ab’s farming work is intertwined with wellness for people and the planet. In addition to leading the People’s Garden, ab started the (Free) Community Health Clinic, which opened in 2021 to address needs identified during weekly food delivery. ab is also the Agroecology and Wellness Coordinator at the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI). Here ab conducts participatory research on agroecology practices rooted in soil care and healing communities that have been generationally underestimated and silenced. BFI supports outreach, events, and academic opportunities at more than 10 urban gardens producing food and preserving native ecosystems. ab continues to learn, grow, and share their work in healing and meditation.

In 2022-2023, ab was a Just Leader Fellow with the Cooperative Food Empowerment Collective. Their work is aimed at a cooperative food economy powered by the visionary leadership of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous People of Color.

Episode Quotes:

Power of Listening

When you’re interacting with a lot of different people with a lot of different backgrounds, especially backgrounds that you aren’t familiar with, there will be a lot of listening involved. That is a key part of being a leader.

Community Resource 

In the beginning of me coming to Oxford Tract and Berkeley Food Institute I had numerous conversations with different stakeholders like students, community members, and people we serve. All of the ideas that I have about the future are definitely linked to those initial conversations I had and ongoing conversations. So again listening to what people need from Oxford Tract. It boils down to my goal of being a resource for community members and the students. 

Show Links:

• From the Field: The Vibrant Student Community at UC Berkeley’s Oxford Tract Farm
• BFI News: BFI’s ab banks Wins 2023 Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Food

Born and raised in Mexico City, Caro blends her roots in computer science and product leadership with an MBA from Stanford to spot and support the next generation of transformative B2B technologies.

Nido Ventures was founded to bridge the technology gap between Silicon Valley and Mexico's foundational industries. What began as an angel syndicate has evolved into a pre-seed fund backing B2B startups at the intersection of U.S. technical innovation, Mexico’s industrial strengths, and the region’s growing nearshoring opportunities.

In this conversation, Caro joins Haas MBA student Taylor Dahlgren as they dive into how venture capitalists identify and evaluate the qualities that inspire confidence in founders and dig into what great leadership looks like from an investor’s perspective.

*Here@Haas Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On The "Healthy Delusion" of Founders

We have to find founders that have a healthy dose of delusion, but that are also rooted in the reality of the operation of what has to be built... We are always looking for the kind of leadership that that particular industry needs.

On Team Dynamics and Red Flags

One common pitfall is founders that have a team that they don't respect. If they don't respect the rest of the team, it becomes a one-man show. If I were to have tried to do everything myself, I would have died. You have to be able to trust.

Advice for MBAs: Keeping Your Authenticity 

I lost a little bit of what I would say was my essence during the MBA. Be truthful to yourself of what it is that you want to get, because you can end up becoming more lost than finding things.

Show Links:

• Caro’s LinkedIn

Dave has assisted in the launch of numerous start-up organizations and in their growth into large companies, including leading The Active Network from pre-revenue to $480M in annual sales, and a $1B exit for investors. Prior to Active, Dave served as the COO of the CitySearch cityguide business from just after startup to a successful IPO and investor exit. Dave currently serves as a Board Director of GovX, Firestorm Labs, and Trimark Associates, ( A Renewable Power Controls Company). Dave has independently invested in a number of additional private companies including Peloton, Semantic AI, The Rise Festival, and Lennd, among others.

Dave joins Haas MBA students Lee Kantowski and James Takami to discuss the leadership lessons he’s learned throughout his career and give advice on driving organizational culture, giving feedback to employees, and how to best utilize professional networks. 

Episode Quotes: 

Prioritizing People for Greater Organizational Success

"I'm suggesting that if you focus on the success of your employees, you're actually going to deliver more effectively to your shareholders than if you don't."

The Leader’s Job in a Growth Organization

"I viewed my job as number one raising money, number two trying to do my best to paint a target for people and for the organization. And number three, which is the thing I spent more time on than any of the other two, was actually spending one-on-one time with as many people in the organization as I possibly could to understand how they define success for themselves."

Creating a Difficult-to-Replicate Work Environment

"It was my job as the CEO to make finding a better option really, really difficult. That was my job. To create an environment that was going to be very hard for people to replicate elsewhere in the form of professional development, satisfaction, feeling mission-driven, compensation..."

Transparency and Accountability in Performance Feedback

"The reality is if I always felt like if I'm delivering news in a formal performance review that I hadn't given informally multiple times before, that was on me. That was my screw-up... There should be no surprises in a performance review ever."

Show Links:

• David Alberga LinkedIn Profile

Working in teams, they record in-depth conversations and transform them into compelling podcast episodes. Each episode features a different leader, sharing real stories, challenges, and insights on what leadership truly means—guided by the fresh perspectives and thoughtful questions of Haas students.

Real leaders. Real stories. A new generation asking the questions.

Listen to the Leading People series on the Here@Haas Podcast. Subscribe and don’t miss an episode.

Together, they explore innovation, entrepreneurship, competitive moats in the AI era, the role of proprietary data, and why enduring success often requires “fixing things before they break.” Greg also discusses character as life’s true project, the importance of long-term learning, and the deep alumni connections that enrich his life far beyond the classroom.

This episode offers insights for anyone considering strategy, disruption, and building a meaningful career in a rapidly changing world.

Episode Quotes:

If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway!

 I see Haas as ambassadors for this vision. We go out into the world and populate these companies with this unique view of the importance of innovation, the importance of rethinking. I mean, why is questioning the status quo the first of our defining principles? It's because if you don't question the status quo, status quo will crush you. And so one of the things that I always like to say is an implicit slogan of Haasies is if it ain't broke, fix it anyway. It is gonna be broke if you don't do anything. And so being capable of anticipating the future, of being open to being wrong, being open to continuous reinvention, that's what I love about being here. 

On what he is most proud of in his life

​​ It has nothing to do with worldly accomplishments. It has to do with character development. So, not to say that I've got this wonderful, great character. I mean, there's tons of room for improvement, but I think at the end of the day, the only thing that you have control over in your life is your character: the way you act, the way you think, the way you behave, the way you treat other people, and your approach to the world.

On playing the long game

There are people who just think they have forever to do stuff, and then there are other folks who think that they have to do everything right away. And so I would say play the long game. Understand that you might live fairly long period of time and, you know, you might not. Right? And so, learn like you're gonna live forever, really focus on learning without any necessarily obvious reason to think that what you're learning is gonna be immediately valuable. You'll find that things that you learn at one point in your life turn out to be much valuable later in life, oftentimes in unexpected ways. So, focus on learning with a long-term perspective.

Why good MBAs are good generalists

To be a good generalist is to have this very active mental switchboard that sends you off in all sorts of directions, makes connections that other people don't see, thinks analogously, and sometimes metaphorically, right?  Scientists often think in very linear, very structured ways. Start with small building blocks, work up to more sophisticated things. I think the superpower of a good MBA is that you don't limit yourself to that way of thinking, but that you have all these combinations, these neural combinations that send you in different directions.

Show Links

• Greg LaBlanc – LinkedIn
• unSILOed Podcast

Episode Quotes:

On navigating your career with purpose:

“ I like to tell people that the most important thing that you have to have (is) purpose—why you do what you do. And it has to fit your broad principle and your belief. Because in the journey that you're gonna see in the next 20 years, it's gonna be up and down. Things are gonna change way more rapidly than my generation. And without purpose, it's gonna hurt—it's gonna hurt you, it's gonna hurt your mentality, but with purpose, you're gonna allow yourself to fail along the way because, you know, it's just a learning. You get up and do it again. You are gonna figure out. So, having a purpose of why you do what you do, you will allow yourself to fail and also succeed.”

On what truly makes a startup succeed:

“ It is the quality of the management team. That is by far the most important. Mostly, things are gonna change, especially today, as you mentioned, because of AI, that is going to create a rapid change in our society and technology development, and so on. And all of these are gonna come back to the founders. How do they adjust? How do they pivot? How do founders actually handle that? There's gonna be a bunch of things that they're gonna have to solve. How do they think about the industry? Where do they think an industry is going next, and how do they adjust the business, the management team, and themselves to take advantage of the industry and the new technology? That is the most important thing, more so than the technology itself.”

