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Rady School of Management

A spotlight on Rady’s MSBA capstone

In today’s business environment, being skilled in analytics is becoming more and more of an advantage across many industries and corporations. Playing it safe with a basic understanding of business practices might be satisfactory, but successful businesses use data analytics techniques and models to make better decisions and gain a competitive edge.

At Rady School of Management, we equip our students enrolled in the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program with the skills needed to thrive in these types of data-rich business environments.

Our MSBA program offers rigorous, hands-on training that prepares students how to identify business opportunities, generate business insights and create business solutions, all through data and analytics. It’s unique in the sense that it delivers a curriculum at the convergence of data science and business.

As Raymond Pettit, Executive Director of Rady’s MSBA program, notes, “Rady is one of the few business schools that has a strong and collaborative relationship with our data science colleagues on campus. Many other schools that offer MSBA degrees are often stand-alone, however Rady offers cross-discipline opportunities through our close relationship with the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute and the Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and our world-class faculty in all these areas.”

As part of the MSBA curriculum, students must participate in a capstone project, which consists of solving a well-defined business problem for a real life company. Each student pursues this experience as part of a team and must complete both written and oral exams to pass the course, as well as a complete report for the sponsor company.

With more companies seeking skilled professionals who can work effectively in teams to answer key operational and strategic business questions using data and analytics, the capstone project is crucial to position students for future career success.

“The capstone project isn’t just mandatory for students, it’s beneficial for them because it gives students the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned throughout the course and apply it to a real-world setting with an industry leading company,” says Pettit.

Every year, the capstone stakeholders include Rady School industry partners and big name companies such as Petco, Hewlett Packard, Becton Dickinson, Cisco, DIRECTavenue, Mirum, and Mazda among many others. These companies present students with an opportunity to obtain real industry experience that aids them in their job search and beyond.

It’s also not just beneficial for students, but it’s also valuable for the participating companies. Pettit added, “Many companies that our students work with see the capstone as a way to create a talent pipeline, so they can keep these students on as interns or they can hire students for permanent jobs afterwards.”

Some participating companies have been involved with the MSBA capstone project for several years, meaning they can build off projects from the previous years. Not only that, but the capstone is growing tremendously with more than 25 companies submitting proposals to take part just this year alone.

For this academic year, Pettit and the rest of the MSBA faculty were overall very pleased with the capstone results noting that; “The quality of students emerged in the amazing work and reports the teams presented to the sponsoring firms. This group of students will be making sizable contributions as their careers continue to grow and evolve.”

It’s an exciting time to enroll in an MSBA program at Rady as there are many advancements on the horizon.

“We’re going to expand the program and we can envision this expansion benefitting a larger number of companies based on the success we’ve seen so far,” says Pettit. “There is scope for the current capstone to develop into a joint-capstone in partnership with other disciplines on campus including data science undergraduates and our Master of Professional Accountancy program. To do this on the business side and work together would be huge and a new type of collaboration that nobody else is doing.”

If your organization is interested in participating in the MSBA capstone project, please contact Raymond Pettit at rcpettit@ucsd.edu or if you would like more information about Rady’s MSBA program, visit https://rady.ucsd.edu/programs/masters-programs/ms-in-business-analytics/

July 2, 2019 0 comment

Alumni Rady School Uncategorized

“I’ve Got a Golden Ticket…” in Biotech!

written by Rady School

“Boehringer Ingelheim knows what it takes to be innovative and entrepreneurial. From the small factory in 1885 to today’s multi-billion-dollar global pharmaceutical organization, we know how important it is to nurture and develop young science and technology businesses. Our track record of bringing breakthrough medicines to patients starts with new ideas and new science. Collaborations with external partners play an essential role in helping us deliver an innovation-led portfolio…” From “Partnering Day with Boehringer Ingelheim,” Biocom, September 21, 2017.

Three young entrepreneurs from the University of California San Diego, knew the value of the Boehringer Ingelheim prize when they pitched their business ideas to investors, faculty and students. The prize includes a “golden ticket,” or one years ‘worth of workspace at bio-labs, an infrastructure office space for startups, located on the UC San Diego campus. It also includes mentorship and exposure to investors to help the companies get a kick-start to successful innovation and connections.

The Rady School is honored to have alumni who were the last three prize-winners of the three previous years. We wanted to find out how the prize affected them, and where they are today:

Cory Bentley

The 2017 winner of the first-ever Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation prize was RIFT Biotherapeutics, a biotech company founded by Rady alum, Cory Bentley (MBA ’10).

Tell me about your company?

I founded RIFT because I saw there was a critical area of cancer biology that hadn’t been addressed: Inflammation. I believe if the inflammation in cancer is targeted, cancer treatments can be improved.

Why did you start RIFT?

I didn’t see anyone addressing cancer in this way at the time. The immune system often sees cancer as a wound that should be healed, rather than something it should get rid of. The immune system will actually make cancer stronger by supporting it with blood supply and growth factors, components of inflammation. People become resistant to anti-cancer treatments because their immune system is protecting the tumor from therapy with this inflammatory environment. It is an essential mechanism of resistance to cancer treatment. RIFT discovered an antibody-based drug that may help the immune system switch from being pro-tumoral to anti-tumoral.

