Success Stories of MBA Admits - Compilation of Application Debriefs
[#permalink]
10 Jan 2020, 10:24
UC Davis
Scott He began his undergrad studies at UC San Diego as an aspiring bioengineer, but soon discovered a passion for business and marketing. “I was especially drawn to the economics courses, particularly market dynamics and entrepreneurship,” he says.
After earning his bachelor’s in international relations: economics, He worked for a few years in diverse roles, from market research, analytics to managing campaigns. “While these positions gave me a lot of experience, I wanted to have a bigger role in managing products and strategy for a company. It was this goal, combined with a desire to be in Silicon Valley, that brought me to the UC Davis and the GSM.”
Today, He is a business development lead at HP in Palo Alto, Calif., applying his strategic thinking, marketing, communication and project management skills in the tech leader’s dynamic Palo Alto headquarters. He enjoys the strong “intrepreneurial” ethos and the freedom to innovate and forge his own path.
He is also flexing his entrepreneurial muscle. He and his business partner, Nicolle Ma, joined forces in fall 2017 to found Los Angeles area–based Compassionlit. The startup was one of five finalists in this year’s Big Bang! Business Competition and received both the $10,000 Health Sector Award, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, and the $5,000 Global Poverty Alleviation Award, presented by the UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies, for its novel, affordable phototherapy device to treat underserved jaundiced newborn babies.
Give us the backstory: how did you get involved in Compassionlit and the Big Bang!?
Compassionlit was created by my teammate, Nicolle Ma, who has a MS. in biology, a B.S. in human biology, a B.A. in psychology and an extensive background in healthcare. Having known her since high school, I was thrilled to hear about her idea, and wanted to provide my business experience to take Compassionlit to the next level. The Big Bang! was the ideal way to test and grow this idea into a full-fledged company.
I had previously participated in the Big Bang! when I was a full-time student at the GSM, and can attest to its value in helping startups. While I did not reach the final round before, I learned a great deal each time I participated. It is with these previous years of experience that I approached Big Bang! again this year, and we were thrilled to advance to the final round and win $15,000 in prizes.