UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

The Purpose Economy

UCLA Anderson students and staff collaborated to produce Impact Week. Back row, left to right: Impact@Anderson program manager Kelly Chung, Karthik Patange (’18), Qingqing Wu (’18), Katie Donovan (’18), Impact@Anderson director Bhavna Sivanand (’14); front row, left to right: Janna Stucky (’19), Elizabeth Heredia (’19), Jessica Lin (’18), Molly Tarrant (’19)

---

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

Impact@Anderson and the award-winning UCLA Anderson Net Impact chapter presented Anderson’s 2018 Impact Week in April. Under the theme Purpose + Profit, invited thought leaders and company founders shared stories about mission-driven careers, businesses and projects that fulfill unmet needs in sectors from entertainment to real estate.

Impact Week attracted members of the greater UCLA and Los Angeles communities to engage with Anderson students, alumni, faculty and staff in interactive panels and workshops tackling topics that included impact investing, affordable housing, blockchain technology and finding purpose in traditional workplaces.

The week kicked off with a keynote address by Cara Chacon, VP of social and environmental responsibility at outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia. The privately held company is on its way to a 100 percent climate-neutral goal by nurturing a squeaky-clean supply chain that accounts for everything from healthy soil for regenerative organic agriculture to fair wages for a healthy community (and therapeutic surfing breaks for Ventura-based staff). “A responsible business model works,” said Chacon. The proof? Patagonia recently reached $1 billion in revenue.

Microsoft Chairman John W. Thompson Talks Tech Trends, Business Strategy, More

“I don’t think anybody knows what the industry will look like in five years because every eight or ten years there’s an inflection point,” John W. Thompson, chairman of Microsoft Corporation, said when asked how the company’s business will evolve in the next few years. “There’s a pattern of change and it’s difficult to predict.”

Thompson, a Silicon Valley icon who succeeded Bill Gates as chairman of Microsoft in 2014, joined UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian in a wide-ranging conversation Monday before a capacity crowd in Anderson’s Korn Convocation Hall. The event was part of the school’s Robertson Lecture Series on Global Business Leadership, which provides students, staff, faculty and others the opportunity to hear top business leaders discuss issues that affect global business and the political economy. The lecture series is made possible by Chip Robertson (FEMBA ’06) and his family in conjunction with UCLA Anderson's Center for Global Management.

With Olian guiding the hour-long conversation, Thompson touched on a variety of topics. While declining to predict what Microsoft will be like in five years, he did say the company would be guided by three core principles. First, he said, the company would focus on personal computing with a goal of making it easier for people to interact with technology. Second, Microsoft will look to help users become more productive through business enterprise software such as Office and Word. It’s in this realm that Thompson believes many users will feel the effects of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“The third one is obviously the cloud,” Thompson said, noting that in 2014 Microsoft pivoted from protecting its Windows operating system and began shifting emphasis towards the cloud.

Inaugural Fink Center Credit Pitch Competition Affords a Real-World Fixed Income Challenge

 

UCLA Anderson EMBA students Phil Meng and Nick Heard were recognized for Most Improved Portfolio by a panel of UCLA Anderson alumni judges

---

By Danwei Chen

In fall of 2016, John Bay (’17) approached UCLA Anderson’s Fink Center for Finance & Investments with a novel idea. Having worked on the student committee for the annual Fink Center Stock Pitch Competition, he wondered why no such competition existed for fixed income. He expressed his plan for a competition that would embody both a portfolio competition over a span of time, as well as a bond pitch component that would be identical to the way stock pitches are conducted. After months of development with the Fink Center and recruiting co-founders Paige Kolesar (’17) and Charles McMahon (’17), as well as co-director Joseph Chiu (’18), the first MBA-level credit pitch competition was launched.

The students invited top MBA schools from across the nation to participate in a 12-week portfolio competition capped by a bond pitch competition at UCLA. With a three-month time horizon and $100,000 of “paper money” to invest, teams submitted an original portfolio of up to 10 bonds and were permitted to make 20 trades over the course of the competition. Teams operated anonymously and were each given a Greek letter team name.

Intrepid’s Jim Freedman (’78) Finds Inspiration in Entrepreneurs, Inspires Others to Give Back to UCLA Anderson

Left to right: Senior Associate Dean Al Osborne, Karine Joret, Jim Freedman, Dean Judy Olian, Price Center Executive Director Elaine Hagan ('91)

Enjoy more photos of the James B. Freedman Pitch Deck ribbon cutting

---

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

On May 4, 2017, UCLA Anderson proudly cut the ribbon on the new James B. Freedman Pitch Deck, which resides within the walls of the recently constructed UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator. Wielding the scissors was Freedman himself, with family and an esteemed group of friends looking on. The ceremony marked another chapter in a long and mutually beneficial relationship between Freedman and his b-school alma mater.

