National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 through October 15. UCLA Anderson, in conjunction with the Anderson Latino Management Association and the UCLA campus, recognizes the significant contributions to society among our Latino and Hispanic students, alumni, staff and faculty. Visit Latino@Anderson to enjoy their stories.
By Paul Feinberg
Roberto Sequeira (’07) is pretty used to it by now. While so many of his classmates spend their days dealing with the intricacies of high finance or consulting, he’s selling ice. Assured by a reporter that a forthcoming interview wouldn’t go into anything too deep, he just laughed: “Right,” Sequeira said. “It’s not too complicated.”
Did we say “ice”? Yes, we did.
Sequeira is founder and chief executive officer of Gläce Luxury Ice. The company bills itself as the world’s leading premium-drink ice brand; the product features a zero-taste ice cube that allows consumers to “maximize the beverage experience.” You probably didn’t know that traditional machine ice, typically made with local tap water, may contain impurities and carcinogens that result in lousy tasting ice. Gläce Ice, by contrast, is cleaner and better tasting. Still not sure? Let Sequeira explain:
Q: If I were to ask you for the elevator pitch for your business, what would you say?
Basically, we’re carving out the niche, the top spot in a $4 billion commoditized industry, and the value proposition is simple: While consumers have developed a sense of brand loyalty in just about every other consumer packaged good, ice remained, up until our arrival, an overlooked opportunity. People have preferences in bottled water, vodkas and scotches, but “on the rocks” remained a generic proposition until we came along.
Q: So, who are your primary clients?
Our clients are split 80-20. Eighty percent of the business is direct-to-consumer, both nationally and globally, for special events and regular stocking of home bars or freezers. The remaining 20 percent is split among hospitality accounts, bars, restaurants, Disneyland, Hilton Properties, Pebble Beach Resorts and the spirits companies.
Q: Does it surprise you to find yourself in the business you’re in?
Yes and no. I went into the MBA program thinking that I was going to do more real estate deals, perhaps always in an entrepreneurial venture, but that was sort of my background. In my second year I became much more interested in entrepreneurial ventures.
Q: How did you get the company started?
It was in a George Abe class, Venture Initiation. I entered the class without an idea. Instead of presenting an idea like most other entrepreneurs in the classroom, I threw a curve ball at George and said, “My idea is that I don’t have an idea. What I have is a framework for what I want my idea to be.” It had to be niche. It had to be high end. It had to be possible and it had to have a relatively low startup cost. Based on that framework, we fleshed out the category of ice as a place where we could build opportunity.
Q: What’s your typical day like?
I get up. I make breakfast for my family. I take my kids to school. I hang out with my youngest until about noon. I hand her off to our lovely babysitter. I go to the office and I work until I’m finished. If I don’t have any events, then I go home. If I have events, then I go to events. That’s what I do. It’s a pretty amazing life.
Q: If you were speaking to a group of Latino undergraduates, what advice would you give them about business school, about how to fit in in a situation where they’ll most likely be underrepresented?
My advice to them would be realize your value. Realize why you are there. Realize that the reason you are there is, you bring value because you are different. Understand that everything that makes you who you are — your background, your culture, your history — allows you to have a particular insight and develop opportunities within that environment. And don’t be afraid to network with each other as well as outside of that network, because that’s why you are there. Census data do not lie, right? It’s a crazy number of people out here that share your experience. The question is, what opportunities lie in that?
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