Shark Tank Success, Security, and More – Los Angeles News
Check out some of the latest news coming out of business schools in the Los Angeles metro this week.
The Founders of a ‘Shark Tank’ Success Relied on a Key Piece of Business School Advice – Business Insider
Hanna and Mark Lim, husband and wife entrepreneurs, recall the crucial role the UCLA Anderson School of Management played in the $100,000 investment their company was awarded on the hit TV show Shark Tank.
In 2012, Hanna and Mark presented a pitch for their startup company, Lollacup, which produced safe sippy cups for children. Going into the pitch stricken with fear, Mark reminded Hanna of an important piece of advice he had received during his business school education. While at UCLA Anderson, Mark had already gained experience in pitching business plan. During school, he and his classmates would often pitch ideas not just for professors but for professional venture capitalists. Throughout all this, he learned to not be overwhelmed by the celebrity of the investors but to instead treat them as equals.
“We’re here pitching to investors who are essentially our equals,” Mark told Hanna before their Shark Tank pitch began. “We’re not here for a handout; we’re not here to beg. This is an investment. We’re potentially handing over part of our company that we’ve built.”
The advice payed off, with both Mark Cuban and Robert Herjavec deciding to invest $100,000 for 40 percent of the company. What began as Lollacup has since re-branded as Lollaland, which provides a range of products for infants and toddlers, and recently passed $2 million in sales.
You can read more about the Lims and their experience on ‘Shark Tank’ over at Business Insider.
Neel Patel Won the $3,000 HIMSS Scholarship – Cal State LA CBE News Archive
Neel Patel, a MBA/MSHCM at the California State, Los Angeles College of Business and Economics, was recently awarded with a $3,000 scholarship from the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). HIMSS, a premier organization for professionals in the healthcare information management field, presented Patel with the award earlier this summer, making him the second student in Cal State LA history to receive the distinction. Patel has left his mark on the university before, however, as part of the winning team in this year’s Western Regional Healthcare Executives College Bowl Case Study Competition.
Patel connected with the HIMSS through Thao Tran, Chair of Academic Alliance Community for HIMSS, who was brought in as a guest speaker for one of Patel’s classes. Tran has been a crucial part of the connection between CBE and the HIMSS, helping introduce students to the organization and its benefits since 2011.
Read more about Health Information Management at CBE and the HIMSS here.
In Network Security, “The Bad Guys are Always Ahead” – USC Marshall Newsroom
Richard Drobnick, Director of the IBEAR MBA program at USC’s Marshall School of Business, recently interviewed Global CTO of NTT Security Kazu Yozawa for the USC Marshall Business Class podcast. During the interview, Yozawa maintains a positive view of the future of network security but warns vigilance. From young forgers to state sponsored hacking, the threats against network security may be greater now than ever.
Global CTO of NTT Security Kazu Yozawa / Photo via marshall.usc.edu
According to Yozawa, “only a few executives understand the situation,” making education surrounding security and how computer networks operate will be crucial going forward.
You can listen to the full interview here.
LAPD Celebrates Latest Executive Programs Grads – Los Angeles News
We’ve rounded up the latest news coming out of business schools in the Los Angeles metro this week.
LAPD Chief Salutes Latest Officers to Finish Innovative Executive Program – Claremont Graduate University Newsroom
New LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore celebrated this year’s graduates of the Police Chiefs Executive Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University’s Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management recently. Now in its second year, the partnership between the Drucker School of Management and the California Police Chiefs Association invites police officers to the CGU campus for two intensive weeks in the study of management. Through training with Drucker faculty, the officers learn about management techniques, who they are as leaders, and where to make improvements in the way they lead. Thirty-four officers graduated from the program this year.
“The LAPD has been a partner with this school for a long time,” comments Police Chief Moore at CGU during graduation. “This is a progressive school defined by an ethos and values of how to give back to our communities, how to live our best lives, which is what I think we all want for ourselves.”
You can read more about CGU and the California Police Chiefs Executive Leadership Institute here.
UCI Paul Merage School of Business Center for Real Estate Receives Gift to Support Creation of Bill Halford Family and Bixby Land Company Student Award Endowed Fund – UCI Paul Merage Newsroom
A new gift from the Bixby Land Company will create a new endowed fund at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine’s Center for Real Estate. The gift will benefit merit-based graduate and undergraduate students interested in studying real estate and becoming an active member of the center.
The award is given in recognition of Bill Halford, the chief executive of commercial real estate developer Bixby Land Co, based in Newport Beach, who passed away earlier this year. Serving as chairman for Merage’s Center for Real Estate Advisory Board since 2006, Halford was a staunch supporter of higher education who encouraged the university to place focus on their graduate-level real estate program. He also served as a guest lecturer and often helped moderate education symposiums at the center.
