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In celebration of Women's History Month, we had the pleasure of chatting with Nanxi Liu. She is Co-CEO & Co-Founder at Blaze and former CEO and Co-founder at Enplug (acquired). She serves on the Board of Directors for CarParts.com (NASDAQ: PRTS) and is one of the youngest women on a public company board. Nanxi also holds a spot on Forbes's 30 Under 30 list of innovative young tech leaders.

Although Nanxi is part of class 2012, it wasn't until 2020 that she graduated after completing the American Cultures course during the pandemic. Her early exposure to entrepreneurship and founding her own businesses became her priority, and those experiences made her the leader she is today. 

In this episode, Nanxi also talked about the different companies she founded, how she built up the confidence and skills to become an amazing CEO at such a young age, and why she didn't let imposter syndrome bring her down.

Listen until the end to hear Nanxi's advice for female leaders, why it is important to be surrounded by other successful women, and how to prevent CEO burnout.

The role of providing and accepting feedback in becoming a great CEO

“I don't know if I was a very good CEO in the early days. I definitely think I got better. My Co-founders made me a better CEO. They were always very honest and transparent; gave me a lot of feedback. I think feedback from people and being willing to accept feedback definitely helps. From a young age, I was involved in a lot of activities where you constantly had feedback, and you constantly knew if you were doing well or not.

Feedback and interactions with different people help me recognize strengths and weaknesses that I have and easily identify other people's strengths and weaknesses and how to bring them together.”

Thoughts on imposter syndrome when building a company

“I didn't really think about it. I always just focused on my strengths and advantages that I could bring to the table whenever I went into a meeting, either with somebody I was trying to hire or an investor or a potential customer. I was never afraid to make the ask. When it comes to building a company, making the ask, not being shy about it, showing what you're capable of and what your strengths are will help a lot.”

Advice to female leaders 

“As women leaders, I'm super grateful for always supporting one another and having a group of awesome other women who are rallying around you, and you're rallying around them. It makes it so much easier. And so, I'm grateful that I am always surrounded by amazing other women. It's important to find that support system.

And I think the way to do that is always stepping up to wanting to help somebody. Whenever I meet somebody new, I just want to see how I can help them be more successful and achieve what they want to do and have zero expectations from there. That approach has really helped me a lot and has been really helpful in introducing me to people that I otherwise wouldn't meet.

And so, the big piece is to find that community. And if that community is just one other awesome woman, founder, or leader, or maybe it's a whole tribe of them, it makes a huge difference and makes a lot more fun in the journey.”

How to avoid feeling burned out when giving so much of yourself in building a company and helping people

“A big part of it is not feeling guilty when you just need to take time off. I actually have a really good work-life balance. I was always like, if I need to take a day just to play piano, read, go running, go hiking, I just do it. In the early days, I felt really guilty about it, but overall, it made me much more efficient, happy, and productive. 

And even now, I do a bunch of trips, I go to places, even though I'm launching this new company. I understand the rigor of starting a new company, but at the same time, I also know if I'm not taking care of myself, it's going to hurt overall. That's how I approach it when it comes to giving and helping, not burning out. I think it's all connected to how we treat our life, time, health, and body.”

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• Blaze
• Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
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• What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

As someone passionate about video games since she was little, it is no surprise that Tiffany Chin decided to pursue a career in the video game industry. She specializes in strategic planning and brand management for video games, anime, movies, and other types of entertainment. Currently, Tiffany works as the Global Brand Manager at PlayStation. She also serves as a mentor for the Academy of Interactive Arts, sits on the advisory board for South by Southwest, and is a Forbes 30 under 3 in the gaming industry.

In this episode, Tiffany talks about growing up in the Bay area, her experiences in UCSD, and how she got into an industry dominated by men. She also shares her reasons for coming to Haas, one of which is learning how to approach some of the nuanced and complicated problems of bringing more equity into the gaming space. We also hear about her role in PlayStation as a brand manager.

