CACI 2012
The 6th Annual California Clean Innovation (CACI) Conference was held this past Friday at UCLA’s Covel Commons. After volunteering to help organize the event over six months ago, it was a pleasure to see the efforts come to fruition. Granted, the majority of the work was completed by MBAs from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. But Rady students can expect to bear the brunt of the workload next year when the conference returns to San Diego (the location switches back and forth each year between LA and SD). So what is CACI? The website will tell you that it’s a “forum for investors, entrepreneurs, managers, and students to review the current clean technology trends and commercially viable innovations.” That’s a pleasant way of saying it’s a hodgepodge of networking opportunities. I certainly did meet a lot of industry professionals, and learned some neat things in the process. Here’s a run-down of some of the event’s highlights.
1) Paperless Programs. The schedule for the day was posted in several easy-access areas for all to see. And there was a downloadable app for attendees to navigate their way throughout the day. You could create a schedule on you cell phone, select your favorite panel topics, and comment via live streams on Facebook and Twitter. You could even scan through a list of registered attendees.
2) Electric Vehicle News. I’ve recently started to get extremely interested in the potential for EV’s to enter the mainstream market. My favorite panel of the day discussed topics related to EV Infrastructure – speakers included representatives from EVConnect, GM, AeroVironment, and Wheelz. It was interesting to hear them agree that they’re actually looking forward to the end of government subsidiaries. One panelist commented that “there hasn’t been a Clean Technology that didn’t start with incentives. But gradually, you ween yourself off those monies – and that’s when you want the government to get out of the way ASAP.” It seems as though these reps feel the market is ready to be tested. One of the biggest challenges is the need to balance the increase with EV consumers with the progress of the EV infrastructure. If either one gets too far ahead of the other, disaster could ensue.
3) Fast-pitch Competition. I’ve seen Shark Tank on TV, but this was the first time I was a live audience member for an elevator-pitch competition. Five companies had 90 seconds each to present their business plan to a panel of three judges. Of the five presenters, I only felt that one company really had a complete pitch – Greenbotics. I was amazed at the number of presenters who seemed to be so far down the path of product development, but haven’t had a single conversation with a potential consumer. A year ago, I probably would’ve been in the same place. Thanks to my MBA education, I’m able to criticize bad pitches in a 500-word blog. Thanks Rady!
What a Wednesday
Filed under: GreenTips, Internships, Life at Rady, Networking, Rady Phase II
Every day at Rady is unique. The events of this past Wednesday really illustrate how diverse and action-packed a random weekday can become, so I thought I’d share my experiences (aww how thoughtful of you). My day started with an early rise of 6am – I had passed out early the night before. I jumped on craigslist to search for last-minute tickets to see his Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, speak at RIMAC Arena. I replied to a few postings, but came up fruitless – the event was sold out. My first item of business was a 7am call with a representative from the Kansas State Alumni Association. As a social responsibility consultant for Profits4Purpose, I’ve begun reaching out to the alumni groups of major universities across the country to learn how they reengage alumni through philanthropic activity. The chat lasted twenty minutes, I took some notes, and then it was time to really start the day. Breakfast, shower, load the backpack, and make the mile trek to the north end of campus.
On my way to Rady, I walked past RIMAC arena where the Dalai Lama event was taking place – t
here was a huge crowd assembled and the line for admission went on forever. Given that I had nothing to lose, I started asking if anyone had an extra ticket – yes, I was trying to bum a ticket to see the Dalai Lama. Ready to give up hope and head to my 9am class, an undergrad female spoke up and gave me an extra ticket she happened to have – jackpot! I shot my professor a quick email – sorry Del, His Holiness gets preferential treatment over Lab to Market. The event focused on “The Global Impact of Climate Change,” and featured two distinguished professors from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in addition to His Holiness. There were a lot of takeaways from the presentation, and I was thoroughly impressed at how much of a comedian the Dalai Lama was. As for the takeaways, there’s tons of scientific evidence to support that global warming is already taking place. The key points going forward are how to initiate the necessary changes as a global population, set aside our short-sighted interests, and realize that we are one humanity sharing one home. It’s easy to garner support for these topics in an auditorium full of environmentally conscious individuals – and I hope to see these views become mainstream over the coming decades. It’s astonishing to me that people refuse to accept that global warming is real. Then again, there was a time when people refused to accept that the earth was round.
Following the presentation, I set up shop in the Rady library to clean out my inbox. I’m serving as a Teacher Assistant for the first time this quarter – for an undergrad class – and the nature of the emails I receive can be quite comical. But hey, we’ve all been there. Next on the itinerary was a tour of Rady Phase II. I had been looking forward to getting an insider’s view of Wells Fargo Hall – and the tour didn’t disappoint. For starters, the new student lounge (or should I say student wing) is awesome – triple the size of the old space, there’s a coffee bar, a flat screen TV, and a breakout room that seems destined to have a billiards table. There have also been high expectations for the Beyster Auditorium, which can hold a crowd of nearly 300. Again, no disappointments. I look forward to the opportunity of being one of the first classes to have access to the resources within Wells Fargo Hall.
