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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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StartupStudents

Lab to Market Finals Celebrate Innovation at Rady School

written by Hallie Jacobs

Culminating a successful year of learning and growing, the most recent Rady School of Management Lab to Market FlexWeekend 2018 cohort wrapped up its final class with a pitch presentation event highlighting the top three teams of the cohort. The signature Rady School course sequence exposes students to every step of the entrepreneurial process, from idea development to compiling a go-to market strategy, culminating in the presentations as the capstone course.

Over the yearlong sequence, 12 teams were launched with companies ranging from medical diagnostic development to patient advocacy software. The top three teams were recently selected to pitch in front of a panel of experts to showcase the high caliber entrepreneurial efforts of the graduating cohort.

Panel experts included Tim Rueth, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UC San Diego and investor; Greg Horowitt, a co-founder and managing director at T2 Venture Capital; Richard E. Campbell, a partner at Procopio; Gioia Messenger, a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Avaak Inc.; and Robert Sullivan, Dean of the Rady School of Management.

The three teams selected to pitch in the Lab to Market finals — Akira, Beggy and mezhAir — displayed the diverse talents of the graduating cohort. Akira was the first team to pitch at the event.

The medical diagnostic industry is booming, and a group of Rady School students are developing the next big thing – microneedle technology for drug delivery. Akira, developed by Shamal Mehta (MBA ’18), Ph.D. and Christpher Westropp (MBA ’18), M.D., has come up with a solution similar to the EpiPen to treat severe allergic reactions and drug overdoses. The Akira technology is painless, cheaper to produce and less susceptible to user error.

Inspired by being a working mother on the go, Rady School graduate Suvi Tanninen (MBA ’18) developed Beggy, a stylish and functional “smart” purse with wireless charging capabilities. The purse is designed to be customizable to fit the needs of each customer with inserts designed to charge a number of electronics, as well as a rechargeable battery fitted at the bottom of the purse to ensure connectivity.

The final group to present was mezhAir, a system that measures the amount of a microscopic and harmful pollutant, PM 2.5. Recent research indicates that excessive levels of the pollutant can lead to a number of respiratory problems and lung cancer. Colin Lober (MBA ’18) and John Walsh’s (MBA ’18) company mezhAir created a way to measure the level of PM 2.5 in a space, bringing awareness to the pollutant and encouraging solutions to eradicate the issue.

After each presentation, the panelists provided valuable feedback to the teams on potential product improvements, suggestions for reaching larger audiences and advice on how to address potential entrepreneurial pitfalls.

Although the Lab to Market sequence has come to an end for the FlexWeekend 2018 cohort, the marketability and profitability of their companies has inspired the recent graduates to continue working on their projects.

Del Foit, a lecturer at the Rady School of Management, shared his satisfaction with the recent graduated cohort.

“These three projects show the depth and breadth of our students’ capabilities to recognize a market need and create functional products and solutions to meet these needs,” Foit said. “Their commitment to their innovative ideas have resulted in some amazing companies that will have a positive impact on the way we live, work and play.”

June 20, 2018 0 comment
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Startup

People of Rady: Omar Turki

written by Hallie Jacobs

After earning his bachelor’s in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Omar Turki (MBA ’18) worked at Tesla and Ford Motor Company within the supply chain and logistics areas to gain his expertise in the field. He is graduating with his MBA from the Rady School of Management this month.

Why did you choose to pursue an MBA?

Earning an engineering degree from the University of Michigan, and having a couple of years of technical work experience in fortune 500 firms, I realized the importance of obtaining a management degree as a complement to my skills. I wanted to advance further in my career and gain a holistic knowledge in business, and an MBA seemed to be the perfect match.

Why did you choose the Rady School?

I chose Rady for several reasons. The most important ones were the quality of the faculty who previously taught at schools ranging from Booth to Haas, the ranking and reputation of UC San Diego as one of the best universities in the world, the state of the arts facilities and its location being a 5 minute walk from Black’s beach. In addition, I was offered a generous fellowship award and there was a possibility to study abroad in Italy for a semester at one of Europe’s top business schools.

What do you feel makes Rady unique? How do you benefit from these aspects? 

Being an up and coming school, focused in entrepreneurship, I can feel the entrepreneurship vibe all around the school. From networking with successful alumni who launched their own innovative businesses, to being surrounded by like-minded students coming from all over the world, creativity is in every corner which is not typical for other business schools.

What are some of your favorite classes you have taken at Rady?

I am graduating this month, but looking back at classes I have taken, my favorite was management communication with Todd Salovey, who is a theatre director at UC San Diego’s school of theatre. My public speaking skills improved dramatically after taking that class and the professor made the learning experience unforgettable. Another favorite is the coaching lab for leaders taught by Alison Meyer who flies down from UC Berkeley’s Haas every week to teach at Rady. This class was so essential for my self-awareness, and helped me take my leadership skills one step ahead using real life assignments.

How has your perspective on your career or your life changed since you came to Rady?