Jim Freedman (’78) is managing director, chairman and founding principal of Intrepid, a Los Angeles-based investment banking firm. Senior Associate Dean Al Osborne — Freedman’s former professor and mentor to this day, alongside whom he’s served on the board of the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship and & Innovation since 1993 and UCLA Anderson’s Board of Advisors since 2001 — recently remarked to Freedman: “‘Intrepid’ is apt. It’s the nature of your success.”

Dean Judy Olian added: “If our students and alumni seek a prime example of continued engagement with UCLA Anderson, they need look no further than Jim Freedman.” He has given his time, advice and financial support since shortly after his graduation from Anderson.

Since Freedman walked into Osborne’s microeconomics class in 1976, he has gained more than 30 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience. He is an expert in the financial aspects of corporate strategy and has acted as the principal financial advisor in hundreds of capital raisings and mergers and acquisitions transactions ranging in value from $20 million to $1 billion.

MBA Consultants Research Southeast Asia “Fragile Zones” for Greater Foreign Investment

UCLA Anderson MBA students conduct Applied Management Research projects in lieu of a thesis. The nation’s first business school field study program, AMR partners students with top organizations to solve a key strategic problem. During Impact Week (April 17–21, 2017), whose theme is Purpose + Profit, we’re highlighting stories of AMRs supported by UCLA Anderson’s Center for Global Management that took UCLA Anderson Class of 2017 teams overseas to collaborate with NGOs whose mission-driven work includes such global challenges as health care delivery, international labor standards and environmental conservation.

---

By Margaux LaPointe (’17)

From the start, our team — comprising Riccardo Cestarelli (’17), Margaux LaPointe (’17), Yoko Morishita (’17), Tyler Smith (’17), Adam Supernant (’17) — was thrilled to be matched with a prosocial international AMR project. Our client is the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the UN that develops labor standards, policies and programs to promote access to decent work.

We are researching how to promote foreign investment in conflict-affected zones in Southeast Asia, focusing on Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar. Over the winter break, we were lucky to visit all three countries and also attend the ILO’s annual conference in Bali to conduct primary research. On our trip, we interviewed business membership organizations (BMO) such as chambers of commerce and employers’ organizations, as well as multinational companies.

UCLA Anderson Defends the ACG Cup Title in an Unprecedented Consecutive Win

By Ole Bjoernstad (’17)

Expectations were high when Jeremy Mau (’17) and I decided to enter the 2017 ACG Cup to defend the title for UCLA Anderson: In 2016 Jeremy and UCLA Anderson classmates David Shin (’17) and Kyle Patterson (’17) claimed the hard-won prize. With my teammate determined to win the cup back-to-back — which has never been done before — and having interned with the competition’s main sponsor, Houlihan Lokey, I knew there could be no slip-ups or hesitation if we wanted to bring the cup back home.

The Association for Corporate Growth’s Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego chapters hosted the best teams from 12 schools in this annual investment banking and private equity competition. After two weeks of thorough analysis, heated discussions and multiple all-nighters, Jeremy and I went into the final rounds prepared and confident. Our training at top-tier investment banks over the summer (Jeremy’s at Lincoln International and mine at Houlihan Lokey) gave us the confidence and stamina to keep going into the wee hours of the morning. Our hard work paid off, and we took home the grand prize of $8,000 and the right to retain the coveted ACG Cup trophy for another year.

ACG is the global community for middle market M&A dealmakers and business leaders focused on driving growth. The ACG Cup is a case study competition designed to give students from leading MBA programs across the country real-world experience and insights into mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, financial advisory and private equity. The intra-school competition at Anderson this year was tough, to say the least: The teams consisted of veteran and future investment banking professionals, all eager and able to represent UCLA Anderson in the highest capacity. In the end, we won the round and were selected to represent our school at the regional championship at Chapman University. Our crosstown rivals at USC were gunning to reclaim the trophy, which kept our competitive spirits going.

UCLA Anderson Alumna Kate Cochran Recognizes the Entrepreneurial Spirit that Creates Jobs for the Poorest of the Poor

By Isha Patel

For six years, Upaya Social Ventures has helped 12 companies create over 4,100 new jobs for people living in impoverished areas in India. Upaya CEO Kate Cochran (’97) joined Impact@Anderson’s High Impact Tea series to share her experience and future goals for the nonprofit.

Cochran started out in management consulting and realized her passion for international development later in her career at an event for Unitus Labs. For several years, she served as VP of finance and operations, and later as VP of external relations for the organization, which makes seed-stage equity investments in social enterprises to benefit people living at the base of the economic pyramid. She went on to become COO and board member at Vittana Foundation, with whom a UCLA Anderson Applied Management Research field study team collaborated in 2014 on a microfinance-driven student loan project. Eventually, Cochran's long tenure in the nonprofit sector would lead her to Upaya.