(Left to right) Nakamura Brown, Merage School Dean Eric Spangenberg, Bixby Land Company President Aaron Hill, Cindy Halford, Center for Real Estate Faculty Director Ed Coulson, Center for Real Estate Advisory Board Co-Chair Watty WatsonNakamura Brown, Merage School Dean Eric Spangenberg, Bixby Land Company President Aaron Hill, Cindy Halford, and Watty Watson / Photo via merage.uci.edu
Read more about the Bill Halford Family and Bixby Land Company Student Award and Merage’s Center for Real Estate here.
Employees Actually Work Harder If They Think Their Boss Gets a Big Fat Paycheck – MarketWatch
New research from Ricardo Perez-Truglia, Assistant Professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, looks at the impact that knowing your coworker’s or boss’ salary may have on work ethic.
Circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Perez-Truglia worked alongside Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Zoë Cullen to complete the study, which surveyed 2,060 employees at a large commercial break. According to the research, companies that try to prevent you from finding out the salaries of your coworkers may have good reason; employees who believed their coworkers’ made a higher salary than they did typically worked fewer hours and were more likely to leave the company. Conversely, employees who perceived their manager to have a higher salary than they do were likely to work more hours.
The perception of this makes sense from the rationale of the employer. Not only does the research support this methodology, but keeping salary details under wraps is a common union-busting tactic at larger companies. Union activity tends to correlate with larger salaries for lower and mid-level employees. It is illegal in the United States to prevent employees from discussing wages with one-another. However, several large companies, such as T-Mobile, tend to skirt the rules anyway.
You can read more about Perez-Truglia’s research here.
The International Blockchain, Financial Planning, and More – Los Angeles News
We’ve rounded up the biggest stories coming out of the Los Angeles metro this week.
The NBMBAA Scale-Up Pitch Challenge – National Black MBA Association, Inc.
The National Black MBA Association is inviting students to participate in the 2nd annual Scale-Up Pitch Challenge this summer as part of the organization’s broader goal of awarding $2 million in business grants to its membership. The competition gives members a chance to “Make Big Ideas Bigger,” pitching concepts for scaleable startups and connecting them with early stage investors. The winning team will be awarded a $50,000 grand prize at the 40th Annual NBMBAA Conference & Exposition in September
Starting with online submissions, top contestants will be chosen to compete in live pitch events taking place in Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles, CA. The Los Angeles Live Pitch event will take place on August 17, where five finalists will be awarded with complimentary conference registration, hotel and airfare for the finals in Detroit.
Read more about the NBMBAA and the Scale-Up Pitch Challenge here.
$25,000 Grant Funds Student Travel to Personal Financial Planning Conference – Mihaylo Newsroom
Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the McBeth Foundation, students in the Personal Financial Planning program at California State University, Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business had the opportunity to visit the Financial Planning Association Annual Conference. The McBeth Foundation supports individuals and groups that are leaving a mark on Southern California communities.
More than 2,000 certified financial planners gathered in Nashville this past October, making the conference the largest gathering of Certified Financial Planners in the world.
David Nanigian, Director of the Mihaylo Personal Financial Planning Program (center) along with students at last year’s event / Photo via business.fullerton.edu
Both student and faculty at the conference commented on the workshops and networking opportunities that have influenced the way they think about financial planning. “I became more aware of the impact young prospective financial advisers, such as myself, will have in educating and planning for various clients,” said Mihaylo finance student Victoria Martinez (’18). “It was useful to have the opportunity to ask professionals what their day-to-day looks like and what to expect out of a financial planning career.”
You can learn more about Mihaylo’s financial planning program and the event here.
Field Study Team Assessing Feasibility of Blockchain Technology as Key to Sustaining Guyana’s Indigenous Communities Earns Inaugural Impact Award – UCLA Anderson Blog
The Impact Alumni AMR Award, established earlier this year, was recently awarded to a team of UCLA Anderson MBAs for the impact made during their Applied Management Research Project, a field study assignment, and capstone of the Anderson full-time MBA.
The team of MBAs, made up of Anderson students’ Miriam Leah Feygenson, Vasiya Krishnan, Anubhav Mishra, Harshita Mishra, and Yuhei Iwasaki, were awarded for their work assessing the feasibility of blockchain technology to solve challenges of the Community Development Plan in Guyana. To celebrate their work, the Impact Alumni AMR Award included a $5,000 prize.