Finally, Tiffany also talks about Girls for Gaming, a program that helps empower and educate young women on the various roles within the gaming industry. 

On how she got into the video game industry, and other ways to get in

“I feel like internship helped me get my foot in the door. At least expose me to a lot of the entertainment industry and a lot of contacts that helped me take those first steps into the industry. This was all before I really understood video games and what that industry entailed. Internship was a great way for me to get in.

There's so many other ways for people to get into the industry these days that haven't really been as tapped. IDGA stands for International Game Developers Association and they have a great mentorship program. I’m one of the mentors of that. And it's been such an experience reaching out to not only college students but people who, in general, are interested in joining the industry. Another group that's really great too is AIAS, which is the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. They have these scholarships that go out every year to help out not only game developers, but even people of color and women enter into this industry, which is quite hard to get in.”

What her experience being in Haas has been like so far

“Getting to Haas has been very enlightening in a lot of ways, not only from kind of the basics of business but getting so many more diverse perspectives of how to approach a problem. I think the fact that Haas focuses so much on DEI really drove me to come to Haas because a lot of what I see in my industry has driven me to want to learn how to approach some of these more nuanced and complicated problems of how do we bring more equity into the space, in a field that can often have some scarcity mentalities when we think about bringing other groups up or trying to bring more diverse people into our qualified groups.”

On bringing her passion for DEI in founding Games For Girls

“Games For Girls is largely focused on normalizing gaming for gender diversity. What that really means is kind of through three facets. One is through the professional route, being able to provide information to women in the industry on how to fight for equal pay or how to have some of those critical conversations that they need to have to bring a little bit more inclusion or sense of belonging into the workplace. The second thing is really highlighting the games that do diversity well. The third thing is around trying to normalize this within the community itself. I think that one's probably the hardest, but through some of the things that I've experienced and learned through different groups at Cal, to really facilitate this inclusive community of women and try to help bring people up and encourage gaming that is fun and lighthearted. It's not always about the performance aspects of video games, but really cultivating that community that lifts people up and has something as a focus to bring people together.”

On becoming a face and an influencer in the gaming industry

“It's been really incredible. I honestly would not have imagined being in this position five to ten years ago, but really I think it comes down to the network that I've built and the people who've really helped me along the way. I experienced having a great boss who encouraged me to take calculated risks, always advocated for me, or pushed for me to have exposure. Having allyship in that way of good management has really provided me with a lot of opportunities that could have taken me a lot longer to get where I am. In addition to that, some of the people that I’ve had the opportunity and been blessed to work with have been phenomenal in terms of pointing me in the right direction of who to talk to, to make the most impact.”

Advice for people who are passionate about gaming and would like to get into the industry

“Don't be discouraged. It is a tough industry to get into but definitely follow your passion. No matter what, the unique thing about video games is that we all come from very different backgrounds, but the one thing that unifies us is what we love, games.”

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• Girls For Gaming Scholarship

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we chat with Alka Tandan, Senior Vice President of Finance & Strategic Programs at Gainsight. She is a Haas MBA alum with over 20 years in corporate finance, operations, and mergers and acquisitions. 

In this episode, Alka talks about how she fell in love with technology while growing up in Silicon Valley. We also discuss her career experiences, especially her transition from a big organization like Yahoo to IGN, and her reasons for pursuing an MBA. Alka also shares how she became an investor, limited partner, and advisor for the venture fund Operator Collective.

You will also hear about how to thrive and chart your own path as a female leader in a male-dominated industry and get advice on how to move up the ladder from a member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community. 

On growing up in Silicon Valley and falling in love with technology

My father came here with my mom for the American dream. There were a lot of hopes and dreams on our shoulders, but it was a great place to grow up in Silicon Valley. And that's really how I fell in love with technology. I feel like I was born in it and it's in my blood. 

On experiencing firsthand how the tech industry bloomed over the years

The attention being paid to Silicon Valley now all around the world and the true respect and appreciation of what technology can do and how it not only changes lives but is actually the bread and butter of our economy worldwide is gratifying. I just don't think people quite got it back then. 