After the tour, it was time to get back to work. I had a case write-up for my Strategy class due th
e next day, but writer’s block was getting in the way. My solution? Lunch and a beer at Home Plate. 1,000 words later, I shipped the assignment out to my study group for approval. I squeezed in another informational interview for Profits4Purpose – this one was with Novatel Wireless. In addition to learning the best practices of alumni networks nationwide, I’ve been interviewing San Diego-based companies to learn of their volunteer efforts here in the local community. Many of these philanthropic activities take place in isolation, and through increased awareness, I hope to creatre increased participation. (Check out UCSD’s Volunteer50 campaign for upcoming volunteer opportunities!)
I had one more event on the schedule to end the day – the Spring Kick-Off of UCSD’s Entrepreneur Challenge. Hosted at the Institute of the Americas, the evening included a networking session, a complimentary dinner, a martial arts performance, and keynote speaker Greg Horowitt, Co-Founder and Director of Global Connect. After all that, the E-Challenge announced the top five winners of its Executive Summary competition, giving away $17,500 in cash and prizes. The auditorium was full of entrepreneurial energy, and it was inspiring to hear the descriptions of the companies that were awarded prize money – in addition to the start-ups that weren’t fortunate enough to take home the cash.
Making the mile trek back to my apartment, I was reflecting back on what a busy day it was – the Dalai Lama’s presentation was already becoming a distant memory. When you enroll at the Rady School of Management and you become a part of the larger UC San Diego community, you’re presented with an endless number of opportunities each and every day. Truth be told, it can be overwhelming. But it’s important to take a step back and make a distinction between the things that you have to do, and the things that you want to do. At Rady, you decide for yourself what you want to get involved in. And I’m having the time of my life.
March Madness
I had the intention of writing this blog a month ago, when the title would’ve made a lot more sense. The plan was to catch your attention and make you think I was going to write all about college basketball – then pull a complete 180 (what a trickster) and discuss the hectic schedule that is Winter Quarter. Well it turns out that my schedule was SO crazy, that writing for fun got pushed to the bottom of my to-do list!! (easy with the exclamations, buddy)
Truth is, finals came and went, I flew back to Jersey for Spring Break, and by the time I picked up my head to look around – it was Week Three of Spring Quarter. When did that happen? I knew Winter was supposed to be chaotic; the Rady MBA program is designed that way. When it comes to extracurricular activities, Fall serves as an intro to all the resources we have at our disposal, and Spring allows for the transition of leadership roles from 2nd- to 1st-year students. Which leaves Winter as the stand-alone quarter for the preparation, planning, and execution of major events (hey bright guy – those first two mean the same thing). Everybody in the full-time program is on the same page and some great things get accomplished. One month ago, I planned to give a bunch of examples and talk about how productive I was. Now, all I can remember is that I got 2nd place in the Bracket Pool.
Sure, Winter is a heavy course load and there’s a ton of activity outside of the classroom, ranging from Careers related events to an impressive supply of Professional Seminars. And Spring is designed to provide Rady MBAs with more free time. But I’m finding that it can actually be quite the opposite – my free time is often consumed by thoughts of idea generation, attempts at identifying business opportunities, and dreams of starting my own company. Having completed its core courses, the Rady Full-time Class of 2013 has officially entered the “Lab to Market” phase of the curriculum.
There’s a lot of literature on the type of environment that spurs the creation of new ideas – the philosophy is that these concepts are not born in isolation; they do not occur in the traditional “Eureka!” moment. To the contrary, it’s collaboration that breeds innovation. It’s the bringing together of thinkers with different backgrounds, with different areas of expertise. That’s exactly the type of culture being encouraged here at Rady, here at UCSD, here in the greater San Diego community. I’m constantly learning new things from my Rady classmates, I’m finding myself at networking events with grad students from the Jacobs School of Engineering, and my inbox is full of invites to professional events with venture capitalists.
When I was going through the MBA application process, Rady lured me to San Diego with assurances of an entrepreneurial mindset and an innovative culture. Standing here in Week Three of Spring Quarter, I can say with confidence that Rady is living up to those promises.
Sorry for Bursting Your Bubble
As finals week comes to a close and we as students enjoy the brief honeymoon phase after completion of tests and before the heart-wrenching torment of checking grades, I write this blog as a reminder of priorities and purpose.
No matter how many times we try to alleviate each other’s fears of underperforming in a particular subject with the popular phrase “grades don’t matter,” it never seems to stick. For our entire academic careers, society emphasized the need to get good grades to ultimately succeed in life (as it’s so specifically defined by..umm..no one). That was the goal. A’s are better than B’s and C’s were for everyone else. But now many of us are in the twilight stages of our formal education and seek not another round of interviews from admissions officers, but rather from hiring managers perfectly satisfied with few details of our education other than the abbreviations MBA and UCSD. How could this be? Don’t they care about the fact that I crammed the whole night before the final, found the grading loopholes, pawned all the hard work on my group just to get that pointy letter so admired by my parents and peers? Now I’m confused.