On long-term success and risk-taking:

“If I could tell my younger self, I would tell myself not to worry about how people perceive me. You don't have to care about that. You play a long game, and you try to hit your ground running, take risks, and it's okay to fail. You get up, you pivot, you learn from it, and you do it again. And I guarantee you, no matter how long it takes, you know this is a probability, right? When you fail enough, you will also succeed enough. It's just a rule. And I just want us to think about the long game instead of the short-term KPI and how society and your friends, or like peer pressure, that a lot of you probably go through. Don't worry about any of that.”

Show Links:

• Jeep Kline LinkedIn Profile
• Raisewell Ventures – Jeep’s deep-tech impact venture fund
• Haas Impact Fund – The experiential VC course & student-led fund at Berkeley Haas

Ravi dives deep into what sparked his passion for accounting, why he pursued a Chartered Accountancy path before joining EY, and how his decision to prioritize family led him to make a courageous leap from Big Four to industry. Now at the helm of financial operations in a cutting-edge medical device company, he talks about leading through collaboration, building systems from scratch, and supporting FDA-cleared innovations that allow patients to take hospital-quality ECG readings from the comfort of home.

Beyond his day job, Ravi also shares what drove him to pursue an MBA at Haas, his approach to time management while balancing school, work, and family, and how he finds purpose in mentorship and helping others succeed. This episode is a masterclass in servant leadership, resilience, and lifelong learning.

Episode Quotes

On leaving the Big Four after 14 years

 That was another juncture when I thought about, you know, to leave or not leave because that's crucial to decide in terms of a career move. It was a hard decision for me as an individual, and I decided to move only for the good reason, for the sake of my family. I wanna see my kids grow in front of my eyes. Money will come by no matter what, but I think time was very precious to spend with family, give them the appropriate time.

On why he pursued an MBA

You know, I keep on doing the long-term goals in my career. In school, I had a goal to become a CA. I became a CA, and then the Big Four was the goal. Did that. Doing that same long-term goal strategy really helped in keeping me on my toes and grounded. And then I thought, okay, now I’m a corporate controller, what do I need to do next? I talked to my mentors, I did the research, and what I learned is that having an MBA will help. Definitely, you'll have an edge in terms of the other peers who have the skillset and sit at the table for the same position that you're trying to pursue.

On using the tools from Haas to lead and support others

Right now, I’m focusing on finance-driven classes and the core classes. Once that is done, I feel like I will have all the good tools. Now, it's upon me as a human being to make sure that I use those tools in my future journey, working towards my career goals. When does that career goal come by? That’s hard to predict, to be honest. What is in my control is to make sure that I do a good job in leading the people I'm leading and providing support to my teams so that they feel good about working with me as an individual and as a support system. That will be a big achievement if I keep on doing that. 

On staying motivated and pursuing your dreams

When you do see a dream and you have goals in life, nobody can stop you from achieving that. Only you can do that. And if you decide to support you, no matter what people can do around you, you'll get it. Yes, there'll be some hiccups, there'll be some problems, but if you don't give up, you'll get it. Just stay motivated and keep going. 

Show Links

• Learn more about HeartBeam’s innovative ECG technology
• Explore Berkeley Haas Executive MBA Program
• Visit the EW MBA Student Resources Website (EW Wire)
• Check out CalCPA – California Society of CPAs

We talk about her bold approach to leadership, her mission to democratize tech investment, and how she’s creating impact through collaboration, creativity, and going the extra mile. Whether you're curious about startups, social impact, or the vibrant energy of Southeast Asia's innovation scene—this episode is packed with inspiration.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On coming to the Bay Area

 I only considered the San Francisco Bay area because I want to be here as a person who is always passionate about tech. I know that tech will change the world, whether it's a software, a platform, or even deep technologies that a lot of scientists and a lot of entrepreneurs have been trying to build. I would love to be in a place where everything is happening. So yeah, that's why I decided to come to Haas. I think Haas has a really good track record of building entrepreneurs and scientists who build cool products.

On Doing Good With Real Intention

I would say, I think first, when you want to do things, I would suggest to have the really good intention in doing things. I mean, I was there with a really good energy. I was fired up. I was like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to change things. And they kind of bought it. So, I think people would love to help you if they see that you really want to make it happen. Collaboration is key. 

On Going the Extra Mile

One thing that I am really proud of in my life would be going the extra mile for everything I do. Because one, I would feel good about myself that I do my best in every opportunity that is handed to me and I will never regret. There's a lot of things that I failed, for example, the mentoring platform, but actually, I received some calls from users that they got a new investment. They got a new job. I'm proud of that, even though I failed. And then another good thing about going the extra mile: you might win. You will probably win. Because if people have a mindset of going the extra mile most of the time, going for the thing that you really want or really want to be, I think success would be higher, than people who are coming with just a typical mindset.

Show Links:

• Invex
• UC LAUNCH
• RISE
• Breakthrough Energy

She dives into what drew her to Haas, her experience in the Flex program, and how she stays organized amid the challenges of an MBA. Lucia also reflects on the importance of community, mental health initiatives, and the role of women in leadership. Plus, we get a peek into her love for reading, her favorite classes, and her vision for the future. If you're considering an MBA, especially as a remote or working professional, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways!

*Here@Haas Podcast is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On Ladies Who Lux Channel as a Lifesaver

Coming from engineering, there's not a lot of women in leadership. Depending on what industry you're in, there's not even a lot of women that you're working with. And I just really like connecting women who are in those similar fields and just chatting about that common experience. And kind of realizing we don't have to pretend to be men or fake-watch sports to have meaningful conversations about business. We can just be ourselves and connect about all that good stuff.

How an MBA Helps Engineers Bridge the Gap Between Tech and Business

For engineers, I think our education was very focused on the science of it all. I think a lot of engineers could benefit by gaining some more people skills, communication, and understanding how the business runs because if you don't understand the context that you're operating within, like, you can be the best engineer, but it needs to make sense for what the business is doing. So, if you have any interest whatsoever in figuring that kind of stuff out, certainly getting an MBA is a great way of doing that.

Show Links:

• Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA Program
• Diversity Symposium

As a leader, Claudia reflects on her time as MBA Association president, emphasizing the importance of team collaboration, fostering a strong student community, and the behind-the-scenes work that makes student-led initiatives thrive. She also delves into how her MBA experience has helped her reconnect with personal passions like reading, running, and learning about diverse cultures—most recently, her deep dive into Hasidic Jewish traditions.

Beyond leadership and personal interests, Claudia discusses the classes that had the biggest impact on her—such as Conflict Lab, where she learned how to navigate high-stakes conversations, and Systems Change for a Small Planet, which challenged her to rethink her career path. She also shares why she’s choosing to return to consulting post-MBA, how she balances gratitude with ambition, and her long-term considerations about staying in the U.S. or moving back to Europe.

To wrap up, Claudia offers heartfelt advice for incoming MBA students: embrace the uncertainty, focus on personal growth as much as career success, and remember that an MBA is about more than just landing the perfect job—it’s about becoming the person you want to be.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Why Systems Change for a Small Planet Was One of Her Most Impactful Classes

It was really impactful for me because it made me reflect a lot about my career choices. It brought me multiple career crises in one semester. It made me reflect what are my values in life. It made me reflect on who I am as a person and if my current career is aligned with that or not. And it made me reflect a lot on how that nurturing part of me or this caring part of me, this worrying about people and individuals, how can I incorporate that into my career in the future and how to incorporate that while going back to consulting.

On Leadership and Teamwork

 The role of a president is, in my opinion, should be “a back-office” job. It should be someone who is there to support the team and lead the team. Maybe one or two times, have individual initiatives. What I'm most proud of is how well the team performed and how we managed to create a well-oiled machine. So, every single initiative that we wanted to do was there, but every single initiative that we've done, for me, is 85%, 90%, the vice presidents that were handling that initiative and 10% how we were able to manage as a team.

On Finding the Right MBA Culture

Haas was not my first option. So coming here, I was with a bittersweet feeling. As someone who is really a high achiever, not getting into your first option is never a good feeling. After two weeks at Haas, I understood why I was at Haas. I cannot be more grateful that I ended up at Haas. The culture is right for me, the people that surround me are the right people for me, the type of events that we do are right for me. All of this is right for me.

Advice to new students

 This is probably really bad advice, but don't focus too much on career. It is so easy to come into the MBA and just be like, I need to get the job. I'm going to focus on career. There is so much more growth that you can do in the MBA. There's not only career growth. There is so much more development that we can do as humans that maybe it will end up in a changing career that we didn't even think that we needed or that we wanted. Embrace the chaos. Embrace the trying to figure out what you want. I know it's really scary. 