On her decision to get an MBA

Higher education was definitely always very important in my family. It was something that I thought I was going to do, however, also having the rebellious side, I was never going to just do something. I was at a point where I was just done with banking and really decided that the next step for me was to be part of a company and its journey.

What she gained from her MBA experience

I was really looking to get a more well-rounded education around marketing, around sales, around operations, and so, that's really kind of what my goal was. I think what was interesting about it, though, is I ended up getting expertise that was equally valuable - the soft skills, the presentation skills, the ability to debate with like-minded people, which really I hadn't done as much when you were a more junior person in banking. And the chance to really sit there and really analyze different business scenarios critically and get just the varied experience from everybody in the class, especially with international students, was huge.

On the process of transitioning from a big firm to a smaller one

You have to just re-sit and really get honest with yourself. I had to get really honest about the types of things I wanted to do on a daily basis, the pace that I wanted to go, the opportunities that I wanted to do. It's just a lot of self-awareness - think about what you want to do and what you're really good at. Know what makes you light up, and really at the end of the day, I feel like everything we're doing is really just trying to figure out how to light ourselves up. And I would even say it's probably our duty to get lit up for the world. 

On moving up the corporate ladder

It's a journey. I have so many friends and family members all around the world and there's always this Silicon Valley myth that everybody comes here and then three years later they're worth a hundred million dollars. And we know that is just not the reality. I'm sure the odds are better here than in other places, a hundred percent, but the reality of it is for most people, it takes time. It takes time to really hone your craft and that's exactly what I discovered. Everyone has had ups and downs in their careers. I definitely did.

Advice for women who are advancing in their careers

I would encourage all women that are moving up the ladder to, first of all, really talk to other women. And again, know yourself. Advocate for yourself. Find your mentors, people with whom you can have that conversation, do things in an authentic way, and get advice and bounce things off of people. It's the most powerful thing you can do. Sometimes, it's ok to need help. I certainly do that for and with several people, of all genders.

Advice on finding your passion

At the end of the day, I feel like everything we're doing is really to figure out how to light ourselves up. And I would say it's our duty to get lit up for the world.

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Marie Thompson is a Principal Investor at Powerhouse Ventures, an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate. Despite her struggle with health, she's made valuable contributions at Powerhouse Ventures, where she was offered her dream role right after her internship.

Marie's perseverance shines because of the mindset she cultivated through athletics. In this episode, Marie shares her story of pursuing an MBA and choosing Haas, the relationships she formed along the way, and overcoming a life-threatening illness. She also talks about helping industries pivot to clean energy and address today's climate crisis.

Marie’s reasons for pursuing an MBA

[00:06:42] I had two north stars that really made it clear that business school is the right step for me. One was just that personal development. I stalled out where I was. I wasn't going to get an opportunity to practice leadership or management skills or be able to connect to people in a real way. I knew I couldn't get that in my current corporate environment. The other one was very practical and functional. I was done with oil and gas. I strongly wanted to pivot industries into kind of clean energy or climate tech. 

On choosing Haas

[08:40.97] Once I finally started interacting with Haas students and learning more about the school environment and how amazing everybody is in an inspiring way and not an intimidating way, that was huge. Being in a place where I felt like I could learn from people and collaborate was so much more important than some prestige or some specific class. I got a little lucky that the Bay Area is home to where the industry I wanted to be and Haas happened to be right there.

On creating and preserving meaningful connections through BERC (Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative)

[00:14:23] The number one thing I got out of BERC was that experience of leadership and connecting with so many people in the industry. That facilitation, especially across different majors and departments, was really special and important and something that I think BERC did a really good job of. I'm still in touch with most of that executive team. 