During my first year, I landed an MBA internship at the world’s most innovative company — Tesla. It started as a summer internship but I was asked to extend to over a year. Rady was very flexible and allowed me to take a year off from school to pursue this opportunity. At Tesla, I was surrounded by other MBA’s from top schools, and I lead several projects in production, supply chain and logistics. My work played a critical role in the transition phase to producing the model 3 in the Fremont factory. I have seen Elon Musk a couple of times and I finally understood what he meant by nothing is impossible. I could see it at work and I now believe in it too.

What are your goals after graduation?

My goal is to work in Management consulting, to use my skills in different industries and to further enhance my knowledge. I luckily received a couple of job offers and I am excited for what is coming next.

What advice do you have for prospective students?

My advice for other Rady students is network early during your first year and reaching out to people that might be able to get you an interview. People are willing to help and all you need to do is ask.

 

June 5, 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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mystartupxxRady SchoolStartRStartupStudents

Rady Teams Sweep UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge

written by Hallie Jacobs

Each year UC San Diego hosts the annual Entrepreneur Challenge to celebrate innovation on campus. And each year, Rady School of Management students and alumni bring their brilliant startup ideas and launched companies to the stage to compete with fellow Tritons, sweeping the competition and earning thousands of dollars to continue developing the product or technology. The 2018 Entrepreneur Challenge was no different.

The majority of teams competing in the competition were affiliated with the Rady School and worked with one of the School’s many accelerator programs. The competition featured three tracks — Clean Technology, Life Technology and High Technology – and Rady School affiliated teams won first prize in two out of the three tracks.

Rady School affiliated teams swept the High Technology track, earning first, second and third place. StartR team GLXY – technology for weight training by preventing injuries and plateaus for athletes – earned first place. Family Proud – a mobile-application based patient advocacy software solution that provides hospitalized patients and their families easy and secure access to all their essential social, medical, and logistical resources – took second place. Beggy, mystartupXX and StartR team developing a new and trendy approach to convenient and functional Smart Bags, earned third place.

Navega – a mystartupXX team – took home first place in the Life Technology category. The company is developing technology to conquer the opioid addiction epidemic in the United States using addiction-free pain management. CReATE Medical,a StartR team, earned second place in the competition. CReATE is a patent-pending algorithm that analyzes routinely-collected patient data utilizing machine learning techniques to predict highly accurate patient-specific outcomes to pacemaker-related heart surgeries.

Green Stop won second place in the Clean Technology. The Green Stop is a mobile, solar-powered, waste-free refill station that can be used at the beach to reduce plastic pollution and provide filtered and chilled drinking water to beachgoers.

Pierre Sleiman (MBA ’13) gave the keynote address at the event, detailing how he was able to start his successful business, GoGreen Agriculture. He credited the Rady School for helping him develop the necessary entrepreneurial skills to launch and sustain a successful business.

May 25, 2018 0 comment
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FacultyStartup

Finding Careers for Intrapreneurs

written by Kimberly Higgins

At the Rady School of Management, students, faculty and alumni  are both innovators and entrepreneurs. Lessons are structured around educating students with the skills to excel in both while operating within the organizational environment.  An entrepreneur is someone who innovates by starting his or her own company, whereas an intrapreneur is an employee of an organization whose job is to innovate and create change within the corporation. Thus, intrapreneurs are inside entrepreneurs who follow the goal of the organization.

Are you an Intraprenuer? Intrapreneurs often remain hidden and unrecognized, because they often display behavior contrary to what is considered as “corporate”. They are self-motivated leaders with the courage and flexibility to think outside of the box. According to The League of Intraprenuers, it isn’t a job title, it is a way of working and being:

  • Silo Busters: Collaborating across traditional company boundaries.
  • Opportunity Spotters: Finding innovation potential where others typically see risk or challenge.
  • Systems Thinkers: Seeing the interconnections between business value and societal pressures.
  • Storytellers: Bringing others on board with their vision for “shared value”.
  • Dreamers: Believing that business can be a force for good.
  • Doers: With a track record of getting stuff done.

Most large companies are focused on innovation and have dedicated innovation functions and teams to support the innovation agenda. Well known examples of companies who encourage and support projects internally include: Accenture, Coca-Cola, 3M, Xerox, Virgin, Siemens, Intel and Google.

The Rady Career Connections team members help students to target employers where they can align their values, interests, and talents in innovation.  In order to land jobs with target employers like the ones noted above, students need to demonstrate past successes and quantify the results of their accomplishments through their resumes and LinkedIn profiles; matching the language of the industry, brand and culture.

Through workshops and 1:1 advising appointments, students are provided an individualized experience to build their professional presentation to achieve their career goals in innovation both inside and outside of organizations.

May 24, 2018 0 comment
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StartupStudents

Lab to Market Team Receives Grant from NASA

written by Hallie Jacobs

A recent graduate team of the Rady School of Management’s Lab to Market program is heading for the stars with a $50,000 grant and partnership with NASA.

The Ateios team – which joined the Rady School Lab to Market program as part of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur collaboration with the Jacobs School of Engineering – entered the Rice Business Plan Competition with help from finance students at the Rady School. The team is comprised of Kartik Sharma, Jennifer Miller, Carlos Munoz, Rajan Kumar, Karan Sheth, Keita Okuyama, Tom Yuki and Professor Ricardo Dos Santos.