How has the Rady School of Management helped you achieve your goals?

Rady gave me the confidence to know some of the significant components of starting a business and moving a large project forward. Some of these components included financing, intellectual property, accounting and people management. I wouldn’t have known how to start or run a business if I hadn’t gone to the Rady School.

Eric Venn-Watson

The 2018 winner of the Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation prize was Epitracker, a biotech company founded by Rady alum, Eric Watson (MBA ’10).

Tell me about your company?

Epitracker is a San Diego-based life sciences company that discovers and optimizes small molecules to treat some of the world’s most devastating diseases. To date, Epitracker has analyzed millions of metabolomic, genomic and clinical data points from archived, longitudinal, serum samples collected over 50 years. Through this process, we have discovered novel small molecules that target longevity, neurodegenerative diseases, fibrotic diseases and pulmonary diseases.

Why did you start Epitracker?

Part of my background includes being a physician in the Navy. I have a passion for science, as well as the entrepreneurial and business side of the equation. I wanted to start a company and it has included both of those passions.

How has the Rady School of Management helped you achieve your goals?

Every business school has its area of expertise. The Rady School’s, is innovation, especially in the tech and biotech fields. I learned everything from the operational aspects of being an entrepreneur to handling finances as a business owner, and I was even able to grow my network within the San Diego area substantially. San Diego is an incredible city that has many key opinion leaders who are willing to help you and mentor you. The Rady School has amazing professors that will provide real-time feedback and help you develop your ideas. Knowing what you need to get started, and how to successfully develop and grow your technology, is essential.

The Boehringer Innovation prize provided lab space for a year. It helped us focus on growing the company more than anything. It also gave us credibility in terms of pitching our business to investors and experts in the field, as well as submitting for grant funding. Today, we have many compounds going through the FDA process, over 30 patents, and have raised just under three million dollars in private capital and an equal amount in grant funding. The Boehringer prize has helped us expand more rapidly by having access to a state of the art lab and a broad support network. It is an environment that is very conducive to advancing our research and our company. The combination of a Rady MBA and Boehringer Innovation prize has enabled us to accomplish much in a relatively short period. Thank you, Rady and BI!

If you’d like to read more about Epitracker, click here: http://www.epitracker.com/

Simon Bailey

The 2019 winner of the Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation prize was Darkwood Pharma, a biotech company founded by Rady alum, Simon Bailey (MBA ’11).

Tell me about your company?

Darkwood Pharma is a drug discovery company, focusing on developing novel therapies for fibrosis, with a particular emphasis on liver fibrosis due to advanced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH is a progressive liver disease that affects millions of Americans, causing fibrosis and cirrhosis, and it will be the leading cause of liver transplantation by 2020. Darkwood Pharma’s mission is to discover and develop liver-targeted compounds which will halt and reverse fibrosis and prevent cirrhosis in this disease, for which there is currently no approved treatment, despite intense interest from the pharma/biotech world. By developing compounds that selectively act in the liver, our approach will both increase the effectiveness of the drug as well as minimize side effects which will benefit these severely ill patients.

We are hoping to have our first drug candidate molecule identified in 2020.

Why did you start Darkwood Pharma?

I’ve spent my entire career working in drug discovery, leading diabetes and oncology medicinal chemistry departments at a large pharmaceutical company then as head of research for a mid-sized biotech. I’ve been very fortunate to have led teams that have discovered many drug candidates, including two that been approved for use in lung cancer. So, if I ever started a company, it was going to be a drug discovery company.

The specific reason for founding Darkwood Pharma is that in NASH there is a compelling combination of unmet medical need and scientific opportunity that attracted me. I recognized that a small company that can be singularly focused on developing liver-targeted drugs, that can be flexible and nimble in a way that larger companies can’t, would be differentiated from the competition. Plus, I thought it would be fun.

How has the Rady School of Management helped you achieve your goals?

In a way, the Rady School led to me applying for the Boehringer-Ingelheim Innovation Prize. I went to the BI prize event in 2018 to support another Rady School company, long before I had founded Darkwood Pharma, and so it was on my radar to apply for it this year. The judging process involves a pretty rigorous evaluation by BI scientists as well as their “Research Beyond Borders” external innovation group, so it was pleasing to hear the positive feedback and validation of the science and the company concept after such a thorough process. We are continuing to explore a possible collaboration with BI since NASH is a focus area for them.

More generally, going to the Rady School allowed me to connect with and learn much more about the local San Diego biotech/entrepreneur ecosystem, than I ever had the opportunity to do during the 20 years I spent working for a large pharma company. This included venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and small biotech companies. I gained an appreciation of how that world works. Also, San Diego is an active environment for innovation, and we need people creating companies here, not in Boston or the Bay Area. The Rady School is a great way to make connections and get involved to continue to build the San Diego innovation community.

