Podcast appearances and mentions of Sean Li

In honor of Pride Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Lucas Chagas Vital to the show. Lucas is a graduate of the full-time MBA program and a principal in corporate strategy and development for Intuit. For Lucas, growing up gay in Sao Paolo, Brazil wasn't always easy. He knew he was gay from a young age, but between attending conservative catholic schools and starting his career in the conservative banking world of Brazil from over a decade ago, he worried he wouldn't be accepted if he came out at work. So he set out to find a more welcoming and accepting culture for LGBTQ people, and found one at Berkeley Haas. On this episode, Lucas joins host Sean Li to talk about his childhood in Sao Paolo, his fulfilling experience with Q@Haas as co-president, and how he's continued that advocacy work since then through inclusion programs at Intuit and other workplaces. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his decision to leave Brazil for the U.S.  ”So I was not out in the work place. I grew up attending a Catholic school and a Catholic university. And even though I was out earlier than many back then, because I came out in junior high school, I was gay-bashed with my two lesbians friends, so there were a lot of stories of coming out and being back in the closet and getting discriminated against and working through that. And when I learned more about the difference of the reality here, at least 10 years ago, that was one of the things that motivated me a lot, right?”On the work that still needs to be done for LGBTQ rights ”Our rights should never be taken for granted, right? Because the LGBTQ+ rights and any other minority rights, they can be lost at any time… Definitely as a cisgender gay man, I acknowledge the better privilege that we have when we compare with the transgender population, right? They are in the front. They are the ones who have so much more attacks and hate and we're hearing more and more right now. So how can we be an ally for that?”On celebrating Pride“ Thinking about the Pride month ahead of us, I feel that Pride Month, it's not only for fun and parties. I think Pride Month, it's how we got here, right? …I remember when I got here in the US and I was so excited with all the Pride initiatives, and I used to hear a lot of complaints of people saying, "Oh, but there is so much corporate all around."And I said, "Yeah, but the first Prides, most of the early Prides actually that I went to in Brazil, we didn't have any corporate support, and we did not have that much visibility. We didn't have that much support, and we had to hide a lot" So there are positive things that we can think about how far we got here”On his time with Q@Haas“ I spent most of my time at Haas, apart from recruiting, at Q@Haas. So we had a very active group of people…So we organized many events…one event was called Not Your Gay Best Friend, to help break all the stereotypes of just being “the gay best friend”, which for me was very interesting as well because it was also a very American culture thing to learn.And then of course, the Coming Out Week, which was a big event. The Coming Out Monologues was actually my first time telling my coming out story to a big audience, and in English.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileQ@Haas

On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Brittany Jacob, a former news anchor turned senior consultant at Deloitte thanks to her career-transforming experience at Berkeley Haas. Growing up in Texas, Brittany fell in love with theater and the arts, a passion that propelled her to a career in journalism. For Brittany, community is at the heart of everything she does – a passion that shone through while she was at Haas when she decided to create the podcast, Belonging@Haas. Brittany joins host Sean Li to chat about her upbringing in Texas, what she learned during her time as a news anchor and reporter, what brought her to Haas, how she's now using her MBA to shape stories, and how she built community through Belonging@Haas. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On her time in the news biz “Imagine, I was lugging around a tripod, a camera, setting up my own interviews, doing my interviews, going back, editing them, writing them, and then setting up my live unit so that I can go live. And I did all of that by myself at the beginning of my career. So when you think about reporting… It was nothing fancy or pretty. It was work and you got into the industry because you loved what you did.”One of her fond memories from her time at Haas“ It felt like we were like 17 years old again – we were in the car on our commute to Berkeley for our accounting quiz, and we're like going through our flashcards and I took a moment to realize, I was like, how crazy is this? We're all in our thirties and we're running through flashcards on our way to class for accounting.”On her pivot from journalism to consulting“ I didn't wanna just tell stories. I wanted to shape them. And so that curiosity led me to Berkeley Haas and just really expanding my storytelling into strategy while still rooted in community and impact.”On the creation of the podcast, Belonging@Haas“A big part of it was like, how do we leave a legacy that lives beyond this year … and we ran a survey of all of our peers, like, what do you want? Do you feel like you belong? What do you wanna see from the classroom? What are your needs? And we really went through that survey to understand our classmates, like we had two years on this campus to make an impact. And so, we heard them loud and clear. They wanted to hear from their peers. And what better way than a podcast being able to listen on the go while you're cooking, while you're working out, when you're on the flight. Everyone messaged me like, we're downloading this before the winter break to listen. But really it was about giving a voice to students.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileInstagram ProfileBelonging@Haas Podcast