“An important objective for Impact@Anderson is to integrate impact into the core competency of the MBA program, so that all MBA graduates seek out opportunities such as social impact AMRs to be able to positively contribute to society during their time here and beyond” saidd Impact@Anderson executive director Bhavna Sivanand (’14). ”
Learn more about the Impact AMR Award here.
State-of-the-Art Marion Anderson Hall Launching UCLA into the Future
Last fall, UCLA Anderson School of Management broke ground on Marion Anderson Hall, a new state-of-the-art facility designed as a “blueprint for the future” of the school.
Developed in response to the dramatic expansion in programming, student body, and faculty that UCLA Anderson has experienced in the past 23 years, Marion Anderson Hall expands the existing cluster of five interconnected buildings that comprise the UCLA Anderson campus.
As the new primary entrance to the UCLA Anderson campus, the building will serve as both a symbolic and functional gateway to the school. Its design seeks to complement the school’s existing visual identity as it moves into the future, providing a space for students to “think in the next.”
A prototype image of the new Marion Anderson Hall / Photo via UCLA.edu
The building’s design softens harder institutional edges with partial green roofs, access to daylight, and external walkways. It provides small clusters of seating and multi-function nooks and gathering spaces throughout, as well as team-based and active-learning workrooms to facilitate connection and collaboration. The building also exceeds LEED-certification guidelines.
At four stories and 64,000 square feet, Marion Anderson Hall significantly increases the Anderson campus reach. It will use UCLA’s signature four-color blended brick on the exterior and soften the lower roof line with areas of green roofing.
The building will contain acoustically optimized office and classroom spaces with adjustable window glazing. The upper levels will open to a central atrium, which will contain a double-height event space. The exterior will be open to Briskin Plaza on one side and approachable by car on the other.
The architects of the new Marion Anderson Hall are the award-winning PEI Cobb Fried and Partners, a firm known for its environmental sensitivity and its attention to the shaping of the public realm.
UCLA Anderson’s student body has expanded 64 percent since 1995 as it has grown from three degree programs to eight. It now offers a Ph.D., Executive MBA, master’s of financial engineering, master’s of science in business analytics, and two tracks of UCLA-NUS Executive MBA in partnership with the University of Singapore Business School. The new building will accommodate this expansion and provide opportunities for future growth.
The late Marion Anderson, the building’s namesake, is one of UCLA Anderson’s key donors. She and her husband, John Anderson (BS ’40), donated $100 million in May 2015, the largest gift UCLA has ever received. Much of her gift was dedicated to new fellowships and research, but a substantial $40 million was earmarked for the development and construction of a new state-of-the-art building.
As a long-time pillar of leadership and support for UCLA Anderson, Marion Anderson wanted to bring the school into the future. She served on the Board of Advisors and was active in learning about the needs and opportunities of the school. She often attended events and enjoyed getting to know faculty and students. She passed away on May 17, 2017. The building will serve as a reminder of her and her vast legacy of leadership and support.
Sam Tang (MBA ‘87) chose the loft as the area for his naming gift. He imagines the Tang Family Loft as a place to gather, connect, and think big-picture and elevated thoughts.
Marion Anderson Hall reinforces UCLA Anderson’s strategic plan for 2021, “One Anderson,” which involves strengthening connections within the Anderson community, as well as to the outside world. Other goals include increased relevance, more diversity and inclusion, and an elevated social mission.
You can learn more about Marion Anderson Hall here and take a look at the building below.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from our sister site, Clear Admit.
USC Tells the Story of Their Own Hero, and More – Los Angeles News
We’ve rounded up the top news stories coming out of the Los Angeles metro this week.
A Hero MBA – USC Marshall Newsroom
The Marshall School of Business at USC recently celebrated the graduation of the MBA Class of 2018, including Marine Corps Cap. Corban Pierce. Pierce, his MBA now in hand, hopes to use his degree to start a nonprofit that will help children around the world.
“I wanted to find a school that shared my values of entrepreneurship and helping people,” Pierce recalled on his decision to attend Marshall in a recent interview. “I found that spirit at USC.”
Pierce, who has served the country as the executive officer at Reconnaissance Training Company in the Marine Corps. He was attracted to USC for their combination of unrelenting high standards and flexibility. Pursuing the online MBA at Marshall, Pierce was able to continue his work training young Marines at Camp Pendleton, be a father to his five-year-old son, and still earn his degree. He plans to continue his military service after graduation, and is excited to put the skills he learned in the program to work. “It’s not about solving major crises,” Pierce said, commenting on his long-term goal of using business to create lasting change.
“It’s solving small things.”
You can read more about Pierce’s experience with the USC Marshall Online MBA here.
