Here at Haas

H@H: Ep. 36 – On this month's episode of monthly musings, the team (Paulina, Aravind, Ray) talks about their recent episodes, including interviews with Club VPs & the onboarding of the new podcast team. 

H@H: Ep. 35 – On this week’s edition of the Here@Haas podcast, Ana Alanis joins host Ray Guan to talk about her journey to Haas. Ana shares with us her explorer mindset going into the program, including several events she attended while finding her ‘north star’. We then talk about Ana’s involvement as co-President of the Haas Marketing Club (HMC), including events and workshops to look forward to. Ana also shares with us her summer internship at Clorox, and how she learned much more about cleaning supplies than she bargained for. Finally, we wrap up with some elective recommendations and advice for future applicants.

Episode Quotes:

On more data-driven jobs in marketing: You're not going to be the data scientist on the team…but the ability to interpret data is getting more important. When that data scientist does give you some results on a study, you have to be able to interpret and make business decisions on them.

Advice for prospective students: Have your story ready, but don't tie yourself to that story. Come in with an open mind, and also come in knowing that we all can come in with different strengths.

Links & References:

Ana Alanis: Email |LinkedIn

HMC (upcoming workshops listed)

CMG

The CMO podcast

Clorox Wipe by Chromeo

H@H: Ep. 34 – On this week’s episode of Here@Haas, host Ray is joined by Steven Brisley to discuss his journey from management consulting in the midwest to energy involvement at Haas. We discuss Steven’s involvement with the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC), opportunities for students to get involved, formal & informal events, and “BERC”-shops. Steven then tells us about types of careers within energy & cleatech, electives that focus on energy, and his experience with recruiting and gaining an energy internship. Finally, we discuss the outlook for Steven in his 2nd year and plans for post-graduation.

Quotes:

On how Steven narrowed his focus on the energy sector: “There was something that was just fundamentally different about energy, how much it impacts people's lives, and I think everyone wants to be a part of something big that's really changing lives.”

On an overlooked challenge in the industry: “The lack of equity when it comes to, both access and the cost of energy, is something that really affects communities.”

On virtual networking and doing his MBA during COVID-19: “It forces you to be a lot more intentional about who you're building relationships with and sort of how you're spending your time.”

Links

Steven Brisley: Email | LinkedIn

BERC

Jacobs Institute of Design

Camus Energy

Book rec: Into Thin Air

H@H: Ep. 33 – On the latest episode of Here@Haas, host Ray Guan is joined by Nick Bellamy, FTMBA ’21, to discuss Nick’s journey from the UK to New York to Haas. Nick then talks about his career journey, shifting from IBM consulting to various jobs and internships in the cannabis industry. Nick is also the president of the Berkeley Cannabis Industry Club (BCIC), and we discuss the club’s goals, annual career and social events, and roles MBA students typically look for in cannabis. Finally, Nick gives some hints about his future plans after graduation (hopefully before shelter-in-place ends).

Episode Quotes:

On how he realized his passion for cannabis: “If you can spend your weekends willingly reading and educating yourself on something, that’s a great sign.”

On the goals of BCIC: “We want to help people. We don’t have another agenda; we just want to learn, to connect people, and we want to just educate ourselves and our members about cannabis.”

On advice for prospective students: “[Don’t] figure out what works for other people, but figure out what works for yourself.”

Links & Extra:

Nicholas Bellamy: Email | LinkedIn

Cannabis Club Website

SHECANN Summit

Mayv

Docklight Brands

Share us with a fellow friend or Haasie!

H@H: Ep 32 – Binundu Isaiah Samuel joins host, Paulina Lee on this week’s episode of Here@Haas. Binundu Isaiah is president of the Executive MBA Class of 2020 and a leader was with a passion for building communities. Originally from Nigeria, Isaiah shares his journey across the US and the world on his way to Haas.

On the Importance of Community: “So allyship, friendship, the community is something that's incredibly important to me; and it's something that I carry. So not just being able to build it for me, but being able to create that space for others, to be able to feel that community, to be able to belong, to be able to thrive, to be able to pour into other people the way that you've been poured into in the past.”

On the Opportunity to Improve Diversity in the Student Body: “It's something that I'm hoping can be improved in the future. Because I do believe that when we talk about equity and inclusion and access, we have to be able to create spaces for folks to have a seat at the table and being at institutions like Haas, is definitely a way that people can participate more in and have seats at the table.”

On the Importance of the Equity Matters community: “The hope of this community is then for everybody that joins to be able to go back into their sphere influence and no matter how small the ripple effect is, just make that change that they want to see in the world. We believe that through community and conversation, anything is possible.”

