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09 Mar 2021, 15:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Reflection, risk, and reward in social impact |
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“We see trees from above ground and don’t often think about what goes on underneath. The same is true for supply chains. Just as a tree relies on more than one set of roots to survive, one brand has a multitude of suppliers to source, create, and deliver its products,” said Katrina Gordon, MBA 17. “Root systems and supply chains are essential, often unseen support systems. It’s time for us to focus our attention on where goods come from and how they are made, as a first step to transforming the systems that enable forced labor abuses and ecological exploitation around the world.” Katrina appreciates and understands both forests and supply chains. As a student, she was president of Redwoods@Haas. Today, she is a manager at Humanity United working in the Forced Labor & Human Trafficking portfolio. Through the Sidecar Innovation Fund, she makes grants to support pre-investment and seed-stage social enterprises developing innovative tools and services to increase supply chain transparency and improve working conditions. Another facet of her work is overseeing research into supply chain tools employing open and integrated approaches to data. “There is a lot of data out there, but right now it’s in silos. We want to find ways to make the data accessible and inter-operable. Being able to share data—from the resources used by a company, to worker safety and human rights conditions, to how goods are transported and delivered—has the potential to make global supply chains more transparent and keep companies accountable,” Katrina said. “It is exciting to work with organizations that are exploring the use of technologies like big data and blockchain to protect vulnerable workers and source responsibly .” With a career at Boeing and several fellowships in social enterprises behind her, Katrina followed her instincts and curiosity down several paths during her time in the full-time MBA program at Haas. “My hypothesis was that I would be able to work in social change movements while earning a living, but I did not have a firm grasp on exactly which specific career path would align best with my values,” she said. Christina Meinberg, associate director for Social Impact, in the Career Management Group (CMG) suggests students pursuing social impact careers first take the time to reflect on what social or environmental impact means to them personally. “That has a cascading effect,” she said. “That knowledge can affect your choice of coursework and extracurriculars and help you connect with likeminded classmates and professionals.” Katrina pursued a wide array of coursework and experiential learning opportunities to narrow her path and gain the skills needed to make a career shift. For her International Business Development class, Katrina was on a team working with NESsT in Peru looking at early-stage impact investments. That project, she said, “helped convince me that, yes, my MBA studies could position me to pivot to an impact investing role without a background in private equity.” In her Design, Evaluate & Scale Developmental Technologies class, her interdisciplinary team developed a go-to-market strategy for one of the innovative technologies developed by engineers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. For Katrina, that underscored one of the benefits being at a world-class university offers, “being able to work with people studying a variety of disciplines. That really expanded my network and taught me about different approaches to problem solving.” Early on, Katrina thought consulting would give her the best of both worlds: a corporate employer and the opportunity to contribute to positive change in the world. She landed a summer internship at Deloitte, followed by an externship on a consulting project with Kimberly-Clark’s sustainability team as part of her Strategic & Sustainable Business Solutions class. Although both experiences taught her a lot, the most consequential lesson was that consulting was not the right path for her. “Even when my consulting projects related directly to a specific community need, I missed the direct involvement with the community,” she recalled. “I felt that distance—sometimes geographic, and always cultural—diminished our ability to contribute to sustainable impact over the long term .” When Deloitte offered her a full-time job, Katrina turned it down. That was a big risk, and a decision a lot of people would not have made. “My parents didn’t love my decision, and I had moments of anxiety,” she said. “But I knew I couldn’t lie to myself about how I wanted to spend my working years and about the impact I wanted to have.” It helped to have classmates going through the same waiting game while looking for positions focused on social impact. “We supported each other to find meaningful work. Erica Peng, one of the CMG advisors, encouraged me to find moments of grounding during the often chaotic job search process. She would tell me to take off my shoes and feel my feet on the earth,” Katrina said. “That, along with more traditional job search advice, speaks to the holistic support you can find at Haas.” Social impact job searches are not at all “cookie cutter,” according to CMG’s Meinberg, and they are “heavily networked.” During her last semester and into the summer following graduation, Katrina applied at various growth-stage start-ups and impact investing firms, while also reaching out to connections she had cultivated while at Haas. While working at Humanity United’s San Francisco office in the Presidio National Park, Katrina and her colleagues visited the woods as spaces to walk, talk, and stay grounded. Now based in Santa Barbara, she heads to the beach and canyon trails to find harmony in her life and work.  
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15 Mar 2021, 06:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Five key lessons in building a startup |
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Ken So is the founder and CEO of Flowcast (Tillful), an SF-based fintech startup that provides an AI-based credit solution to help small businesses build and access their credit. He’s also a Berkeley Haas alum and graduated from the evening & weekend MBA program in 2009. He shares five key lessons in building a startup based on his own experience. If you’re interested in writing a guest post for the Berkeley MBA blog, please reach out to brittany.voris@berkeley.edu. Five key lessons in building a startup If there’s any good time to found a startup, I would say this is it. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic is the worst crisis since WWII. Having gone through three significant economic downturns, I would unequivocally state that recessions are one of the best times to start a company. If we take a look at historical data, research from Kauffman Foundation discovered that over half of Fortune 500 companies were started during a recession or bear market. Data gathered by Startup Genome indicates that over 50 tech unicorns were founded during The Great Recession and are valued at a collective $145.2 billion. Here you might think – surely, that’s a matter of correlation rather than causation – but in truth, crisis begets opportunity in more than one way. Startups are lean and agile by nature. As economies get upended and unemployment is on the rise, startups are better poised to navigate the rapid changes to capture newly opened market opportunities and access more quality talent than they would during an economic boom. Those that achieved product-market fit during the downturn will be able to further propel their growth as soon as the wider economy starts to recover. We already see examples of how the transformational era of COVID-19 has become a turning point for many industries. Let’s use the fintech industry as an example. Due to the devastating pandemic, many consumers, households, and businesses had to swiftly adopt new digital solutions for business continuity or their day-to-day needs. The acceleration towards digital adoption for essential services has created an even greater demand for fintech solutions. Armed with greater consumer trust, fintech has a greater imperative as it stands on fertile conditions for it to bloom further. Arguably, the next few years are a crucial period for the next evolution of this hypergrowth market. I’m the Founder and CEO of Flowcast Inc (Tillful Inc.), an SF-based fintech startup that provides an AI-based credit solution to help small businesses build and access their credit. From starting the company in 2015 to completing Series A in 2019 to navigating business in these pandemic times, it has been one heck of a journey. Through the years, I’ve also bore witness to the successes and failures of my fellow peers in the startup world. I have picked out five key lessons learned to share with those interested in building their own startup. These are all based on my own trials and tribulations. Lesson 1: Approach your relationship with your founding team as you would a marriage Co-founder fallouts happen more often than you think. In fact, conflict between co-founders is one of the top reasons why startups fail in the early stages. Research has shown that this is preceded only by startups running out of cash and developing a product that does not fulfill a market need. In Noam Wasserman’s book, The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls that Can Sink a Startup, he discovered from his research that 65% of startups fail due to co-founder disputes. I find this true to my own experiences as well. I am part of a CEO group and co-founder issues are truly more prevalent than any other issues. While there are many examples of founder fallouts, there are equally many examples of when founders work well and play off each other’s strengths. I will tell you that finding a co-founder for your startup is akin to finding a life partner. If marriage is like a business partnership, then ‘dating’ is the prior working relationship, ‘prenup’ is the founder agreement, ‘housework’ is the job description, and ‘date night’ is the regular open and honest communication. I have seen a lot of startup founding teams made up of best friends. You should objectively start with finding a co-founder with a complementary skill set to you. Not only will this ensure that there is a clear assignment of roles between the two co-founders, but the startup will also benefit immensely from an additional set of expertise to tap into. Existing research literature has proven that the most efficient team setup is to have one person focus on building while the other focuses on selling. The implementation of clear role assignments also paves the way for transparent conversations around compensation. Unsurprisingly, compensation is often an area of friction. Hence, discussions around equity split or when co-founders should pay themselves are important conversations to be had early on. That said, co-founders should agree to modify and realign when roles and responsibilities change as the startup evolves. Goals could be misaligned from the get-go simply because co-founders may be at different stages in both their lives as well as their careers. It certainly is exciting to come together to develop an idea and build a prototype with one another but do not fixate on the “what” and “how” and neglect the “why”. It is important to know each other’s entrepreneurial motivations in embarking on this rewarding but difficult path. When the startup is built on mutual understanding and goals, there is a better chance of it succeeding past the first few years. Expectations and goals have to be aligned with your co-founder from Day 1. To quote entrepreneur Steve Blank, “Agree on whatever terms make sense – you both get to keep the code, for example – but give yourselves some time before you fully commit. You’re about to get married and have kids, and the consequences of divorce here can sink the entire venture.” Lesson 2: Your startup has limited eggs, don’t place them in so many baskets Having a buffet of options can help mitigate risks. However, when it comes to your startup strategy, it is riskier to have multiple options than just one. This is a lesson I learned early on as a startup entrepreneur. I made the mistake of running multiple strategies at the same time in the beginning stages because I wanted to hedge my bets. Unfortunately, my decision to maximize my startup’s chances of survival ultimately backfired on me as it led to half-baked results. None of my ideas scaled well and my team members were confused by the different directions we were heading towards - frankly, the various strategies were pulling the startup apart. It’s a known fact that most startups begin with very limited resources. Rather than spread yourself too thin and barely make a dent with your efforts, you need to demonstrate conviction and channel your resources to one strategy. There’s a saying that ‘optionality’ kills startups because the antithesis to multiple options is having a singular focus. You should A/B test your marketing message but do not A/B test your business strategy. Instead, there needs to be a marriage of minds between the co-founders in the same strategy. Only then can you lead the entire team, armed to the teeth with whatever resources it has, down the same path and push towards success. Lesson 3: Only hire those you could see yourself working for Mark Zuckerberg may be known for many things but I remember a hiring tip he once shared: ‘I will hire someone to work directly for me only if I would work for that person in an alternate universe.’ This hiring strategy, which I dub as the “Zuckerberg Test”, is one that I have personally used for my own hiring. To me, hiring the first 10 people is extremely important because it sets the foundation of the culture in your company. In this regard, having Zuckerberg’s tip as a rule of thumb is helpful because it helps me filter out potential employees that are independent creative problem solvers with initiative and their own sense of innovativeness and inventiveness. This should not be taken for granted because a start-up is running on a very lean team. Making a wrong hiring decision is extremely costly both in time and team dynamic. As a founder, you’ll be too preoccupied with other tasks to micromanage and handhold your employee for long. Rather, you want to have the assurance that the team mutually respects each other for the work that they do and that each member pulls their own weight in order to keep this lean machine running well. With each additional hire, you would want to make sure an expertise gap will be plugged. This is important in industries such as fintech because it is a highly regulated space. As much as innovation tends to precede regulation, you want to make sure that you have your bases covered lest the market or legal conditions change. You would then want to find someone who is familiar with compliance or the regulatory environment for instance. To reference Wasserman once again, “Diversity in the functional backgrounds of team members is especially important in turbulent contexts... because it enables teams to quickly adapt to changes.” Lesson 4: Manage your sales organizations like a VC manages its portfolio I know people will challenge me on this, but building an enterprise sales organization is akin to building a VC portfolio. VC firms raise capital from investors to create venture funds, which are used to buy equity in early- or late-stage companies, depending on the firm’s specialization. These investments are locked in until a liquidity event – such as when the company is acquired or goes public – at which point the venture capitalists realize profits from their initial investment. For VCs, the general business model is to play an outlier’s game. In other words, its investment in that one unicorn startup could generate 90% of its portfolio’s returns. The reality is that the majority of sales generated will be driven by a handful of rockstar salespeople in your startup. The CEO would generally be the number one sales supersoldier, but the critical sales function cannot just rest on one person’s shoulder. As such, finding those key sales executives will be hugely pivotal for your startup. If the art of sales is not your domain then you need to make the conscious effort to find either a co-founder or an early employee with the innate talents for it. To develop the sales function takes time and you would want an experienced mind to build it out for you and for whoever else tasked with a sales role. Lesson 5: Eyes on the prize – that is your customers, not your investors In my opinion, you get 1 point for winning an investor and 100 points for winning a customer. Raising a fresh round of capital is essential to invest in development and growth, but getting customers to pay for your products and services is ultimately what matters. It follows a simple logic and reasoning; if you focus on value-creation and solving your customers’ problem and if it is important enough, customers will pay for it, and investor interest will follow. Do not begin from the investor’s side. As much as there is a lot of hype and attention around startups seeking lofty valuations and securing big rounds of funding, it should be an upside and should not distract you from your key focus – customers. History has taught us this lesson before. We already see from the dot-com bubble in the Silicon Valley in the late 1990s and early 200s where the crisis wiped unsustainable startups and opportunistic VCs off the board. You do not want to unnecessarily subject your startup to a Darwinian cull. I’ve seen many founders over-index what investors told them and completely overhaul their business model and changed their focus entirely. While there are many examples of VCs following market hype, it is crucial for founders to stay authentic with irreconcilable convictions over their vision. Hence, if you keep your startup’s ear on the ground and consistently listen to your customers’ feedback and general sentiment, you would be better able to fine-tune your business strategy. Your startup will then be more agile and better equipped to stay relevant to your customer while adapting to the ever-changing industry landscape. Only then will your bottom line be protected and your startup can grow sustainably. In demonstrating healthy and sustainable growth, robust investors will come calling. Move quickly The next digital innovation wave is beginning – if it has not already begun. My advice to all those keen on founding your own business is to think long and hard before you embark on the road less traveled. Being a startup founder is a difficult, albeit, rewarding career and you want to make sure you are doing it for all the right reasons. That said, if you have the conviction and determination to go down this path, then I would say move quickly. Do not be afraid that we are currently in a recession. While recessions and bear markets bring about pain, they could present opportunities for new ideas. Take advantage now as it may not come again in a long time.  
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23 Mar 2021, 06:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Impact investing and impactful relationships |
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“I didn’t come to Berkeley Haas to get a job or a promotion. I came with high hopes of figuring my life out, building great relationships, and enjoying new experiences,” said Michael Firestone, MBA 21. He wasted no time in doing all three. After several successful years as a managing and portfolio director at Fiduciary Trust Company International, Michael realized that the big investment firms didn’t align with his values, especially around sustainability and social impact. “I thought Haas would give me the platform,” he said, “and, worst case scenario, if it didn’t work out, an opportunity to pivot at the end of my MBA studies.” Pivoting to entrepreneurship Then, at WE Launch, the signature Evening & Weekend MBA student orientation weekend, Michael met his classmate Alyssa Farrelly. “We just clicked,” he recalled. They quickly teamed up to form Fire Capital Management, a boutique investment management company offering private wealth management and multi-family office services with an eye on sustainability to high-net worth individuals, families, and foundations. Relying on the array of resources and relationships he fostered at Haas, the firm’s assets under advisement grew from zero to more than $700 million in just under two years. Two impact investing classes taught by Adair Morse, Impact Investing Landscape and Impact Investing Practicuum, shaped Michael’s thinking. “Investing for both profit and purpose has become popular in recent years, but in practice, an industry standard approach does not exist. She introduced me to toolsand a framework that help us differentiate sustainability and impact to our clients,” he said. The class, Venture Capital & Private Equity, taught by Sean Foote and Terry Opendyk, introduced Michael to private market investing concepts that are essential for a firm handling multi-family office relationships. “Despite my experience and prior education, my exposure to venture capital was limited. Learning from passionate professors like Sean and Terry that are also successful industry professionals was invaluable,” he said. Tapping into the Haas network Classmates were equally important. When they realized what Michael was creating, many reached out to see how they could help. Some of those relationships led to discounted pricing for much-needed research and analysis tools, as well as valuable connections throughout the industry. Another classmate, Josh Sheil, joined the team as a strategy consultant while he waited to start a new position with Bain & Company. Tapping into the brainpower and connections of his classmates and the broader Haas Alumni Network gave Michael an incredible boost, but the most meaningful support was much simpler. “At the end of my first year, I was feeling really overwhelmed, asking myself, ‘What have I done? Why did I think I could start a business and succeed as a student?,’” Michael recalled. “One day, out of the blue, my classmate Dana Zhang, told me that I was an inspiration to her and others. That encouragement came at just the right time, and it is so typical of the Haas Beyond Yourself mindset.” Fire Capital also benefited from more organized sources of support on campus. “We wrote our first job description for Fire Capital when we posted for an undergraduate student intern at Cal. The results were terrific. The intern we hired built our blog and got us started on social media,” Michael said. Later, the firm partnered with Berkeley Innovative Solutions, “hiring” a team of student consultants to do market research to augment their long-term strategic growth plans. These Cal resources helped Fire Capital round out its strategies and tactics far beyond the capacities of a small shop led by MBA students. Determined to remain a Student Always As the firm continues to grow and Michael nears the end of his studies, he is determined to remain a Student Always. “Being aware of myself and the impact I have on others are lessons from Erica Peng’s class on Personal Communications and Interpersonal Dynamics that I cherish and will always continue to work on,” he said. Building strong and meaningful relationships was something Michael knew was essential to his success and Erica’s class, “gave him tools to connect with others at a deeper level." “I’m incredibly grateful to Berkeley Haas for teaching me as much about myself as about the traditional MBA subjects. Those lessons and the friends I’ve made will be part of me forever.” 
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12 Apr 2021, 16:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Bridging the gap between communities of color and tech |
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Two years ago, Tiffany Shumate, MBA 23, traveled to Ghana to meet with a team of tech gurus and professors from local universities. As senior director of university programs for edtech nonprofit AI4ALL, Tiffany wanted to understand how the two groups were preparing students for tech jobs. She also aspired to learn best practices that could help expand AI4ALL’s reach beyond the U.S. Her takeaway from the visit was that the two sides, while effective in their own worlds, were working in silos, which didn’t do enough to help the students. “A bridge was needed between them,” she said. “All they needed to do was talk.” Since that visit to Ghana, Tiffany made it her life’s mission to serve as a “bridge” between underrepresented communities and tech. As executive director of Hack the Hood, an Oakland-based organization that teaches data literacy and coding skills to youth of color, she aims to increase the number of Black, Indigenious, and people of color (BIPOC) in tech. It’s a lofty goal. The percentage of people of color working today in the tech industry is dismally low. Black, Latinx, and Native American employees who hold technical roles at major tech companies includingGoogle, Facebook, and Apple to name a few, make up less than 10% of each of these workforces, according to their diversity reports. “Technology is seeping into every industry and it’s vital that we prepare communities of color for the future of work,” Tiffany said. Equipping BIPOC youth with data literacy skills not only opens doors to tech careers, but also addresses education inequities that disproportionately impact communities of color. A native of Newark, NJ, Tiffany began her career addressing education inequities, working as a family advocate with the Office of Special Education in Washington, D.C. In her role, she informed parents of children with special needs about their rights and services available to them, including speech therapy and individualized education plans (IEPs). “Many of these families didn’t know about their rights,” Tiffany said. “They were thankful to have an advocate in their corner, helping them navigate special education law.” Tiffany went on to teach special education in the Washington D.C. public schools before she was hired by admissions at her alma mater, Bryn Mawr College, to help increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students. Through partnerships with community-based organizations, community colleges, and higher education advocacy groups like the Association of Black Admissions and Financial Aid Officers of Ivy League and Sister Schools, Tiffany helped increase URM applications by 35% at Bryn Mawr in two years. Eventually she left higher ed and worked for edtech nonprofits Black Girls CODE and AI4ALL. Tiffany believes that every organization she’s worked for made profound impacts on communities of color, but that the impact could have been greater with more access to capital. “Social impact programs are part of the solution, but if you really want to make an impact, you have to make a budget line for it,” said Tiffany. And she’s learning how to navigate budgets effectively during her time in the evening and weekend MBA program at Berkeley Haas with courses like Financial Accounting and Introduction to Finance, a course focused on valuing assets and evaluating risks. Leading People–a course aimed at teaching students how to motivate and influence teams–has already shaped her thinking about ethics and how to lead and support her all-female team. Over the next five years, Tiffany and her team plan to expand Hack the Hood’s reach to serve a total of 5,000 young people and small business owners. So far, Hack the Hood has equipped about 1,200 local youth with coding skills that they’ve used to build websites for more than 460 small businesses in the Bay Area since 2013. There are discussions about expanding the curriculum to teach data analytics to help small businesses drive revenue after a pilot mentoring program successfully matched 30 small business owners with tech mentors. For two months, business owners learned about data analytics, best practices for social media, and received feedback on their business plans. “I want young people who come to us to know programming fundamentals as well as skills needed for the future,” Tiffany said. 