An advocate of advancing entrepreneurship, and passionate about international development, Cochran has taken time to fine-tune strategies that allow Upaya to invest in viable companies capable of employing people in impoverished areas. When asked about Upaya’s impact in Indian communities, Cochran simply stated, “We create jobs for the poorest of the poor.”

Easton Panel Optimistic about the Future of Educational Technology

Left to right: Kirk Werner, Kenny Berlin, Debra Quazzo, Michael King, Dean Judy Olian

---

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

“Educational technology” often makes headlines when K-12 schools fail to implement computer learning in the classroom or when distance learning programs don’t deliver what they promise. That said, advances in technology have created a more global economy that needs a globally minded workforce. Lifelong learning is, increasingly, the key to adapting to career demands well after classroom instruction has ended for many professionals and it’s here that such technology is essential.

Impact@Anderson and the Easton Technology Management Center recently invited leaders in EdTech to discuss their efforts to bring the global education landscape into the 21st century. Dean Judy Olian moderated the panel, which included Michael King (’96), VP and general manager of global education industry at IBM; Deborah Quazzo, founder and partner of GSV Advisors and GSV Acceleration; Kirk Werner, director of content production and instructional design at LinkedIn and Lynda.com; and Kenny Berlin (’11), CEO and co-founder of the 12Twenty career services software platform.

Panel members were unanimous in their optimism about the future of technological innovations in learning, including in public schools. IBM’s King and GSV’s Quazzo named districts in the U.S. that are making strides — D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans. And Werner and Berlin cited the unprecedented access to information as the key to more effective teaching and learning. Werner, a veteran of popular online tutorial platform Lynda.com — which was acquired last year for $1.5 billion by LinkedIn, which was in its turn acquired by Microsoft for just over $26 billion — said this accelerated spread of information vastly expands the traditional classroom and the potential for both study and instruction.

Candid Comments by “Recovering Capitalist” Bobby Turner on Social Impact Investing

By Anna Goldberg (’18)

Students in the UCLA Anderson chapter of Net Impact and the Investment Finance Association gathered for the first High Impact Tea of the academic year to hear from guest K. Robert “Bobby” Turner, principal and CEO of Turner Impact Capital LLC. Although one might not associate students focused on positive social change with students interested in finance and investing, Turner proved stereotypes wrong in his candid talk about how profits and purpose work very well together.

Turner has established himself as a pioneer in the area of social impact investing and has spent the latter part of his career proving that a company does not need to sacrifice mission or capital in order to be successful in both. He spoke frankly about being a “recovering capitalist and philanthropist,” having started his career wanting only to make money. As a successful executive, he began donating to philanthropic organizations, but soon realized that giving money was only “treating the issues, and not curing them.” He went on to help define the “triple bottom line” investment movement, dedicating his professional career to providing not only sound financial returns for his investors, but also education, safety and sustainable options for communities around the U.S.

The audience was captivated by Turner’s honesty and realism, and we could have sat for hours listening to him speak. For the Anderson student body, who care about becoming successful business leaders as well as driving change in the world, Turner’s talk was the perfect embodiment of Anderson’s core values.

---

Anna Goldberg is chief of staff to the president of UCLA Anderson’s Women’s Business Connection and director of academics and alumni for the Anderson chapter of Net Impact.

Follow Us:

A CEO’s Journey from “Gut Feeling” to Global Strategy

Robert Luna, CIMA, founded Surevest Wealth Management in 2002 and serves as the firm’s CEO and CIO, overseeing the investments process for all of the firm’s clients. He’s a Wharton Fellow with more than 16 years of experience in managing assets for institutions, professional athletes, small business owners and high-net-worth investors. His latest distinction is the Global Executive MBA he’ll leave UCLA Anderson with on Saturday.

A lifelong businessman who began amassing his baseball card collection with the money he earned selling candy, Luna appears regularly on CNBC and other financial networks and has been featured in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal. He wouldn’t mind being stranded on a desert island as long as he had a steady supply of red wine, cheese and salame. He’s inspired by Disney and the Dodgers, and his daughter’s name means Beautiful Moon in Italian.

As he gears up to graduate, Luna agreed to share a bit more about himself and why he pursued the GEMBA for Asia Pacific that will equip him with dual degrees from UCLA Anderson and National University of Singapore.

---

By Robert Luna (GEMBA ’16)

Remember the book Everything I Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Well, most everything I know I learned from trading baseball cards. I parlayed my meager earnings selling candy bars door-to-door into promising rookie cards. I would study the stats of the top prospects in the farm leagues to gain insights into who would flourish in the big leagues. My “go to” category was rookie prospect cards. These were the guys who had not yet been called up to the majors. This was the baseball card equivalent of an IPO. Once they became “hot rookies,” I would hit the sell button. This strategy panned out reasonably well: By the age of 14, I had my own incorporated business, Sport Card City. I switched my inventory from hot prospects to blue chip hall of famers.

Suffice it to say, I took my baseball cards seriously.