Find out more about Darkwood Pharma here: www.Darkwoodpharma.com

May 20, 2019 0 comment

Faculty Staff Uncategorized

2019 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Chris Oveis, University of California-San Diego (Rady)

written by Rady School

What happens when someone with Ph.D. in psychology ends up in a B-school? You get fascinating research looking into how expressing emotions like compassion or pride in the workplace can create meaningful connections. Or how body language and nonverbal behaviors can impact first impressions and potential business deals. That is exactly what you get in Chris Oveis’ core Leadership courses at the Rady School of Management at the University of California-San Diego.

“Professor Oveis has a remarkable presence and unique teaching style in his Leadership class,” one student said. “He encourages every single of students to interact proactively and facilitate discussion to make us learn from the cohort. His lecture is extremely well organized, dynamic and attractive. Discussion point is very clear and the evidence introduced in class is well supported based on scientific research. He always embodies leadership when he teaches the class. I’ll definitely recommend his class for the next year MBA students.”

Oveis has won multiple awards in research and teaching. He received dozens of thoughtful recommendations and nominations from colleagues, current students, and alumni and was exemplifies exactly what this project sets out to feature. In his spare time, Oveis is hanging with his kids or taking advantage of the weather, outdoor playground, and brewery scene San Diego is famous for.

Current Age: 38

At current institution since what year? 2011

Education: UC Berkeley, Ph.D. Psychology; University of Virginia, B.A. Psychology

List of current MBA courses you currently teach: Leadership

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LIFE AS A PROFESSOR:

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… I wasn’t focused on working in a business school–UC-SD Rady was the draw. It’s a great environment—interdisciplinary, interactive, challenging, and fun. Across areas, the faculty are amazing at what they do and great to work with, and really talented new faculty show up every year. My work has benefited from and been shaped by new perspectives from my colleagues.

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it?

My research focuses on the role of emotion in social interactions. Right now, I’m trying to understand how people deal with their anxiety in performance situations, and how this affects their teammates. To study this, my team and I constructed a “Shark Tank” in our lab in which pairs of teammates design and pitch products while their physiological responses are measured. We found that people who are trained to think of their anxiety/arousal as helpful rather than harmful show more efficient cardiovascular responding when pitching a product, and more strikingly so do their teammates.

If I weren’t a business school professor… I would form a band and play on Top of the Pops

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor?

I want all of my students to learn as much as possible, so I try and make each meeting memorable and attention-grabbing in a different way, and I try to make each assignment meaningful. I also want my students to have extremely active conversations where everyone gets involved, everyone listens to each other, and everyone constructively engages with each other, and I work really hard to facilitate these things. Finally, I try to identify what is important within each cohort to tailor the material a bit to help meet the students’ goals. Overall, I’m trying to make my course fun and useful for as many students as possible.

One word that describes my first-time teaching: Hot! San Diego had an unusual heat wave that week, which knocked out the air conditioning in the room. At first, I thought I was just nervous, but when I realized I wasn’t the only one sweating we found another room and carried on with an awesome first meeting.

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: That teaching MBA’s is a lot of fun! No two classes that I teach are alike, and every cohort of students keeps the material fresh by bringing in their own perspectives and concerns.

STUDENTS:

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?

The students at UCSD Rady are really engaged and intelligent and have such a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. I learn a lot from them. The most enjoyable thing is seeing how much effort our students put into helping each other achieve their goals.

What is most challenging?

The 5-day, 30-hour version of my leadership course is a fun physical and mental challenge for both me and the students. It’s also my favorite format, in part because it’s the first course they take. We all get to celebrate and commiserate with each other at the end of the week.

Using just one word, describe your favorite type of student: There’s not really a type. I care about all of my students, and can think of a lot of favorites with extremely different backgrounds, personalities, approaches to the course, etc.

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… Fair

LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM:

What are your hobbies?

These days I mostly get into whatever my kids are into. One thing I like to do is check out new breweries with friends. San Diego has more than 100 breweries — one great organic brewery, Protector, was even started by a Rady alum.

How will you spend your summer?

Learning all of the intricacies of the PJ Masks series. I have some theories about the origins of the Ninjalinos.

Favorite place(s) to vacation: I’m grateful to live in San Diego, where I’m a 15-minute drive from any number of beaches. Spending the day at Coronado with my family — morning on the beach, lunch at Miguel’s, eat an ice cream cone, and back in time for naptime — that’s a pretty awesome mini vacation.

Favorite book(s): The Gruffalo

What is your favorite movie and/or television show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much?

I’m pretty into the Ducktales revival, and Sharp Objects and Russian Doll were great. Also, The Great Mouse Detective is the most underrated Disney film of all time is a hill I will die on.

Favorite type of music: 2005 Indie Pop.

THOUGHTS OF REFLECTIONS:

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… Free tuition, free coffee, and Dippin’ Dots.

Faculty and administrators say:

“Chris Oveis is a valued professor at the Rady School of Management, earning an ‘Excellence in Teaching’ award in 2016 from MBA students. His research focusing on emotions has been frequently cited by other scholars and he received a $1.1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study the social and emotional factors that make employees thrive in the workplace. In addition, his research has been featured in stories by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and Psychology Today.”

