Here at Haas

H@H: AtB Ep 3 – Co-Founder of Two Grahams Capital, LLC Graham Bode, current Haas student soon to graduate, chats with hosts Paulina Lee and Paul Bryzek. Graham shares his Haas story, an entrepreneurial journey including quitting his cushy corporate job to pursue his own ventures full time. He initially was very skeptical of the entire space, but quickly became immersed with blockchain technology and its market dynamics. Graham is an expert at detecting inefficiencies in markets and capitalizing on them through automated arbitrage. He breaks down his strategies for dealing with the high risk and volatility in the crypto market by adhering to frameworks and fundamentals.

On his journey and why apply to Haas

“I ended up applying to Haas. It was the only business school I applied to with the intent to really delve deep on the blockchain side. So, for the two years prior to. Ultimately coming to Haas, I had fallen really deep down to the blockchain rabbit hole..”

On losing passwords to your wallet

“This is one of the costs of a system like this, a decentralized system that has no intermediaries means that the participant has Not just the right to retrieve their assets and to transact without any intermediaries. There's also a responsibility that comes with that.”

On the educational opportunities through B@B

“What I've learned is not to second guess what the signals are that the market's giving you. And one of those examples is NFTs.”

In this episode, we talk to two faculty members who are driving the effort to integrate sustainability and social impact topics into the curriculum at Haas through both the core curriculum and electives.

Dave Rochlin, the Executive Director of the Innovation, Creativity, and Design Practice at Berkeley Haas joins us first. He teaches a new applied innovation elective called Designing Tech for Good, recently featured in Haas News.

He shares why he created this class, the role business leaders play in shaping public policy, and his ideas for the future of sustainability at Haas.

We then sit down with Panos Patatoukas to hear more about how fundamental MBA classes like finance and accounting can transform the mindset of future leaders. Panos is an Associate Professor at Haas.

Can accountants save the world? (Panos)

36:51 - ​If I can find ways to make it easier for great people to get finance and execute their vision, and come up with great technology, I think that will be a success for me, right? But it's going to be really, the question is how do we get these incredible people to innovate. And I think that's really the role of management.

Where do you see the US markets going in terms of disclosure? (Panos)

34:23 - I don't want to make predictions, but you know, the trend that I see is more convergence as opposed to divergence in the way we think, across the globe. And I think that's driven by investors. I think the investor base is globalized and investors demand I think more clarity in terms of the way companies are reporting their activities and in terms of the way they fund portfolios and to make decisions. 

What do you want students to take away from your course (Dave)

22:51 - How to be more creative around problem-solving. We do have some design thinking built into the course and some systems thinking. And so, suspending the idea that you can solve the problem right away and thinking much more creatively about possibilities is something that we definitely put into the course and make sure the projects consider.

• Dave Rochlin’s Faculty Profile 
• Dave Rochlin on LinkedIn
• Panos Patatoukas Faculty Profile
• Panos Patatoukas on LinkedIn
• Panos Patatoukas on Twitter

Haas has launched the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business to empower new leaders to create the economic and social transition to a climate-resilient, low-carbon, and equitable future.

The Michaels Certificate in Sustainable Business will equip aspiring leaders to evaluate operational and strategic decisions using a sustainability lens.

In this episode, we’ll hear from Kat Baird, the Associate Director of Sustainability at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business who will break down the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business for us. 

We get into why Haas decided to launch this certificate, what Michaels Certificate aims to achieve, and the basic requirements.

Then we move to focus on one of the eligible electives in the Michaels Certificate: Business, Labor, and Global Supply Chains, with Sanchita B. Saxena. She teaches that class and is the Executive Director at the Institute for South Asia Studies at UC Berkeley. 

Sanchita will tell us more about this elective, three top takeaways that she wants students to walk away with after taking it, her background in the garment industry and what parts of that she brings to her class, and the role of business schools in sustainability. 

Why start the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business?: Kat

[00:03:27] - We want to make sure that whatever we're doing, that every student who comes to Haas at minimum leaves with a basic understanding of how climate change, social and environmental sustainability, and environmental justice are a key part of being a business leader today. So that's why we're really working as broadly as we can to demonstrate and to integrate the fact that sustainability applies across all areas of business: Marketing, finance and investment, human resources, leadership. 

A glimpse into some of the curriculum: Kat

[00:17:09] - As an elective, you could take Corporate Sustainability: Measuring and Reporting so that in the future, you would know how to share this information with your company or with your board. And then to finish it, you can have a hands-on learning experience where you take Clean Tech to Market to really work with renewable energy startups and create industry partnerships in the startup and in the energy industry for you as you move forward in your career.

A bit on Sanchita's class Business, Labor, and Global Supply Chains: Sanchita

[00:33:26] - We look at examples of different initiatives, but we also look at the limitations and why they are not necessarily as effective as we would expect. And then we go into looking at other factors that may be important when analyzing labor abuses or trying to rectify labor abuses, that go beyond private sector monitoring, and we look at the role of technology. 