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20 Apr 2021, 06:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Preparing to lead in fintech |
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“I regularly ask myself three questions: ‘Am I growing? Am I learning? Am I having fun?’ If the answer to any question is ‘no,’ I re-evaluate my situation.” When she realized she wasn’t growing at the pace she expected of herself, Shazia Virji, MBA 23, general manager, Credit Services at Credit Sesame, decided going back to school would provide the growth she needed. But not just any school. Shazia earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from UC Berkeley and wanted to return to Haas as a student in the Evening & Weekend MBA program. An additional, and unexpected, bonus to returning to Berkeley Haas for her MBA was Shazia’s ability to apply through Cal Advantage. Piloted in 2020, Cal Advantage allows applicants with UC Berkeley undergraduate degrees to apply to MBA programs through a streamlined process. While GMAT/GRE or EA are optional, Cal Advantage candidates are evaluated using the same criteria that are applied to other MBA applicants. “Applying through Cal Advantage added flexibility to my timing,” she said. “I was able to decide, apply, and be accepted on an accelerated timeline.” Growing amid diverse perspectives Returning to school 10 years into her career in fintech, Shazia relished the opportunity to grow and learn alongside classmates from a cross-section of industries and backgrounds. “In my study group alone, we have people who work in the medical device industry, sustainable food, finance, and a product manager and supply chain specialist at Tesla. They are introducing me to new perspectives and interests,” she said. “For example, one member of the group is very interested in sustainability. With her encouragement, we are entering the Patagonia Case Competition, working on a real-life corporate responsibility issue.” As much as she considers herself a Student Always, Shazia admits to having “forgotten how to be an actual student,” complete with late nights hitting the books and competing deadlines. However, she found that “During the pandemic, our virtual classroom has been seamless. The professor paces around and writes on the whiteboard and discussions are lively. The collaboration on projects and among my study group is similar to how we work at Credit Sesame.” Applying lessons learned on the job Shazia already is applying lessons learned on the job. Having worked in business development, mostly in the B2B2C space, her Marketing class reinforced the power of customer data in driving decisions. She noted that she is now “much better equipped to assess the value of a customer relationship over time, and understand the long-term customer journey, not just anecdotally, but through data.” She credits Professor Ross Levine’s Macroeconomics class for deepening her understanding of business cycles, in particular the ability to assess where a company is headed and how it might react to forces beyond its control—“not that we’ve had any of those to cope with recently,” she quips. She applies that lens on the job when she is evaluating potential partners and their business models. “I think I am more open-minded to opportunities that could make Credit Sesame more resilient.” Skills and tools she learned in Leading People informed her approach to some of the challenging transition management decisions made during the pandemic and continue to influence how she manages her team. Using fintech to change lives Whether her career path leads to a C-suite position or to her own entrepreneurial enterprise, Shazia is committed to the power of fintech to improve lives. That determination grows out of her family’s immigrant experience. “My family had limited resources when they arrived in the US from Tanzania in the 1980s. My parents worked very hard, and it would have made a big difference if they had had more financial awareness. Fintech has the potential to bridge that knowledge gap for so many people.” She plans to target her electives and extra-curriculars toward expanding both her technical and leadership skills. She is benefiting from the insights and networking offered by the FinTech Club. “The guest speakers are terrific, and they address topics far beyond the space Credit Sesame is in, things like bitcoin and payment systems,” she said. Going Beyond Herself to make an impact More specifically, Shazia is “incredibly passionate” about empowering women to achieve financial independence and to take on leadership positions. To that end, she has long been active in Dress for Success as a speaker, facilitator and mentor. She also intends to participate in planning for the 2022 Women in Leadership conference. Shazia has long been a leader in the Haas Alumni Network, serving on the San Francisco chapter board and now as co-chair of the Haas Alumni Council. “I am excited to support an engagement strategy that aims to cultivate meaningful connections throughout the Haas community,” she said. Growing? Check. Learning? Check. Having fun? “Absolutely,” Shazia said. “I’m making new friends, trying new things, working hard, and having the time of my life.”  
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06 May 2021, 17:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Building bridges toward sustainability and impact |
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Alyssa Farrelly, MBA 21, had qualms about the magnitude of the career pivot she aspired to achieve: from nonprofit administration to impact investing. Without a traditional finance background, she knew it would be a stretch, but she had confidence in herself and in the skills and network she would gain in the Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA program. Her career pivot accelerated when she met her study group at WE Launch, the program’s signature student orientation weekend. The study groups are the building blocks of your new community, according to Alyssa. And in her case, the bridge to her new job, through her classmate and friend, Michael Firestone, MBA 21. Before enrolling at Berkeley Haas, Alyssa had spent nearly eight years in China, where she was the executive director of a nonprofit committed to developing the next generation of leaders in the U.S. and China through cross-cultural student exchange and leadership development. “After working in the nonprofit sector for a long time, I was curious about how to drive capital to impactful organizations outside of the traditional philanthropic approach. Michael was intrigued by the potential to incorporate social impact into investment management,” she said. “My background in social impact complemented his experience in finance.” Michael founded Fire Capital Management and shortly after, Alyssa joined him. Today she is Fire Capital’s chief operations officer and director of social impact. The burgeoning boutique investment management firm is on a steep growth trajectory. In two years, its team has grown to five employees, and assets under advisement have grown from zero to more than $700 million by offering private wealth management and multi-family office services with an eye on sustainability to high-net worth individuals, families, and foundations. The company is proud to have joined the Pledge 1% movement, creating a new normal where companies of all sizes integrate giving back into their culture and values. Pledge 1% empowers companies to donate 1% of product, equity, profit or employee time to causes of their choice. Gaining skills in class and in competitions Typical of a small firm, Alyssa wears many hats at Fire Capital. In addition to managing day-to-day operations—the client experience, accounting, human resources, and compliance—she is responsible for researching and doing due diligence on opportunities that support their clients’ desires to have a positive social impact from the way they invest to the way they give. She gives the example of building a portfolio for a client with a foundation whose mission is to empower women and girls in the Middle East and West Africa. “I found organizations that work in that space, researched their financial needs, and built a strategy for our client that will help her have the impact she wants through philanthropy,” Alyssa explained. “And on the investment side, Michael built a portfolio that reflects her values and goals as well. For example, we helped her make an investment in a women-led VC firm based in Africa.” Alyssa is bolstering her finance and investment skills with courses like Financial Information & Analysis with Panos Patatoukas and Accounting, which Professor Yaniv Konchitchki “actually made fun, which I thought was impossible,” she quips. Her participation in the Haas Impact Fund and the Invest for Impact competition, gave her the opportunity to develop and pitch a sustainable supply chain venture for an equity investment by the fund. “These are exactly the sort of analysis and presentation skills I can translate to my work at Fire Capital,” she said. “We also hope to start our own impact fund at the firm in the future, so these experiences are really helpful in our journey.” Creating an equitable culture Alyssa and her colleagues are laying a foundation of integrity, trust, and equity at Fire Capital, inspired by several of their Berkeley Haas professors. One of them is Kellie McElhaney, whose class, Equity Fluent Leadership, was pivotal for Alyssa. “This class was one of my favorites,” she said. “It influenced our determination and approach to integrating DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) principles at Fire Capital from the get-go." McElhaney also leads the Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (EGAL). As a member of EGAL’s student advisory board, Alyssa helped to organize the Investing in Inclusion Pitch Competition, an opportunity she welcomed to expand her awareness of sourcing companies and organizations that are committed to DEI. As classmates, colleagues, and friends, the founders of Fire Capital share a strong ethical core that echoes the Haas Defining Leadership Principles. ‘’We’re just at the start of our journey and every decision point has consequences,” Alyssa said. “There really are no shortcuts when you are Questioning the Status Quo, going Beyond Yourself, and are committed to working with intentionality, transparency, and honesty.” 
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18 May 2021, 13:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Searching for impact in Big Tech, finding it at Google |
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His three years as senior manager of strategic operations at KIPP DC, part of the nation’s largest network of public charter schools, gave Joseph Hassine, MBA 21, a strong appreciation of the social impact to be had in the nonprofit space. As he pondered his next career move—A graduate degree in public policy or public administration, perhaps?—friendships with two recent Berkeley Haas grads opened up his thinking to the value of an MBA program. “I talked with a lot of alumni and not one of them regretted going to Berkeley or enrolling in a full-time MBA program,” he said. “The benefits in terms of extracurriculars and relationships seemed well worth it, and that has definitely been true in my experience.” For Joseph, business school would be a good way to build out his academic knowledge in the core curriculum. He had never taken an economics or finance class, for example. He used electives like Growth Marketing, Tech and the City, and Social Impact Marketing to gain insights and tools that relate directly to his career interests. Throughout his two years, he made the most of the experiential learning opportunities at Berkeley Haas to explore variations in the social impact career path, from start-ups to big tech. “I came to Haas curious to explore the intersection of business and social impact,” he said. Three student consulting projects and an internship later, Joseph is a principal on the Ad Grants team at Google.org, a role that allows him to “bring the powerful people and products of the technology sector to mission-driven nonprofits worldwide, ultimately helping connect people to causes to amplify impact.” Joseph’s introduction to the Ad Grants team came during his summer internship when he focused on measuring the impact of the program, which provides qualifying nonprofits with advertising grants and assistance in using Google Search effectively. That internship built on a similar, earlier experience at Facebook, where Joseph and two classmates worked with a global philanthropy team under the auspices of the Center for Responsible Business. While his focus was on large firms, Joseph also explored the vibrant start-up environment at UC Berkeley and in Silicon Valley. On a consulting project with Landed, a Series A startup helping teachers, nurses, and government employees buy houses, he managed a variety of communications and marketing efforts. As part of his Equity Fluent Leadership class taught by Kellie McElhaney, Joseph worked with SkyDeck, UC Berkeley's in-house incubator. His team of four MBA students developed a playbook and a collection of research to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the earliest stage of a start-up’s journey.  In addition to strengthening his academic foundation and expanding his business toolkit, Joseph built community at Berkeley Haas. As a Consortium student, he found a ready-made community. He gave back by co-leading its Cheetah Tank program, an entrepreneurship program for fourth- and fifth-grade students in the nearby Oakland Unified School District. Joseph also got involved with Q@Haas, the school’s organization for LGBTQ MBA students, partners, and allies. “I hadn’t been part of a strong queer-identifying community and was excited about finding such a thriving community at Haas,” he said. “People reached out to me during the application process and offered buddies and connections. That positive experience encouraged me to put my hand up as VP-Admissions for Q@Haas. I was proud to have been the point person for all Q-identifying applicants at Haas and was grateful to be able to help recreate some of that welcoming spirit for the classes of 2022 and 2023."  As he leaves Berkeley Haas, Joseph is “more convinced than ever that I can drive positive outcomes in the private sector. I just hadn’t anticipated the amount of potential that exists and the scale that’s possible. The private sector has a unique role—and an obligation—to improve social outcomes and racial and gender equity. I’m excited to support that mission by helping to bring the powerful people and products of the tech sector to impactful, mission-driven, nonprofits.” 
