Here at Haas

H@H: Ep 75 - MBA student and BD and partnership lead at Visa, Alex Holden, was first introduced to professional sports by his grandfather, who gave him a Steve Young jersey. Since then, Alex knew he wanted to pursue a career in sports. As a child, he became fascinated with how players are chosen, traded, and the work that goes beyond brand partnerships. 

Adam and Alex discuss Alex's love for professional sports, and how he has successfully carved out a successful career for himself in the field he enjoys. Listen in as they talk about competitive advantage, sports management, and how American sports reflect American culture. 

Haas’ MBA program stays true to its commitment to diversity

[00:05:25] I find that there is such a great diversity of thought. For me, all these MBA programs where they are sharing and talking up how much diversity they had, this and that, I look at this stuff and say, “All right, let's see really what it's like”. I was really so happily surprised that Haas really put their money where their mouth is. I'm surrounded by not just people from different backgrounds, and different countries, and different experiences. Well, look at the same problem in completely different ways. In class, we have 70 different opinions to solve the same problem.

Professional sports bringing American communities together

[00:09:10] I can tell you working in sports, being around professionals, that's just such a small percentage of what's going on. Sports is about family. Sports is about bringing people together, lifting people up. In this day and age, I mean, what other things can bring communities with absolutely nothing together, just wearing the same colors for, you know, one particular day? Being surrounded by a community of like-minded, ambitious individuals who will push you to be the best vision of yourself was very attractive to me.

American Football reflects the American mindset about teams

[00:11:00] Now, the interesting thing about football is, it was played in the late 18 hundreds, but it really rose in popularity closer to World War I. And when you think about the game itself, the lines, right? The offensive line defense alliance pushing against each other, unfortunately, was very similar to trench warfare. But the interesting thing about the game itself is that a lot of the ideals are American ideals. It's the team first. We can do this together, if we work harder, stronger, faster. We can have competitive advantages if we are more strategic than the other. Teams can have these competitive advantages.

The media and entertainment is a growing and ever-evolving industry

[00:34:09] For me in my journey, my immediate step is, I'm trying to round out that profile by perhaps getting a little more onto the media side of sports. Or getting onto more of the media side of entertainment, media technology side. So video gaming is an industry, of course, to think about. Think direct to consumer companies. Think audio. Absolutely. I mean, the podcast industry is growing like crazy. You know, here we are. So much growth and innovation in that space.

• Alex Holden on LinkedIn

H@H: Ep 74 - When you're facing too many challenges in a competitive career market, what can you do to stand out? For Kevin Truong, a first-generation college student who came from an immigrant family, it's having a persistent attitude towards career and life as a whole.

Kevin has always lived an interesting life since he was diagnosed with dwarfism at 4, which stunted his physical development. His condition may have given him limitations and attracted very few friends, but it only made him grow stronger and tougher internally. Through his focus and determination in his goals, he has unknowingly inspired many people at school and work.

Kevin has earned two associate degrees alongside his high school diploma and scholarship grant. He's in his final year as a Business Administration student at UC Berkeley Haas and is pursuing a career in investment banking at Credit Suisse. 

In this episode, Kevin opens up about his unique experiences and shares how he faced his greatest fear of getting employed after college.

On choosing Haas business program

[00:9:14] What attracted me to Haas is the practical nature of what you learn. I want my education to be applicable to whatever I do in the future. And what I've learned at Haas has been pretty useful to my future job and career path. I got to experience firsthand beginning my freshman year the Haas community, which is very collaborative. There's a lot of people in Haas and UC Berkeley in general, doing very awesome things. Everyone here is very motivated, ambitious to pursue whatever they want to do. And being surrounded by a community of like-minded ambitious individuals who will push you to be the best vision of yourself was very attractive to me.

On joining Capital Investments at Berkeley 

I honestly did not expect to get into the club at all. I definitely did not have a perfect interview by any means, but I was interviewed by the president and a guy who had become my mentor in the club at that time. And I think he, later on, told me that despite my lack of finance experience, they really took my background into account. They knew I was first-generation and did not have any family that worked in business or finance before. Despite not knowing that much, they were impressed by how much I knew. They could tell that I was hardworking and it would contribute positively to the club. I'm really grateful for them taking a chance on me.