Ateios developed a battery that is stretchable and printable and able to function when bending. The average battery loses up to 20 percent of functionality when it is bent, but the Ateios battery is able to operate at full capacity.

Eager to learn more about the business side of technology, Carlos Munoz, a graduate student at the Jacobs School of Engineering, and his team joined the fall 2017 Lab to Market cohort to maximize Ateios’ potential. Through the rigorous coursework, Ateios team members learned all about customer discovery, business model development, fundraising and more.

“The Lab to Market program been great for us,” said Munoz. “We entered the program as a group of engineers who started with a nice shiny object, but had no idea how to develop the business side of things. Working with Rady School professors and students helped us realize the marketability and profitability of our product.”

The IGE collaboration between the two schools enabled the Ateois team to submit their business plan to the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition. More than 600 teams applied and only 42 were accepted to compete in the competition. Ateois made it to the semifinals of the competition, placing among the top 16. Although the company did not win, they received the grant from NASA which will allow them to collaborate with the space exploration giant in the future.

“Thanks to our time with the Lab to Market program, we were able to submit an exceptional business plan that represents the potential of our business,” Munoz said. “We stuck to what we knew, which is the technology, but left the business side of things to the experts. These competitions aren’t just focused on the technology – they want to make sure businesses are profitable. Lab to Market helped us prove that our business has a great deal of market potential.”

Moving forward, Munoz and his team are looking forward to continue developing the Ateois technology and secure funding to bring the product to market.

“This has been a very exciting experience for us because people are generally interested in our technology and the future of our business,” Munoz said. “They see potential in our product.”

May 16, 2018 0 comment
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StartRStartup

StartR Demo Day A Successful Showcase of Rady School Innovation

written by Karen Jensen

By Karen Jensen, Program Director for the California Institute for Innovation and Design

Five teams recently graduated from the Rady School of Management’s StartR cohort and presented their company pitches to students, staff, faculty and potential investors at the biannual StartR Demo Day event.

Housed in the Rady School of Management, StartR is a non-profit accelerator program for Rady School of Management students and alumni designed to provide entrepreneurs the tools needed to start and grow their businesses. Participants are matched with entrepreneurially experienced mentors, attend a series of workshops, and work with program leadership on further developing their business.

“Over the past five years StartR has seen 57 teams graduate from the program,” said Dean Sullivan. “Of those 57 teams, 34 are still operational, meaning 60 percent of these startups have been sustained – that’s a remarkable number.”

In addition to their sustainability, Dean Sullivan stressed that StartR companies are not only alive, but continue to thrive. “StartR teams have raised about $41 million in capital,” he said. “Currently, 12 teams have participated in the prestigious EvoNexus accelerator program.”

The success of StartR teams was reinforced when Julio de Unamuno IV (MBA ’14) stopped by to discuss the success of his company, LabFellows, a member of the first StartR class and one of the first StartR/Rady School of Management startups to be accepted into EvoNexus. LabFellows is an integrated lab management platform. “We believe scientists developing medical breakthroughs shouldn’t have to spend three hours of their day on administrative tasks,” Unamuno said. “Before LabFellows, they had to. Our platform streamlines three hours of busy work into five minutes so scientists can do 60% more science.”

StartR Awards

After the pitch presentations, Lada Rasochova, Executive Director of the California Institute for Innovation and Development, and Kim Davis King, co-director of StartR and mystartupXX, presented the Spark Award to StartR sponsor CoEfficient Services for the company’s dedication and support of the StartR program and its teams. Longtime mentor Gioia Messinger was presented with the Guru Award in recognition of his support of students in the StartR program.

The audience had their say as well, selecting CReATE to win the $500 Audience Choice prize.

“We’re so grateful for the support of Dean Sullivan and the Rady School, as well as the greater San Diego community,” said Rasochova. “Our growth and the success of our teams would not be possible without all of you.”

Here’s a look at the teams that graduated from the StartR Acclerator and presented their pitches at Demo Day:

StartR Graduating Teams


Utilizing patent pending electrical biomarkers and machine learning, CReATE is providing patient-specific electro-anatomical heart models to aid physicians with the diagnosis of ventricular dyssynchrony, program CRT devices and predict patient outcomes to CRT treatment.

E-Way is developing the technology to safely electrify the roads using solar panels, removing the need to install large farms in distant locations and instead directly supply individuals, businesses, and the government.

Key is revolutionizing the birth industry by creating an accredited system for credentialing and licensing birth doulas and transforming a lifestyle based market into a profitable profession-creating industry. Key enables professional labor partners and doula agencies to build, manage and support their birth clients through a software platform that integrate billing and CRM while seamlessly providing a mobile work experience for doulas.

Kibots is a farm-to-fork food safety training and compliance system that uses IoT-enabled devices to train employees in safe food handling practices and hand washing hygiene, continuously monitors compliance and uses AI to predict risk of non-compliance.

Wasim The Dream is an online platform to help graduating students land their dream job through coaching, research and supportive online training.

April 10, 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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