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26 May 2021, 16:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Searching for impact in big tech, finding it at Google |
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His three years as senior manager of strategic operations at KIPP DC, part of the nation’s largest network of public charter schools, gave Joseph Hassine, MBA 21, a strong appreciation of the social impact to be had in the nonprofit space. As he pondered his next career move—A graduate degree in public policy or public administration, perhaps?—friendships with two recent Berkeley Haas grads opened up his thinking to the value of an MBA program. “I talked with a lot of alumni and not one of them regretted going to Berkeley or enrolling in a full-time MBA program,” he said. “The benefits in terms of extracurriculars and relationships seemed well worth it, and that has definitely been true in my experience.” For Joseph, business school would be a good way to build out his academic knowledge in the core curriculum. He had never taken an economics or finance class, for example. He used electives like Growth Marketing, Tech and the City, and Social Impact Marketing to gain insights and tools that relate directly to his career interests. Throughout his two years, he made the most of the experiential learning opportunities at Berkeley Haas to explore variations in the social impact career path, from start-ups to big tech. “I came to Haas curious to explore the intersection of business and social impact,” he said. Three student consulting projects and an internship later, Joseph is a principal on the Ad Grants team at Google.org, a role that allows him to “bring the powerful people and products of the technology sector to mission-driven nonprofits worldwide, ultimately helping connect people to causes to amplify impact.” Joseph’s introduction to the Ad Grants team came during his summer internship when he focused on measuring the impact of the program, which provides qualifying nonprofits with advertising grants and assistance in using Google Search effectively. That internship built on a similar, earlier experience at Facebook, where Joseph and two classmates worked with a global philanthropy team under the auspices of the Center for Responsible Business. While his focus was on large firms, Joseph also explored the vibrant start-up environment at UC Berkeley and in Silicon Valley. On a consulting project with Landed, a Series A startup helping teachers, nurses, and government employees buy houses, he managed a variety of communications and marketing efforts. As part of his Equity Fluent Leadership class taught by Kellie McElhaney, Joseph worked with SkyDeck, UC Berkeley's in-house incubator. His team of four MBA students developed a playbook and a collection of research to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the earliest stage of a start-up’s journey. In addition to strengthening his academic foundation and expanding his business toolkit, Joseph built community at Berkeley Haas. As a Consortium student, he found a ready-made community. He gave back by co-leading its Cheetah Tank program, an entrepreneurship program for fourth- and fifth-grade students in the nearby Oakland Unified School District. Joseph also got involved with Q@Haas, the school’s organization for LGBTQ MBA students, partners, and allies. “I hadn’t been part of a strong queer-identifying community and was excited about finding such a thriving community at Haas,” he said. “People reached out to me during the application process and offered buddies and connections. That positive experience encouraged me to put my hand up as VP-Admissions for Q@Haas. I was proud to have been the point person for all Q-identifying applicants at Haas and was grateful to be able to help recreate some of that welcoming spirit for the classes of 2022 and 2023." As he leaves Berkeley Haas, Joseph is “more convinced than ever that I can drive positive outcomes in the private sector. I just hadn’t anticipated the amount of potential that exists and the scale that’s possible. The private sector has a unique role—and an obligation—to improve social outcomes and racial and gender equity. I’m excited to support that mission by helping to bring the powerful people and products of the tech sector to impactful, mission-driven, nonprofits.”
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02 Jul 2021, 12:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Reflections from the first Berkeley Haas hosted MLT seminar |
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Berkeley Haas hosted our first-ever Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) seminar just two short weeks ago. I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on the deep integration of self and purpose I felt in the middle of all of our programming and community building. We hope we created a space that shows how students at Haas might integrate deep personal values, experiences, and motivations into their career pursuits.” Integration. An evening filled with stories of home and community, with DJ Wonway spinning in one virtual room while corporate partners, student leaders, and Haas staff leadership offered words of welcome in another. A vision statement from Dean Ann Harrison that wove in themes of business leadership, Haas values, and the expectation of leading change out in society and business. An invitation to meditate alongside our ancestors and caregivers from our interim Chief DEI officer, Dr. Élida M. Bautista, feeding into an MBA mock-class from Professor Kim MacPherson on strategic decision making toward health equity and access innovation. Partnering with MLT to help equip underrepresented communities The mission of MLT is to equip and embolden high-achieving women and men from underrepresented communities—African American, Latinx, and Native American—to realize their full potential, make a mark, and make a difference. As a proud MBA program partner in that vision, we were thrilled to host the 350+ MLT MBA Prep Fellows for this 3-day admissions seminar. We did it in partnership with students, alumni, staff, faculty, and our corporate partners. We integrated our own Defining Leadership Principles and commitments of inclusion, innovation, and sustainability throughout our programming. I wrapped up my weekend with small group coffee chats feeling grateful that we were able to play this role in helping the fellows feel a sense of belonging, confidence, and inspiration in their admissions journey. This seminar was years in the making – stemming from a commitment our leadership made in our 2019 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Action Plan. We are now on to our 2021-2025 DEI Strategic Plan, and our pillars of representation, belonging, and lifelong learning continue to guide our approach to equity and inclusion. As such, hosting the seminar plays a key role in our ongoing commitment – around all three pillars. Representation, of course, because partnering with MLT and our other partners is a core component of our outreach and engagement strategy. But also belonging and lifelong learning. We hope we created a space that weekend that showed how students at Haas might integrate deep personal values, experiences, and motivations into their career pursuits. And, as a learning institution, we made sure to integrate our values into our classroom experience through an engaging health innovation mock class with Professor MacPherson and our corporate practitioner partner, Badia Boudaiffa of Abbott Laboratories. Thank you for spending a weekend "at" Haas We sincerely thank Abbott Laboratories, along with our other wonderful corporate partners at Clorox, Inc., Chevron, and Zendesk, for supporting our seminar. We thank all of our students, alumni, staff, and faculty partners for their energy, time, and commitment. We thank our partners at MLT for helping us execute a meaningful seminar for the fellows. And lastly, we thank our MLT fellows for spending a weekend “at” Haas. We wish we could have hosted you in person – as a New York-turned-Berkeley resident, I would have loved to show you around the beautiful Bay Area. But, as we say, visiting campus is as much about being with the people as anything else. It’s about seeing yourself in this community and feeling you’re in the right place to help you achieve your career and personal goals. I hope and trust we did that. The hard (but rewarding) work of writing an excellent application is about to begin – and we’ll be with you every step of the way. 
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24 Aug 2021, 00:54
31 Aug 2021, 11:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: 4 ways to approach b-school thoughtfully |
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Mikhael Abebe graduated from the Berkeley Haas full-time MBA program in 2018. His original post is published on the Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) blog. MLT’s MBA Prep programs provide African American, Latinx, and Native American professionals with personalized guidance and effective tools to successfully navigate the business school application process, and optimize their MBA experience. If you’re interested in writing a guest post for the Berkeley MBA blog, please reach out to brittany.voris@berkeley.edu. 4 ways to approach b-school thoughtfully When I was applying to colleges, my thought process was: “What school is going to put me in the best position to succeed while giving me the freedom and space to have as much fun as possible?” You’ll notice how vague, unfocused, and potentially contradictory those criteria are. Ultimately, I decided to pursue the University of Pennsylvania. It was an Ivy League school, and the admissions rep did a good job of pitching the whole “Social Ivy” thing. Now, hindsight is 20/20. Things worked out in the end; I’m not going to retroactively pick apart the mindset of my 16-year-old self. However, my goal is to emphasize how important it is to have a thoughtful, honest, and thorough approach when making major life decisions such as when and where to attend business school. At this particular time in my own journey, one thing I had gained that I didn’t have in high school was MLT—a world-class organization that provided the support, structure, and coaching I needed to take the aforementioned approach. Applying to business school was the most momentous decision I had ever made at that point in my life. (Proposing to my fiancée now takes the cake, and I hope she reads this blog 😊). I knew grad school would give me the opportunity to pursue the career I wanted, develop new skills, and ultimately change my life. While I don’t have any regrets about the decision I made, I’ve now had some time to reflect on b-school and what I could have done to make my experience easier along the way. 1. Distinguish interests from priorities I had numerous interests that I wanted to explore during b-school. I also had two main priorities: 1) get a job in real estate finance and 2) develop myself as a leader and communicator. One lesson that b-school will teach you over and over is that time is arguably your most precious resource. Make the time for your priorities. Be kind and patient toward yourself if that means some of your interests will be put on the back burner. That’s not to say you shouldn’t make time for your interests, but you should try to strike the right balance between the “nice-to-have” and the “need-to-have” items on your list. 2. Accept some things just can’t be finessed If you want to work at a company that only recruits from schools in the northeast, you probably shouldn’t go to California for business school. Similarly, if you need a particular class to gain a particular skill set and that class is only offered when you want to go to Carnival in Brazil, I’m sorry, but Carnival may have to wait. Be honest with yourself about what your post-business school vision is. Do the research and plan ahead so that you don’t do anything that would stop you from achieving your priority goals. 3. Plan to do things you didn’t plan for This may be a bit on-the-nose, but it is very easy to spread yourself too thin during b-school. I held several leadership positions, was a principal on a student-led investment fund, participated in case competitions, and went on several treks around the world. What I didn’t anticipate is just how draining all of that would be. It left me with little energy to explore outside of my comfort zone or develop relationships with classmates who weren’t in my immediate circle. If I have anything that resembles a regret, it’s not having enough time to do things outside of my comfort zone. 4. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable This one probably isn’t new but is worth emphasizing. B-school is a place for growth, experimentation, and risk-taking. It literally is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do almost anything you want. Take advantage of it, because I promise you this: once you graduate, things get real.  