How CIB helped Kevin prepare for the finance industry

[00:17:33] We have a very well-developed financial education curriculum. We do pitches and invest in our members' pitches. And it's these experiences that really helped me hone my technical finance skills. If I hadn't gotten into this club, I would've had to learn all of this on my own time, and that would've been much more difficult. But because I went through this program that the club provides, and I'm surrounded by people who have had internships, who know about all these things, it really helped. I'm really grateful for this club taking a chance on me, and I do my best to give back and pass on what I know and help out a lot of the younger members.

On mentoring first-generation students through Matriculate

[00:20:36] Matriculate provides free college advising and mentorship to low-income, high-achieving high school students all across the nation. I act as an advising fellow, basically meet with them weekly, and help them with their college list, making a testing plan, helping them write their essays, helping them apply to scholarships. It's like walking them through the entire process because most of these students are first-generation like me and don't have any idea how. And for me, I just love giving back and helping people, especially those from similar backgrounds as me. 

• Kevin Truong on LinkedIn
• Capital Investments at Berkeley 
• Matriculate Advising Fellow

H@H: Ep 73 - Yannell Selman chats with host, Paulina Lee to share her journey from coast-to-coast and how her previous venture inspired her latest company, Cultiveit. Listen to the end to hear this female founder’s tips for preventing burnout!

This week’s episode is in partnership with two other clubs at Haas: Haas Venture Capital Club (HVCC) and Berkeley Entrepreneurship Association (BEA) who are hosting Pitch Nights as a way for student founders and investors to get hands-on experience. Yannell is the latest winner of best pitch!

On why education:

“I feel like education really forms our worldview and helps us understand what is true. And it's such a defining experience. One of my favorite things about working in education is that everybody has a story - relating to education - whether it's their own story, their parents' story. So it's just such a unifier in so many ways if you're able to access it.”

On what Cultiveit is solving for:

“We're realizing that burnout traditionally has been thought of as a medical problem. The burden has been on the individual as a patient to get better through self-care. And there's now a shift in thinking about burnout as a managerial problem and a team culture problem...The symptoms, we see it in individuals, but it happens at a company level, it happens at a team level. And so what are the managerial solutions to burnout? If you’re a leader, how can you prevent burnout?”

Advice for our newest Haasies:

“Do the thing you're not good at already. If you're a quant, it's so easy to just spend all your time in quant roles. And if you're a poet, to do all the soft skills classes and to really just feel like you're shining. There's value to that; there's a place for that. I don't think the MBA is the place for that. This is the place to go outside your comfort zone, try something new, fail a lot, and fall back on this incredible Haas community that we have. So don't do the thing that you normally would do; do the thing that you've always wanted to dip your toe into, but haven't.”

Meet your 4 hosts for Season 2 of Here@Haas:

Paulina Lee, Ray Guan, Nick Gerwe, & Adam Ward

The team chats about why they got involved, their favorite podcasts, and some of their favorite Haas memories!

H@H: Ep 72 – On this episode of Here@Haas, Ray talks with Shachar Kariv, Tel Aviv-native and former Department Chair of Economics at UC Berkeley. We delve into Shachar’s research on social preferences, including the 3 fundamental tradeoffs of decision-making and why Yale law students have such a disproportionate impact on society. Shachar then talks about how his virtual teaching experience and his expectations for the fall. Finally, we wrap with Shachar’s contributions towards X-Lab, a Berkeley social science laboratory, and Capital Enterprises, his own financial services startup.

Episode Quotes:

• I would actually argue that all decisions in life, large and small, financial or not financial, are basically governed by three trade offs: “Risk vs. return, today vs. tomorrow, self vs. others”
• "There is more heterogeneity in altruism within socio-demographics than across socio-demographics."
• “We live in a democracy but eventually a lot of the decisions are made by elite groups.”
• “Kale is just completely overrated. Basically I'd rather eat grass than kale.”