“Professor Oveis has a remarkable presence and unique teaching style in his Leadership class. He encourages every single of students to interact proactively and facilitate discussion to make us learn from the cohort. His lecture is extremely well organized, dynamic and attractive. The discussion point is very clear and the evidence introduced in class is well supported based on scientific research. He always embodies leadership when he teaches the class. I’ll definitely recommend his class for the next year MBA students.”

“Chris Oveis has a passion for teaching leadership and researching the role of emotion, power and nonverbal behavior in social interactions. Students look forward to his classes in a way that is rare in an MBA program, never knowing what to expect. He mixes a healthy but appropriate dosage of humor with serious topics. One of his favorite techniques is to lecture to one side of the room, and, without breaking eye contact with that side, asks a question of an unsuspecting person on the opposite side. It always kept us on our toes. Chris teaches to inform the students, to make them empathetic to serious issues, to make them aware of the impact of their experiences on new situations and decision-making, and to provide positive leadership tools. Most importantly, Chris conveys a great deal of important knowledge in a way that his students are not inclined to forget.”

Written by Nathan Allen, find his blog here:
https://poetsandquants.com/2019/04/21/2019-best-40-under-40-professors-chris-oveis-university-of-california-san-diego-rady/?pq-category=best-profs&pq-category-2=business-school-news#disqus_thread

April 25, 2019 0 comment

MBA Rady School

Jackie Lu, Yem Innovation

written by Rady School

Jackie Lu (MBA ’12) is the founder and CEO of Yem Innovation, located in Shanghai, China. Yem Innovation is a SaaS cloud platform that encourages employee innovation. Jackie shared how his Rady MBA contributed to his journey of success with Yem Innovation.

What impact has Rady had on your career progression?

After years in a multinational and local stock listed company, I found the most important resources executives ignored is their own employees. There are huge opportunities to leverage employee talents and boost corporate profits by motivating employees. During my study and life at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, I learned about Marketing, Operations, Human Resources, Innovation & Technology and Lab to Market. All of these courses prepared me for launching my own business: Yem Innovation, which is a human resources SaaS cloud platform. The Yem Innovation platform can be used to stimulate, manage and monetize employee ideas, or simply put, it is a cloud platform for corporate internal innovations. The results of using our platform are three fold: to improve corporate revenues, boost employee engagement and lead a bottom-up management revolution.

Has your Rady MBA enabled you to change industries or functional areas?

Before I joined the Rady MBA program, I had years of marketing and corporate communications experience. With the help from the Rady School’s Innovation & Technology and HR & Leadership courses, I made the pivot from marketing to human resources. Now with Yem, I am dealing with ABC technology leveraging AI, Big Data, and Cloud Computing to monetize employee ideas.

How did the Rady School help you create and launch your company YEM Innovation? The Rady School is not just about business; it is also about management. From here, I learned more about the problems of modern management. After some solid research, we found that there are six bottlenecks for corporate internal innovations, which are caused by a traditional management style. By tackling these problems, we built a human resources SaaS cloud platform to simulate, manage and monetize employee ideas. Using our product, employees can submit ideas on the Yem Innovation cloud platform, which is both compatible for PC and smart devices. Meanwhile we provide professional service and help to make the ideas happen, with the ultimate goal of creating innovative revenues to the client. Yem Innovation has been referred to as an internal incubator. Under the new era of uncertainty, we truly believe the power of enabling, and the power to unlock each employee’s potential. What makes us special is that those staff who submitted ideas are responsible to implement the ideas. When finishing the idea, employees will get 30% profit sharing, and the other 70% goes to the company. It is a win-win-win solution to drive new business revenues and to initiate a new management style of bottom up. So far, we have had a very successful case in a manufacturing industry. Our client used our platform to encourage employees to submit ideas and to implement their ideas. One idea saved 400,000 Chinese Yuan for the company. My Rady experience has helped every aspect of my business, especially when starting the new business. I needed to go through a business plan, and every class I attended during the school helped me a lot to make the business plan more reasonable, more practical and more convincing for the investors.

What event or realization served as a ‘turning point’ for you during your Rady School and/or professional career? Honestly, I would say there is no turning point for me, but a continuous adaption for change. Nothing changes overnight. By learning and adapting, I found my way to start a business that is unique and innovative. All of my clients and potential investors think it is new, special, and the right time to help companies to drive innovation. Currently, we are working with Fortune 500 companies and also middle to large size local companies. We are working with manufacturing, medical devices, hospitality, and consumer goods industry companies to help their product innovation, service innovation and process innovation. We even made our own turning point by creating a feature called Inno-Cube, which is a tool to stimulate employee ideas. This set us apart from competitors. With the whole platform innovation, we were awarded the Best SaaS Provider 2018 and a Top Digital 100 Award.