Recovering from cancer with the help of her athlete mentality

[00:25:54] The athlete mentality was really helpful in some ways of just getting through it, pushing through, enduring. It really was just endurance. I thought recovery might be like a path of a mountain; as long as you walk the path and follow the rules, things will get better and easier. But it's really more like you're staring into this giant void, and nobody has some answers for you. People my age and gender typically don't get this type of cancer. There's no guidance, and you're just off in the wild to rebuild your body and rebuild your mind. That lack of structure and detachment from the athlete lifestyle that was a part of my twenties and my athletic career has been a journey every day to choose to be nice to myself and proud of myself and keep moving forward with my teeny little baby steps.

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Tracy Gray, our guest in this special episode, is a Managing Partner at The 22 Fund, Founder at We Are Enough, and Lead Partner at Porfolia Green & Sustainability Fund. She is an innovative and visionary leader with solid international, investment, business strategy, and marketing experience. With over 15 years of demonstrative team and project management success, including a 200% increase in project funding, Tracy is a relationship builder across various industries – from technology to venture capital to entertainment. 

Having an Air Force veteran for a father, Tracy spent the early years of her life in Okinawa, Japan, and lived in different parts of the US before settling in Lompoc, California, near the Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Because of this experience, she fell in love with traveling (She has already been to 42 countries!). It is also why Tracy focused on international business. 

Tracy shares her experiences from college and what she did after graduating, how being a B-student landed her a job at NASA, and how she ended up in the Mayor's office, which is how she came up with her strategy with The 22 Fund.

Being an active citizen in Los Angeles, Tracy also tells us the importance of helping and supporting the community we live in, especially disadvantaged people who don't have the same privileges as we do. She also tells us why she pursued an MBA even after having years of unique professional experiences and how she started and founded The 22 Fund. It is the only one of its kind, investing in high potential women and BIPOC-owned tech-based manufacturing companies to increase their international sales (exporting), with a mission of creating the clean, quality jobs of the future in underserved communities. 

On having the courage to go after what she wanted to study in college

A lot of research shows that when girls don't do well, we quit, and we do something else. And I hate to be a statistic, but I quit Mechanical Engineering and went into where I was really good, Math. And that's how I landed on Applied Math, Mathematical Science as my major because I still loved engineering, and I wanted to be in Aeronautics. There's no Aeronautics at Santa Barbara, so what I did is I kind of created my own degree. And thank God there was a woman in the Math Department, a Black woman, and she let me do this - create this Mathematical Science degree with Aeronautics emphasis.

And that's how I made my decision. And so, if there's someone young trying to figure out their decision in going to school and listening, I would say, don't be afraid to do what you really want and to say what you want. If I hadn't said I wanted to do this and take this chance and create my own major almost, I would have had a whole different life path probably. But whatever gave me not being fearful about asking that was really fortunate. 

On her duty as a citizen

I just am the type of person where if I'm living someplace, I've got to be active, helping, supporting the community I live in. And it doesn't matter if it's my county or my city or my micro-neighborhood; I am going to be a citizen. I feel like all the work I've done around Los Angeles is my duty as a citizen. I don't know another way to exist in the world as a citizen if you don't support where you live and support the people who don't have all the advantages as you do. 

On pursuing an MBA

It's kind of a societal issue for women, especially Black women. I don't want to say we never think we're enough, but we never think we have enough credibility in the eyes of others that we can do the job we want to do. And so, I knew I wanted to start my own fund, but I always thought I needed as much credibility as possible and more education. That's why Black women are the most educated demographic in the country because we get all these degrees because people think we don't know enough or aren’t enough. We know we are, but we got to get it on paper. So, I wanted to get my MBA for that reason. 

On founding her nonprofit, We Are Enough

All these women were coming up to me crying over a finance talk. And that is where I saw, okay, this is a deep trauma, deep work that women need to do around our money and our power around money and our being okay with power. And so, I launched We Are Enough. The only thing we do is educate everyday women on why and how to invest in women in businesses or with a gender lens on the public markets. Because when you grow women's wealth, all those 17 SDG, sustainable development goals that you hear a lot about, the majority of them are positively impacted by women growing their wealth.