Think back to any time you left a class confident and proud of how much you’d learned only to receive the C on your report card, or conversely when you sat in the back and G-chatted all day and “earned” an A. Bubble Burster #1: Grades are no more a proxy for knowledge than money is for success. How often do we gaze at the millionaire with the fancy car only to find that he or she is plagued with stress and loneliness inside? Studies abound with the counterintuitive conclusion that in fact “money doesn’t buy happiness.” Sounds great on a fortune cookie but it’s not true for me. If I had a nicer car or new iPad, all my problems would go away and everyone would love me. It may sound ridiculous in print, but it’s a thought that pervades most of our lives on a daily basis. Grades are no different. While salary is, theoretically, commensurate with our contributions to a company (and by extension, the world), grades are supposed to be the quantification of our knowledge and contribution to the class. The souvenir from my time in the trenches I can take home and put up on the refrigerator. But of course they alone don’t dictate the amount of success one can achieve, just ask FDR, who only received average grades in school. Bubble Burster #2: Classes are among the least important parts of business school. 
Though our classes are interesting and seemingly applicable, let’s not forget why we’re all here. In the six months we’ve all been together I’ve met some extraordinary people. I can say confidently that several Rady ‘13s will be at my wedding and at my funeral. We’ll innovate and negotiate our ways to our dream jobs. We have access to a phenomenal assortment of resources to broaden our horizons and help us home in on our true passions. Where else will local CEOs come to share their wisdom, HR reps convene for the sole purpose of hiring us, and students relax with a beer and a shuffleboard table?
The purpose of business school isn’t to sequester ourselves in a pile of books and notes for two years, but to create relationships, develop our interests, and find a career that is as rewarding as it is high paying. Please try to escape the paradigm of obsolete measures of evaluation and set your priorities to match your long term goals. And if for now that includes a cold beer and throwing some pucks, then I’ll see you at Home Plate.
Green Tip: Sustainable Future
I took advantage of the $10 Student Admission to attend “Forging a Sustainable Future” this past weekend at the San Diego State University 
campus (regular admission was $95). Allow me to go off on a tangent before I talk about the conference – but I love being able to register for things as a student again. This just happened to be an event that required any outlay of cash. I love receiving emails from MBA Student Services about free seats to what would be an otherwise expensive ticket – CONNECT seminars, San Diego Venture Group breakfasts, an upcoming SDG&E Technology Series – these are just a few examples. I tried calling my credit card companies to get student benefits, and checked with my bank about switching to a student account. Apparently they have age restrictions for those kinds of products (yea, get a life old man).
What attracted me to this past weekend’s conference was the featured keynote speaker brought in by UnitedGREEN: Robert Kennedy, Jr – it’s not too often that you have the opportunity to attend a presentation by a member of such a historical family. But even though that’s what dragged me to the event, I was pleased to learn a lot from the other panels throughout the day. Every presentation was, at the least, extremely thought-provoking.
The opening remarks by Congresswoman Susan Davis set the tone for the entire conference, calling for a way to “meet the needs of the present without sacrificing the needs of the future” in terms of water, energy, land, and food. Dr. Joseli Macedo appeared live on Skype from India – she delivered a presentation on sustainability practices in her native city of Curitiba, Brazil, establishing some similarities to San Diego. I may have been most impressed by Kevin Beiser of the Unified School District – he is aggressively pursuing sustainable initiatives in a number of areas across the entire school district. What are they doing with the money saved? The $1 million saved in energy costs went towards bringing back the music department, giving music teachers their jobs back.
There was also an extensive panel on water conservation that led nicely into the introduction of Mr. Kennedy, who is founder and president-at-large of the Waterkeeper Alliance (amongst his many involvements). He touched on a wide number of topics, and each point was more convincing than the next. Kennedy told a detailed story about the atrocious byproducts of coal, and how the mining companies in West Virginia are engaging in the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal – it’s detailed in The Last Mountain. He spoke of governments in Europe that have answered the need to address global warming.
Some argue that business and the environment have to be mutually exclusive – some still argue that global warming doesn’t exist. But there is an insurmountable amount of evidence that proves the opposite. There is a need in this country to abolish carbon; every nation that has de-carbonized its economy has experienced instantaneous prosperity. Imagine if we could eliminate energy costs? Now that would give our country a competitive advantage. Instead, we borrow money so that we can buy oil.
Kennedy argued for the need to develop a nationwide power grid that would allow energy surpluses from renewable energies to be transported long distances. For one, there are currently 50 private utility companies – uniting them is the best way to make use of national resources – I learned that in Operations. And secondly, the current grid isn’t designed to handle renewable energies. It’s ambitious to imagine a nationwide grid, but it’s exciting, and it could be the major progression of our generation. When you talk about traveling the “interstate,” you might be referring to your energy source (yikes, not funny). But all in all, it could reduce energy costs. And it would reduce our impact on the environment. It goes to show that good environmental policy does lead to good economic policy.