On this episode of OneHaas, learn about the incredible, globe-spanning career journey of alumna Ann Hsu, Founder and Head of School at Bert Hsu Academy. From high tech to yogurt to revolutionizing the approach to public education, this double bear's story is not one to miss!Born and raised in Beijing, China, Ann moved to the U.S. with her family at age 11 but has always maintained a strong cultural connection to China. After getting her Master's degree in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley, she moved back to China and launched into a successful career in high tech. When the need arose to add more business acumen to her skillset, she knew Berkeley Haas was her best option for an MBA. Ann's latest career pivot has been into education, where she's opened the first American-Chinese bicultural school in the U.S., named in honor of her father, Bert Hsu. Ann joins host Sean Li to discuss the exciting ways they are reimagining education at the Bert Hsu Academy, how her Berkeley degrees have supported her career journey, and her advice for current MBA students and young alumni. She also shares her memories of moving to the U.S. as a young girl in 1978, her family's history in China, and how her own bicultural experience has shaped her career and worldview. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On her assimilation to American culture“ I remember a discussion in class and they were talking about china, the bowls and plates. Well, I thought they were talking about the country of China. And I raised my hand, I said, ‘I'm from China.' Yes, I knew the word, but I didn't know that we were talking about plates and bowls china and not the country of China. That's what I mean by cultural assimilation or Americanization. It took me four years.”On where the idea for a Chinese-American bicultural school came from“ I thought back to my own experience of going to school in China and the U.S. and then watching my sons go to school in China …and about what's good about the Chinese education approach, what's good about the American ones, what's bad about each. And I thought, I want to combine the Chinese education philosophy, approach and practices with the American ones because both have pros and cons. And if I'm going to design [a school] from scratch, I'll just pick the good ones. The pros!”On her decision to name the school after her father“...It came to me that the person who embodies the bicultural and bilingual Chinese American experience, whom I have the utmost respect for, is my father. And he was bicultural, in addition to being bilingual. He not only survived, but thrived in both China and in the United States because he understood [the culture] and could really thrive in both cultures. And I thought, that should be the goal. I want all of our students to be able to do that.”Her advice to current MBA students“ MBA students, they fret about,what should I do [after MBA]? Which job should I take? What career should I pursue? what I tell them is that you only have so much information. You're never going to get complete information, and you're never going know whether that decision you made is the right decision. So what you do is you take all the information you have, make a decision, and then make that the right decision.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileBert Hsu Academy Website Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this special episode of OneHaas, Dr. Jennifer Chatman, Dean of the Haas School of Business, shares her career journey and her hopes for the future of Haas. Dean Chatman is not just a double bear, with an undergraduate degree and PhD from Haas, but has called UC Berkeley's campus home for most of her life. In this interview, she chats with host Sean Li about growing up in an academic family, how her father, a Berkeley professor, inspired her to pursue a life of learning, how following her curiosity led to a pioneering career studying organizational culture, the enduring relevance of Haas' defining leadership principles, and why she thinks the future of Haas is very bright indeed.  *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On passing the baton from one Berkeley professor to another“ So I remember being out here just before I was about to start and my dad was just about to retire. We had lunch somewhere on campus and we were sitting on the steps of Harmon gym… and a student walks by and looks up and says, ‘Hi, Professor Chatman.' And my dad looks at this student and he looks again. He said, ‘I don't recognize that student.' I said, ‘Yeah, Dad, that's one of mine.' So that was the official passing of the baton.”On finding a passion early on for social psychology“ I've always been fascinated by social interaction. And I remember in high school…I always loved to type up surveys and then I would go give them to people. I'd give them to my parents, I'd give them to my sisters. I'd give it to my friends, like, what did you have for breakfast? And, you know, A, B, C, or D. Right? And, I just found that sort of calculating of what people were doing and what were the similarities across people and what were the ways in which they diverged. I found both of those things very, very interesting.”On the importance of trusting and leaning into your curiosity “ I think the advice is trust your curiosity and trust what gets you excited and passionate and figure out a way to lean into it, and develop a pathway that involves the things that kind of get you up in the morning. You know, career paths are very, very long and you wanna be doing something that's interesting to you. That gives you energy and it's actually something I really admire and love about our Haas students. There is not one Haas student that I've ever run into who is anything less than completely fascinating. Every single one of our students is interesting. They have a unique and distinctive story. They have really wide ranging interests. I find it just a profound distinction that we're privileged to have this community of super interesting, passionate students.”On her hopes for the future of Haas “ I just think that this is a really incredible moment for our school and we're so full of ideas and our students are so capable and eager and brilliant. They are defining the future and I think that our humanity as well as our skills in leveraging technology, but it's our humanity that's going to allow us to flourish into the future. And I'm just really excited about that.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileHaas ProfileProfessional WebsiteSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

In honor of Veterans Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Cory Boatwright to the show. Cory is a Senior Advisor of Workforce Development, Strategies, and Programs for Hiring Our Heroes. Growing up in a working class home in Chico, California, Cory always knew he wanted to go to college, but coming from limited means made that a challenge. So he decided to start his career by first joining the military – a decision that sparked a lifetime passion for service and social impact work. Cory tells host Sean Li how his time in the Air Force prepared him for a successful career in business, what it felt like to fulfill his childhood dream of attending Haas, and how he's giving back to the veteran community through his work at Hiring Our Heroes. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On how the Air Force prepared him for a career in business“ I always knew that I wanted to be like a business person, right? And I kind of just made up this person, this fictitious person of who I wanted to be. And I took characteristics of people from books, magazines, shows, and stuff like that, of who I wanted to be as a business person. And so one of the things that I thought was like, okay, well, a business person has to be able to be a public speaker and speak in front of people…And so I was like, well, how do I do that? I don't have the skills to do that. So I joined the Air Force as a military broadcaster. I was like, I'm just gonna throw myself into this.”On his switch from the investment banking world to military programming“ There's a role that came open at LinkedIn to build out their military recruiting programs. I had zero experience as a recruiter. I wasn't a recruiter, but I was like, I'd really like to work with the military community. And so I talked to a friend of mine who owned a nonprofit… And he's like, Cory, what do you do for free? And I was like, I help vets get jobs and get into school. And he's like, you should figure out how to get paid to do that.”On fulfilling his longtime dream of attending Haas“...Immediately I was with my people and I was like, no doubt I'm coming here.  Just a huge sense of belonging. I went there and basically I was able to, between like the core courses, which every one of them really resonated with me, I loved the curriculum of the program, but also when it came to electives, I was able to build out a learning path for myself that was more geared towards buying a business than it was doing a startup.”On the work he's doing at Hiring Our Heroes“ They come into our ecosystem and we're making sure that we're getting them to the places that they need to be. For instance, if somebody has a housing issue, they don't have housing or they're about to lose their housing, or they can't pay their utility bills, like that person's gonna be really difficult to help get a job because their basic needs aren't being met at that moment. And so we make sure that they're gonna get to the right people to be able to help them fix that issue and then come back into our orbit so that we can help them connect to meaningful employment. Not just jobs, but like jobs that matter, jobs that are gonna be sustainable, jobs that are gonna have good wages and benefits and stuff like that.”Show Links:LinkedIn profileHiring Our Heroes websiteCory's book recommendation: HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own CompanySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Bryce Gilleland, a general partner at the Cal Innovation Fund, who is helping tomorrow's most-innovative founders change the world. Bryce, a Californian through-and-through, grew up in Irvine before moving to San Francisco to begin his career at Pacific Gas and Electric. After many successful years in the energy sector, he hit a ceiling and saw the MBA program at Haas as a pathway forward. But what began as a practical step in his career turned into so much more. Bryce joins host Sean Li to discuss his journey from PG&E to venture capital and how coaching others and a personal growth mindset is at the core of everything Bryce does. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On what led him to Haas and his drive to get an MBA“The beautiful part of the whole thing was like after going to Haas, it really opened up my eyes. You know, I saw a bunch of other students with a bunch of other jobs. I saw a bunch of people starting their own businesses and it really expands your mind going there and just talking to your fellow students and hearing some really inspirational professors and, you know, the chancellor now, Chancellor Lyons, he was the dean of Haas right when I joined, and he was super inspirational. So even at the welcome dinner, he was like, I want my students to learn all this stuff, but I really want them to learn: ‘They do that, we do that.' And that line stuck with me so much where it's like, oh, okay, yeah, I don't have to just simply revere or wonder why other people did it. I could actually go leap in and try to do it myself.”On his decision to take a semester off and travel the world“ There was like a need to go do it and find more of myself, like shed the layers. So it was really, really cool that – you know, I'm forever thankful for Berkeley for many things. But one of them was that they were like, yeah, we have a method for this. We'll make it work. And they gave me that chance to do that.”How he ended up with the Cal Innovation Fund“ When this presented itself, I just dove in and was like, okay, I gotta have some ability to coach and impact leaders because that's what I feel like is kind of in my soul, almost, or my spirit is aligned towards that. And then I wanna be able to make an impact in the world. And, you know, the Cal fund aligns with that. Totally.”What opportunities the Cal Innovation Fund looks for“We try to invest in startups that are gonna make a greener, healthier, more sustainable world. So it's kind of a value-based fund. And then the fund donates 50% of the GP profits (so the company profits, not the investors') back to the school. And so it just feels very aligned in that we're trying to support the Berkeley ecosystem, really all the UCs, but most founders are outta Berkeley, and trying to make the world a better place in the process. And then trying to give back to that system and create the flywheel of innovation for that.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