• Kat Baird on Linkedin
• Sanchita B. Saxena on Linkedin
• Sanchita B. Saxena’s Website

Welcome to Sustainability at Haas mini series, a podcast looking at how the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business is shaping the next generation of sustainable business leaders. In 5 episodes, we will share with you perspectives from the Dean, faculty, students, alumni, and staff about how UC Berkeley is developing sustainability in its core. 

For our first episode, we have two very special guests: Haas School of Business Dean, Ann Harrison and the Executive Director of Sustainability at Haas, Michele de Nevers.

In this conversation, we will be learning about Haas’ vision for leading the effort to reshape how business schools think and teach about sustainability, climate change, and the exciting courses and offerings at Berkeley Haas.

Dean Ann Harrison on the MBA students:

32:49 - One other thing I really love about our MBA students, and I should say our Berkeley Haas MBA students, is that they solve problems in real-time that are important for the world.

That's where our students get their energy. That's why we need them. We need their courage to engage in these kinds of transformational changes that will save our planet. And the answers aren't just going to come from the government, they're not going to come just from the amazing research of our faculty. We're all going to have to work together on this.

Sustainable values have been in business for centuries (Dean Harrison):

09:54 - If you look back 100, 150 years ago, in fact, business leaders were not following a shareholder maximization model. They were really following more a model of stakeholder capitalism. They contributed to their communities. They clearly saw beyond the bottom line. They understood that if you want to be successful over generations, then you need to think about the wellbeing of your community, your nation, your people, and your physical environment and natural capital. They thought about inclusion. 

Where is sustainability needed most? (Michele)

34:18 - When students say to me, I want to work on sustainability, what should I do? I say everything. We do need new startups in renewable energy. We do need impact investments. But perhaps more importantly, we need our students to lead a transformation in existing legacy companies like oil and gas companies or consumer product companies or banks, and the financial sector or steel, cement, et cetera.

There are so many opportunities for our students to make a difference, and there is a reason for optimism. And I think our students are among those reasons. 

• Dean Ann E. Harrison’s Faculty Profile at Haas School of Business
• Dean Ann E. Harrison on LinkedIn
• Michele de Nevers on LinkedIn
• Michele de Nevers on Twitter

H@H: AtB Ep 2 – Co-presidents of Blockchain @ Berkeley Darya Kaviani and Ratan Kaliani, some of the most connected blockchain students who can be found across campus, chat with hosts Paulina Lee and Paul Bryzek and share their extensive knowledge in the Blockchain space. Like a fire hose, these guests provide a fast stream of knowledge on tap! This episode is packed with blockchain fundamentals, evolution, startups, and how this innovative technology continues to define the rapidly changing web3 space.

When to and not to use blockchain?

• Do you want your system to be interoperable long term? Is decentralization a core component of your system? Do you want your data to be immutable?
• There isn’t a point in having a blockchain system without giving ownership to your community at some level.
• One of our former heads of consulting created this incredible flowchart and published it which essentially walks you through the process of narrowing it down to do I even need a database to if I should be using blockchain as that database.

On innovative startups that have come out of Blockchain Accelerator

“In all Accelerator companies of which there have been 85 total over the past three years since they started, I started back in January 2018, have raised over $420 million in follow on funding since joining the accelerator, the vast majority of the companies had raised no money before joining.” – Ratan Kaliani

On the educational opportunities through B@B

“We have an edX that has had over 200,000 students internationally, and we teach two classes here on. Our fundamentals course, as well as our developers’ course. And our objective with the education department is really to make blockchain technology as accessible to as many communities as possible around the world.” – Darya Kaviani

On Launching B@B Grants

“We just launched B@B Grants at blockchain.berkeley.edu/grants which we’re really excited about. We partnered with BitDAO, which is help funding the initiative. Our first wave is over $250k of dilutive and non-dilutive grants”. - Darya Kaviani

H@H: AtB Ep 1 - Professor Maura O'Neill chats with hosts Paulina Lee and Paul Bryzek to share her extensive expertise and knowledge in the Blockchain space, originating with her early work in mobile money payments as she served as Chief Innovation Officer under the Obama Administration. Listen as Professor O’Neill takes us on a journey through the web3 space, how geo-political events including the Russia-Ukraine escalation are impacting the future of blockchain.

Maura’s 3 Big Trends in Blockchain:

1. Supply Chain Transparency
2. Crypto: “Bitcoin is to crypto what the US dollar is to global financial markets.”
3. NFTs: “NFTs are the answer to the question, ‘how do we create new intellectual property protection schemes?’”

On why business school:

“You know what I'd encourage people, listeners, is I just knew in my gut, I didn't know why, but I knew that's where it should be. And I'd say it's the best decision I've ever made in my life.”

On being appointed by Obama as the first Chief Innovation Officer:

“The idea is the more stable and prosperous and fair and free, we can help other countries to be, and really build that capability, the less likely that we'll have failed states.”