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30 Nov 2021, 13:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Laura Kray reveals the skill MBAs want in their core curriculum |
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Laura Kray wears a lot of hats: She holds the Ned & Carol Spieker Chair in Leadership, chairs the Management of Organizations Group, and is the faculty director of the Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership (EGAL). But it is in the classroom, engaging with students, where she finds both inspiration and insights for her research. Kray teaches Negotiations in the Berkeley MBA for Executives program. Her course, Gender, Equity, and Leadership for the 21st Century, is open to both EMBA and Evening & Weekend MBA students, and is part of the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) program. How would you describe your teaching style? It is very interactive and experiential. Before presenting academic theory, students often participate in role-playing simulations by tapping into their default assumptions and beliefs, which may or may not be accurate, as the simulations ultimately reveal. The role-playing can get intense. I’ve had to remind students that this is only a simulation. That quality makes it exciting and memorable for the students. Based on their experiences, we then talk about evidence-based practices, research, and the big picture for managing others. I liken the debrief process to being on the balcony looking down at the interactions they just had with fellow students, noting what worked well or hindered their collective problem solving. Innocent questions asked in the classroom can reveal gaps in the academic sphere." How do your teaching and research influence each other? It is bi-directional. Innocent questions asked in the classroom can reveal gaps in the academic sphere. I respect my students so much for asking those questions. For example, early on in my career, a female MBA student asked what difference gender made in a negotiation. I had no answer because gender wasn’t part of the academic “zeitgeist” at the time. But I took her question to a senior colleague—a real expert on negotiations—and asked him how he would have replied. He told me he would have told her, “That is not an interesting question.” That got me thinking that there might be a blind spot in the academic literature. Twenty years later, I’m still working on gender and negotiations, and other topics relevant to women’s success in male-dominated spheres. You are the faculty director for the Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership. Tell us about EGAL. There’s so much demand, and need, to find solutions to inequities that persist in society. The Center generates new knowledge, a cornerstone of the Berkeley Haas mission, and also supports and educates students and the business community by translating research into action. In my role, I enable faculty and students to pursue research that pushes past the mainstream. For example, an advisor might not be supportive of a thesis exploring how gender or race influence a given situation. EGAL is there to legitimate these ideas, to provide financial and institutional support, and to create a community of scholars exploring gender, equity, and inclusion. Your op-ed “The Pay Gap Starts with a Responsibility Gap” ran in the Wall Street Journal in October 2021. Tell us about that research. My co-author, Margaret Lee, was EGAL’s inaugural research postdoctoral fellow. With the help of the Dean’s Office, Development & Alumni Relations, and the Career Management Group, we created a data set that showed us how graduates’ careers unfolded. We had data that men typically had more direct reports, even when they had the same title and were at the same level in the organization as women. More direct reports translated to higher salaries for the men. We also did experimental research, using Berkeley’s XLab and Behavioral Lab, that revealed people were more comfortable with men leading larger groups, and they said large-team leaders deserve higher salaries. In publishing this piece, we hope to raise awareness about how subtle biases associated men with larger teams and women with smaller teams can produce substantial differences in compensation over time. Hopefully, it gives MBAs one more thing to negotiate in their next job—a staff size substantial enough to accomplish important work to justify being highly remunerated. What is the new course you will be teaching in Fall 2022? I will be co-teaching Business Communications in Diverse Environments with Cameron Anderson, Dana Carney, and Sameer Srivastava. It is a new core course and is part of our ongoing curriculum reform. The course brings skills we have previously addressed in electives like Negotiations and Power & Politics front and center into the core. We consulted with alumni, asking them “Looking back, what would have been useful to you in the core curriculum?” The topic of instruction in having difficult conversations came up often, which is relevant to issues of social justice we all are dealing with. People need skills around effective communication in the face of micro-aggression, inter-group conflict, status and power struggles. People want to understand the skills needed to respond effectively, to express their own views in ways that advance the shared interests of multiple stakeholders. We are planning the course in four modules addressing different levels of interaction: At the individual level, we will look at how we show up at work and what we hide about ourselves. At the one-on-one level, we will deal with micro-aggression, giving challenging feedback, and taking the perspective of others. At the group level, we will explore how to navigate differences of opinion about hot-button issues related to group-based inequities. Finally, we will look at how to be change agents as leaders who can transform an organization by rooting out systemic biases. The expertise and insight your professors bring helps deepen and enhance your MBA journey. By selecting a top school with top-notch professors, you maximize your experience. Read more from the Take 5 with a professor series:
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22 Dec 2021, 12:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Cameron Anderson can prove that being a jerk is not a good career strategy |
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Cameron Anderson, who holds the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair in Leadership & Communication, values Berkeley Haas students for their socially minded goals and their ability to pose “interesting” questions in class. Those questions have prompted Anderson’s research on topics from the psychology of power to self- and interpersonal perception. A winner of the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award, he also consults with leading organizations and corporations worldwide. Why does the class Power & Politics engage you and your students so much? I love teaching the course primarily because it helps Haas MBA students accomplish their goals. This is particularly meaningful for me because I have long believed that Haasies are different from MBAs at other top business schools. The students here tend to be kinder, more humble, more intellectually curious, and have more socially minded goals. My calling in teaching Power & Politics is to help Haas students achieve their more socially minded goals. I’ve been studying power for more than 25 years and the material still fascinates me, so I love talking about it with students. I want them to find the material interesting too, so I try to keep the class as engaging as possible. That means mixing it up by using cases, exercises, simulations, videos, self-assessments, peer feedback, and such. I hope that mix, and my obvious passion about the subject, is what engages students. And I think they enjoy the course much more than if we only used one learning tool like case analysis. To gain power you don’t have to sell your soul." What is a favorite classroom exercise or assignment? My favorite exercise is one where students role-play, in groups, an influence exercise while being videotaped. They give each other feedback at the end of the exercise, and in the days that follow they read the feedback their groupmates gave them and watch the recording of themselves. It’s a real eye-opener! The combination of seeing yourself on video and receiving direct feedback from others about your behavior is an amazing learning experience, even if it is somewhat painful to be in such a vulnerable position. Students often report that they had little awareness of the way they come across to others. For example, many students learn that they come across as unassertive and that they could be much more assertive to push for their agenda; others learn that they inadvertently come across as closed-minded to the view of others. Learning things like this in the safe confines of an MBA class sparks the beginning of really meaningful growth. What do you hope your students will take away from your classes? Maybe the most important takeaways are the ones I talk about in the very first class of Power & Politics: a) that you need power and influence to be effective, and b) to gain power you don’t have to sell your soul. The first takeaway means it’s not enough to have the right idea or to be the smartest person in the room. You also need the power to push for your ideas and the political capital to gain buy-in and support from others. That being said, the second takeaway emphasizes that you can achieve power and exert it in ethical, morally upstanding ways. How does your teaching reflect your research and vice versa? They absolutely feed into each other! First, students routinely ask questions that inspire research ideas. In one class just two weeks ago I probably said, “That’s a great question for a research study!” three different times in a 15-minute span. Some of the questions students ask are truly dissertation-worthy. Students’ questions have become increasingly sophisticated and insightful over the years. Second, my research definitely informs the takeaways in class. A good example is a study we conducted recently that looked at whether being a jerk—to use a technical term—helps people get ahead in their careers. That is, does it help you to be selfish, deceitful, and aggressive? Do nice people finish last? It turns out that being a jerk is totally unhelpful. Jerks simply don’t have a leg up in the pursuit of power. They end up with the same power as nice people. Based on that study and others like it, I hammer that point home over and over in my class: Being a jerk does not give you an advantage, so there is no point in being one! What new course would you design for the MBA curriculum? I can think of two that would be really fun to design and teach. The first would be on personal growth, or how people can develop new personality traits, habits, skills, and abilities. The science on personal growth has exploded in the past 10 to 15 years and has provided solid evidence that you can transform yourself, even in dramatic ways, as long as you are motivated and dedicated to doing so. The second course would be on emotional intelligence. That is, how people can read others’ emotions, how to respond to those emotions, how people can understand and gain awareness of their own emotions, and how to regulate their own feelings so that they respond to situations more effectively. The expertise and insight your professors bring helps deepen and enhance your MBA journey. By selecting a top school with top-notch professors, you maximize your experience. Read more from the Take 5 with a professor series:
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06 Jan 2022, 08:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: The MBA from the eyes of a hiring manager at Bain & Company |
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Lyndsey Simons (Wilson), MBA 18, wears a lot of hats in Bain & Company’s San Francisco office, where she started as a summer associate and is now a senior manager in the financial investor practice working with both private equity clients and growth equity investors. Her projects are varied, but her work with one large growth-equity investor serves as an example. “This investor is focused on infusing capital into fast-growing global markets. As part of our work, I led a team assessing fintech players that provide underbanked customers with access to capital and evaluated a B2B platform that enables small businesses to expand their customer reach and grow their revenue,” Lyndsey explained. Noting that she is “energized and passionate about being a thought partner with our clients and a decision-maker here at Bain,” Lyndsey added that the firm aligns with her commitment to social impact in a broad context. That includes her “tremendous respect for Bain’s longstanding and strategic focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG), both in our work with clients and within our four walls.” We talked with Lyndsey about one of the other hats she wears as a member of Bain’s recruiting team at Berkeley Haas. “We are looking to recruit the best talent, and I love meeting candidates who could become part of our Go Bears cohort at Bain. There’s a natural cultural fit. Both the Haas and Bain cultures value intellectual curiosity, humility, and a learning mindset.” Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. What does Bain look for in MBA recruitment candidates in terms of experience? Candidates often start out by saying they have a “non-traditional” background for consulting. I ask them what they think “traditional” is! We intentionally hire MBAs with diverse experiences who complement and strengthen the experience within our consultant ranks. We are eager to meet candidates with a passion for driving results. We want to learn about the positive business outcomes they have driven in past jobs and internships. This is the case regardless of what industry they worked in before starting their MBA. We look for teammates that bring fresh perspectives to the table — who aren’t afraid to ask questions, who are open to changing course when they see new data. We value humility and a drive to consider other points of view. Lastly, we want to understand how Bain fits into their story. How does joining Bain fit into their hoped-for career path? We know not every MBA comes to Bain intending to make partner. What do they hope to get out of their experience here? I enjoy meeting candidates who let me hear how they are thinking." What specific skills does Bain look for in MBA candidates? A quick list would include problem solving, leadership, effective teamwork, and using data to drive results. People often assume quant skills are paramount—and while they are—what we’re really curious to know is how you have used data to drive decisions in your previous roles. We also want to see MBAs who have led change management efforts and who are comfortable leading a team and collaborating with clients to achieve extraordinary results. Haas is great training ground for those skills. I and my classmates all came to Haas with strengths and gaps in our knowledge and previous experience. In my pre-MBA role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, I was in the world of impact investing. I had experience in some stages of investing, but not the full spectrum of investing and value creation. Classes like New Venture Finance and International Business Development expanded my understanding and skillset. I continue to build on that in my work at Bain. What kind of support does Bain provide new hires and staff? We believe strongly in hiring, developing, and retaining the best talent, and as a member of our training team in the San Francisco office, I am particularly committed to making sure that happens. In terms of structured support, everyone goes through a week of hands-on training of what Bain best practices for Excel modeling and client presentations look like. Our leadership team leads mock cases to share our approach to problem-solving and results delivery. Periodic training in your first few years advances your skills and understanding in those capabilities. As you reach more senior positions, training shifts to strengthening your ability to coach teams or present to executive clients, for example. For me, a highlight has been an annual global training where you meet Bainies from other offices. It is so compelling to meet people at your level and who are in the same role. You learn from each other and deepen relationships. But really, unstructured training happens every day, in what I would call “side-by-side apprenticeship” among peers and colleagues. Bain is an awesome place to learn. Everyone in the room is looking for ways to arrive at the best outcome and really cares about investing in their community. What tips do you have for candidates applying for roles at Bain? Three things come to mind:
[*] Take time to reflect and share your unique experiences and backgrounds. What do you bring to this role? Who are you?[/list] [*] Be clear about where Bain fits into your story. What about Bain compels you? What will Bain help you achieve in the long run? [/list] We want to attract the best talent to join us here, to help us form the best possible teams to meet our clients' needs.  Read more from the hiring manager series:
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27 Jan 2022, 07:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Homa Bahrami explores agility and flexibility for enterprises and individuals |
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Homa Bahrami arrived in the Bay Area as a postdoc, with a solid body of field research, having studied organizational systems of some of Europe’s largest multinational companies. These were the bedrock of the industrial age, largely built for stability and predictability, where change happened incrementally and periodically. The start-up culture of Silicon Valley turned all those assumptions “upside down” and led to her co-authorship with Stuart Evans, of Super-Flexibility for Knowledge Enterprises. The book and her class, Creating Effective Organizations in the Berkeley MBA for Executives program, as well as her executive courses on Accelerating Change Readiness and Agility focus on practical approaches for strategizing, organizing, and leading knowledge workers in today’s turbulent and unpredictable world. The entire world had a lesson in flexibility during the Covid-19 pandemic. How did you approach that in your teaching? The pandemic is the biggest inflection point I have lived through. So much changed all at once. I taught a class on campus on March 11, 2020, and the following Monday, I found myself teaching online. Although I had already taught several executive courses online, redesigning a semester-length course that was originally intended for the classroom took a lot of exploration and experimentation. I distilled and synthesized the core content of my courses and experimented with online opportunities for group discussion. These included polls, breakouts, and different forms of experience sharing, approaches that prompt self-reflection and group conversation. I also had to adjust my own expectations. I love informal conversations and the give-and-take of the classroom. I love the whiteboard, and opportunities to engage in less orchestrated discussions. There is less leeway for improvisation and detours online. I also realized that we all had to show up for online classes with a lot of energy and razor-sharp focus, primed and ready to engage. Unlike passively watching a movie, online teaching has to be very active and touch each individual in a personal way. How would you describe your teaching style? I love teaching and have three guiding principles: First, bridge the gap between knowing and doing so students know how to put their learnings into practice. Second, balance “push” and “pull”—in other words, share research-based tools and practices, but also help the students reflect on their own experiences. Finally, expose them to diverse views and experiences by inviting guest speakers from different backgrounds. I spend a lot of time thinking about who to invite and how the guests’ experiences can help us tune in to “live case studies.” For example, one of my recent guests was Jay Vijayan, the founder of Tekion, a tech unicorn. He shared how he adapted the disruptive ERP (enterprise resource planning) expertise he gained as the first CIO at Tesla to create a transformative system for car dealerships at Tekion. Another guest was InaMarie Johnson, chief People & Diversity Officer at Zendesk. She discussed how Zendesk is trying to set up the organizational infrastructure for hyper-growth, and develop an inclusive culture on a global basis. What is a favorite classroom exercise? Over the years I have developed a number of proprietary tools based on my field research and advisory work in Silicon Valley. One of my favorites explores an individual’s “adaptive DNA.” The concept describes an individual’s instinctive capacity to deal with change and uncertainty. We look at five distinctive adaptive capabilities: robustness, resilience, agility, hedging, and versatility. The diagnostic enables my students to hold up a mirror and think about their unique adaptive capabilities. I love to see their reactions when they get their survey results. It prompts them to reflect and personalizes the learning journey. What are the rewards of teaching Executive MBA students? A mentor once used an interesting metaphor. He said executive students have an extensive range of clothes—in other words their diverse and unique experiences—it is my job to give them coat hangers so they can organize and make sense of these experiences. “Coat hangers” refers to organizing principles, concepts, practices, tools, and frameworks. By combining the best of both, we forge a learning partnership, engage in robust debates, and learn together. It reflects Haas’ Student Always Defining Principle. What do you hope your students will take away from your classes? Three things: First is the ability to reflect on their own experiences and make sense of them. I hope they become more self-aware and develop a greater understanding of their organizations. Second, I give them a practical toolbox so they can address their daily challenges and opportunities, with flexibility and agility. Finally, I hope the course experience instills Confidence Without Attitude and helps them lead and succeed in today’s fluid world. The expertise and insight your professors bring helps deepen and enhance your MBA journey. By selecting a top school with top-notch professors, you maximize your experience.  Read more from the Take 5 with a professor series:
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10 Feb 2022, 08:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Self-reflection led alum to give back to Haas and beyond |
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Abhishek Sharma’s Berkeley Haas MBA orientation weekend remains a vivid memory. He was intimidated, fighting fear of rejection and his own perfectionism. During a case study session, he feared saying the wrong thing in front of the accomplished classmates he’d just met. “I was so wrong. When the session started, I saw firsthand how my classmates were inquisitive, collaborative, and curious about my contributions as well,” Abhishek, MBA 16, remembers. “All my fears vanished. I felt supported and empowered to be part of this new community.” The warmth of Abhishek’s classmates during his studies in the evening and weekend MBA program set the foundation for his journey of self-discovery — he’s since learned it’s okay to be imperfect, to trust his intuition, and to always give back. Most recently, he helped fund a male allyship course designed to help participants effectively show up for colleagues and peers from historically underrepresented groups. When the opportunity to help fund the course presented itself, Abhishek was thrilled. “It hit home on various levels,” he says. “I am interested in empowering groups and individuals who have gone through or are going through hardships.” He saw the passion coming through when he met with course instructors and student organizers and “felt lucky to support such a great initiative.” Self-reflection leads to desire to pay it forward Abhishek’s inner voice (plus the desirable weather and med-tech scene) led him to San Diego post graduation, where he found his dream job as a product manager at Dexcom and launched a product to help individuals manage Type 2 Diabetes. He also earned his certification as an Advanced Kundalini Yoga Instructor. During his yoga training, he had plenty of time for self-reflection. He realized the help he’d received from others throughout his life had changed his trajectory — from the hard work his parents put in to make ends meet after immigrating to the US, to scholarship opportunities and mentors who helped him through his education, and most recently, to kindness from strangers during his many travels. As a result, Abhishek made it his mission to pay it forward and created a long-term giving plan. In addition to helping fund the male allyship course in partnership with Haas Manbassadors, he helped Berkeley Haas expand the Outside-of-Bay-Area Grants program, which provides financial assistance to evening and weekend MBA students commuting from outside the nine Bay Area counties—something he once did himself. Abhishek also partnered with Education First, an organization founded by fellow Haas alum Chris Bryan, MBA 00, to focus on providing college scholarships to low-income high school students. A course, Artist’s Way by Julia Cameroon, inspired Abhishek to step outside of his comfort zone and start doing things alone that he’d usually done in groups such as going out to eat, to the movies, or on solo international travels. On one of those solo retreats, he had a breakthrough moment in which he realized he “didn’t need to chase after a never-ending journey of perfectionism” which opened him up to explore a more creative side of himself—taking up hobbies like stand-up comedy and journaling. Empowering others to take action While journaling during another solo trip to a Buddhist monastery in Germany, Abhishek wrote down the idea for his latest business venture Shake the Cosmos, a community based on the principles of Kundalini Yoga, and Ayurveda, and thriving on the beliefs of connection and mindfulness. “To me, ‘Shake the Cosmos’ means to take action and not just sit idle with what you want to accomplish in your life,” Abhishek says. “So of course, I shook the cosmos.” He felt called to start a podcast to share strategies for accomplishing goals and designing a fulfilling lifestyle. The podcast quickly became a platform to showcase the accomplishments of immigrants and people of color. Many individuals discover that after identifying their ‘true why’ they can look beyond the day-to-day and get into the mode of contributing in a much larger way.” Abhishek invited business and community leaders like Mike Sinyard and David Riemer to share their advice and success techniques. Businesses began to approach Abhishek with a request that he teach these same techniques at workshops. After fighting his own inner critic, he hosted several successful workshops and has shared his techniques globally with artists, professionals, executives, and retirees. “The techniques I teach empower people so they feel confident in their own identity, as well as participate actively in their support systems,” he says. “People have started making their ideas a reality, launching businesses and finding their true fulfilling calling life.” Most recently, Shake the Cosmos released a Vision Accelerator workbook: a step by step toolkit to transform your goals into reality. Shake the Cosmos encourage allyship Allyship is something personal for Abhishek which is evident in his work with Shake the Cosmos. “As an immigrant, a person of color, and a thriving young artist, I have been on both sides – needing the support of an ally and being an ally,” he says. “I feel it is part of my story to give back.” “The Shake the Cosmos community encourages individuals and companies to figure out their true north. Through the work we perform, individuals feel confident in their own identity and become empowered allies,” Abishek adds. “Many individuals discover that after identifying their ‘true why’ they can look beyond the day-to-day and get into the mode of contributing in a much larger way.” One of the Shake the Cosmos pillars is to create a blueprint of your support systems. Abhishek takes people through an activity where he asks, “What is the strongest force in your life or in this world?” The correct answer? Nature. “It is so powerful that it can destroy or create something in a split second,” he says. “I then highlight how nature has a support system of powerful elements: the sun, water, clouds, wind.” He asks participants who makes up their community:
Abhishek believes Berkeley Haas inspired and engrained the passion for allyship in him, through the defining leadership principle of Beyond Yourself. “A supportive action from an ally can take various forms, such as active listening, creating a safe space, and just being there for that person,” he says. “This can eventually extend into empowering the individual and the whole community, as this type of allyship can be infectiously inspiring.”  