For Hispanic Heritage Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is honored to share the story of Richard Velazquez, a mission-driven executive who is using his decades of experience in a variety of industries to help other Latinx MBA students and alumni succeed. Every time Richard felt like he hit a ceiling at a job, he pivoted and found new ways to keep moving up. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Richard learned the value of education and hard work from an early age. It was this drive that got him accepted into one of the most competitive engineering colleges in the U.S. and launched his career into the automotive industry. Richard's relentless pursuit for personal growth led him to hold senior leadership positions at Microsoft, Pepsico, and Amazon. But through all those jobs, a constant for him has been his desire to give back and uplift other Hispanic business professionals in their careers.  Richard chats with host Sean Li about his career journey from designing cars at Honda and Porsche, to being one of the key masterminds behind Xbox Kinect, his pivotal role at Pepsico, and his new position as CEO of the Latinx MBA Association.  *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his journey to Haas and getting his MBA“When I had the opportunity to move to Germany to work for Porsche, I put my MBA plans on hold and I was like, you know, I'd rather go to Germany and live in Europe for a few years before I take that route. So it was great. I really loved living in Europe. That's where my love for traveling started. I've been to 105 countries since then, but it all started living in Germany…So after two years at Porsche in Germany, I applied through the Consortium for Graduate Study Management, they give full fellowships. At the time it was for underrepresented minorities who were looking to get their MBA and was open to anyone who has a commitment to diversity. And I applied, I got into Haas.”On Xbox Kinect's success and Richard and his team's involvement “People just really got into it... So the thing with Kinect was since it was doing skeletal tracking, if you just flick your wrist, the character on the screen would just flick their wrist. There was no like faking it. So Dance Central was phenomenal. It showed you which arm was wrong. It highlighted in red when you were doing something wrong and it was game changing at the time. So it set a Guinness World Record, it was the fastest selling consumer electronics device, it was like 10 million 10 million units in less than like two and a half months or something like that. So it was a big deal.”On his decision to leave Microsoft for the beverage industry and a top role at Pepsico“ It was similar to like the car design and like, it's gonna be slightly different [but] it's all gonna do the same thing. So it wasn't advantageous for me to do it 'cause I wasn't linear or growing in any way, shape or form.  I'm still an individual contributor. I'm not leading any teams. I want to get promoted, I want to advance.”On why he wanted to pursue a full time role in helping other Hispanic business professionals grow “ After 30 years, I was like, well, I'm getting more personal fulfillment from these scholarships that I'm getting for students who are like me who didn't have those opportunities to get into school, for helping people get their first jobs, for helping them invest in their careers, than I am by making an extra billion dollars or a hundred million dollars for Amazon or these other companies that don't really need it…It's not giving me the personal satisfaction that I'm getting from this work I'm doing with people.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileLatinx MBA Association WebsiteSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

The biggest capital in the world needs guardrails to come onchain.Today we sit down with Sean Li from Magic Labs to explore Newton Protocol's policy engine - the infrastructure that could unlock institutional adoption. We cover how Web3 policies lag behind Web2's dynamic systems and Sean's vision for autonomous agents operating within expressive guardrails.Let's jump into it.The Rollup---Website: https://therollup.co/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd9vbF3hJA2n7qoL5?si=f5ab82aaf7e2428dPodcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcastFollow us on X: https://www.x.com/therollupcoFollow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollupFollow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandyJoin our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBhThe Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

This month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is excited to share the story of Joshua Ahazie, founder and CEO of ATIDE and marketing lead at Warner Music Africa. Joshua grew up in Lagos, Nigeria in a household brimming with music and entrepreneurial spirit. After following one of his brothers to California and attending Berkeley City College, he set his sights on the Haas School of Business. Through his Haas education, Joshua found a way to combine his love for music with his desire to make the world a better place. Joshua joins host Sean Li to chat about the inception of the ATIDE Project and the community impact it's had in Lagos. They also discuss the growth and global success of Afrobeats, his work with Warner Music Africa, and his vision for Nigeria's music industry.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On what drew him to Berekley Haas“It was this campus and school that had values or principles that were very clear in their culture and they sort of embodied that into the learning process as well. So I was drawn to the principles because that was pretty new for me, and I just ended up spending the next couple of months learning more and more. I was stopping people that were wearing Berkeley Haas merch like, ‘how do I get into this castle atop the hill?'”On the origins of ATIDE“ So it started off as a philanthropic project, right? Our focus was sort of giving back with commerce. The name by the way, it's Yoruba and it means, ‘We are here.' In the early days, we had launched this curated online store in partnership with a couple Nigerian entrepreneurs who were passionate about social causes. And during my time at Haas, I was very inspired by brands like Tom's. Like, you know, the idea that commerce could fund impact in a very sustainable way because as opposed to donations, you are actually building a customer, building an audience and that can scale. So our goal was simply to sort of help these local businesses reach the global audience while also funding meaningful social change.”On the important role music plays in his work“ That's the language I speak, man. Like, I play instruments, I collect records, I love seeing artists perform. It's such a vulnerable and expressive form of art. And even though we've worked across different industries –  hospitality, nonprofit, e-commerce, gaming, whatever it may be – my most exciting projects, personally, are our music campaigns and our artists like rollouts.” On the booming music scene in West Africa“ A couple of things that could have helped with the growth that we're seeing now is just the confidence that we have in our identity. I think in the early 2000s, we were sort of focused on fusion. How do we put in R&B with our sound and how do we put in this record with that one? But now, being African is cool and our artists are leaning into their identity of what it means to be African and make music as an African. I think that confidence in our Africanness has been something that has allowed us to sort of stand out in a very saturated music market globally.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileATIDE ProjectThe Cavemen.JOEBOY Joyce OlongSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, Neil sits down with Sean Li, co-founder and CEO of Magic Labs, to explore the intersection of crypto wallets, artificial intelligence, and the future of autonomous finance. Sean shares how Magic Labs has already onboarded over 50 million crypto wallets by pioneering simple login methods using email and SMS. Now, with Magic Newton, Sean is pushing into new territory where AI agents could securely manage digital assets on our behalf. From AI "concierges" executing investment strategies to cryptographic policy engines enforcing trust and control, the vision is clear: a financial internet where humans set the intent and machines handle the execution. We discuss the challenges of today's fragmented crypto experience, how smart wallets and AI could abstract away complexity, and why Sean believes everyone with an email address will eventually have multiple agents acting on their behalf. You'll also hear why he compares this shift to building a digital institution or constitution for autonomous finance. Whether you're a developer, investor, or simply crypto-curious, this episode offers a fascinating look at where Web3, AI, and programmable trust may be heading next.