Take care of yourself and focus also on the personal part of you and your mental health. Don't let it deprive you. I don't truly believe in what everybody says, like in the MBA, you cannot balance them all. I truly think you can. One thing that I learned in consulting that I applied to everything in my life that I think everybody should apply is the 80-20 approach. There's like 20 percent of things that bring 80 percent of the impact. Focus on that 20%. Don't go to every event. Go to the 20% of the events that are going to bring you the most joy. Don't apply to 100% of the jobs. Apply to the 20% of the jobs that either you have the most chances or you will like the most. Just focus on 20%.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Conflict Lab
• Systems Change for a Small Planet

On Courtyard Ventures:

"Courtyard is a fund run by MBAs and Berkeley students to invest in startups from Berkeley. The genesis of that is that students are very close to companies. We are in the ecosystem. We are able to meet with people and also know Berkeley itself… It’s not just MBA, the undergraduate level, Ph.D. level there are amazing companies coming out of Berkeley"

On the entrepreneurial spirit in Berkeley:

"Berkeley is a hotbed of innovation. You can tell just by walking around the Berkeley campus, it’s a huge amount of entrepreneurship and general people trying to do different things. If you just look at the kinds of developments happening in this area of the world, like nuclear fusion or other things … It highlights that there’s just a huge amount of stuff happening here." 

On the need for a dedicated venture fund for Berkeley:

"I read a report by a Stanford professor on the number of unicorns created by Haas MBAs. I think we’ve got 1.4 in a thousand vs Harvard’s 1.6. Berkeley as a public school is relatively siloed, the budget of Berkely per student is $65000 per year vs $235000 at Harvard and $400000 at Stanford. So as students in this ecosystem, we can really play a role to create a lubricant and help generate and push the startups forward."

Blockchain at Berkeley

B@B EdX Course: Blockchain Fundamentals 

UTXO model:

Algorithmic stablecoins:

Terra Luna:

Notable Episode Quotes:

Nate Pola on the UTXO transaction model:

"It's just like making a piggy bank. And first it starts by creating smaller denominations of this Bitcoin. And so it transfers that half of Bitcoin to the intended recipient from there, it then takes the. Little piggy bank is the transaction fee." 

Nate Pola on Algorithmic Stablecoins: 

"Algorithm ones are the ones that don't have a direct one-to-one backing per se. And they instead are backed by computer science."

Nate Pola on the Terra Luna Collapse: 

"Terra had a large reserve of Bitcoin in store. And so Terraform labs sold about 3 billion in Bitcoin just to buy Terra and try to prevent the stable coin from collapse. And so all this was done with the intention to pump the new Terra Luna ecosystem and provide more reserves and more liquidity and value in the protocol."

On failure

“Reinvent your notion of failure, because failure is so common when you're an entrepreneur.”

On understanding purpose

“This is the critical part of understanding your purpose.  Sometimes if we listen too much to the external world, where the external world is telling us, this is the best college to go to, this is the best job to work in. We can actually be pulled away from our purpose. So what your purpose is and what you're good at can be two different things.”

On what it means to be an entrepreneur

“It's a professional who loves change, who loves to innovate. And if sometimes they're the investors, sometimes they're the employee, and sometimes they're the co-founder. It's all being entrepreneurial.”

Resource Links

• California Innovation Fund 
• Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Dr. Kurt Beyer
• Dr. Kurt Beyer

This episode is particularly notable as it was recorded during the Terra Luna collapse on May 10^th, 2022. During that day the price of Luna fell from $17.52 to $1.07 and was noticeably falling during the interview itself.

WEB3 speaker series -Notion page

Stablecoins - Definition

Tokenomics - Definition

Terra Luna crash

Notables Episode Quotes:

Nick Helgeson on the motivation for starting the web3 speaker series:

“I wanted to help contribute in my own way. And so, I set out to build and deliver what's now UC Berkeley's first-ever web three course. It’s housed in the MBA, program, and MBA students can propose teaching or facilitating a one-credit class “

Johnny Antos On the difference between Web2 & Web3:

“The classic one is web2 was read, write, and interact. And now web three brings in read, write, interact still, but now you have verifiable ownership on a blockchain, which, you know, doesn't sound that game-changing maybe, but that, that opens up doors for interoperability and people actually owning their assets and moving it from one platform or one protocol to another.”

Nick Helgeson on Solana and the trilemma tradeoff:

“What's called the scalability, trilemma, and you're effectively trading off between, three things, on transaction throughput, the other one is decentralization. and then the third one is security. And so, in choosing a proof of history, consensus protocol, the Solana development team made a pretty conscious choice in optimizing for speed.”

FakeNet AI – Detects synthetic (fake) media to protect users against attacks.

Automated Market Maker (AMM) – Definition

What is DAI? Description of MakerDAO and its cryptocurrency DAI.

 On Automated Market Makers (AMMs)

“That basically allows you to take a token and then convert it to different tokens. So, if I take an Ethereum, I can convert it to Dai or vice versa. This AMM is really just a way to decentralize what is existing today as a traditional market maker.”

 On the Problem with Misinformation today

“And so, I think we can all agree, misinformation is an issue today. How we're currently trying to solve it as rather algorithmic. Facebook, AI, created this deep fake detection challenge. And the best state of the art models can only accurately classify 65% correctly.”

 On Transparency of Legal Contracts on a Blockchain

“So, you could basically make it where all the contracts are put on the blockchain as well, along with all the transaction flow. And so, you can follow legal entities on a blockchain throughout. And then track all their transactions.”

On NGC Ventures

“NGC ventures we started in mid 2018. We were the early investor in multiple public blockchains, such as Solana, Avalanche, PolkaDot, to name a few. We are also active in many defi metaverse deals.”

On identifying Red Flags for startups

“Timeline, like seems focus too much on the token access strategy rather than product building. And second is that often times it needs to rely on the market secondary market condition, which is hard to predict for all of us.”

On Berkeley entrepreneurs raising rounds

“First is to be very clear about your product and solution and your vision as is the positioning of your product in the wider industry space. And I think second is that to make the best use of the Berkeley environment, especially the talents part. Because Berkeley has so many talents, in undergrads, graduates, and MBA.”

With that in mind, we’ll be delving into the question: “how might we chart our path and discover our purpose” in this episode.

We are first accompanied by Professor Robert Strand, also known as “Mr. Nordic.” He is the Executive Director of the Nordic Center and the Center for Responsible Business at Haas and tells us about his career history, what motivated the major pivots in his journey, and finding inspiration in the Nordic region.

We then hear from Jenelle Harris, a Haas alum from the class of 2017. Jenelle is a Consulting Manager at Bridgespan, where she leads engagements with social impact organizations, and she is also a career coach here at Berkeley Haas, where she works with mission-driven leaders. We talk with Jenelle about how we can find purpose and meaning in our career search. 

Episode Quotes:

On work-life balance & boundaries (Jenelle)

51:56 - When I'm working with folks in the social sector, that's like one of the biggest things we're working through is, what does it look like to do this work and to do so in a way that is nourishing and doesn't leave us wiped out. And how do we both hold like the sacredness and importance of this big, important work we're doing and take care of herself and feel permission to do that too.

Some of the best advice Jenelle has received (Jenelle)

31:09 - Pay attention to those things that just continuously light you up and spark anger, because that's a clue as to where you are best positioned to be a service.

On always looking up to Berkeley (Robert)

09:32 - I can't tell you how grateful I am that I have this opportunity to be at the University of California, Berkeley. A place I've revered all my life, even as a little boy growing up in middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, I looked to the University of California, Berkeley, and it is just a beacon educational opportunity for all, for the many people. And I firmly believe that. And that's in the idea of, it's inequality of opportunity that at its core is really, you know, we can call that that's the American dream. And I think that the University of California, Berkeley is an American dream factory. 

Nordic vs. US ways of thinking about community (Robert)

24:37 - Here is where I fear that we in the United States of America have developed a “me, me, me” mindset. Hyper selfish, hyper-focused on myself. We need what I would call in a Nordic context which is still, you have individual responsibility. There is still an importance for me, but they've recognized that if they build systems for the we, each of us “me” will benefit.