On their unique strategy in investing in manufacturing

I knew I wanted a win-win strategy with high impact and high returns. And I wanted something that had multiple impacts. And so, I landed on manufacturing. People didn't understand that the foundation of our economy literally is manufacturing and making things and selling them abroad. So, if you're a manufacturer that exports your products to another country but you're located here, you create jobs faster, you pay higher wages, and you're more likely to have healthcare. On top of that, when you export, you have higher revenues and are more resilient and more successful.

Our strategy of investing in manufacturing to increase their international sales causes our impacts. We call ourselves holistic investors, not impact investors, because we hit multiple positive impacts. It's not siloed with climate change, race, gender, economic development. We hit it all just from this one strategy in investing in manufacturing to increase their export capacity. So, our mission is to create what we call the clean, quality jobs of the future and low and moderate-income communities and increase generational wealth for women and people of color. And that all happens just by our strategy.

Thoughts on Black History Month

You've got to keep highlighting history because people want to try to erase it. And I wonder why they want to erase it. Why are they fearful? Why are they trying to protect kids from the wrongs in the world? So, I'm very informed. You can't help being a Black person and not be informed by our ancestors. It's ancestral trauma, right? It is with us all the time and it's deep. And it informs a lot of what we do. History will repeat itself if you forget what happened and we're in the middle of that right now. 

Another thing about Black History Month is it added LatinX History Month, Asian History Month. It added all that. And it allowed now with all the trauma around race in our country, every race is starting to see, you know, when people come after Black people, they start looking for another place to come after. They come after all of us that do not fit in a particular way they think we should be. And so, when I think about Black History Month and the history of Black people, it's a history of all people in this country, right? This isn't just my history. And it informs a lot of how people of color are treated. And so this year of the race and ethnic months, I feel like we need one month at the end called the multicultural month where we all come together and talk about the power and the beauty of different cultures and what it has built in this country.

• Tracy Gray on LinkedIn
• The 22 Fund
• We Are Enough

In celebration of Black History Month, we chat with Bosun Adebaki, Business Operations at Plaid. He is an action-oriented and analytical problem solver passionate about using FinTech to make financial systems more accessible to everyone. His extensive background in strategy, finance, and operations has helped businesses across Europe, North America, and LatAm scale and succeed.

Bosun was born and raised in a part of London called Hackney, which is known for vibrancy and diversity. He got a Business Management degree at the University of Nottingham and went to the US to get this MBA.

His interest and passion for FinTech stemmed from a personal family experience. He aims to use tools like alternative data, web 3.0 technologies, and mobile experiences to make financial tasks simpler and more accessible for end-users.

In this episode, Bosun shares his career experiences and the responsibilities of someone working in Business Operations (BizOps). Having lived and worked in different countries, he also tells us his I-don't-know-how-to-but-I-will-find-the-solution experiences and how his plans of setting up his own startup that would help women of color in the world led him to one of the most exciting FinTech startups in the US.

On his decision to get an MBA

“I had worked for a while at PwC. I was pretty fortunate in that I had started in London, I spent some time in Switzerland, and I spent the last few years in Mexico. I was building a team. I loved it. I really enjoyed it. It was an excellent experience. I think you also get to a point where you think, “Okay, if I look forward five or ten years, is this what I want to continue doing? Or if I were the 18-year-old version of me today with what I know now about the world, would I choose to do something different? How would I think about the world? So, that was kind of the catalyst. Let's refresh and let's start off with the version of me today, not the version of me who made the first decision [about my career] when I was 17.”

On choosing Haas

“I came, walked around the campus, and I was like, I could see myself here. And it's one of these things where there was no sophistication about the decision. [It was simply], I feel like this is where I could be for a few years. And I feel like I would be happy here versus the other places where I could have gone. And I was right. It was a really fun experience. I met, as you will know, awesome people. The fact that we're speaking is sentiment to what Haas has to offer.”