On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, learn how alum Liz Castelli went from a middle school science teacher to co-founder and CEO of Tinsel Experiential Design. After planning her own dream wedding, Liz wanted to pivot from education to the events planning space. With the help of her two friends, they launched Tinsel and quickly grew it from a boutique agency to a powerhouse experiential company working with clients like GitHub and Uber. Liz chats with host Sean Li about the evolution of Tinsel, the importance of having a clear vision when it comes to company culture, and why she wanted to pursue an executive MBA at Haas with an already successful business under her belt.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On Tinsel's early days“ How do brands connect with their audiences? This was sort of the beginning of experiential. And man, we were the redheaded stepchild. It would go through like capital A agency, it would go through create, it would go through digital, you name it, every other entity…And then they'd be like, I think there's $3 for experiential. And now it's wild. It's totally the opposite where everyone is thinking about how does the customer experience the product?”On why she wanted to pursue an executive MBA “ Well, if I'm going to be able to exist as this person who started a company and it is successful, I'd like to feel confident enough in a room of other people who run businesses and know what I'm talking about. And I do know for myself, but I've always done it by learning the hard way or by learning from other people that we've hired. And I think that I wanted to know that what I had done was right.”The surprising lessons she gained at Haas“ That's one of the greatest things that Berkeley gave me. I thought I was coming for the operations. I thought I was coming for the finance, but actually I was coming for politics and power and difficult conversations. And I can think of like 12 different classes where I'm like, oh my God, that's what I came to Berkeley for.”On where she's headed next “ I have always thought of myself more as a builder, then this like visionary, you know, futurist if you will. And so I know that my skillset is around building tinsel into a sustainable model at scale within this holding corporation. That's what I'm excited to do. I'm excited to see the right teams and the right people and things sort of moving in the right direction and taking it from where we were post acquisition, which was still nothing to sniff at, you know. But I think there's just a different level of complexity and growth that's there. And I wanna see it through and I wanna make sure that Tinsel is an entity that will stay on and continue.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileTinsel Experiential DesignSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Christina Cairns, an international development professional who spent over 10 years at USAID and now helps expand financial access to under-capitalized business owners and entrepreneurs through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). With a background in international relations and environmental science, Christina joined USAID as a Foreign Service Officer in 2012 where she worked on climate change adaptation, clean energy, wildlife conservation, and improving economic conditions in places like sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Wanting to expand her financial knowledge, she decided to go back to school and pursue an Executive MBA at Haas in 2020.Christina chats with host Sean Li about her family's deep roots in California, the challenging and inspiring work she's done through various roles, including her time in the Foreign Service, the critical and often overlooked work of USAID, the impact of recent U.S. policy shifts, and her current role at the DFC.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On growing up as a fifth generation Californian“ I grew up in the foothills near Sequoia National Park and from an early age was raised running around in the orange groves and going up to the mountains. Every summer, my dad would take my two older brothers and I backpacking for a few days and give my mom some rest before she started teaching school again in the fall. And I think that really shaped me in many ways: my love for the outdoors, appreciation for nature, cold, clear water, fresh air.”On the recent policy shifts that have affected USAID“I think a lot of Americans had no idea what USAID was until they heard about it in the news this February when it was ripped apart. And they were told that it was an agency that had been corrupted and was basically full of waste and fraud.So I would advise people to do their own research. There was actually something called the DEC [Development Experience Clearinghouse] where we put all of the project information, where all of your taxpayer dollars were going for USAID work, into this database. It showed who the contractor or grantee was, which are the main forms of how we got money out the door at USAID, and what that money was spent on. I would encourage people to go look at the current data on foreignassistance.gov and to see what your taxpayer dollars were spent on.”On her role with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation“ What we do is we put in place these risk reduction mechanisms or incentives for financial institutions to take on more risk. To lend to a farmer who doesn't have title to their land but is still farming it because of antiquated titling systems or whatnot, or to women who can't legally own land because it has to be in their husband's name. So, how are these people going to get a loan? We help facilitate or work with the banks, and a lot of times, microfinance institutions to open up their lending aperture and get capital to people who will make really good use of it.”On her efforts to continue the impact of USAID's work“ A former USAID colleague and I have submitted a proposal for funding to categorize all of the terminated climate projects that were started by USAID, with very basic information: what country was it in? What sector? Who was the local partner? What was the project aiming to do? How much financing or funding did it need? We want to put all that information into a platform for donors, foundations, impact investors, multilateral organizations like the World Bank or others, and ask, ‘Are you interested in continuing any of this work? This is work that has already been designed and vetted by the U.S. government, not to mention all of these people who are working on these programs are available if you would like them to continue the work.' ”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

The Rollup TV is brought to you by:Boundless: https://beboundless.xyz/AltLayer: https://www.altlayer.io/Mantle: https://www.mantle.xyz/Vertex: https://vertexprotocol.com/Subsquid: https://www.sqd.ai/Summer: https://summer.fi/Join The Rollup Family:Website: https://therollup.co/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd..Podcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcastFollow us on X: https://www.x.com/therollupcoFollow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollupFollow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandyJoin our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBhThe Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-disclTimestamps00:00 Introduction04:54 Market Trends and Stablecoins07:18 Avi Patel and Kled Controversy18:39 AI and Token Economics30:02 Macro Economic Insights with Will Clemente52:11 Transitioning to New Guests and Topics54:06 Exploring Investment Trends in Crypto and AI55:59 The Future of Security in Crypto Transactions58:47 Self-Custody vs. Custodial Solutions in Crypto01:02:06 Institutional Interest in Staking and ETFs01:06:41 Research Trends and Contrarian Investments in Crypto01:09:06 Debating Proof of Stake and Governance Models01:12:51 Texas Bitcoin Reserve and Legislative Changes01:14:56 Debate on Central Limit Order Books and Infrastructure01:40:07 Exploring Hyperliquid and User Experience01:45:36 Interoperability and Application-Specific Rollups01:50:40 The Future of Composability in DeFi01:58:49 The Role of Trust in Autonomous Finance02:25:58 Agented Commerce and the Future of AI in Finance