Show Links:

• Robert Strand’s Faculty Profile
• Robert Strand on Coursera
• Robert Strand on Google Scholar
• Robert Strand on LinkedIn
• Robert Strand on Twitter
• Jenelle Harris on Linkedin
• Jenelle Harris’ Website

We will hear from Tracy Gray who is a Haas MBA alumni class of 2007. She is the Founder and Managing Partner at The 22 Fund, the Founder of non-profit We Are Enough focused on educating women on how to invest, and Lead Partner at Porfolia Green and Sustainability Fund. 

She tells us about her impressive career path that ranged from space engineer, band manager, mayoral advisor to finally entering the sustainability space, as well as her perspectives in the early stage impact investment.

We will also be joined by Evan Wiener. He is also a Haas MBA alumni class of 2014 and currently Head of Circular Economy at H&M with past experiences in Nike and Adidas. He tells us about his work in corporate sustainability.

Episode Quotes:

Privileges and Environmental Intersectionality and Venture Capital (Tracy)

13:21 - Especially in venture and private equity and climate investment. Once again, like crypto, like everything, they are not thinking intersectional or holistically about, you know, women and people of color experience the worst of these impacts more than anyone in the world yet we're not given the capital to come up with a solution.

We know the solutions because we experience it. So we've got, you know, privileged white guys who are telling us, here's how you're going to fix your problem. And it's not the way it should work. 

Different types of jobs in corporate sustainability (Evan)

35:52 -  Thinking that you want to work in the world of corporate sustainability is still so, so broad, right? I mean, you could be a specialist in an analytics department, you could work in supply chain. You could be building products, working in innovation. You could be a materials expert.

Circular economy (Evan)

45:17 -  Sustainability is often I think most effective when you break down silos. When you connect dots between supply chain, logistics, product, innovation, marketing, and circular economy allows companies to break those silos down.

It also allows companies to break down silos outside of their four walls. To think about how to collaborate on things like material innovation on supply chain disruptions, new manufacturing technology. Things that previously had been considered competitive, circular economy is saying, hey, we all need to solve these problems.

Show Links:

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

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.”

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.

Episode Quotes:

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.

Show Links:

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

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. 

Episode Quotes:

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. 

Show Links:

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

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.

Episode Quotes:

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. 

Show Links:

• 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

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

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”

Episode Quotes:

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?”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

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!

Episode Quotes:

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.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

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. 

Episode quotes:

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.

Show Links:

• Alex Holden on LinkedIn

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.

Episode quotes:

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. 

Show Links:

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

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.”

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!

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

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)

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.

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

Episode Quotes:

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.”

Show Links:

• WE Launch 2021
• Redemption - Avni Kansara

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.”

Episode Quotes:

On the uses of PA today: “People analytics has become a necessary approach to [measuring] squishy things like knowledge, collaboration, ideas, and goodwill.”

On the danger of not using human judgment in decision-making: “If you build these models, but you don't think about their consequences...they can have ripple effects and [...] affect people's lives, their livelihoods, their families, opportunities and outcomes.”

On her PA class: “It is a class that you have to be comfortable being uncertain. People, analytics is not like physics. It's not like finance. There aren't right answers. There is data, there is information, and then there's a lot of understanding context and situation and outcomes.”

Show Links:

• Heather Whiteman: | LinkedIn | Website
• 5 V’s of Data Science
• Book rec’s: Weapons of Math Destruction | Data Feminism
• People Analytics Class Syllabus (login w/ Haas email)

Why Abhishek moved to Singapore from India: 

“That was a massive transition I had to make personally, because I had lived in the closet for over 10 years since I was 12 years old... And by living in India, I couldn't really figure out how to change things. So I had to physically move to another place. That transition was really transformational for me personally. When I moved to Singapore, even though Singapore has the exact same British laws as India had at that time with Section 377, making homosexuality illegal, it was just a very different culture.”

What Pride means to Abhishek: 

“Pride reminds me to be authentic every single day. It reminds me that I do not have to hide myself. It reminds me that shame is not something I need to have in myself for who I am and it also reminds me of how important it is to have a community… It gives you something to feel affiliated with, to feel part of. And that is what pride reminds me of. It reminds me that I have a big role since I have had so much privilege that I can now be myself.”

His reflection on allyship: 

“I always struggle with telling people how to be good allies because there's no one way to look at it. There's so many different ways and so many different circumstances that you can be an ally. But one of the major things I can think of is coming in with the mindset of empathy, because everyone has their own lived experiences. There's a non Oxford dictionary word called sonder: S-O-N-D-E-R. It talks about how complex everyone's lives are around us. We think our lives are complex. Imagine there's 7.5 billion people whose lives are as complex as yours.”

Resources

• Q@Haas
• Dean's Speaker Series | Pascal Millaire, CEO, CyberCube
• A Guide for Trekking Mount Bromo

Why working in social impact is so important for Luis: 

“Statistically as a person of color, also being gay and being undocumented, the chances of me going to school were minimal…I consider myself really lucky to be at school, to be working and to be advocating for other undocumented students and people of color. So I think that that's part of my mission and the reason why I take education and everything that I'm doing with social impact very seriously.” 

On his journey to coming out as LGBTQ: 

“I knew that I was gay since I was a little kid. I was half Chinese. I'm half Mexican. I became undocumented and at the time, I just couldn't understand why I also had to be gay. There are so many coming outs.”

His advice on being proudly yourself: 

“Think about new perspectives [you provide] and take ownership and pride of who you are and how you are different.”

Remembering where Luis was when DACA was passed: 

“I got out of an interview and then I went to a coffee shop and I was on Facebook when I saw it - an announcement about Obama passing the DACA. So I was at this coffee shop and I remember I started crying… and then I just called my mom. I was trying to get some resources of what was the next step. To be honest, there was still a fear of sending all the documentation because it's a long process and you need so many resources to submit the application.”

Resources

• Haas Voices: Luis Alejandro Liang on being “paperless, not powerless”
• Proudly Me
• East Bay Running Trails

During this interview, Ghita shares what she has learned on the journey. She provides advice to those wanting to pivot into healthcare from her perspective as a Strategic Partnerships Manager at Color, and offers ideas for those considering Haas, as a VP of Admissions in the EWMBA Association. Recorded at the end of Ramandan, Ghita explains why it’s her favorite time of the year. 

Ghita shares how her father’s sickness drove her interest in healthcare:

“You don't know a lot when you're young. And my family was not the type of family that would sit me down and tell me everything. I had so many questions, but I didn't have answers. So I took it upon myself many times to actually do my own research and look things up.”

Advice she has for MBA students hoping to pivot into healthcare:  

“Healthcare is one of those industries where it's actually a melting pot of different backgrounds. Really the number one thing you need to have is that mission driven purpose. If you care about some segment within healthcare and want to advance it, that's half the job already done.”

Why pursuing an MBA is important for Ghita as a mother: 

“I also want to set that example to my daughter, where it doesn't matter what stage in life you are in. You can still go ahead and pursue your dreams.”

Why Ramadan is Ghita’s favorite time of the year:

“I love it because of the sense of community it reinforces. It's just a joyful period but also a month to take time out of your day-to-day to focus on your inner peace and your community. It's a beautiful, serene time that I look forward to every year.”

Resources

• Color
• Haas Healthcare Association

The importance of education for Tiffany: 

“Education for me is the battleground of equity. And so when I think about my identity as an educator and how I started my career, it really started off thinking about how we make equitable learning spaces so that marginalized communities can really have access to different opportunities.”

Defining moments in Tiffany’s career:

“I was able to meet with five young men who were in a juvenile justice center in DC... I remember one of them said to me, my teachers could have helped me. And that phrase will always stick with me. They were between the ages of 15 and 17 years old. And they were also foster youth. I thought about this intersection of juvenile justice and child welfare reform, how can schools come into support because schools are community centers. And from there I really started to research and got into education policy.”

Speaking about Hack the Hood’s mission:

“So often I meet young people who hear the word tech and think of Mark Zuckerberg and not themselves. And so that's the mission of Hack the Hood. Bringing students and community members together and offering them technology fundamentals that are really going to support them today, but really ensure that they're prepared for the future of work.”

The role of Admission Officers on her journey to Haas: 

“Two years ago I actually had coffee with one of the admission officers and it meant so much to me because I wanted to talk about how nervous I was, and he sat with me for an hour. That was supposed to be a 20 minute coffee and he sat with me for an hour.”