Why did you decide to come to the Rady School? What attracted me to the Rady School is its young, vibrant spirit and entrepreneurship. It is located in San Diego, which is indeed American’s Finest City. It gave me the chance to walk along the beautiful beaches, and I met various people to talk about Random Act of Kindness. That inspired me to create China’s First Random Act of Kindness Happiness platform: Happiness100. Happiness100 is an non-government organization (NGO), open innovation platform to collect ideas. We have only one criteria for the idea, which is to make people feel happy, and we will provide funds to make the idea happen. I feel proud to have a charity and I include this as part of Yem Innovation’s corporate social responsibility. More than 10 creative projects have been carried out, and Happiness100 itself also got honorable mentions by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Overseas Young Chinese Forum.

What was your favorite class and why? My favorite classes are Consumer Behavior with Wendy Liu, Innovation & Technology with Kevin Zhu and Lab to Market with Del Foit. What’s funny is that because they were my favorites, I found they were also very easy to learn.

How did your view of entrepreneurship/innovation change throughout your time at the Rady School? I had a much larger view of the world because my classmates were from different backgrounds and different countries. It was a small class so we had the chance to know more about each other. My peers in the class were willing to share, to help and to inspire. In my point of view, the Rady School is a perfect school to get connected to an unexpected and surprising world. The entrepreneurship and innovation atmosphere there is like a soil that inspires people to grow new ideas and create their own business.

What was the most valuable thing you learned while at the Rady School? I remember the slogan years ago of our school is “From innovation to impact.” The most valuable thing is to impact, to do something to change the status quo. The goal of Yem Innovation is to change the status quo of traditional management styles, empower staff from the bottom up, and drive innovation. Instead of managing people, we change to empower people. Actually, scalability is another critical thing I learned in school. It is quite important for a business, especially for a mobile internet company like Yem Innovation. Because of our scalability, we got investment from an angel investor and also from SOSV last year for nearly one million Chinese Yuan. SOSV is an accelerator VC that manages $500 million USD worldwide. Another benefit of the Rady School is the ability to network and collaborate. For example, alum Jason Qi (MBA ‘16) is our COO, because we knew each other as alumni. He was also the vice president of the Rady Student Board at that time. Without the Rady School, I would not have found a brilliant alum and team member like Jason.

How have you applied your studies to your career? I applied human resource and technology, especially cloud technology, to create my new business. In some ways, I would say innovation is not that hard. Innovation is just a new arrangement of two old elements, which is how we created the one-of-its-kind Inno-Cube feature to stimulate employee ideas. I believe newcomers at the Rady School can also apply any two-field knowledge to create their own new business after they graduate.

What is the best thing about being a Rady alumni? Since the Rady School is a young school, there are advantages of being young. I feel strongly being part of the growth and I could witness its growth every single day. Thus I feel more engaged with the school and more engaged with the university alumni too, since UC San Diego is also a young university established in 1960. I always feel proud to say Go Tritons!

Yem Innovation is compatible for PC and smart devices (pictured above)

Yem Innovation was awarded the TopDigital 100 in 2018

Jackie is pitching on Chinaccelerator Demo Day

Jason is doing two live streamings for thousands of audience

April 22, 2019 0 comment

MBA Rady School Students

Immersion Trip to Cambodia

written by Rady School

Eye opening, exuberant, unique, were all words Lauren Murphy and Andrew Engram used to describe their recent Rady School immersion trip to Cambodia. Engram and Murphy, along with a team of six students from the Rady School were chosen to support the Cambodian company, Hydro-logic. Hydro-logic is working to help provide water filters to those who have little to no access to clean water.

During this immersion trip, they got a chance to put everything they have learned at the Rady School into action. The students used their business acumen to find out what challenges Hydro-logic is facing, how the company can increase revenue and how to help the company discover the best plan of action possible.

Getting There

Andrew Engram

The trip was extensive, but enjoyable. Getting to travel together as a team, made us closer friends and we enjoyed our time together. We (six of us and Professor Michael Finney), took a shuttle up to LAX, then we took a plane from Los Angeles to Taiwan, which was 14 hours long. After another plane ride and a bus ride later, we finally arrived. When we arrived, our main source of transportation was a tuk-tuk, which is a small, three wheeled, motorized vehicle. Getting there took 19 hours total, and when we arrived, we were in immediate culture shock. We realized how much of a developing country this really was, and how much of the country was living in poverty. We were also very excited to begin working on our project as a team, and to do everything we could to help improve the water shortage problem with Hydro-logic.

Why were you interested in the Cambodia Immersion Trip?

Murphy

I thought it was a great opportunity to learn more about consulting. Also, knowing how beneficial Professor Finney’s courses have been gave me that extra motivation because he is a great teacher and I wanted to learn from him more on the trip.

Engram

It was an opportunity to travel internationally, and get in the weeds with different cultures by working in an international environment. This trip was different because it wasn’t so much having an outline of things to get done, but a learning experience to put into action. It was great to understand how rural Cambodians live and find out about their access to drinking water. The client in Cambodia was trying to improve the livelihood by improving the amount of people who have access to clean water. Professor Finney was also an amazing counselor and guide for the trip. This is by far the best experience I’ve had at Rady. Every second was a learning experience and research. I was grateful to be able to use all I’ve learned and put those thoughts into action, rather than reading a textbook.