On his experience at Berkeley 

“The whole way society exists around identity, around race, around all of these topics, these are very present on campus, which was good because it made you have conversations about it. But if you are one of the affected groups who are being asked to provide way more than the experience of just the student, it changes somewhat the experience. It was slightly different at Berkeley, particularly for students of color. For example, There was a lot more of a focus from classmates on, “Bos, what do you think?” Or, “What's your view?” Which is good. I like to share my views about perspectives. Sometimes it’s also nice for a topic to be so adjacent to me that no one even wonders what my opinion is. It was an interesting introduction to US society but it was also very Berkeley, right?”

The job of someone working in BizOps

“Find problems that are preventing the company from self-actualizing and fix them by whatever means necessary. Use your toolkits, use your relationship, use your creativity, use all of the things that you have at your disposal to find the best way to solve a problem and to make everybody else better equipped to be successful in their roles.”

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• Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth
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• The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

In celebration of Black History Month, our guest for today is Eric T. McKissack. Eric is a graduate of the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA program. Currently, he is an Investment Executive and Independent Board Director at different companies and nonprofits, including FlexShares Funds and Morgan Stanley Pathway Funds. He is also a Board Member of McKissack & McKissack, a privately-held, family business that is a national architectural, engineering, and program and construction management firm.

Even though he is an only child, Eric grew up in a large extended family of business leaders and entrepreneurs who had a strong family identity. In fact, his grandfather and great uncle were the first Black registered architects in the US. 

Because of the influence of the family business, Eric went to MIT for architecture but ended up in Sloan to pursue his own interests in business. He started in banking but then worked many years in investment management before starting Channing with his partners. He shares his journey from that pivotal moment, getting his executive MBA while founding an investment firm, how they overcame the challenges along the way, and how one can succeed in this space. 

This episode is valuable for people who aspire to start their own investment firms or join the board of directors as Eric shares his wealth of experiences and motivations to be in the boardroom of successful organizations.

On starting his own investment firm

“Another pivotal moment in my career, I got to a point where I felt that either I would stay where I was indefinitely, and that would be the duration of my career and be my experiences, or I could have the experience of starting a firm of my own. While I had joined Ariel early on, I was not a founder. And so, it was like a fork in the road kind of opportunity in my mind, and I took it.”

On Channing, his investment firm, surviving the great recession

“Certainly, starting a firm is challenging at any time and place. But also, the industry had changed a lot from early in my career. It wasn't long before the Great Recession hit, so there were a lot of challenges. Nevertheless, we were able to survive those. I always say that we got through that period, and Lehman and Bear Stearns didn't. So, we felt we had something to be proud of, to get through the great recession. And the firm continues on with my partners.”

On investment markets being all about human nature

“Sometimes, periods of overvaluation and undervaluation can last very long, longer than the patience of your clients. Clients may not be patient enough to recognize that there's a bubble brewing and want to go where they think the grass is greener, to another manager, or do a reallocation. Ultimately, markets are still about human nature no matter how much technology is introduced into the process. And human nature can sometimes lead to business outcomes that are not favorable even for the most talented investment managers.”

On raising capital for their first fund as a minority-owned firm

“There are always challenges raising money in any business or any investment entity. And I can't say that the challenges were strictly based on pure discrimination. But I think what often happens is that certain types of resumes get more of a path or more of a benefit of the doubt than others. That's not to say that doesn't happen for some diverse candidates, that they have the same kind of resumes, but that wasn't the background that I had.

I came out of a minority-owned firm to launch another minority firm. And while that firm had a great track or reputation, I don't think we necessarily got the same benefit of the doubt. It was more like, "Okay, well, let's see what you can do in this new environment. And then we'll give you money if we like what we see."

Who succeeds in founding their own investment firm and why

“The people who are most successful at it are those that have been able to develop track records through prior experience and have the kind of blue-chip backgrounds. But very often too, it takes a certain person to decide they want to do that because if you're at a successful firm and you have a great track record, then a lot of people are very comfortable staying there because they are very often making very high compensation. There may be golden handcuffs. There are all kinds of reasons why starting a business is something you have to be highly motivated about.”