Resources

• Hack the Hood
• On Air: On creating safe spaces for diverse teams
• San Francisco Business Times’ 40 Under 40

On staying curious:

“I think that curiosity is a natural human instinct, which is almost exterminated as you get older...we forget how to learn. And as we get older, we become routinized and so forth. And I think I've just been fighting that specialization; fighting that, urge to rinse wash, repeat, for my entire life.”

On MBAs as generalists:

“I like of teaching MBAs. Cause what MBAs want is to be like generalists. They want to be the PhDs of common sense. They want to be the integrators. They want to be the people who have the experts working for them. So that they can translate that expertise into something useful and practical. And I think you have to have curiosity if you're going to be that type of person.”

Sharing some life philosophy:

“Are you living the way you want to live or are you kind of just living? You know, moment to moment without a plan. Are you making your decisions consciously or are you making them unconsciously? And how do you bring those decisions out into the surface and evaluate them in a responsible way.”

Resource Links:

• La Blanc’s podcast: Unsiloed
• Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt
• Sensehacking by Charles Spence
• Gastrophysics by Charles Spence
• Adaptive Space by Michael Arena
• Software Engineering Education Company: Qwasar

We speak with Almaz Ali, Sami Tamyalew, and Lula Desta. Their families have been directly affected, as they describe the horrors through the stories of victims and survivors—stories that have received very little news coverage. With humanitarian aid being blocked, we discuss the ways we can help.

Episode Quotes:

On the need to help:

“Some stories are coming out and they're horrific. I think the worst part is this is just the tip of the iceberg. 80% of Tigray is inaccessible, so every story we hear, we know that there are thousands that we're not [...] I feel called to use these unearned privileges to go beyond myself—compassion is active and so it calls for us to alleviate the suffering of others. And that's kind of what I've been really holding on to because it helps me feel like I have a sense of agency.” – Almaz Ali

On the ways to help:

 “There are a few ways to get involved. The first would be to just donate to organizations that are on the ground and doing good work and to find a vetted list of set organizations, you go to omnatigray.org. The second thing you do is just attend and amplify protests [...] The third would be to reach out to your elected officials and to just put pressure onto a national government. The fourth would be to stay informed and engage in individual outreach to raise awareness in the communities you occupy [...] And then the fifth would be to form solidarity teams and reach out to Tigray advocacy organizations like Omna and ask them how you can assist.” – Sami Tamyalew

On the cry for help:

“War and genocide have become so normalized when it happens in developing countries, specifically countries made up of black and brown bodies, that when it occurs, we don't get the same attention and sympathy we would expect if this would have happened here in the United States or in a place like England. And it's frustrating because U.N and aid agencies constantly say never again, but here we are—2021—and there's a genocide happening in Tigray and no one has intervened and no one has done anything to help the people.” – Lula Desta

Ways to Support:

• Omna Tigray
• Two-day National Protest in San Francisco on May 21-22,2021

Contact Links:

• LinkedIn - Almaz Ali
• LinkedIn - Sami Tamyalew
• LinkedIn - Lula Desta

Now the Director of Research and Analytics at Fivestars and Co-president of Berkeley Female Founders + Funders (BFFF) while concurrently pursuing her MBA, Claudia shares her journey of finding a community of like-minded people as well as the challenges faced by female leaders and investors.

Episode Quotes:

On her passion for User Experience (UX) research:

“That's the whole foundation of user experience research. You want to make sure that the people deciding on the products that humans will use aren’t just the people in the conference room. It's actually bringing these voices from the community into the conference room to make sure that we're designing products that actually matter, that actually help build communities.”

On joining Berkeley Female Founders + Funders (BFFF):

“The main purpose of Berkeley Female Founders + Funders is to be a platform that connects founders and funders in a way that is beneficial towards their growth. Being a female leader in tech, I realized that it can be an extremely lonely experience, let alone if you're a female founder or a female investor trying to look for an exciting startup with maybe not the same amount of resources at your disposal as someone else. I realized this need from my own experience in tech and I realized that I wanted to make a difference.”

Show Links:

• Women Who Launch - BFFF Summit Registration
• Fivestars
• Just Like Butterflies

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

Episode Quotes

On why she chose to attend Berkeley-Haas: “I view businesses as being able to have a positive, societal impact, and I think it's important if you're in a place of privilege [...] to consider all sorts of people in the world and try to better everyone's lives.”

Why Macroeconomics is important, regardless of industry: “Macro matters to you because that economic backdrop determines what the environment is for raising money through a VC. If you're in healthcare, macro might tell you certain things about the business cycle or how different economies are performing relative to each other..."

Show Links

• H@H Ross Levine Episode
• Pod Save America
• Solow Growth Model
• Haas Defending Leadership Principles

How Graham’s military experience helps ground him during stressful times:

“I think when it comes to dealing with these deadlines and dealing with classwork and dealing with group projects, I think my benefit is that, my first job was waking up and wondering if any of my friends had got shot down in Afghanistan overnight. And so anything that is less stressful than that is like a very good day for me. And that is my barometer of how stressful a day is.”

Graham’s advice for incoming Haasies:

“Be your authentic self and come with your experiences and be able to share them and relate to people. And then second advice I have for anyone coming to Haas: I would just say have fun. Haas is a great place to be and if you're lucky enough to come here, it should be a chance for you to explore and try new things. So just have fun with it.”

Resource Links

• UC Launch
• BIS - Berkeley Innovation Solutions
• Berkeley Haas Veterans Club
• Ghost Road

Check out the recent Here@Haas eps, books, and podcasts recommended in this episode!

Recent Here@Haas episodes:

• Nuhamin Woldemariam (EWMBA 22)
• Gillian Chu (EWMBA 22) 
• Zeenia Irani (EWMBA 23)  
• All our March podcasts featured amazing women leaders at Haas - be sure to give them a listen!

Books:

• Untamed by Glennon Doyle
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
• The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Podcast:

• Throughline from NPR

Quotes

Comparing Berkeley & ESADE: “At Berkeley you cover different varieties of subjects - so you go much more into concepts in general. At ESADE we went a bit more in depth.”

“I think a similarity of ESADE and Berkeley is a focus on the entrepreneurial side and on founding companies and finding your own […] individual way.”

On her proudest moment throughout the MBA: “I was able to help more than 40 students in my class and also in the incoming cohort to practice for interviews. Being awarded with that trust and being one of these go-to people to ask for advice has really been an honor.”

Show References:

ESADE Business School

Forte Foundation

180 Degrees Consulting

Helvellyn Foundation

Factfulness

Invisible Women (bonus rec!)

Ray shares his own story of feeling exclusion, a sentiment felt by many Asians who grew up in a city or region where Asian representation is lacking. The events in recent months have shone light on the Asian community & its struggles in assimilating to America, whether due to explicit legislation, Hollywood stereotyping both Asian men and women (albeit very differently), or just differences in eastern vs. western culture.

Links to Resources:

• UC Campus Resources
• Counseling & University Health Services
• AAPI Drop-in Wellness Sessions
• StopAAPIHate
• Chinese Exclusion Act

Recent Asian Voices on H@H:

• Frances Ho
• Gillian Chu
• Alan Duong
• Kevin Chang
• Anna Lee

Album art courtesy of https://stopaapihate.org/

H@H: Ep 52 – Zeenia Irani joins NEW H@H host, Adam Ward on his first episode of Here@Haas. Zeenia discusses how her heritage, culture, and upbringing have formulated her perspectives and passions of community and the overall importance of elevating and providing support for vulnerable communities.

On how her Zoroastrian roots influence her perspective:

“Good thoughts, good words. Good deeds, which translates to in our book, the Avesta - And so growing up with these tenants that really influenced a sense of community and giving back.

On the importance of finding your passion & purpose:

“When you are able to focus on your passion and purpose. That's when change really takes place because it's coming from being a human and it's coming from knowing what our morals and values are. And that is what I would encourage folks to really think about is: what really matters to you and why do you care about this?”

Resources

• Haas Against Hunger
• Books:
• Beyond Machiavelli

Quotes

On imposter syndrome within her cohort:

"I think one of the things that we discovered together was there were quite a few of us that were feeling this imposter syndrome, and none of us were talking to each other about it. And a lot of those individuals were women in our cohort."

On what she’s taken away from the program:

"Being an MBA student doesn't mean that you're perfect. It doesn't mean you're learning to become a CEO. It means that you're learning to be a better leader of organizations and people."

On how she knew it was time to transition:

"…it really just came to a point where I had maxed out what I wanted to do in animal welfare at the time. I really wanted to make a change in my life because I had been in animal welfare full-time for almost eight years and I was like it's time for me to delve into something deeper."