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10 Feb 2022, 08:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Male allyship class builds awareness of gender equity issues |
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When I mention to someone on campus that I’m a “manbassador”—a portmanteau of “man” and “ambassador”—it usually elicits a curious chuckle. The Haas Manbassadors are part of the Women In Leadership club. We’re a group of students focused on building awareness around gender equity issues and providing tools for everyone to be a better ally. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging have entered the mainstream. Nonetheless, gender-based disparities persist in many of the workplaces and industries my classmates and I will enter upon graduating. Awareness is necessary but not sufficient for addressing inequities that impact womxn and other intersecting identity groups. That’s why this past fall, as one of Haas’ Manbassadors, I organized a class about male allyship designed to help participants effectively show up for colleagues and peers from historically underrepresented groups. Over the course of seven weeks, the twelve of us had wide-ranging conversations about topics like sponsorship (when a senior employee takes a vested interest in the career progression of a junior employee), covering (when a person either hides or downplays some aspect of themselves because they don’t want to feel uncomfortable), and amplification (proactively referencing someone’s name when talking about their original idea or contribution in order to give them credit). There is an important, if subtle, difference between not being part of the problem and actively being part of the solution." We were lucky enough to have Patrick Ford, MBA 17, as our weekly facilitator. Patrick started the Haas Manbassadors when he was a student in the full-time MBA program, and since then he has built out a consulting practice, Allies at Work, that trains “overrepresented” employees in how to become better allies. “I love being part of folks’ allyship journeys, and especially coming back to Haas and connecting with current students,” Patrick explains. “I see this class as a way for participants to better align their behavior with their existing values around equity and inclusion. I find that it’s often unclear for folks how to best do that, and the class is designed to support that exploration, which is both unique to each individual and also has common, universal themes.” The course was also made possible in part through a sponsorship by Abhishek Sharma, MBA 16. Four years after he graduated from the evening and weekend program at Haas, Abhishek started Shake the Cosmos, a community based on the principles of Kundalini Yoga, Ayurveda, and the beliefs of connection and mindfulness.  Abhishek, dialing in from India via Zoom, delivers a short workshop to the class on support systems. “To me, ‘Shake the Cosmos’ means to take action and not just sit idle with what you want to accomplish in your life,” Abhishek says. “The techniques I teach empower people so they feel confident in their own identity, as well as participate actively in their support systems.” He chose to partner with Manbassadors because the Male Allyship course “hit home on various levels.” “Allyship is something personal for me,” he says. “As an immigrant, a person of color, and a thriving young artist, I have been on both sides – needing the support of an ally and being an ally. I feel it is part of my story to give back.” Luckily, the class drew participants from all corners of campus. Mukunda Sastry, MBA 22, President of Digital Media and Entertainment Club and Director of Operations for Haas’ student-run course Dialogues on Race, found the course to be therapeutic. “Having an intimate space at Haas to discuss topics surrounding male allyship was incredibly powerful for my own development,” explains Mukundha. “This class gave me the confidence to create additional spaces with my male peers at Haas and beyond to share, reflect, and grow.” Seroja Boyakhchian, MBA 22, took the class to have a space each week to take on a completely different mindset than other classes. "The Male Allyship class was one of my favorites this semester because we got to dig far below the surface level of some really important issues that we will have to grapple with,” Seroja says. “Having a space where gender, race, culture, and identities were the center of the problem-solving instead of at the margins meant that we could have some real conversations about where and how making inroads on those issues could start with us." To me, there is an important, if subtle, difference between not being part of the problem and actively being part of the solution. Not being part of the problem is a passive stance that can, intentionally or not, allow existing inequities to remain stubbornly, and structurally, entrenched. Being part of the solution, on the other hand, is a proactive approach that aims to both interrupt and repair historical injustice. My hope is that this male allyship class provided some of my peers with the insights, tools, and community to proactively advance gender equity solutions at Haas and beyond. This 1-unit course meets once a week and will continue to be offered each fall.  
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24 Feb 2022, 08:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Jon Metzler connects people and places in ways that foster innovation |
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Jon Metzler brings insights and experience to his classes in strategy and competitive advantage in technology markets. And a fierce loyalty to UC Berkeley, where he earned a joint MBA and Masters in Asian Studies. Prior to coming to Haas as a student, he had worked for several years in Japan. Throughout his career, he has been involved in business launches ranging from print to online media to wireless infrastructure, and from edtech to events and services. In addition to teaching, Metzler is president and founder of Blue Field Strategies, a consulting firm helping infrastructure companies harness and accelerate innovation. Your class, Strategy for the Networked Economy, is cross-listed as an elective for both full-time and evening students. What are your observations about teaching students for the two programs in a single class? I really appreciate having both groups of students in class. They bring a host of different perspectives, and that gives them all the opportunity to learn from each other. Typically, the class is pretty evenly balanced between evening/weekend and full-time students. Each group brings its own backgrounds and perspectives. The full-time students tend to be more geographically and occupationally diverse and are often in a more reflective space, particularly if they are looking to transition careers. The evening students, because they are in the thick of it on the job, bring a lot of insights and questions that are pertinent to their current jobs. There can be an urgency to the questions asked by the evening students, who want to use the answers on the job next week, or perspectives they can share in an interview! Of course, the same could be said of the questions full-time students ask when they are in the midst of interviewing for jobs and internships. We really do get a mix of poets and quants, and each brings something different to the classroom." Your new elective has an intriguing name: Clusters: Locations, Ecosystems & Opportunity. What is it about? I have long been interested in the geography of jobs and the intersection of place and work. My MBA/MA thesis related to the concept of regional advantage, and that’s been a consistent thread in my career, whether it involved cross-border (usually transpacific) business or even within the US, such as connecting Silicon Valley and Washington DC. Covid-19 added a layer of new work opportunities. I wondered if remote work from home, wherever home might be, would be a meaningful, long-term opportunity for mid-tier cities. Even attracting just a few innovators, or even one growth company, can make a big difference for a regional economy. A famous example is Microsoft, while it was still a startup, moving to Seattle from New Mexico, which helped create an environment that later attracted Amazon. It is a small class, which allows us to go deep in our discussions. There is an almost even mix of US and international students, and we incorporate their interests, reflections, and backgrounds in our discussions. We look at both US domestic examples, like Pittsburgh, Napa, and Raleigh-Durham, and international cities, such as Dubai and Shenzhen. The final assignment is writing an augmentation plan to help a mid-tier city improve its competitive footing relative to more established clusters like Silicon Valley, Boston, or New York. You have taught the core Strategy class. What are the differences in teaching an elective or a core class? Everyone is here by choice. Even me. I made a mid-career choice to teach. I felt I had something to give to the next generation of business leaders. I also feel strongly about giving back, in particular giving back to Berkeley Haas where I got my MBA/MA-Asian Studies. In first coming back to teach, I had proposed teaching on strategy in telecom and media, and on business in Japan, and was able to find opportunities to teach on both topics. So, I started with electives. The students are very motivated and bring an intensity and passion to the subject matter. Teaching the core was intense in a different way. First, teaching two sections of the core means meeting half of the class! That’s fantastic. It’s clear the FTMBA 2022 class will do great things. It also presented a bit of an active memory challenge. Most of all, though, I loved the diversity. We really do get a mix of poets and quants, and each brings something different to the classroom. Teaching the core also helped renew my appreciation of the intensity of the core experience, something I had experienced as an MBA many moons ago. Tell us about your involvement with the Berkeley SkyDeck business accelerator. These days, I serve as a kind of funnel. I solve a navigation problem, connecting start-ups and students with mentors, as well as connecting firms with entrepreneurs at SkyDeck, or sending them toward another department or program. SkyDeck is a tremendous advantage. It offers tremendous support and resources to people who know they want to be entrepreneurs. More broadly, it is a magnet for people and firms who are curious about the entrepreneurial ecosystem at Berkeley. Unlike some other accelerators, it is multidisciplinary, and represents the diversity of activity at Berkeley, whether business, engineering, chemistry, etc. What advice would you give a prospective student? Come visit! When I was applying for my MBA, I visited Berkeley and another campus. It wasn’t just the warm sun cascading over the hills and the bridge view that attracted me, though, of course that helped, especially coming from the Midwest. It was warm welcome I got from students and staff that convinced me to come. When visitors come to my classes, I introduce them, and try to involve them in the discussion as appropriate. The students do the same; they are our best and most authentic ambassadors. The expertise and insight your professors bring helps deepen and enhance your MBA journey. By selecting a top school with top-notch professors, you maximize your experience. Read more from the Take 5 with a professor series:
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22 Mar 2022, 07:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Brandi Pearce reflects on teams as a sandbox for cultivating collective and individual development |