On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet alum Shinghi Detlefsen, president of Wholesome Story and CEO of ExpandFi. Shinghi's entrepreneurial spirit at a young age propelled him into a successful sales career with experience at major tech companies like Google and Amazon. After beginning his higher education at Berkeley City College, he transferred to Haas and a world of opportunity opened for him. Shinghi chats with host Sean Li about finding his entrepreneurial drive as a kid, the organizational lessons he gleaned from working at Amazon and Google, how he launched Wholesome Story with his wife, and why he believes everyone has the power to be the change they want to see in the world. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:How his entrepreneurial spirit began from a young age“ We moved to Virginia when I was like seven from California, and I remember we were doing a yard sale for like selling stuff before we left and I was in charge of the money and selling things and I still remember being a little kid like, I loved that. I loved selling things and making money. And it always was in my interest sphere. And like, even when we moved to Virginia…I was mowing lawns, making money. I think my parents also raised me with that type of mindset where there are no handouts. You don't just get money from your parents, you need to go earn it.”Lessons he learned from Amazon's corporate culture “Amazon is a written culture, so there are no PowerPoints…You don't have a presentation where some guy stands up in front of everyone and talks about it. Everything's in a doc, so I had to learn how to write and that has been the most valuable asset that I've learned from Amazon. I still use it today. I try to have my own team lean into writing versus presenting just because it's so much more tangible and it also forces you to think very clearly.”On leaving Amazon to take Wholesome Story to the next level“ It was absolutely liberating…At Amazon, like you could really just work your ass off or any corporation and you can get 10% more in salary. And in a business you could work a thousand percent more and you can make a million percent more. It's like that return on your time and your effort is so much higher in entrepreneurship if things work out.”His advice to budding entrepreneurs“ I would focus on – aim to be a millionaire, not a billionaire. And I think, again, going back to that barrier mindset where you have the Googles and the Facebooks and that's who you want to be growing up. That's like a one in a billion chance of you hitting that, right? And a lot of people will spend a ton of time, they'll do a startup, they'll raise a ton of money, they'll be diluted to the point where they would've been better off becoming a millionaire. And so like my point to everyone is that there are million dollar opportunities everywhere, and it's simple. It's like you can create a million dollar business and you just take a problem, a small problem, and you solve it.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileX ProfileMedium Article: “E-commerce Wars — and how the US is losing.”Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

In celebration of Pride Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is honored to have Laurie Reemeyer, a sustainable mining consultant, share his journey. For much of Laurie's early career in the mining industry in Australia, he kept his identity as a gay man separate from his work. But after more than a decade of hiding this key part of himself, he decided it was time for a fresh start in the form of an MBA degree at Haas. Laurie chats with host Sean Li about his struggles with accepting and embracing his sexuality in a traditionally conservative environment, the pivotal role Haas has played in his life, how he's giving back through Q@Haas, and how he's working to make mining more sustainable through his consultancy firm Resourceful Paths. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:How going from mining in Australia to Haas changed his life“ I think with Australia, by the time that I left, things were changing. I was safe in the cities…I was not feeling safe at all to come out at work. And really that's where Berkeley was a fundamental change in my life because when I came to Berkeley, I just came out the first day I was there. And that was such a liberating experience compared to that feeling of suppression and separation that I felt in the mining industry in Australia.”On the work he's doing with Resourceful Paths ”When we talk about helping you mine responsibly, what I'm really talking about is how do we do things in ways that minimize environmental impact that are more socially acceptable? How do we incorporate practices that reduce energy use, water use, that reduce footprint, those types of things.”On living authentically Being your full self to whatever extent you can and recognizing that in the LGBTQ+ community, that's really primarily the journey of coming out. And that's something that people have to do at their own pace. It's a unique journey for everyone. And we can't necessarily live authentically completely straight away because there may be issues around physical danger, around social pressures, cultural issues, et cetera, which you've gotta navigate through. But that's very important that people, you know, feel that they can be themselves, be their true selves to the largest extent they can.”On being a good ally“Are we showing up, firstly? Are we showing up authentically? Is it about supporting the community or is it about ourselves? So if we're showing up because we just want to feel good about ourselves, et cetera, well, sorry, that's not enough. It's not okay actually. I think allyship has to be something much deeper and I think you're gonna stand with those people and support them authentically when the time gets tough or not.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileResourceful PathsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

AI agents handling your money sounds terrifying, until you realize the alternative is trusting humans with complex DeFi strategies.In today's episode, we sit down with Sean Li, founder of Newton & Magic, to explore how verifiable AI agents could transform crypto UX forever. Sean's building AI that executes financial transactions while proving every step cryptographically.We dive into why 80% of DApp interfaces might disappear into natural language prompts and how Newton creates trusted agents through confidential compute and guardrails. This isn't about replacing traders. it's about democratizing sophisticated strategies while maintaining verifiable proof.Let's jump after it.The RollupCheck all Mammoth May

Sean Li is is the CEO and CoFounder at Magic Labs.In this episode, we explore the self-driving car of crypto wallets. Newton aims to fix and automate the crypto user experience by establishing a secure rollup for AI-driven strategies, automated trading and a marketplace for AI developers.------

The OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Keith and Kenneth Tsang, who are not only identical twins, but also had identical triple majors at UC Berkeley – political science, psychology, and business.After being born in the Bay Area, Keith and Kenneth moved to Hong Kong where they spent the first formative years of their childhood. Growing up in a family that prioritized education and exploration, the twins developed a strong sense of curiosity for the world around them. It's this curiosity that sparked their desire to pursue not one, but three majors for their undergraduate degrees at UC Berkeley. Keith and Kenneth chat with host Sean Li about how they applied those three majors to careers in entrepreneurship, lessons they learned from growing up in Hong Kong and then reacclimating in the U.S., and how their career journeys have taken shape thanks to a healthy dose of staying curious and making friends. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Kenneth on why their decision to add business as a second major“ I think we were just blown away from the beginning, like, wow, all this business stuff is completely different from your history class and your chemistry classes in high school. It felt practical and relevant. And I think we were hooked pretty early on. And I think, to be honest, I think Keith and I are a bit competitive, and then I think with Haas, some people might know, the undergraduate is competitive and we figured we can do this too. So let's get in on this game and succeed here.”Keith on how the brothers identify entrepreneurial opportunities“ I've worked in all kinds of businesses and industries, obviously venture capital, then you have Nest with thermostats. I've also worked at LinkedIn and Meta, big companies, but also small companies doing housekeeping double-sided marketplace and robot delivery pizza. So it's a little bit of everything. But part of that is just being open to what's interesting, like do you see value here? Like are you able to have an impact? So that's like the first checkbox you're looking at: can you actually do something that is influencing change? And the second part of it is just being able to be open with your network… like you're talking to people and you're learning about these things and when something catches your interest, you just learn a little bit more and see whether you have a role to play in that. So I think that's, at a high level, that's what it really is, being open to these opportunities.”Kenneth on being a student always“ …Just to plug the Haas values, just being student always, I think the learning never stops. And I think that curiosity sort of kept us going. And in hindsight, I think a lot of these things are hard to plan. They're kind of serendipitous, but I think if you're open to learning and then having that curiosity is what sort of led us down these paths that we've taken.”Keith on how their parents nurtured their curiosity early on“ They definitely provided us with different opportunities to explore our interests – playing different sports, soccer, baseball, being in the Boy Scouts, which I think was actually one of the best experiences. It was kind of where we were able to just experience all kinds of things like archery, horseback riding, stuff like that, and just try different things. And I think that really is important for setting that foundation to be curious always, is that you are able, you're comfortable being in new situations and after the first time you realize that's enjoyable, you do it a second time, it's still enjoyable and you just keep it up. But I think if you were in a situation or environment where that is limited, you're always being constantly told no, I can very much see how that could be hampered.”Show Links:Kenneth's LinkedIn ProfileKeith's LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet leadership coach Jeremy Guttenplan, a double bear with an MBA and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Haas. After years working in the data science and risk management fields, and holding top leadership positions at Wells Fargo and Capital One, Jeremy realized he wanted to spend more time coaching and developing his team than playing corporate politics. Jeremy chats with host Sean Li about how he made the pivot to coaching, explains the nuances between coaching, counseling, mentoring, and advising, and gives Sean a taste of his coaching style with an emphasis on the impact and return on investment personal development work can provide. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his journey from data science to strategy, and discovering coaching as a career path“ I would get into these jobs that'd be very specific, very narrow focused.  And I had a way about me that I would create a T shape out of every role I'd end up in. So, you know, where they wanted me to do a certain thing and go really deep on something, I'd learn everything around it, connect all the dots together, you know, and make it really broad. Also, I generally master the one thing they wanted me to do pretty quickly, and then I'd get bored and wanna figure everything else out. And I was doing that in every job I was in.”On how the birth of his son propelled him to pursue coaching“I wanted to be a father, but I was also afraid I wasn't gonna be a great one. And there was a day that it hit me that, you know, I'm having a son and I'm gonna be his male role model.  And it was like a bucket of ice water got dumped on my head. It just woke me up. It woke me up out of this, whatever life I had been living up to that point, it wasn't what I'd want my son to look up to. I didn't see myself as a role model. A lot needed to change and a lot of that was about accepting myself.”On the definition of coaching“ Coaching is not about right or wrong, good or bad. There's nothing bad or wrong about that.  Coaching is about noticing it, asking yourself, is this getting me what I want? Like what I really want, what I say that I want right now? I might wanna be right about something, but what do I really want? And so that's what I ask my clients: Is that getting you what you say that you want? You know, thinking that other thing's gonna be better than this thing. And you know, the answer is always no. And it's an interruption tool to see that, ‘Hey, wait a minute, I have everything I need right now in this moment. I am already a whole complete, perfect human. And I can still aspire to be an even greater version of myself.'”On the ROI of coaching“ A coach can accelerate your journey to your freedom, your happiness, your fulfillment, whatever that is.  You know, whether it's in your relationships, whether it's in your job, whether it's with your finances, your relationship with money. The sooner you take care of these things, the more of your life you're gonna live, right? You might even live longer, because you'll be putting less stress on yourself.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileInstagram Profile Leading Your Life CoachingSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