Resources

Berkeley Haas CMG

Haas Hearts

DMEC – Digital Media & Entertainment Club

San Francisco SPCA

The legacy that Gillian hopes she and the executive team hope to leave:

“I'd like us to introduce new types of programming. New types of events and new types of ways to bring people together. I want to make sure that we're being as inclusive as possible as we can, because I think there's a huge range of personalities and types of people in the EW program.”

What she’s learned about Haas:

“One of the things I've enjoyed learning most about Haas has been when you let your guard down with people and you admit that you don't have a strong suit in something, you're not an expert and you're just here to learn, and you're curious to learn more.

How enthusiastically everybody jumps in to try and help you and how there is zero judgment that comes to admitting that you don't know how to tackle the homework, or you need a little help and explanation...And that to me really defines the Confidence Without Attitude defining leadership principle at Haas.”

Her advice for the newest class of Haasies:

“I think my advice would revolve around being curious, not being afraid to ask questions, not being afraid to tap somebody on the shoulder and introduce yourself to them...Don't be afraid to let your guard down and don't be afraid to admit you don't know something and you want to learn more because sometimes the professor will help you out. But most often it's your classmates who are really gonna open your eyes, and support you as you go through Haas.” 

Resources

• Diversity Symposium
• Recipes:
• Sticky Rice Dumplings
• Turnip Cake

Nuhamin also shares the importance of finding a workplace that allows you to be your true self, “I always have a really hard time not being genuine. And I remember in a longer conversation, he ended up telling me this is a really great value to have in life. But it's not going to help you be great at this company and you are not going to succeed. I just remember looking at him and I said, ‘yeah, that's not gonna work for me.’”

Nuhamin on how DEI has evolved over the past year:

“I've been fortunate to sit in rooms with some of our leadership to see them with my own eyes and hear them say, we want to see real change and we're willing to do whatever it takes. And it's not just for show, these conversations are happening internally. It's really cool because they're also pushing us. So we get to push ourselves even further.”

Nuhamin’s advice for our newest Haasies:

“Enter Haas with a blank canvas. I went in with a perspective of this is going to be a great experience, but I already have really good friends. And so I'm not really trying to make besties here. And I ended up making some of my best friends through the program and it took some time for me to become open.”

Resources

• LinkedIn’s Allyship Academy
• Forte Foundation
• All About Love by Bell Hooks
• Unlocking Us by Brene Brown
• Better Allies

Episode Quotes

Lifelong learning in DEI: I think it's incredibly important that whoever wants to go into this space, they have to know that they will be on a continual journey themselves to learn… You have to have a deep sense of humility to know that you're not going to be right. 

Why DEI is so important: It’s an ethical and a moral imperative that we do this work and consider the humanity of the people we're working for… It doesn't make sense for there to be pools of talent where only certain people can have access to certain opportunities. 

The power of relationships: The way that I do [my work in DEI] is through building substantive relationships. I spend time with people. I get vulnerable with them very quickly, because I don't know how much time I'll have with someone. I want them to know I'm sincere and vulnerable and to get there with me so we can do this together.

Resources

13th documentary (YouTube)

Inclusive Leadership Institute, offered by Pneumos

Diversity at Haas

To all that know Cheick, he is always optimistic, encouraging and raises the spirits of anyone he interacts with. Self described as “annoyingly positive” Cheick believes that “How you frame things in your head can go a long way. For instance, I don’t see dead ends, I see detours. I don’t see barriers, I see stepping stones. [...] You have to embrace the low, the mid and the high, and things work out.”

Chieck, a scientist at heart, knows that the way we understand the world evolves in time and that “Truth as we know today may move based on your evidence tomorrow.” Always a challenger of the status quo, Cheick has lived out this principle, from finding new ways to approach math problems in 5th grade, to how he shapes and evolves his career today. 

Resources

• Professor Ross Levine
• Give and Take by Adam Grant

Quotes on staying connected during the pandemic:

“I try every week to connect with someone who I haven't had a one-on-one with before.”

“A way to combat (feeling disconnected) is reaching out to the network you have, whether that’s through work, friends, family…and also keeping in mind to do what works best for you.”

Show Links

• Bloomberg Businessweek
• Grace Hopper Convention
• Child Advocates
• Citizen Schools

Fueling his passion to get involved with the community he founded Greenfoot Hiking, an equitable outdoors community, “I recognized that when I was growing up, I had a community center that helped me not fall into the wrong crowds. And I recognized that a lot of people […] don't have the right social construct to support them.” 

On why Alan pursued student leadership at Haas: “I’ve always been a proponent of getting yourself involved because if I only have one opportunity at a school that I always dreamt about going to, I better take full opportunity and go all in […] And I'd like to think that by the time I graduate, I'd like to be able to say, yes, I did.”

Resources

• Greenfoot Hiking
• Alan’s Photography: Website, Instagram and Ansel Adams Wilderness Montage
• Reel Asian Podcast: Subscribe & listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts 
• Organizations Alan Supports: Wonder Warrior, Sierra Club, Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley and Citizen Schools
• Professor Panos Patatoukas
• Professor Peter Goodson
• Eagle Peak Loop
• Whitney Houston’s Soundtrack of GMAT Inspiration

Episode Quotes

A lifelong passion for politics: “One of the things I’ve always loved growing up was elections… I love understanding why people think in a certain way and what are the messages that persuade them to vote in a particular way.”

Looking forward to the spring semester: “[The Leadership Communications course] is all about storytelling, presence, leadership, and I think communication is so critical to any successful leader. I’m really excited about that and also how to be vulnerable in an authentic way.

Joining the EWMBAA as the EVP, Marketing: “What I wanted to do was to use my skills to help in the need [following Covid-19]... I have good skills around how you put information together, how you present in a clear and compelling way, how you engage people in novel formats. That’s why I really want to step up and be counted.”

Episode Quotes:

Definition of Design - “People have a misconception that design is like art. And I think there's a very strong distinction between the two: art is really about creation and self-expression; design is all about problem solving for a business."

On advice on competition - “I think it's good to ignore the competition in some instances and instead say, look, there are a lot of people that do design. But they're not talking to this person right now. I'm talking to this person and just focus on the relationship with the clients and focus on your pitch with that person.”

Prioritizing human-centric work culture: "I think that when companies look at the big picture and prioritize your people, that's very similar to prioritizing your customers. It's a longer term, more sustainable way of thinking about strategy that is very effective."

Episode Quotes:

Kevin, on his deep-rooted interest in entrepreneurship - “I've always been fairly entrepreneurial. I spent a lot of high school days in my buddy's garage, where we would just think about the different kinds of businesses that we could start or what we could do to grow up and not have to work in a nine to five job.”

On how he makes the most of his time and Haas and encourages peers to do the same - “When we come into the program, I think there's some preconception that things will be handed to us [...] or things will just work out. I've encouraged incoming students and even current students show up and really make the program yours.”

Show Links:

• Professor Kurt Beyer
• Deepak Gupta of Career Management Group
• StEP
• CITRIS Foundry
• Promised Land by Barack Obama

Episode Quotes

On industries within FinTech: “...we have many industries within the FinTech industry. So you have payments, you have Venmo, PayPal. You'll have digital loans. There's a really cool one in Latin America called Nubank [that’s] entirely digital. Then you have blockchain. [There] are so many different industries within FinTech and that's I think what makes it very, very interesting."

Democratization of finance: “FinTech gives people [in countries like Argentina] access to saving money, to investing their money, and to… being able to have a credit card or a debit card. [It gives] people access to something that we usually take for granted.”

Advice for international prospective students: “We come from diverse backgrounds, from many different countries, but I think that there's some underlying similarities within all of that. Make sure you like the school’s culture and then figure out what your goals are.”

Resources

Haas FinTech Club

Mercado Libre

Episode Quotes

On Social Impact:

"Social impact is not an industry. it's actually a lens and that lens can be applied to many different industries in any different way."

"I think that's another kind of misconception of what social impact is - a lot of people think that it automatically means nonprofit."

On Shift from Consultant to Program Manager:

"Program manager means different things at different companies. The way that I saw it, there were a lot of similarities between the skill sets that I had as a consultant [and the skill sets of a Program Manager]. "

On Giving good feedback:

"Feedback style and how to adapt your management technique to give meaningful feedback in a way that's going to actually inspire people to act on that feedback versus telling them what to do, which is less effective."

Show References

The Daily

Radical Candor

Women in Leadership (10:38) - Blair Evans (club co-president): H@H episode | Email

Haas Data Science Club (11:24) – Daniil Pushkin (club co-president): H@H episode | Email

Berkeley Cannabis Industry Club (12:01) – Nick Bellamy (club co-president): H@H episode | Email

Haas Tech Club (12:56) – Shotaro Ishizuka

Haas Marketing Club (13:48) – Ana Alanis (co-president): H@H episode | Email

Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative (14:21) – Steven Brisley (co-president): H@H episode | Email

On the mission and function of WIL: “[WIL] is really anyone in the Haas network who strives for a more gender equitable business world.” Where Haasies “Come together to not only share our stories and maybe normalize some of our experiences, but also empower each other with the tools and resources to achieve success.”

Making a pitch to prospective new Haas students “Everyone here is flawsome. And by that, I mean, they embrace their flaws and they know they're awesome because of that.” And to potential new members of WIL: “Please reach out to us. Even if you think you don't have enough time, because nobody has enough time. I think that you should make time for us.”

Resources

Women in Leadership

Berkeley Real Estate Club

Bridge Partners

Starwood Capital and CEO Barry Sternlicht

Haas Gender Equality Initiative

81 Cents

Educated (book)

Daniil also talks about his involvement as President of the Haas Data Science Club, including workshops and club events. Daniil also shares his summer internship experience at Intuit and how he used data science techniques in his interview. Finally, we wrap up with some elective recommendations, culture shocks he experienced, and his favorite defining principle.

Episode Quotes:

On why Daniil & his wife pursued a US MBA: "We were really considering several options because there are some good business schools in Europe, much closer to Russia, but eventually we wanted to get a two year degree because we heard from everybody that the MBA is one of the best times of people's lives."

On his learnings from the 1st year: "I clearly understood during my first year how important it is to network with people and build warm connections."

On the difference between consulting and product management: "In consulting you do some analysis for two weeks and then present it for one hour. As a product manager, you do analysis for two hours and then align it for two weeks with others."

Links & References:

Daniil Pushkin: Email | Linkedin

Data Science Club

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

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

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!

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

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.

Episode Quote:

"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

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

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

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

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)

Episode Quotes:

Advice on commuting: “I think it’s just planning ahead as much as possible and giving yourself a break when some things go wrong.”

On work/life/school balance: “Business school is really about tradeoffs. The tradeoffs are spending a little bit of extra money now to have more time with your spouse."

Prioritizing your partner: “You really need to prioritize your partner over your friends because they’re giving up quite a bit of their energy to help things move forward.”

Show Links

• Haas Hearts
• Food@Haas
• EWMBA Association

Podcasts Recommendations

• Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
• Econ Talk
• Tim Ferris Show

Book rec: The Obstacle is the Way

Apologies in advance for Paulina's dog Tucker walking around in the background.

Topics in this episode:

• Upcoming August episodes
• What Aravind learned editing his first episode
• Some fun projects we are working
• Talking through our episode download counts (+15% vs last month!)

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

Episode Quotes:

On the EWMBA Association:

“It gives students a place to voice their concerns, to explore their leadership potential, to meet and come together and challenge each other in ways that we otherwise would not be able to challenge ourselves in.

“Whatever you want to see happen on campus, we want to be able to lead with you and make that dream or that vision a reality.”

On the Haas network:

“I'll say the biggest thing that Haas gave me was, of course, my classmates and confidence.”

“This community really fosters an environment for developing areas where you can become more successful.”

On commuting:

“You're not alone…there are so many commuters. Flying in these planes with you week by week, you get so close to them and it's so fun just going through the same things that everyone else is going through.”

Show Links

• EWMBA Association
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Speed of Trust

In this episode we talk to Namrata about

1. Her roles in two of India's fastest growing startups in the Food and Grocery delivery space.
2. Her decision to come to the US and Berkeley in particular.
3. The different Entrepreneurship opportunities at Haas.
4. Her new startup ResumeWabi.
5. Student and Work Visa's for International Students.
6. Her favorite classes at Haas.
7. Cultural differences between India and the US

Dean Harrison talks about growing up between cultures and their influences in her career as an economist and lecturer around the world. Economics was not quite the typical background for somebody who wanted to make the world a better place, but this is where she started and continues to make her impact.

As an economist, she shares her thoughts on how we should continue opening up to global trade, while still protecting our most vulnerable. As our dean, she explains her vision for Haas, what she has been doing for the past year and a half, and her future plans.

Episode Quotes

Confidence without attitude is most effective when it's backed up by ability.

On how to identify overconfidence in others:

I would say, ask for clear evidence. Evidence that’s hard to fake; evidence of real performance: numerical, disprovable, claims of confidence. The way to handle imposter syndrome is to get better information about the struggles that others are dealing with. If being results-oriented means that you reward success and punish failure, that's dangerous because you will reward the lucky and punish the unlucky.

Show References

• Don Moore – Haas profile
• Perfectly Confident
• Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within
• The Confidence Code
• Annie Duke – Thinking in Bets

Notable Quotes:

"People know who we are now." - Paulina

On his first interview: "It felt like making the first pancake." - Aravind

On the mission of OneHaas: "My mission and personal goal is really simple: to give people a voice on this platform." - Sean

Episode Quotes: 

On finding her northstar after changing her undergrad major - “And I think that really started a trend that I've followed through the rest of my life: following people who make me feel passionate and motivated about what I’m doing .”

On why an MBA is valuable - “At the end of the day, when you're at a high level in an organization, it’s about managing people and making decisions about how to allocate finite resources, and that’s training that you get at an MBA.”

On why she got involved - “I wanted to be a voice for people who felt like their needs weren’t being 100% met. And see what we can do to make sure everyone is learning as much as they can in these 2 years.” 

On becoming a leader - “I really believe in doing other things and exploring so that you both become stronger and potentially [develop] new passion areas.”

Recommendation & Resources List:

• Film: Waiting for Superman
• Teach for America
• Schusterman Family Foundation
• Ballerinas: Tiler Peck & Patricia Zhou

Looking for other stories of Haasies? Visit our website OneHaas.org or check out the OneHaas Alumni podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a rating & review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with a fellow bear!

Episode Quotes:

Olaseni Bello on the burden of double consciousness: "...it's not just how I see myself. It's how other people see me - this burden of always trying to dance politely again, to manage everybody else's comfort. You're just trying to balance, you're trying to walk this tight rope your whole life. So of course that's going to manifest itself psychologically, emotionally, physically."

Nuhamin Woldemariam on systemic racism: "There's a school to prison pipeline in this country. And the folks who are future planning for prisons, it's literally correlated to the number of black boys who are wrongly sent to detention and reading scores from the third grade!”

(Nuhamin) on being one of the few black people in the classroom: “I had this moment of relief when I had certain classmates to speak up, raise their hand first and say what they needed to say, I shouldn't have to be the person to speak for an entire experience because it's an individual experience."

Jarrett Wright on police actions: “People do things based on their consequences. If I'm a police officer and I kill someone in the line of duty, rightly or wrongly, there are far fewer consequences…and because of those lack of consequences, those things create issues.”

Educational Links:

• 13^th (film)
• White Fragility (book)
• My Grandmother’s Hands (book)
• Pyramid of White Supremacy (info)
• 1619 podcast

Support the Black Community:

• McBride Sisters winery
• Black Bay Area (IG)
• GLO graphics (IG)

Contact info:

• BBSA
• Olaseni Bello
• Nuhamin Woldemariam
• Jarrett Wright

Episode Quotes

On how Trevor realized (in 8^th grade) he wanted to work in professional baseball:

It was just this aha moment, where I read the book (Moneyball), looked at the characters and their background, and said, ‘Hey, I think I could do that.’

Comparing building a sports team to investing:

"I always compare it to running a hedge fund, to picking stocks. The key, just like not everybody can outperform the stock market, not everyone can win in pro sports without learning how to use data and create good, qualitative, analytical frameworks."

On the value of an MBA:

"Anybody can get a lot out of it. It’s a tremendous curriculum, teaches you how to think and then you can specialize and make it whatever you want once you get into electives."

Show Links:

Moneyball – book & film

Major League

Oakland A’s

Bill Simmons podcast

Episode Quotes: 

On student takeaways from the course - “I've even seen grown men cry and then get into a very personal reveal of how (their phone has) ruined their marriage or it's made them way less effective and way less intelligent than they used to be in their forties or thirties. They realize that these habits have been completely reinforced over time and they can choose to fight back and take control...if they're willing to make that trade off.”

On the importance of focus - “It's not really about time management. It's more about getting the right things done. It's one thing to talk about being a faster runner or a better performer or getting more things done in fewer hours. It's another to make sure you're doing the right stuff because it doesn't matter how hard you're working. If you're not focusing on what matters, then you won’tget the results you want.”

On maximizing your day - “That's one concept that sticks with folks, that it's okay to not be a hundred percent the entire day. I mean, we're not machines. We're not like laptops where if we simply have power, we can just run at a hundred percent capacity and run multiple programs at the same time. We have peaks and we have troughs, and if we don't manage our energy over the course of the day, we have long periods where we're just burned out and can't do anything.”

On finding your strengths - “I think something that's really, really important for folks to learn as they try different careers and potentially go down rabbit holes that may serve them or may not serve them, is to keep a keen eye on what gives them energy and what drains them. Because ultimately, it gives you real insights into what's going on on a daily basis; and will help make you fulfilled and feel like you're growing.”

Recommendation & Resources List:

• LinkedIn: Lucas Miller
• Stoa Partners
• Beyond Brilliance: The Blueprint for Learning Anything by Lucas Miller
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Berkeley Free Ventures

Looking for other stories of Haasies? Visit our website OneHaas.org or check out the OneHaas Alumni podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a rating & review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with a fellow bear!

Episode Quotes:

On childhood interests - I was really into two things: music and technology. Those are the common denominators throughout my whole life...There's the opportunity to create and at the same time you can create something that's permanent that stays behind, but that you can share with others and that they can use and that has an effect on them.

On the his fellow Haasies - “But since I've come here, I've been influenced by others way more than I expected before. That's very humbling and it's very rewarding at the same time.”

Recommendations:

• Zero to One by Peter Thiel
• The Man Behind the Microchip by Leslie Berlin
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Attack on Titan on Hulu
• The Last Dance (available on Netflix July 2020)
• 13th on Netflix
• Check out Akonkwa’s song that we featured throughout the episode: We’re Gonna Be All Right

For those of you who may not understand Anti-Blackness, it was best explained in an article written by Kihana Miraya Ross, Northwestern University professor of African-American studies, as "the inability to recognize black humanity." She describes it as a "theoretical framework that illuminates society's inability to recognize our humanity - the disdain, disregard and disgust for our existence."

We hear about Marco's upbringing in East Oakland and how he wakes up every day to instill the right values in not only his children but also the youths in his community. He does so by walking his talk, serving as an active board member of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, and giving back to the community through his gratuitous actions.

Notable Quotes:

On graduating without a cermony - “I thought, oh, maybe we’re not meant to say goodbye.” - Sean

On a recent interview with Ace Patterson and being an Ally - “It's not that people don't want to take action. I think people have the right intentions, but if you're just feeling something without doing anything about it, it is inaction….the best thing to do is to start with caring. Showing that you care. Reach out to your friends.” - Sean 

On staying connected - “I think that's been one thing that's been so much fun about being a part of this team during quarantine is just staying in touch and meeting new people. And hearing all the different stories.” - Paulina

On our new series - “We had an idea to do an international series where we interview people who have come from outside of the U.S. and have been a part of Haas.” – Aravind

Free pickup line: “So would it appropriate to say [the time] ZOOMed by?” - Ray

Recommendation List:

• Call Me Ace
• 5:15 AM
• CUSH
• Dispatch Goods
• Notion

Episode Quotes

“I can build something from 0 to 1, but going from 1 to 100 requires a totally different skillset” – Wei Zhu

“Many people we talk to only have succeeded because [they’ve] failed so many other times in so many other ways.” – Sean Li

“I see data not as just a bunch of numbers that you can run math on…it’s an abstraction of human behavior.” – Wei Zhu

“Axe the status quo!” – EWMBA ‘22 Axe

Show Links

StEP

Launch

Skydeck

Looking for other stories of Haasies? Visit our website OneHaas.org or check out the OneHaas Alumni podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a rating & review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with a fellow bear!

Episode Quotes: 

On what she learned from her first start-up - “By the time that we got far enough along, I realized, I needed to listen more. We'd been working for too hard for too long without that breakthrough moment that I was losing my team. And so that was, that was a hard learned lesson, but a really valuable one.”

On how COVID has impacted Dispatch Goods- “The first couple of weeks were honestly pretty devastating because, we were literally getting to the light at the end of the tunnel... Everything was coming together. I heard a quote this morning, (it) said that investors used to want a unicorn and now they want a camel. And so, we have to think about things differently. It's not growth, growth, growth. It's can you have a profitable business model that will sustain you through the next 24 months.”

On building her team - “If you ask people to help you push your car, nobody will pull over and help you push your car. But if people see you pushing your car, everyone wants to pull over and help you push your car. And I feel like people just see us pushing this car and like how desperately we want this car pushed.”

On surfing - “Ocean beach is you against the elements in the rawest way that I've ever experienced. I feel like you have to focus so hard on fighting the difficult paddle out and all of the elements in the cold that there's no way that you can worry about anything else in your life.”

Recommendation List:

• LinkedIn: Lindsey Hoell
• Dispatch Goods
• Instagram: Dispatch Goods
• UPDATE: Since our interview, Dispatch Goods has launched new partnerships with local eateries and cafes around SF - order today!
• Surfrider Foundation
• How I Built This
• Pod Save America

Looking for other stories of Haasies? Visit our website OneHaas.org or check out the OneHaas Alumni podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a rating & review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with a fellow bear!

Extracurricular Links

IBD (International Business Development)

Net Impact

Berkeley Board Fellows

Social Impact

Episode Quotes: 

On leaning on and learning from others - “You need to look at everyone in their potential...this really helped me see the impact that somebody can make by just believing in the people that work with them.”

On choosing Haas - “And my boss at West point was a Haasie and he was one of the smartest, kindest, most humble people I'd ever met. And I was like, if this is the kind of person they're making it Haas. This is the place for me.”

On getting involved as a student leader - “I've always felt a need to give before I take, and I get so much out of being at Haas. I tell people this all the time. It's genuinely the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. I can't think of a better way to give back to this community that's already done so much for me and will do so much for me for the rest of my life.”

““Life is short and you should be as happy as possible.” -Geoff Easterling

Recommendation List:

• LinkedIn: Geoff Easterling
• How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell 
• Around the NFL
• Decode Recode
• Professor G
• Serial

Looking for other stories of Haasies? Visit our website OneHaas.org or check out the OneHaas Alumni podcast. Please subscribe and leave us a rating & review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with a fellow bear!

Notable Quotes:

On editing context & stories - “It's kind of hard to separate yourself and just gotta be aware that we have maybe a bias towards hearing each other's like behind the scenes, behind the stories.” - Ray.

On prioritizing time - “I think creativity stems from boredom and having that space.” - Aravind.

Recommendation List:

• A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley.
• UC Berkeley Haas Class: Becoming Superhuman: The Science of Productivity & Performance.
• Ultradian Rhythm: FastCompany Article + Forbes Article.
• Give & Take by Adam Grant.
• OneHaas Alumni Series: Manish Chandra.
• Freakonomics Podcast.

Here@Haas will continue on as the on-campus podcast covering current students, faculty, and everyone else on campus. So please subscribe and be on the lookout for future Berkeley Haas Alumni Podcast programming!

Episode Highlights: 

- Why Sean launched the OneHaas Podcast

- How he built multiple businesses as a serial entrepreneur from an e-commerce company to a coworking space in Downtown Los Angeles

- His proudest moments being an entrepreneur

-Sean’s multiple pivots during his time at Haas, from investment banking, to venture capital, back to entrepreneurship

3 Key Takeaways: 

- The more you put into your Haas experience, the more you get out of it.

- There’s an entrepreneur in every one of us, you just have to be patient and forgiving with yourself.

- Take the MBA as the time to fully explore your interests and develop new passions.

Here@Haas is a continuation of the OneHaas podcast specifically covering stories of current Haas students, faculty, and everyone else here on campus. The OneHaas podcast Sean has been hosting will transition into the OneHaas Alumni podcast. Check all our episodes out on our website at www.onehaas.org.