And finally, advice for prospective students: “The work that you're putting into getting your MBA, even if you've not been accepted yet, it matters. So just trust in what you're doing your preparation. And when you do get in, you deserve to be here. Come in ready to just enjoy the journey you're going to grow. So, so, so much. And just come in with confidence and come in with a heart for others and you'll be fine.”

Resources:

• Join the community today - Equity Matters: Real Conversations. Real Leaders.
• Binundu Isaiah’s Letter to Fellow Haasies

H@H: Ep 31 – Deepak Gupta, an advisor in entrepreneurship at Berkeley Haas, joins us today to talk about the Berkeley entrepreneurship ecosystem. 

He shares how the entrepreneurship ecosystem has evolved throughout the year, where students and alumni can find the resources they need and what they can do in order to build their start-up companies, and Haas' mission as a leader in entrepreneurship.

He discusses cross-college collaboration as one of the key resources that students and alumni can tap into and also reaching out to other entrepreneur advisors and mentors via CMG/Entrepreneurship Center.

"The goal is to get the skills while you're at Haas that even 5 years down, 10 years down, when you're ready to start a company, you know where to come, you know what resources you have."

Show Links:

LinkedIn

Berkeley Begin

Career Management Group

Skydeck

CITRIS Foundry

House VC

LAUNCH

Berkeley Entrepreneurs Association

StEP

H@H: Ep 30 – On this episode of the Here@Haas podcast, Dr. Andreea Gorbatai joins Ray to discuss her time at Haas and research in the field of organizational management. We talk about a few experiments that Andreea had participated in, including how Wikipedia found realized which pages were most viewed, and why women raise more money than men in crowdfunding. Finally, Andreea tells us how organizational management has evolved in conjunction with big data, and why it’s already a science versus just a set of soft skills.

Quotes:

On the gender bias in venture capital: “Men and women entrepreneurs are asked different questions and namely, women tend to be asked questions regarding prevention. Like have you thought of what happens if things go bad? Which places the whole response and the discussion in a preemptive, negative, more fearful sphere.”

On the evolution of soft skills: “Soft skills have this reputation of being unscientific or being the leftovers after you do the scienc-y stuff. But the truth is that if you don't understand how, confirmation bias, for example, factors in how you make estimates, how you estimate numbers in your predictions, it does affect your hard skills."

On what is needed to successfully manage teams amidst the COVID crisis: “The perfect confluence of having the scientific understanding of what’s going on, and then having the soft skills to be able to show consistency, empathy, in terms of how you communicate as a leader.”

External Links:

• Andreea Gorbatai (Haas profile)
• Research & papers published
• Don Moore episode

H@H: Ep 29 – On this week’s episode host, Paulina Lee is joined by Professor Ross Levine. Ross shares how he became an economist, working inside at the World Bank, & his journey to Haas. 

He discusses some of his research (full list available):

• 16:17 - The link between corporate social responsibility and a firm’s resilience during the COVID economic shock
• 25:29 - Changes in banking regulation and its impact on firms and racial discrimination
• 31:47 - If there’s a shock to the competitive environment facing a firm, do they increase or decrease corporate social responsibility?

And shares his passion for his students: “Because the class was so into everything, it made it easy and exciting for me to try to be the best version of it with myself and to give as much as I could to the class.”

Book List:

• Biography of Winston Churchill
• Biography of Napoleon
• Original Meanings by Jack Rakove

H@H: Ep 28 – Ray, Paulina, & Sean get together once again to talk about the podcast's new domain (haaspodcasts.org), school being back, Labor day plans, and a new Haas Podcast. Lots of laughing on this one, even absent Aravind.

H@H: Ep 27 – On this week’s episode, host Paulina Lee is joined by Adin Menkin, EWMBA ‘21. We discuss Adin’s journey from Texas to Arkansas and what it’s like working inside one of the largest retailers in the world, Walmart. Then what he’s been exploring since leaving Walmart a few months ago.

Episode Quotes:

On how being a collegiate athlete has shaped him - “it's constant thinking from the standpoint of, it's not about me, it's about the team and if I don't do my job, then this whole system fails. That’s really ingrained in you.”

On maximizing the MBA experience with networking & the classroom experience - “I've learned pretty quick that you can learn even more in the classroom if you collaborate and talk to the right people.”

On what he’s learned about himself during bschool - “I used to think that I wanted to be a better version of myself. But now I'm trying to be a more authentic version of myself; and that's not easy, but it’s fun and it's rewarding. And it's a work in progress.”

Recommendation List:

• Simon Sinek, It Starts With Why
• Bob Goff, Dream Big
• Netflix: Inside Bill’s Brain
• Here@Haas Episode: Jarrett Wright
• Haas Electives: Negotiations, Marketing Analytics