H@H: Ep 58 - Manny Smith chats with host, Paulina Lee to share his journey from the US Air Force Academy to being called to be an entrepreneur at Haas, now as the CEO & Co-founder at EdVisorly Education.

On becoming an entrepreneur:

“There's a quote by Steve jobs, he said ‘as with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.’ My heart was calling me to do something a little bit different, not necessarily better, but different in the world....The truth of the matter is I believe that entrepreneurship has to be a sense of destiny. Where you can't not. And when I say that, a lot of people say, I don't have an idea and I have a lot of ideas, but which one's the right one, the right idea is the one you can't not do.”

On the entrepreneurial mindset:

I think as an entrepreneur, we have to really have this sense of awareness and mindfulness as to what we are and who we are; and our perspective, because that keeps us true to our journey.”

On transitioning from the military to civilian life:

“My first year was a little bit challenging. I found that I had to essentially reset my perspective, be very patient with myself and be mindful of maybe my sentiment toward things. But the military gave me tremendous perspective and capacity to be able to do what I'm doing now.”

Manny’s 30-sec Pitch on “Why Haas?”

“Haas is a place where dreams come true. I truly believe that by leaning on the Berkeley network and exercising the resources that are here, any student who has a dream can bring that dream to fruition using a step-by-step process. Between being one of the best research universities in the world and having a tremendous amount of savvy successful and proven battle-tested business people around you.

If you have something you want to do, Berkeley is the place to come. And I truly believe that our ecosystem is not just helpful, but we push each other to be a little bit better. And finally, the core defining values of our school, I think create an energy and an ethos that's unmatched at business schools anywhere in the world.”

Resource Links

• EdVisorly Education
• Berkeley Haas Veterans Club
• UC Launch Accelerator
• H@H: Geoff Easterling

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