• Eric on LinkedIn
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Alex Abelin had an early exposure to sports, theater, arts, and traveling, yet his hidden passion is in business. At 30, the entrepreneurship calling grew louder that he decided to transition away from his comfortable job in Google to be a trailblazer in tech. Alex launched two tech startups: LiquidTalent and LQD Wifi. The acquisition of LQD Wifi by telco giant Verizon in 2016 marked his successful exit from the company. As part of the deal, he had to reintegrate back to the corporate office and manage the Urban Affairs for Verizon.

A few months after his son Alakai was born, Alex discovered a major gap in the infant formula market: no plant-based, soy-free, and dairy-free options are available. This led him to build a business around solving his own pain point. His guiding principle is to create something that brings people life, positivity, happiness, joy, and vitality.

Alex is BA 2005 alum at Berkeley Haas. In this episode, he takes us back to his favorite college memories, his experience working at two Fortune 50 companies, launching three startups, and now working towards a sustainable future through plant-based foods and beverages.

On having his parents as role models

[02:49.23] I had two role models and parents who really kind of shone the light on what the working world was like. I learned a lot from them about the value of hard work and commitment. What I think my parents did is they brought a lot of heart to their organizations. My parents brought their full selves to their work, always led with their hearts, and were always very compassionate and spirited. So, I get a lot of that from them.

On his experience moving from San Diego to Berkeley for college

[00:15:05] For me, this was the first time living alone. It felt empowering. It felt great just the simple stuff of making sure I had three meals a day, knowing how to do my laundry, and making sure I show up to class on time. You know, these kinds of social life skills came into play. I think half the fun and half the reason to do a four-year institution is to acquire those resilience skills and the autonomy and the sovereignty. It's a huge rite of passage. It was so nourishing, so fun, so expansive. Looking at photos of me going into Cal and looking at photos of me going out to Cal, you could see a real, much more mature, and different human. Those four years really did a lot for me, a lot of good.

On transitioning from corporate career to entrepreneurship

[00:13:52] I was about to turn 30, and I used that as my fire under my butt to become the entrepreneur I always knew I was. The first thing I did was travel to Asia solo. I gave myself a couple of months to exhale and transition from my Google career to my future entrepreneur career. I know I'm blessed and very humbled to be able to do that. It's not the same for everybody, but I took those months, and I recalibrated. I spent that time traveling alone, thinking about what I wanted to build and what the world needed. 

On his motivation for his third startup, PlantBaby

[00:22:49] PlantBaby, for me, is the first time I'm building a business around solving my own pain point, which I always wanted to do. PlantBaby is coming from the gut. It's coming from the heart. And that gives you so much more passion, motivation, and enthusiasm to see this succeed because you want to solve your own problem. It's great, and I also knew that sage advice always was out there is to solve your own problem.

Advice for people who might be interested in going to school or straight into entrepreneurship for food or sustainability 

Build it if you want to be the consumer of it. Don't build anything that's a fun or smart, profitable business. Build it up as you want to buy it. That's a good piece of advice that I think will drive you when the nights are long and cold, and you need something to drive you. Solve your own need, buy your own product. Think about the environment. Think about different stakeholders than just yourself. Don't be intimidated by the entrenched, established players. They were small at one time too. There's enough success to go around. Change the way you look at competition. We all can win. It is not a zero-sum game. 

• Alex Abelin on LinkedIn
• Alex Abelin on Twitter
• Alex Abelin Official Website
• PlantBaby Official Website
• Kiki Milk Official Website
• Kiki Milk IG

His openness to the possibility that life may not always happen the way he planned enabled Oshri Kaplan to become a successful student and venture capitalist. While he was still undecided on which career path to pursue, Oshri seized the opportunity to grow in various fields, including the military, law, and business, where he gained a network of corporate leaders and entered the venture capital industry.