Links/References:

• Shachar Kariv (faculty profile)
• XLAB
• Capital Preferences
• The Undoing Project

H@H: Ep 71 – Dr. Rebecca Portnoy joins us today to discuss some of her research in the field of organizational behavior. We touch upon topics such as procedural vs. distributive justice, the toxic tandem, and why Americans are continually disengaged at work. Rebecca then offers perspective on her Haas experience and how it’s been a two-way street of learning & enrichment between herself & the students. Throughout the podcast, we also learn about how food has constantly played a role in Rebecca’s life and career.

Episode Quotes

On organizational decision-making:

If a process is fair (procedural justice), then people are more willing and likely to be OK with an unfair outcome (distributive justice)

On the toxic tandem:

When we’re living in that world of pleasing my supervisor or helping my unit reach the organization’s goals, it’s so easy to forget about helping others to get that experience, that sense of control.

Her perception of students at Haas:

There's this synergy that happens because of the community of students - they have let their guard down and they're just willing to be so generous with each other, that I benefit as well.

Show Links

• Makanai
• Adam Grant
• Art of Pie (book)
• Office Space (film)
• Boys State (film)

H@H: Ep 70 - Professor Zsolt Katona chats with host Nick Gerwe to share his journey to Haas, research initiatives and plans for his core Marketing course for this year’s class of EWMBA’s. 

Zsolt is a Professor of Marketing at Haas and strives to introduce and excite each new crop of Weekend MBA students to the world that a Marketing perspective can open. With PhDs in Computer Science and Marketing, Zsolt is a born learner, self-described nerd and expert in each aspect of Marketing and Business Analytics he dives into. He brings his research and expertise to the classroom to apply Marketing frameworks and analysis to a series of real world cases, and instill the Marketing intuition necessary for any successful business leader. 

In explaining how he ended up at Haas, Zsolt praised the university’s openness to academic curiosity and “the freedom, the amount of flexibility that Haas offered and being able to do your research the way you want to, and being very independent and in how you operate as a professor. “

In advising incoming students on how to get the most out of his Marketing course, Zsolt explains, “If you are properly prepared for the class, you get so much more out of it than if you don't read the case” but also recommends they keep their learning goals in context and “that you should not vary about the grades” and instead focus your effort on optimizing their learning, rather than their letter grade.

H@H: Ep 69 – EWMBA Association VPs of Incoming Student Experience - Farzad Yousefi, Lynn Chen, Paulina Tsai, and Veena Dharmadhikari - join host, Adam Ward on this week’s episode of Here@Haas. With WE Launch just around the corner, the VPs of Incoming Student Experience share their plans for the weekend, as well as advice for the new cohort on how to make the most of the event. 

The VPs reflect on the vision statement they made for WE Launch: 

“We wanted WE Launch to be a welcoming, informative, and comprehensive experience for new students, regardless of the delivery method; whether it was virtual or in-person. I think back in February, we didn't know what modality it would be in. We really wanted to emphasize the experience for the incoming students to quickly and positively connect with the Haas community. We brainstormed a lot about how we would make WE Launch inclusive, welcoming, fun, and informative, in a productive way.”

Paulina shares what she’s most excited about during the weekend:

“If I had to pick one, I'm most excited for the talent show.  The talent show I believe was new last year, and last year I had a great time getting to know my classmates in a different manner - so we're bringing that back again. This year, people can perform live performances or they can submit a recording. And I think it's just really cool to see the classmates, show us something new.”

The VPs discuss how they made the event inclusive to people who don’t enjoy networking. Veena shares one approach: 

“So I consider myself an introvert; a complete introvert. So networking is something that doesn't come easy to me. Like I have to actively pursue talking to people and going out of my comfort zone to do it. And so one of the things that we decided to do is we have a cohort panel that we're putting together. Each of the different cohorts will have a panel of current students or alumni come in and talk about their experience. And students will have the opportunity to ask questions live in person, but there are also folks who may not be comfortable doing that. So we put together a Google form where students can anonymously submit questions.”