For women's history month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Olivia Chen, a Haas undergrad alumna and the co-founder of Twrl Milk Tea.Like so many of the best entrepreneurial ventures, Twrl was born out of a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic. With boba milk tea shops closed, Olivia and her co-founder Pauline Ang were finding ways to still enjoy the treat at home while also making a version of milk tea that prioritizes quality and pays tribute to their Taiwanese and Chinese heritage. Olivia joins host Sean Li to chat about being raised by immigrant parents from Taiwan, her career journey from Haas to Twrl, and Olivia dishes on all the ways her on-the-go milk teas are taking the boba industry by storm.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On her family's deep Berkeley roots“I actually am,  I would say, like a Berkeley baby, because we were in the Berkeley family housing units, there are baby photos of me playing on the playground. And so Berkeley has always been a really big part of my identity because my family, my dad are Berkeley alums. And so, my parents were really, really proud when I actually was accepted into Berkeley. And so being kind of from the Bay Area, you know, when relatives came, the first place we'd take them would be Berkeley to go see the campus. And so when I got in, it was kind of a no-brainer that I would be attending.”Lessons on entrepreneurship from her parents' career paths “ How the evolution of entrepreneurship goes is, you know, you climb one mountain, but you're at the bottom of another hill. And so you just keep climbing these mountains and then you just hope you can peak at an amazing peak. And so that is literally entrepreneurship. That is also the journey of an immigrant, right? Like, you go through these ebbs and flows of mastering language or mastering cultural norms.  And so those types of skills that I've seen my parents persevere with, they have been very, very motivating.”On what makes Twrl stand out“ What makes our canned drinks unique is we're the first to bring nitro infusion to the tea category. We're the first to bring pea protein. And so there's very little innovation in the last 30, 40, 50 years of the tea category. So we are literally the first tea brand out of all these big players out there to bring nitrogen infusion, to use pea protein. So it has actually changed a lot of things that are happening in the tea category itself.”On how Twrl got its name “ Twrl is a really special name for us because we, you know, think about our heritage and our origin. And an emperor was walking through a garden holding a hot cup of water and a leaf twirled into his cup and that's where the first brewed tea was born. That's the origin story. And we'd love to kind of say that, you know, our brand is steeped in history, but we're twirling for the future. And so we're really excited to share a little bit more about ourselves. And we're really, really proud of our heritage as Taiwanese and Chinese Americans.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileTwrl Milk TeaPodcast Rec: How I Built This with Guy Raz Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

OneHaas is pleased to welcome Yael Zheng, class of 1992, who is a seasoned marketing executive with two decades of experience in the tech industry. She's served as the Chief Marketing Officer for companies like Bill.com and VMware, and has sat on seven different boards including MeridianLink and UC Berkeley's  Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.Yael moved to the U.S. from China when she was a teenager and found herself drawn to the world of engineering. After getting an undergraduate degree at MIT, she felt like her true calling was elsewhere and decided that business school was the best way to find it. Yael chats with host Sean Li about finding her passion for marketing at Haas, her family's experience emigrating from China after the Cultural Revolution, and some of the top lessons she's gained from serving as a Chief Marketing Officer and now a board member. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On coming to the U.S. from China in 1981“ When I came to this country, I went to New Jersey and was finishing up the last few years of high school. And it was such a completely weird experience. Eyeopening would be an understatement. And I remember going to a local supermarket and finding the shelves just full of stuff like everything was stocked with stuff, and I was telling my sister like, oh my gosh how could there be so much stuff in the store? You know, of course, I came from a country back then, stuff was still kind of scarce.”On the misconceptions of what a Chief Marketing Officer does“ It's not about just taking a product and then, you know, go put out a website and some blogs and whatever, some market advertising. I mean, that's kind of the tactic. [But] far more important and far more interesting is to really figure out, behind all the tactics, [the product market fit i.e. what customer problems need to be solved and how big and how pressing,] what strategy you need to adopt, how you price it, how you package it.”On the importance of doing your homework on a company before working there“ I've known people who kind of feel like, oh, you know, you seem to have got pretty lucky with several companies that have really gone somewhere. I think luck is definitely a big part of it. But I think like anything, as we all know, you improve your luck or increase your luck by really doing your homework ahead of time, right? You try to see, okay, this company is really trying to attack a problem that's really big. A lot of customers, right? A lot of businesses feel the potential pain. And so there's a really potentially big opportunity to try to solve that problem.”On being a board member vs. an operational executive “ I think that we are constantly reminded as board directors that it's not our job to actually run the company. That's the job of the leadership team, the management team. We're supposed to provide oversight and governance. So having been an operator for many years, you know, I have to constantly remind myself   nose in and then fingers off. So it's our job to ask questions and ask good questions to help the management team to make sure that they have the right strategy in place and that they're executing effectively.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileYael's recommendation – HubSpot blogSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

