifelong bonds with your cohort, and creating a solid foundation from which you can pursue your post-MBA goals, whatever they may be.

March 21, 2018 0 comment
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AlumniStartup

Innovative Disruptions — Kian Salehizadeh

written by Hallie Jacobs

Alumni from the Rady School of Management share how they used their degrees to disrupt their industries to bring innovative ideas, products and programs to the market. 

Kian Salehizadeh – Bringing Sustainability to Charitable Organizations

 The shift to solar energy is sweeping the nation – but for the majority of Americans, adopting the energy efficient practice is not in their budget. Although solar panels can save money in the long run, acquisition and installation can cost up to $15,000. The high cost of energy bills is especially detrimental for small businesses and community charities while working with small budgets to make big societal changes.

Noticing the lack of access to a sustainable practice, Kian Salehizadeh (MBA ’11) co-founded Everybody Solar — a company that works to protect the environment and strengthen U.S. communities through solar energy projects.

“Everybody Solar raises funds to provide solar installations to local charities, helping them reduce electricity costs and direct their limited resources to the communities they serve,” Salehizadeh said. “We are promoting clean energy and environmental sustainability by raising funds for disruptive charities that are critical to their local communities, and in some cases, involved in national efforts and causes.”

The benefit of the company is two-fold – charities are able to install solar energy systems that save money so nonprofits are able to divert funds away from utility bills and back into their programs, while the sustainable energy efficient system benefits the environment.

“I have always had a passion for entrepreneurship, and the Rady School emphasis on innovation was apparent from the start. The faculty constantly encourages thinking outside the box and the Lab to Market series serves as a foundational element of the program.”

March 21, 2018 0 comment
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AlumniStartup

Innovative Disruptions — Richard Castle

written by Hallie Jacobs

Alumni from the Rady School of Management share how they used their degrees to disrupt their industries to bring innovative ideas, products and programs to the market. 

Richard Castle – The Future of Hospitality Management

When booking a vacation or business trip, consumers want things to run smoothly. From check in to check out, hotel staff work tirelessly to ensure the needs of guests are not only met, but exceeded. But how do hotel operations ensure everything about a guest’s stay is as perfect as possible? Enter Cloudbeds, a company developed by Richard Castle (MBA ‘13) and Adam Harris.

Cloudbeds provides hospitality software that helps independent operators run their properties’ operations. The Cloudbeds system provides a variety of services, including the software the property uses to check people in, manage reservations, run important reports, distribute inventory and more.

Thanks to the internet, travelers have the technology at their fingertips to book accommodations anywhere in the world. Thanks to Cloudbeds, booking is easier for travelers and managing operations is easier for providers. The streamlined platform is making waves in the industry – Cloudbeds programs are used by tens of thousands of properties in more than 100 countries to help properties generate more reservations and provide a better guest experience.

“Powerful property management and channel management software was previously only available to the largest hotel brands in the world,” Castle said. “Cloudbeds provides a flexible, cost-effective software solution that helps independent properties navigate an ever-changing industry.”

Castle’s time at the Rady School of Management was integral to the creation of Cloudbeds. From an emphasis on innovation and creative thinking to courses dedicated to providing insight on starting a business, Castle credits the Rady School for helping his business interrupt the hospitality industry.

“As Cloudbeds grows, the skills that I acquired at Rady continue to apply and I feel that I’m continuously reflecting on all of my coursework, faculty lectures, and conversations with my fellow alumni.”

 

March 19, 2018 0 comment
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