Advice VPs have for students coming to WE Launch: 

“I would say, come with excitement and an open mind, and I would challenge the new students to mingle with people outside of your cohort. You'll get to spend a lot of time in your cohort your first year doing core classes together. So as much as you will have fun with the cohort competition, I think when there is time during the dinner or reception, get to know people outside of your cohort, because you don't really get to cross that much probably until you take electives.”

Show Links

• WE Launch 2021
• A look at the Extreme Leadership class from 2018

H@H: Ep 68 – Avni Kansara joins host, Adam Ward on this week’s episode of Here@Haas. As the Director of Student Experience for the EWMBA program, Avni is in charge of running key events in the program’s calendar, including WE Launch, Haas’ introductory weekend for new admits. Having worked at Berkeley Haas for seven years, Avni knows what goes into making a successful event for students. During this interview, she provides a behind-the-scenes look of WE Launch and the learnings she had from having to take the whole event virtual last year. As a murder mystery writer in her spare time, Avni drops a few clues about some of the surprises that will be happening in this year’s WE Launch event. 

How the Program Office has changed during her seven-year tenure: 

“When I first started, the advising structure was quite different - it was very transactional… there was not really any continuity in terms of the advising. And so we changed that structure to how it is now in the sense that we advise students by last name. So, you know, a student comes into the program and they know who their advisor is and who they can go to for any kind of questions or anything. And so that helps create the trust that is needed for a student when they're coming in.”

What Avni loves about WE Launch: 

“What I absolutely love about the weekend is that when you arrive on Friday morning, you have check-in and there's about 275-285 new students that come in, and nobody knows each other. And then by Sunday they’re super close, like family basically. It's so wonderful to see that.”

How her learnings from taking WeLaunch virtual will be infused into this year’s event:

“Something that I had thought of after last year's event was that actually we could go with this hybrid model going forward, where students have the ability to participate in these [informational] Zoom sessions prior to the weekend. And that way, the weekend can be focused on cohort bonding.”

Speaking about the murder mystery books she wrote:

“The first book is called Redemption and it is a murder mystery that takes place in a made up city close to Monterey… The police force doesn't really deal with homicides very often because it's a relatively crime free area. And so when there is a homicide, these detectives have to bumble their way through and deal with the public perception issues because everyone thinks they can't do it.”

• WE Launch 2021
• Redemption - Avni Kansara

H@H: Ep 67 — Steven Lee chats with host, Paulina Lee to share his journey from West Point to Haas and starting Gear2Go.

This week’s episode is in partnership with two other clubs at Haas: Haas Venture Capital Club (HVCC) and Berkeley Entrepreneurship Association (BEA) who recently hosted a pitch night - of which Steven and Gear2Go won for best pitch!

On becoming an entrepreneur:

“I was inspired by the level of entrepreneurship and that go-getter attitude that I saw at [Beachhead]. And I think that that was instrumental in my ultimate decision to pursue entrepreneurship myself, post-Haas. 

On how the idea for Gear2Go was born:

“As all good ideas, I think come to us, they came over several beers on a Tahoe trip. My first year as an MBA student, my co-founder Gavin came out to visit us in Tahoe and over beers we were actually talking about how hard it was to connect with our communities in the army. In the army, you move every year or two years and we're both into the outdoors and finding communities of people that want to go rock climbing or go skiing. We actually struggled to find those throughout our various moves. And we were trying to come up with a way that would make that easier. And so that was kind of the genesis of the idea.”

On Gear2Go’s evolution:

“Not only are we interested in the connected community component, but also interested in making communities that are more equitable and sustainable...That you could participate in these activities without having to spend incredible amounts of money on various types of gear. More sustainable in that we think that not everybody needs their own pressure washer or their own power drill or their own set of climbing equipment to enjoy those activities….our company's mission is to create communities that are more connected, equitable, and sustainable.”