The OneHaas alumni podcast is pleased to welcome to the show Heather Rascher, the Senior Manager of Global Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at Abbott.Growing up in Sacramento, Heather's connection to UC Berkeley and Haas runs deep. After getting her undergraduate degree in economics and English from Cal, Heather went on to work in the investment banking sector, before deciding to return to Haas in pursuit of a more meaningful career path. Heather joins host Sean Li to chat about her California roots, her passion for supporting public institutions like UC Berkeley, how she gives back through board service and mentorship, and what led her to her fulfilling career in the medical devices industry at Abbott.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On her passion for public education“ I just am a huge believer in the ability of education to be transformative to people. And it was really a big thing that was transformative for my family – on my dad's side in particular. So when my dad's family came over from Mexico, his grandparents didn't have any education at all. They had about third to fifth grade education. When they came over here, one of the things that was really important to them was that their kids were able to get an education. Even though they never learned English, they were really clear that their kids had to not only go to school, but they had to go to college. And so all of their kids graduated from college.”On what drew her to healthcare and Abbott“ I just love working on things where there's a tangible benefit to many and an identified problem that it's a tough nut to crack. Even if I can solve one tiny piece of it, so the piece that I'm addressing is through the lives of diabetics and it's still meaningful and I can see that difference, not just in shareholder value, but in meeting diabetics who are using our products, that's what is so exciting to me.”Lessons she's learned throughout her career“I personally think it's better to work for a good manager and a good organization than work on something that's sexy. You can have both, but I think if you have to make a trade off, I've definitely had bad managers and I knew it and I just thought, Oh, but I'm getting red flags, but this opportunity seems too good and, or I'll be able to work with them. And it's true that you can work with them, but you may not thrive.”On the Somos Haas initiative “What we're trying to do is help people understand that you can come and get a business degree at Haas. It's attainable. And here's the way that you can do that. And then helping other organizations see the value of having diverse candidates apply that are all equally qualified. And so I think it's even more important now that there are organizations where people can feel a sense of community that are connected around a cultural identity, but also a singular purpose to be able to have a community that's focused on just supporting one another and driving a community that is oriented towards helping ultimately elevate, at least our objective is to elevate people of Hispanic origin in the business world.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileBook Rec: From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. BrooksBerkeley's BIG GIVESupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode, OneHaas is honored to welcome Chuck Gibbs, class of 1973, to the podcast. As one of the first Black MBA graduates at UC Berkeley, Chuck has spent his life and career paving the way for younger generations to follow their dreams. Chuck's time as a pioneer dates back further than business school. Growing up in Macon, Georgia in the ‘60s, Chuck navigated segregated times but nevertheless pursued his passion for aviation. At Berkeley, Chuck got his MBA before Haas was Haas, and applied that degree to an impressive career in aerospace, military tech, and Homeland Security. Chuck joins host Sean Li to discuss his upbringing in Georgia, his time in the Air Force, Chuck's experience at Berkeley including how he helped shape the foundation for the future Haas School of Business, his time working for the Department of Homeland Security, and how he continues to help future generations pursue higher education.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Movement“ In my junior year, which was about 1965, schools are starting to be integrated in the state of Georgia. So I live right in front of, believe it or not, a white military school. And I used to see the guys out there doing their drills every day and, you know, marching around. I said, one of these days I'm going to go to that school. I went to that school and integrated it my senior year. That was one of the firsts of my life that I did. Everybody always said, you did things first. You were the first in everything. I was so involved with the Boy Scouts of America. I became one of the first Black Eagle Scouts in the state of Georgia.”On why he chose UC Berkeley“ I was always known to be a radical. Because I spoke my mind when I saw things being done wrong. I just couldn't bite my teeth. I had to let it out, you know, whether you like it or not.And I was that kind of person. I've been that way all my life. And if I see it's wrong, if something's wrong, I'm going to tell you it's wrong.  And how I can make it right or how we can make it right, you know, we're going to do it together.  And one of the reasons why, at Berkeley, Berkeley was just, it was one of the schools to be at in the United States during that particular time.”On how he's helping the future generations now“ Mentoring is the best way to make people feel good about themselves…So that's where I am right now in my life. I'm trying to encourage young folk, you know, I thought about writing a book maybe. And I said, well, is it really worth it?  No, it's really worth it for me to do exactly what I'm doing right now. Talking to you, you know, putting myself out there to let people know who I am and the life that I've had.”On how he celebrates Black History Month“ I learn a little bit more than I knew the year before. I do that for a reason, and try to put it in perspective. Somebody that created something, did something, you know, and then never recognized, you know, like myself. I created a lot of things, I've done a lot of things in my life, I never boasted on it, you know…But the real pioneers of black history, you know, we always say Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and whoever else, you know, the mainstream people, but you've got a lot of people, man, that are black history pioneers that have never been noticed. They didn't want to be noticed.”Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Today's guest on the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is D'Juan Wilcher, the Deputy Director of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and a 2022 graduate of the executive MBA program at Haas. D'Juan comes from a military family with deep roots in Gary, Indiana. After getting his bachelor's degree at Indiana University, he decided to join the Navy as an officer. Over the course of his 14 years in the military, D'Juan learned the importance of putting service at the center of all of his work. D'Juan sits down with host Sean Li to chat about his time in the military, including the culture shock he felt arriving in Japan and his experience joining as an officer. They also discuss his decision to get an MBA at Haas and the impactful work the Bush Center does for veterans. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his family's values around educationI also grew up in a home that was full of love, not full of very much money, not full of very much access. But my mother, she was definitely one who was big on education. She showed it when she was in school and she told us to lean into it the same way. I'm an advocate of public education for that reason. Every school that I've attended from the beginning all the way through Haas has been a public institution. Most of the time that has been by deliberate choice.On earning the respect of his subordinates as a Naval officerThe way that I earn respect from them is from showing up every day. This was the most instructive period of my professional career, was that you show up. That's half the battle,  right? Because some people don't. They just mail it in. That was the first way to earn their respect. Two, know my damn job. Take it seriously. I am new, so when they came to me, they expected to see my nose in a book. They expected to see me asking questions, being curious. Figuring it out so that I can get better to be a better leader for them. On his decision to go to HaasI'm looking down the road, and I can see the water, and I'm like, this is a done deal. This is a beautiful school, beautiful campus. Then I go to the classes, like, yeah, I like this approach. I went with my classmates. We had drinks and dinner afterwards. It's like, this is a done deal. I started my application and that's the end of that story. I never looked back at any other school. I didn't apply. This was my target school and I got in. On some of the work the Bush Center is doing for veteransWe recognize that part of the reason why people don't get to mental health care is because it can be difficult to navigate. So we've thought of creating an easy button whereby we have essentially a concierge service to do an intake. We have all these clinicians and veterans service organizations to help identify whatever supports you might need and we connect you for free. Your services that they get are for free and this year we've been able to reach 2,000 people. Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

