UC San Diego Rady School Alums Help Local Economic Growth
The Rady School of Management is helping San Diego‘s economy—and that’s thanks to startups coming out of its graduating classes.
Since the school’s first MBA class graduated just over 10 years ago, its students and alumni have gone on to start 150 operational companies, according to the school. More than 70 percent of these are still in San Diego, adding $2 billion into the economy both locally and nationally. Overall, 15 percent of Rady graduates operate a successful company.
These startups include a number of industries, including biotech, consumer products, and healthcare, among others. In the first half of 2017, startups raised more than $75 million, a rate that continues to grow throughout the end of 2017.
Rady alum Suman Kanuganti graduated in 2014 and went on to found Aira, a tech company that helps visually impaired people by wearing a device that connects them with remote agents. Another graduate, Silvia Mah, created HeraLabs, a business accelerator made exclusively for women.
“The Rady School’s approach is to support startups from ideation and development to the successful launch and growth of a company,” Rady School Dean Robert S. Sullivan said in the press release.
The Lab to Market course is behind this success. Students learn all about startups and how they get from proposal to realization. This course creates an environment where students get real-world experience. The accelerator programs build on this approach by mentoring these up-and-coming businesses.
Rady might be young compared to other business schools around the country, but it offers lots to its students and their ambitions. Sixteen Nobel Laureates and McArthur Foundation award winners have come out of the school. Someone can obtain an MBA through its full-time program or flexible program.
Then, they can launch their own company confident in Rady’s abilities—and their own.
Five Semifinalists Enter Championship Round of Pitch Dingman Competition
On December 3, 2015 the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted the semifinal round of the annual Pitch Dingman Competition. The competition is a three-round process where startup companies compete against one another to secure $15,000 in seed money.
The presentations were evaluated on the following criteria: how they will use the funds, potential revenue streams and growth, competitive advantage provided by their service or product, and how they have identified a viable target segment to go after in the market. Continue reading…
Imperial Event Celebrates Incubator Success
Imperial Business School celebrated the incredible growth of some of their spinout companies that developed in their incubator in a special event on July 21, according to a press release from the school. The incubator is located in South Kensington and provides office and laboratory space for science and tech-based startup companies. The incubator has helped 60 companies grow in the last decade, attracting $1.2 billion in investment. Continue reading…
Team of McDonough MBAs Win Big at VCIC Finals
Georgetown McDonough MBAs Jordan Edelman, Eric Ellsworth, Amir Kabir, Ben Shopneck, and Coral Taylor took home the top prize at the global finals of the 2015 Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), the school’s second title in the past three years. Seventy business schools from across the globe converged onto the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where a panel of venture capitalists judged each team based on how well they analyzed startup companies, interviewed entrepreneurs, structured a deal, and negotiated terms. Continue reading…
Veteran Venture Capitalists Speak to Booth Students
“If I could go back in time [to become a student at Chicago Booth again], I’d try to meet everyone I could,” said Stuart Peterson, ’95, cofounder and senior partner at Artis Ventures, a San Francisco based venture capital firm has backed such companies as YouTube and Palantir Technologies. “Classmates will help you more than you think.”
Meanwhile, Jeff Sheedy, ’95, director of international marketing at Artis Ventures, believes that success isn’t only about a good idea, but also the people around you.
“Having a strong team gives you an ability to deal with adversity and allows for pivots,” he said.
New Georgetown Program Offers Startup Stipends to Seniors
McDonough School of Business students pursuing their entrepreneurial aspirations are now getting start-up help to make their big ideas a reality. Continue reading…