What did the work consist of?

Murphy

Our tasks included reporting to the social enterprise, Hydro-logic. We learned about their needs and built a relationship with their team. We also got to go into the field and bring interpreters to chat with rural Cambodians who were getting the water piped directly to their homes. About 40 percent of the country gets piped water, and Hydro-logic sells water filters for those who don’t have easy access to clean water. One of Hydro-logic’s goals is to bring social impact, but also increase revenue. We were able to help them do that.

Engram

Once we understood what we needed to do, we met with the Chief Financial Officer, marketing team and private water operators. We also got to meet with rural customers, how they cleaned and obtained their water, and what they did to drink it.

Did the trip meet your expectations?

Murphy

The trip exceeded my expectations, though I didn’t know what to expect. The quality of engagement and work we were able to do, as well as our exposure to a beautiful international culture and building great relationships, made the trip a huge highlight of my time at the Rady School.

Engram

Yes. Getting positive feedback from the client was wonderful. Seeing the client believe in what we were helping them understand made me feel like all my hard work at the Rady School was paying off. It was good knowing the MBA program can make an impact and have a lot of value. We both gained confidence and were grateful for the courses we have taken.

Did the trip change your perspective of doing business in Cambodia?

Murphy

Yes. This trip inspired me to want to work more in an international, complex environment. I grew a lot professionally and personally.

Engram

It was such an immersive learning experience and everything I see is now through a filter of what was learned in Cambodia. I hadn’t worked in a country with an emerging market. It was eye-opening to see people need things we take for granted on a daily basis. It was also an opportunity to make a difference in the world.

What lasting impressions did the culture reveal to you?

Murphy

We explored Siem Reap, a city in northern Cambodia. It was full of aesthetic temples including Angkor Wat. The details, art and decorations were beautiful and breathtaking. Seeing the beauty of Cambodia and its historical city structures inhabited by people, opened our minds and gave us greater context to our work. It helped with our project to take a couple days to rest and process our thoughts and expanded our creativity in greater ways.

The Food

Murphy

The food was interesting as there was food from all over Asia in one country. Some of the peculiar foods included bugs, frogs and ants. There was a lot of Thai food, as well as a twist on a kind of noodles and stir fry. Their delicacies, which included tarantulas and scorpions, were very different from America’s.

Any Last Words?

Engram

Thank you to Rady Moxie who provided the funds for the trip and, had a stipend for expenses. Thank you to the Center for Social Innovation and Impact for the grant and Professor Finney for taking the time to do this. We want to be an example of what is possible and we think the Rady School should do more of these trips.

Conclusion

Murphy

While we were in Cambodia, the team, with the help of Professor Finney, was able to help solve revenue challenges, recommend a manual washing machine, improve a system to collect rainwater and analyze how the company could best increase their current product awareness and online presence. Hyro-logic even let Professor Finney know afterwards how impressed the company was with the team and the amount of knowledge they gained from the students. The students would recommend this trip to anyone who can go. They said it was more than another school project, it was a truly life-changing process they will never forget.

April 17, 2019 0 comment

Alumni mystartupxx Rady School StartR Startup Startups

StartR Demo-Day on a Whole New Level

written by Rady School

StartR, founded by a group of Rady students in 2013, is a non-profit six-month accelerator program homed on the Rady campus. The program includes a workshop, mentoring, advice and access to other resources for early-stage companies. StartR has been highly successful and currently has one hundred and thirty-seven teams who have gone through the program. Eight of these teams have also been accepted into EvoNexus. There are fifty-five unduplicated companies that are active, and $63.8 million has been raised so far.

Along with the 6-month accelerator program, StartR also encourages students to partake in the StartR demo day, where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to students, faculty, investors, and professors. Nine companies chose to participate this year in the StartR DemoDay. In the past, the only StartR group to partake in the demo day are Rady MBA students and alumni, but this year was a little different. This is the first Demo Day event where teams from multiple StartRPrograms were invited, rather than only MBA students. All of the teams under StartR Accelerator include Rady, Inclusion, Impact, Veteran, and Teen. This was a monumental step, and highlights Rady’s commitment to champion and spotlight entrepreneurs of all styles!

At Demo Day, the teams dressed in slacks, polished shoes, and newly pressed blazers, lined up one by one, while they anticipated putting their best foot forward in hopes to win a prize, or attract the attention of a potential investor or partner. As they shared their pitch, they stood in front of the audience with refined power points, apps, and even a real, live business prop itself, including a sleeping pod! The audience listened to each hopeful entrepreneur, all while cheering on their family and friends.

The StartR programs spotlighted this year, and the ones highlighted below with their company pitches, include: StartR Rady, Inclusion, and Impact.

StartR Rady – The premier StartR accelerator, the Rady track is exclusively for our MBA students and alums. The teams who presented are as follows:

AngioX: – AngioX Therapeutics is an early stage biopharmaceutical company that develops novel therapies for patients with rare Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCMs).