On why the Fed is taking a strong look at Stablecoins:

“And I know we're having unprecedented inflation, but we're not having 10,000% inflation as they were in Venezuela, when their currency became completely worthless”

H@H: AtB Ep 1 - Professor Maura O'Neill chats with hosts Paulina Lee and Paul Bryzek to share her extensive expertise and knowledge in the Blockchain space, originating with her early work in mobile money payments as she served as Chief Innovation Officer under the Obama Administration. Listen as Professor O’Neill takes us on a journey through the web3 space, how geo-political events including the Russia-Ukraine escalation are impacting the future of blockchain.

Maura’s 3 Big Trends in Blockchain:

1. Supply Chain Transparency
2. Crypto: “Bitcoin is to crypto what the US dollar is to global financial markets.”
3. NFTs: “NFTs are the answer to the question, ‘how do we create new intellectual property protection schemes?’”

On why business school:

“You know what I'd encourage people, listeners is I just knew in my gut, I didn't know why, but I knew that's where it should be. And I'd say it's the best decision I've ever made in my life.”

On being appointed by Obama as the first Chief Innovation Officer:

“The idea is the more stable and prosperous and fair and free, we can help other countries to be, and really build that capability, the less likely that we'll have failed states.”

On why the Fed is taking a strong look at Stablecoins:

“And I know we're having unprecedented inflation, but we're not having 10,000% inflation as they were in Venezuela when their currency became completely worthless”

Welcome to Around the Block @ Haas, a Here@Haas podcast focused on all things Blockchain on Berkeley's campus. Meet your co-hosts, Paulina Lee and Paul Bryzek!

H@H: Ep 77 – Newly elected EWMBA Association EVP for Communications, Marissa Maliwanag joins host, Adam Ward on this week’s episode of Here@Haas. Marissa shares why her passion for serving her community led her to run for the EWMBA Association Executive Board, why intersectionality is so important to her, and why her vacation reading material was a sign that she should embark on the MBA.

Marissa shares one of the lightbulb moments pointing her to the MBA

“I was on vacation with some friends and a girlfriend pointed out that I was reading HBR [Harvard Business Review] to relax and have fun. And she said, ‘That's not how you're supposed to read on vacation!’ And so for me, recognizing that at that moment, if I'm still on vacation, relaxing and still trying to grow, I really needed to be in an environment that would foster that.”

Why serving her local community is so deeply rooted

“My dad had this saying growing up that charity starts at home. What he meant by that was before you go and try and change the whole world, can you do something just for our family?

Can you do something for our local community that would make a difference? And that stuck with me. One example he used regularly was: Can you just call your grandparents? Like they would be so happy to hear from you and that doesn't cost you anything. So just something as simple as that. I moved to Berkeley for my MBA and this is my new home and I wanted to serve.”

Why diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice is so critical to her mission

“I’m mixed, so I’m half Filipino and mostly Italian. I grew up in California and I'm close with both sides of my family and I never felt different in my own family. But then when I went on to study sciences, then maybe I was one of the few women in the room, and then in business that happens again. Maybe you're the only woman and the only person of color in the room.

And I think that I didn't recognize that that was unique or that I was doing that at such a young age until it was pointed out to me. What I always think about is if I'm going to rise, how can I help bring up others around me?”

• LinkedIn

H@H Ep. 76 - Bob Wang, EW MBA Student talks about his journey from the Czech Republic to Vancouver and explains how his problem-solving mindset has brought him this far. He recalls how his upbringing and seeing his entrepreneurial parents taught him about the freedom and limitations of being your own boss.

Find out how he used these skills to start Legacy Advantage, a company he founded by identifying a problem and creating a solution that works twice as well. In this episode, Bob offers practical advice on how to use technology to streamline bookkeeping processes, hiring, salaries, and incentives. 

Discover how he is helping others find the Road to the C-Suite with his peer mentoring and accountability group!

Why Bob Wang chose Haas for his MBA

[00:03:21] I really enjoyed it, but I want to learn how to run a larger and larger business, a hundred-person business, a thousand-person business, a 10,000 person business. And there are different skill sets that I would need along the way, so, that's why I chose Haas.

Starting Legacy Advantage by identifying a problem he wants to solve

[00:04:37] So, what was weird is that the business owner actually had to pay for the bookkeeping to be done twice. One, somewhat accurately done by the bookkeeper, and then once again, by the accountants to fix it up. So, there are inefficiencies there. And with cloud technology, you can make this very manual in a way, high-volume business profitable. So, that's what I did. I created a services business, specialized in the bookkeeping aspect, that was able to employ high professionals and use technology to increase their efficiency. So, my team members were 1.5 to two times more productive than my competitors at the time.

Entrepreneurship is about having control and managing risks

[00:06:34] Entrepreneurship is not about taking on risks. It's about managing risk. Learning how to mitigate risk. There are a lot of risks. Sure. But it's not like you should go and seek it. The entrepreneurs, try their best to mitigate it as much as possible. And the way I view that is, within entrepreneurship, if you start a business, you really have control over everything.

• LinkedIn Profile