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From Global Fortune 500 organizations to the classroom, Brandi Pearce delves into how collaborative dynamics—simply put, teamwork—drive innovation, employee engagement, and belonging. Whether she is teaching the core Leading People class or the elective Leading High-Impact Teams or directing the co-curricular Teams@Haas program, she aims to inspire and empower students to lead teams that create value for their organizations in the future. How would you describe your teaching style? My guiding principle, learning with and through others, informs how I approach the classroom and all of my work in leadership and teamwork. In practice, that means building an interactive classroom, one that pulls forward students’ curiosity and self-discovery. I love case studies as a way to bridge evidence and practice. Lab-based exercises allow students to use and think through a skill, followed by debriefing and talking about the theory and the science of what they have just done. I encourage reflective practices. In the first session of the core Leading People class, for example, students work in threes to discuss and reflect on the kind of leader they want to be and where they hope to develop while at Haas. We capture that information in a survey, and, instead of reporting back about themselves, they share what they learned about their peers. On the last day of class, we return to the same questions to see whether and how their perceptions of how they want to lead people have shifted based on what they discovered during the course. Haas is a sandbox for students to explore their own self-awareness." What is Teams@Haas, and why is it important? Students in all of our MBA programs are placed in academic teams—what the students historically called study groups. These groups are designed to give every student opportunities to connect with people from different backgrounds who have varied functional roles and who have lived in and experienced different places and cultures. Teams@Haas supports those teams in learning to think systematically and intentionally about how to launch and cultivate a team over time. The program has specific objectives and goals. Teams@Haas encourages learning through practice. It is a sandbox for students to explore their own collaborative leadership qualities. Originally developed for the Full-Time MBA program, it now encompasses the Evening & Weekend MBA and MBA for Executives programs as well. Teams@Haas is essential to achieving our intention to develop leaders who can work across a variety of environments and with a diversity of people. How do your teaching, consulting, and research influence each other? It’s exciting to be at Haas. Our students are interested in what’s next, what’s around the corner. They keep me on the forefront of how teams are evolving, where they are headed. That sparks my curiosity about ideas I want to research and explore. For example, I developed a new module on leading sustainable organizations for this year’s Leading People class because students were so focused on sustainability. It was interesting to learn about that space, to identify gaps in the current knowledge base. Earlier in my career, I spent time researching teams embedded in structures that did not have an overarching hierarchy, like alliance teams. When Covid-19 and remote work hit us, teams that once were embedded in a structured environment had to become more fluid and dynamic. How will that change as people return to offices? How do leaders think and talk about bringing people back? Remote work changed teamwork, and not just because there is no embodied experience in Zoom meetings. Research, including that done by my colleague David Holtz, demonstrates that communication is more insular and siloed among teams working remotely. Another aspect of remote work is the ability to reach and hire a more diverse pool of applicants. This has significant implications for organizations and leaders orienting us to the importance of being more intentional in how people connect and share information, particularly when they are not physically co-located. Every shift in how organizations function brings new leadership opportunities and challenges. How would you describe Berkeley Haas MBA students? Three things come to mind. First is curiosity. They are looking for—and often creating—the next frontier. I appreciate that attribute and value it in a leader. Second is intentionality. Students come to Berkeley Haas because they care about building businesses that create not just market value, but value for people and society. Lastly, that our students are divergent thinkers. They really do Question the Status Quo. I am constantly amazed at the wide swath of their endeavors and ideas. What do you hope students will take away from your classes? If I had to choose one takeaway, it would be reflexivity because it reinforces so many outcomes of teamwork. By reflexivity, I mean the capacity of a team to step back and reflect on its own strategies, goals, and dynamics, and then to create strategies for the team’s continued development. It is a powerful process to motivate behavior, align action, and close gaps in understanding that ultimately power both self-and collective awareness. More broadly, I hope students continue to think deeply about the nature of teamwork in the organizations they lead. To ask themselves: what are their teams trying to accomplish? In what context are they embedded? What are the social implications of both of those things? The answers to those questions change how leaders approach their teams. A team designed for innovation, for example, needs to be comfortable with trial-and-error, failure, and iteration. A team focused on efficiency might want to prioritize structure, coordination, and communication to promote effectiveness. Ultimately, when teams serve as a sandbox for both team and individual development, leaders are poised to not only reach their team performance targets but to simultaneously create space for personal growth and engagement—creating value for individuals, teams, and their organization. The expertise and insight your professors bring helps deepen and enhance your MBA journey. By selecting a top school with top-notch professors, you maximize your experience. Read more from the Take 5 with a professor series:
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19 Apr 2022, 07:00
| FROM Haas Admissions Blog: Sean Foote scores in venture capital and private equity and in the classroom |
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Forget that old saying, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” Sean Foote is one of many Berkeley Haas teachers who excel at doing and teaching. Indeed, he knows that teaching classes in venture capital and private equity makes him a better investor, most recently as co-founder and managing director of Transform Capital. Foote also advises corporations on establishing and managing their corporate VC businesses. Previously, at Labrador Ventures, an early-stage technology venture firm, he participated in investments in firms like Hotmail, Pandora, and RocketFuel. How do you teach a subject like Venture Capital and Private Equity? I get asked that a lot, but usually the question is framed more like: “Aren’t all VCs just greedy, egotistical people? How do you teach that?” Of course, we aren’t, and that’s not what we teach. We teach how to value a company, how to understand the terms of a company. These are things that most people don’t do well enough, things that can lead to multi-million-dollar losses if you get them wrong. Picking companies is the least important thing we can teach. Most MBA students are already trained on opportunity recognition: Do the numbers make sense? What is the market? What we teach is the difference between recognizing an opportunity and recognizing an investment. Mostly we strive to teach, and model, partnership. The ability to function in a partnership is vital in VC. Most VC firms are not hierarchical. To be effective, you need to be able to interact firmly, fairly, and genuinely to achieve an objective. The class is one big partnership, and the students form smaller partnerships among themselves. Do the partnerships make investments? No, because we don’t have capital. If anyone wants us to give us capital, I’m on LinkedIn! We encourage and teach a VC mindset. We use the internal documents and workings of a list of private companies that have given us permission to share. Here’s an example of VC mindset: The media celebrate unicorn companies that are raising, say, $200 million at a $1 billion valuation. As a VC, my reaction to that news is not fawning over the valuation, it’s wanting to know why they need to raise $200 million. If the company could have grown without that money, the earlier investors would have made more money. I’m much more interested in what could be called “bamboo” companies. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth. Bamboo persists through drought, flood, locusts. A company that needs few resources, is tenacious and grows fast—If that’s not the definition of what a successful start-up should be, I don’t know what is. We should celebrate bamboo companies, not unicorns. How do you bring the VC mindset into the classroom? To begin with, I co-teach with Terry Oppendyk and, this year, with Keval Desai. Among the three of us, our median experience in VC is 20 years. We also bring in speakers from super-successful brand names in VC, like Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer, and NEA. We also engage with VC firms that are taking a different approach to VC, like Precursor, Autotech Ventures, and Quora. The best way to know your business is to teach your business." Who takes your class? Entrepreneurs? Bankers? Certainly, we get entrepreneurs who want to learn how the other side—VCs—think. And we have a share of people who want to work in VC. There also are a lot of people who take the class because they find themselves at the epicenter of the most transformative form of investment in the last 20 years—Silicon Valley -- and figure they should learn about that while they are here. But, in my opinion, learning this stuff is important no matter your job. Corporations, nonprofits, government agencies all have to face the challenge of fostering innovation and creating change that lasts. There’s a whole shelf of books devoted to innovation in the two remaining bookstores in the United States, and I can boil all of them down to “emulate the VC industry.” Like a VC, CEOs and managers need to figure out how to allocate resources to foster innovation even if the failure rate is high. How do you make it acceptable in a multinational company or government agency to fail a lot, to take risk? Imagine a company trying to develop a new widget. The company has the choice to put 50 people on a single team pursuing a single idea, or to field 10 teams of five people looking at 10 different solutions. Which approach is most likely to uncover the best innovation? What are the rewards of teaching? The best way to know your business is to teach your business. When else would I have the chance to sit back and think deeply about where my industry is headed? Teaching also makes me a better investor, again because I am thinking about what I do and how to explain it. I teach because people fascinate me. The amazing and the awful exists in every person, and we all struggle to be the best elixir that comes from that messy brew. There are 72 students in our class, and I know everyone’s name. Knowing someone’s name is the basis to making a relationship human. And selfishly, I like a stage. Growing up I was on the debate team. I was in every play and musical. Teaching is also performing. The expertise and insight your professors bring helps deepen and enhance your MBA journey. By selecting a top school with top-notch professors, you maximize your experience. Read more from the Take 5 with a professor series:
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 11:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai Watch earlier episodes of DI series below EP1: 6 Hardest Two-Part Analysis Questions EP2: 5 Hardest Graphical Interpretation Questions  ➡️ Sayali narrates her experience of succeeding on the GMAT after 4 attempts & 2 years of preparations with 32 percentile improvement on GMAT verbal.
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
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