Freightracker: – This Company is bringing IOT solutions to the transportation industry in order to streamline operations and reduce costs bycreating a device which allows users to track their freight anywhere in the world.

SurfUp – An automated surfboard rental station that is paired with a smartphone application to make the surfboard rental process convenient for beginner surfers and tourists on the beach, in-front of stores, resorts, restaurants, and much more.

bou: Bou is a small device that can save, transfer, and emit smells instantly in various circumstances to enhance consumers’ daily experiences in different settings including while watching movies, playing video games, shopping, online shopping, relaxing, etc.

Virtual Sleep Environment: A virtual sleeping pod which increases human performance, entraining a natural sleep-wake circadian rhythm. This makes it easy to sleep anywhere, at any time!

Visionful: An app that provides fully automated parking guidance and enforcement, making parking simpler than ever before.V

Inclusion: Open to students across UC San Diego and designed to highlight diversity, teams must have at least one leader from a traditionally underrepresented population.

Felicity CBT – Aims to better the mental well-being of users by providing cognitive behavioral therapy at the convenience of a mobile application.

Impact: The StartR Impact accelerator is open to startups and ideas from across campus aiming to make a societal impact. The teams from Impact, that performed at demo day included:

Athlete Initiative: A sexual violence prevention program and app for college student-athletes, helping to prevent sexual violence on campuses, where one in five students are currently affected.

Family Proud – Connecting patients and families to the technological resources necessary to effectively maximize their quality of care.

It was a competitive battle at Demo Day, and each entrepreneur deserved a prize, but, there are only two awards—a judges choice, and an audience choice.

The team who presented the most polished, well thought out idea according to the judges this year, was Thomas Fontes from Freightracker. Thomas walked up to the stage with excitement, as he won a $1,000 prize towards his business. Thomas is working on creating a custom device with AT&T, in hopes to have a freight tracker on the market by 2020! Rady School is excited to see where Thomas’s business will take him in the future! You can contact Thomas at Thomas.fontes@rady.ucsd.edu.

The team who won the audience choice award was Robert Sweetman with Virtual Sleep Environment. Robert brought a real, live sleeping pod to his presentation that tracked the brain waves of the sleeper, revealing to the sleeper if their brain was active, calm, or busy. This would allow the sleeper to find peace and calmness and fall asleep at any time! Robert is working on getting the sleeping pod in airports, and creating stations for consumers to sleep anywhere, anytime, and especially before or after a long flight! You can contact Robert at Rob@existech.us for questions or thoughts.

Rady School of Management is proud to house and educate students and alumni, who are passionate about entrepreneurship. Building on the success of their startups, all of the teams who presented will be continuing to pursue their business ideas in hopes to continue to succeed in pioneering a new, innovative way to solve and better our world!

April 10, 2019 0 comment

Alumni Faculty MBA MSBA Staff StartR Startup Students

Rady School Celebrates Top 15 Accomplishments in 15 Years

written by Rady School

It has been 15 years since the Rady School of Management opened its doors to welcome a premier group of students and inspire the next generation of business leaders. Graduates have gone on to lead top companies, and have even launched companies that are leading in their respective industries. Despite less than two decades of operation, the school has reached many remarkable milestones, including earning spots on top ranking lists, launching more than 150 operating student and alumni led startups and graduating students who are now leading global organizations.

Since its founding in 2003, the Rady School MBA program has expanded its curriculum to include additional graduate programs designed to meet the needs of the business world. The Master of Finance, Master of Science in Business Analytics and Master of Professional Accountancy programs joined the stellar MBA programs offered at the Rady School to ensure a holistic and comprehensive approach to tackling important issues in all facets of the vast network of global industries.

Through the generous support of the business community, the school has grown exponentially in its 15 years, expanding the ranks of its world-renowned faculty, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovative thinking and significantly contributing to our economy. Here’s a look at the top 15 accomplishments the Rady School has achieved in its first 15 years.