Oshri started his career as an analyst in his homeland, Israel, before moving to Silicon Valley— the Mecca of VCs and startups, to continue providing value as a venture capitalist. He is MBA 2013 at Berkeley Haas and a seasoned investor who later joined Munich Re Ventures as an Investment Director. 

Learn about the challenges of finding investment opportunities, the day-to-day activities of a venture capitalist, and which class at Haas helped Oshri advance in his entrepreneurial career.

Which class at Haas influenced you the most?

[00:08:36] The most influential course I took at Haas was negotiations with Holly Schroth. I'm negotiating now every day. My job is essentially to negotiate. So with that, I don't think about any other course that I would rather take a test than the negotiation. That was eye-opening because, as an Israeli, they're teaching you tactics around negotiation, which I found very different from the tactics taught in US-based schools and definitely at Haas. That was super refreshing, and it was hard. It was hard, and it was challenging at the beginning to find myself in situations where I needed to adapt. I need to figure out a different way to approach things if I want to be successful. That's one of the classes that I've been using since then.

What does a venture capitalist’s day-to-day operation look like?

[00:16:56] In general, an investor needs to divide his time between looking and listening for new opportunities; depending on what exactly is your role, whether you are in one of those funds or principal and later, director or general partner, you need to manage your time. 

His advice to fellow Haasies or other students who want to have a successful career.

[00:24:39] I think people need to be vulnerable. They need to open themselves to the ideas of what they are going to see and learn and be open-minded about networking and the people that they're going to meet during those couple of years or three or four years at school, as those are the years that you don't really know who you're going to meet. You don't know where the next opportunity will come and how you're going to meet your next employer or a reference to a new employer. I always had a plan in my mind, and I needed to follow it, but the reality is that nothing really went according to the plan, but it was parallel, and I was open enough to expose myself to other options.  

• Oshri Kaplan on LinkedIn
• Oshri Kaplan on Twitter

Digital business leader Jamie Lee shares her rich experience of traveling and knowing people with different backgrounds and cultures. She took classes in countries that gave her a global perspective as a learner and eCommerce professional. 

She is passionate about driving change for industry leaders and impacting customers globally. Jamie brings her learnings from working with iconic brands Sony Electronics, Electronic Arts, Walmart, and Nike to her current role at a sustainable fashion brand, Everlane, as Head of Digital Experience.

We also delve into why Jamie decided to take her MBA when she's already being offered leadership roles in huge companies. Listen to her story to know how she managed to finish her MBA while still fulfilling her duties at work.

On why she went to business school even when she was already working with big brands

[00:13:48] I wanted to learn from a broader set of people from very diverse backgrounds. Haas was that ideal destination for me. You have a lot of top-tier tech talent, but at the same time, you have people from all walks of life, such different people and different backgrounds. And I felt that the learning environment could challenge me as a business leader and shape the way I think differently that might not be homogenous to other very similar people in the retail e-commerce space. So that was the big draw, that diversity of thinking that could be achieved in a Haas experience and MBA.

On transitioning from Nike to Everlane

[00:31:00] I realized I've been doing the big company thing for a long time, essentially my whole career. Why not take a shot and a chance now to be a part of a high-growth organization that can still drive impact as an industry leader? Thinking about sustainable fashion, I believe Everlane has a unique position in that space, changes the conversation around radical transparency and sustainability, and starts fighting climate change. Being a part of a purpose-driven organization and a smaller business unit with really fast growth and growth potential was compelling.

Advice for students who want to build a career in consumer goods, apparel, or digital space

[00:33:37] There really isn't one true path that could lead you to success. Have a clear understanding of what you foresee your career to look like. That could be at a digital consulting agency, late-stage startup, or large enterprise. Each one is going to teach you something different. Don't be afraid to explore different routes that could teach you or give you the experiences to lead you to where you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years. Have a clear goal of what that end-game or outline looks like, and always be flexible along the way.

• Jamie Lee on LinkedIn
• Global Network of Advanced Management
• UC Berkeley Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC)