MBAs from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley (Berkeley Haas) have ideal access to the hub of entrepreneurship and venture creation that continues to thrive in the Bay Area.
Last year, a record number of both full-time MBA students and those in the first cohort of the executive program launched their own businesses, opting out of the pursuit of traditional employment.
Kudo was started by Agung Nugroho and Albert Lucius, both 2014 MBA grads from Berkeley Haas. This venture places digital kiosks in towns and cities for Indonesian consumers who wish to shop online, but who don’t have access to credit cards or bank accounts. Another startup that answers the needs of consumers in Southeast Asia is Xendit, an app created by 2015 MBA grad Moses Lo. Xendit allows users to transfer cash anywhere around the world in just moments.
2015 MBA Jonathan Heyne founded Mentive, a worldwide educational network which provides interactive experiences for students and mentors. The network aggregates numerous online courses and connects students with peers and professors.
Berkeley’s Skydeck, a startup accelerator and incubator for students, is home to several recent MBA grads’ ventures. Honeit was founded by Nick Livingston (EWMBA ’14). A software package for job recruiters, Honeit allows them to design more effective phone interviews with potential employees. Another venture that is currently incubating at Skydeck is lendsnap, created by Orion Parrot (EMBA ’14). lendsnap assists loan officers and applicants to quickly retrieve documents that they need in order to complete the paperwork-heavy mortgage process.
Visit Berkeley-Haas’ website for more on the entrepreneurship curriculum.