Over 150 operational startup companies have been started by Rady School alumni and students. These startups have revolutionized industries, led to breakthrough medical devices, drastically enhanced the lives of the visually impaired, improved personal wellness monitoring and have forever transformed our world for the better. Many of the startups are a product of the Rady School’s unique Lab to Market core sequence and accelerators.
The Rady School community is driving local, national and global economic impact. Rady School start-ups have raised over $1.1 billion in the last 15 years.
Founded with the intention to provide quality business education to leaders in innovative industries, the Rady School has launched distinguished graduate programs to serve the needs of the business community, including the school’s flagship Full-Time MBA and FlexMBA programs, which are already recognized among the best.
In addition to the MBA programs, three specialty graduate programs have been launched: a Master of Finance, a Master of Science in Business Analytics and a Master of Professional Accountancy.
The school also has three robust undergraduate programs, a business minor, an accounting minor, and a entrepreneurship and innovation minor, all of which are among the most popular minors on the UC San Diego campus.
Rady School faculty are recognized as leaders for the quality of their research. Over the past 15 years, the school’s faculty have been ranked #1 in the U.S. for intellectual capital by Bloomberg Businessweek, 14^th globally for faculty research by the Financial Times and 12^th globally in student rating of teaching quality by The Economist.
Since its inception, the school has received strong support from the business community. The school’s many supporters have been generous with their time and with gifts to support the mission of the school. Notable gifts include: a $100 million gift from Ernest and Evelyn Rady to fund strategic priorities and recruit faculty; a $4 million legacy gift and endowed chair from Nobel Laureate and Rady School Professor Harry Markowitz and his wife Barbara, a $30 million naming gift from Ernest and Evelyn Rady, a $7 million gift from Pauline and Stanley Foster for fellowships and an endowed chair, and a $5 million gift from Carol and William Stensrud for program development and faculty recruitment.
The Rady School has established five Centers of Excellence: the California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID), the Beyster Institute, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Social Innovation and Impact, the Institute for Supply Excellence and Innovation, and the U.S. Israel Center on Innovation and Economic Sustainability. Each of the school’s centers focuses on a different topic of importance and provides additional learning opportunities and experience for students.
Launched in 2013, the StartR Accelerator at the Rady School is a non-profit program for Rady School students and alumni designed to provide entrepreneurs the tools needed to start and grow their businesses. The StartR program includes workshops, mentoring, advice and access to other resources for early-stage companies. At the conclusion of the program, teams present their pitches at Demo Day, attended by investors, industry experts and the San Diego community. To date, 61 companies have participated in StartR, raising over $41 million in capital.
The Rady School’s mystartupXX program is a one-of-its-kind accelerator that was created to increase and encourage diversity in entrepreneurship. Program participants take workshops on launching startups, team building, leadership, market assessment, consumer feedback, creating a value proposition, validating business models, and understanding financing strategies needed to launch the business. Each team works with a mentor and advisors who monitor and encourage their progress.
The Rady Venture Fund, a student-assisted venture capital investment fund, was established to support the Rady School’s educational objectives in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and transfer of discoveries into the marketplace. Students screen investment leads, perform due diligence, make investment recommendations, and monitor portfolio companies. To date, the fund has invested in five early stage companies.
The Rady School’s Center for Executive Development (CED) offers courses and certificates that provide valuable learning experiences to meet the needs of executives and managers in the rapidly changing world of business. Popular CED courses include: leadership, team building, and interpersonal skills. Executive Development faculty are industry experts, renowned researchers, engaging teachers and authors.
The Rady School’s D. program began in 2009, attracting top doctoral candidates from around the world. Rady School Ph.D. students have gone on to teach at top schools across the U.S. and the globe.
Two state-of-the-art buildings have been constructed to house the Rady School and provide a modern and technology-forward learning space. Otterson Hall opened in 2007 and Wells Fargo Hall Opened in 2012. Wells Fargo Hall has been LEED Gold certified for its sustainable practices.
The Rady School earned accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) in 2011. AACSB International is the premier business education accrediting body, with less than five percent of business schools worldwide achieving accreditation.

August 2, 2018 0 comment

Rady School

Leadership Development Training for Millennials

written by Rady School

Millennials – those born from 1981 to 1996 — may be the most studied generation in history. According to the Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, Millennials will comprise more than one in three adult Americans by 2020 and 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. This generation will steadily reshape corporations and how business is conducted. Given their majority in the workforce it is important to develop training programs that will empower them to grow as employees and leaders.

As Baby Boomers and Gen Xers retire or take on different roles, more Millennials are taking on leadership roles. Although some view Millennials’ attention to screens, phones and tablets as a detriment, growing up with technology has provided this generation with a unique set of skills – but also unique challenges. More technology means less face-to-face interaction. Developing soft skills can greatly benefit Millennials as they move into leadership positions and advance in their careers.

So where do we start?

You can’t expect great results from a one-size-fits-all online program or by shoving them in a conference room with dated information and visuals. They want a personalized learning experience. Millennials are hard-working, never satisfied with the status quo and hungry for continuous learning. They are looking for innovative ideas and new content. Millennials will be fully engaged when the training presented is relevant to their career goals, allows for continuous learning as they progress, and provides opportunity for collaboration, problem solving and instant feedback.

What training do they need?

Millennials are the most connected generation in history. Most of the Millennial’s time has been spent on computers consuming large quantities of information. Therefore soft skills training that promotes interconnectivity, face- to-face communication, and develops patience and persistence will help the Millennial succeed in the workplace.

Gone are the days when training consisted of an employee handbook and three or four months of “learning the ropes” by making mistakes. A study from Gallup reveals that 87 percent of Millennials state professional growth and development is important to them. Millennials are the most energized, skilled and capable generation to enter the workforce. Train them well and they will ensure your organization has a bright future!

The Mindful Executive, Leadership, Communications certificate programs and the Strategic Thinking for Managers class are just a few of our excellent Rady Executive Education programs for Millennial career success.

March 28, 2018 0 comment