California Gains More Than 39,000 jobs; Unemployment Falls to Record Low – LA Times
A recent LA Times report from the Employment Development Department revealed a boost in the California economy throughout April, despite worries of an economic downturn. In March, the unemployment rate in the state had fallen to a record low of 4.2 percent, but April showed widespread job growth throughout multiple sectors. In the professional and business services sector alone, California witnessed an increase of 8,500 jobs.
“Each month in 2018, it seems that California’s employment boom will end, and each month it continues,” commented former director of the Employment Development Department Michael Bernick. In fact, all metros in Southern California saw an increase in the number of jobs throughout April. With 11,200 added jobs, San Diego County had the highest of any region in the state, and Los Angeles was close behind with an increase of 6,400.
“Good numbers,” said Dave Smith, an economist at the Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management. “There are no signs of a potential downturn. The potential risk factors are overheating.”
Read more about California job gains and the employment report here.
ABC’s Move to Ax ‘Roseanne’ Reflects Businesses are Often at Front Lines of Culture Wars – U.S.A. Today
UCLA Anderson School of Management Jay Tucker, executive director at the Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports, recently commented on the cancellation of the Roseanne reboot by the ABC network, after its titular star, Roseanne Barr, posted several inflammatory tweets regarding Valerie Jarrett—a former aide under President Barack Obama—in comparison to apes from the ‘Planet of the Apes’ film franchise.
In an interview with USA Today, Tucker remarks, “In an earlier (TV) era, it would have taken half a season to make that decision after much internal analysis.”
“But the network now faces a backlash from other quarters. Many of the comedian’s fans blame the show’s cancellation on political correctness and are threatening a boycott of their own.”
You can read the remainder of the article here.
Cal State Innovation Winners Announced, and More – Los Angeles News
Take a look at some of the top business school stories coming out of the Los Angeles metro this week.
Innovation Challenge 2018 Winners – CSULB Newsroom
Artemus Labs, a team of California State University Long Beach College of Business Administration students, were recently named the winners of the 2018 CSULB Innovation Challenge. The competition, available through the CSULB Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, awarded $10,000 in seed funding to Artemus Labs, along with legal and accounting services and space worth up to $40,000.
Artemus Labs is made up of Rae Jillian Rivera, Anna Maria del Mundo, Nikki Escobar, Kimberly Ventura, and Calvin Leung. The company designed a new prosthetic liner based on feedback from amputees, creating a breathable and bright liner that vastly improved on existing models. This is Calvin Leung’s third time on a finalist team, having previously been a part of 1010 Labs, LLC, a mobile app to help caregivers in looking after elderly family members. The app was a runner up in the Innovation Challenge in both 2016 and 2017.
Rae Jillian Rivera, Anna Maria del Mundo, Nikki Escobar, Calvin Leung, and Kimberly Ventura of Artemus Lab / Photo via csulb.edu
Read more about the CSULB Innovation Challenge and Artemus Labs here.
LGBT Awareness Week at UCLA Anderson – UCLA Anderson
April 23 through the 27 at the UCLA Anderson School of Management was LGBT Awareness week, inviting the school’s LGBT community and allies to participate in a week full of events and discussion. Among the events will be the OUTx Conference on Thursday, April 26th, which will take a deep look at the LGBTQ experience in both the professional and personal sphere through workshops, panels and conversations with leaders in the industry. Jessica Kimball, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Mattel, Inc, was the keynote speaker.
In addition to the conference on Thursday, the week was filled with events tailored to allies, advocates and leaders within the community. Also included in the week’s events was Happy Hours, receptions and brunch, giving members of the community the chance to both network and celebrate the work of OUT@Anderson at UCLA.
You can read more about the events of LGBT Awareness week at UCLA Anderson here.
Sustaining Entrepreneurship Research – USC Marshall Newsroom
USC Marshall School of Business professor Noam Wasserman is the recipient of a newly endowed chair in entrepreneurship, thanks to a generous gift from the Lemann Foundation of Brazil in 2017. The gift, which funded the new Jorge Paulo and Susanna Lemann Chair in Entrepreneurship, also supports up to six scholarships for Brazilian students working towards their Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship degree at Marshall.
Noam Wasserman currently serves as professor of clinical entrepreneurship and the founding director of the Founder Central Initiative at USC Marshall’s Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Wasserman was honored with the endowed chair thanks to his ground-breaking research into early-decision making by founders. “[JP and Suzzane Lemann’s] support and encouragement has been invaluable for helping maximize the impact that we can have on our next generation of high-impact founders and startups,” Wasserman said, “on campus, in Southern California, in Brazil, and beyond.”
Read more about the newly endowed chair here.