The OneHaas alumni podcast is back for its seventh season and it's kicking off with a special guest — Fernando Lopez, Sales Director at Conviva. Originally from Mexico City, Fernando moved to the U.S. during the first dot com boom as a software developer and engineer. But the idea of building a business has always run deep in Fernando's family. After falling in love with the San Francisco area, he decided to pursue his MBA at Haas where he found his passion for sales. Fernando and host Sean Li chat about the art of sales, his experiences at tech giants like IBM and HP, why sales has historically been undertaught in business schools and how Fernando is working to change that. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:The origin of his passion for engineering and building things“I was told stories about me having like one of those musical boxes next to my crib and I would reach out and take it and start disassembling it and like trying to figure out how it worked. And I've always, still to this day, I like building things and like figuring out how they work.”His advice for facing rejection in sales“You can look at it from a mathematical point of view, right? Let's say your conversion rate on reaching out to people is 5%, right? That means you need to make 100 calls to get five people to engage with you. When you're going through them, you're going to get 95 rejections. You might as well just go through them. And don't take it personally, right? Like people are not rejecting you because of you. They're rejecting you because maybe they're busy.Maybe they don't need what you're offering.”One of the important lessons he's learned in his career“Many times, it is not about trying to convince someone what you say or so on…It's about asking the right question. And the same thing applies to leadership in many ways, right? Like, when you're trying to lead a team and you're giving them the answer, you're like, ‘Oh, this is how you should do it. Let me try to convince you this is the way.' You're not as effective as when you ask the right questions and they figure it out. So to me, that's really important in sales, in leadership, in life in general, right? Like trying to figure out not what's the right answer. Yeah, share that answer. What's the right question? So that whoever you're working with can figure out what's the right answer for them.”The critical role of sales in business“Not a lot of people go into sales right after business school. But I was sharing this with someone recently, eventually you do end up in sales. Like if you go into consulting and you make it to partner, you're in sales now. You know what I mean? If you make it to the C suite, like if you're the CEO, you're in sales.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileThe Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO by John McMahonMan's Search for Meaning by Viktor FranklMultipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz WisemanSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode of OneHaas, hear from alumna Sahar Kleinman – a global strategy and operational excellence executive at Amazon Advertising. Sahar, a first generation American, grew up in New York after her parents emigrated from Iran to further their education. The time she spent watching her mom work in finance on Wall Street and help run her uncle's photo business had a significant impact on Sahar's career path. She and host Sean Li chat about Sahar's experience moving from brick and mortar to the e-commerce world, the importance of taking risks, and how Haas provided her with her own personal board of directors. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:How her family's photo business shaped her early on“That was the first of my hard lessons to be learned as a child, to really learn what it takes to drive a business. And I'm talking about all the tasks that you can think of and having to earn my way to that spot where I could actually start working on developing photos for customers…and it started with grabbing that Windex bottle and wiping the windows outside of the studio.  And really learning really early on that it takes hard work to get to where you want to go.”Why it feels like she gained a personal board of directors from Haas“There's something about putting yourself in a room with a bunch of strangers who all of a sudden over time become family… And you get to know people and you share your stories, and you have this unbiased group of people who are just looking to help you unblock yourself oftentimes. And so maybe during the program things would come up that were work related and then you find yourself just having these go-to individuals that really help you think things through and hold you accountable to the things that you think of doing for yourself and the things that you haven't even thought of doing for yourself and for others.”What keeps her engaged and motivated to stay connected to the Haas network“I want to be able to create that same feeling of being in school and back in the program, even though we're not in the program anymore. I always want to feel that optimism that I felt in the classroom, that not only can I do anything and lead through anything and be anything, but I want others to feel the same thing. And so I want to create these opportunities in the forum for people to stay connected and be able to share what they've been thinking about that's inspiring to them and, you know, have a sandbox of network members to collaborate with to nurture and debate those kinds of thoughts.”On what's next for Sahar“I'm just always out there thirsting for the next big challenge. Ideally, I want to share my knowledge and help lead the next generation to solve big problems and make a big impact. And even better if those next generation leaders come from Haas.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

The OneHaas alumni podcast is honored to have Allan Spivack, philanthropist, community builder, and business leader, share his career path insights on today's episode. Allan spent much of his childhood fascinated by how his dad ran their family home furnishings business. But he was also curious about how businesses could be used for social good. After getting his JD MBA from Haas, he combined his two passions into RGI Home which he led for more than 30 years. He and host Sean Li chat about Allan's upbringing in New York, his unique business approach to RGI Home, and how a passion for community and social impact led him to study Middle Eastern politics and how that experience still influences his social entrepreneurship today. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his relationship with his father“I remember pretty vividly spending a lot of time with my dad when I was quite young…My dad was not just an engineer, but he was also an inventor. So I would sit in his work room with him and marvel at the mystery of the inventions that he was coming up with. Then he fought for a couple of patents and I didn't really know the content of what he was doing, but it looked so interesting and innovative. And that was my introduction to bringing a different point of view to product and his point of view as well.”On his decision to get his JD MBA“I've always been somebody who attempted to be a student always and this was a chance for me to catch up to what I missed when I was in undergrad.You know, having taken the kinds of classes that I thought would matter once I got into business the quantitative side of things. So, law was gonna teach me how to think one way, but I felt business school would teach me how to think a different way. And together, it would provide me with the best, most well-rounded education.”Some of the challenges he faced running RGI Home“How to run a business with no money. That was my first challenge. Along with that, running an international business by fax, no email. So you're faxing overseas or whatever, and you know, people who don't even speak your language and trying to figure out how to be able to integrate, you know, the various offices with the U.S. based offices.”On his lasting legacy“Since I was young, you know, I've always thought about transforming societies. I can never quite understand why people couldn't figure out how to connect with each other. And also I thought that somebody like myself who had a fortunate upbringing and also had the fortune to be really educated, to go to places like Haas, build the business, had a responsibility to do more. So when I went to build a business, it was not just about industry. It was also about the ability to be able to give back to the communities that I was working in.” Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileRGI Home | HistoryTitan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron ChernowGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim CollinsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Today's guest on the OneHaas alumni podcast is Jeff Wang, the head of business at Codeium and co-founder of RocketFuel Education. Jeff grew up in Chicago with a passion for experimenting with the latest cutting edge technology. After some unfilling corporate jobs, Jeff got his MBA at Haas and jumped head first into the startup world. From there, he found a new passion for crypto and AI and started writing his own newsletter filled with keen market analysis. Jeff and host Sean Li chat about his unique view o  n the crypto and AI markets, what Jeff views as the best uses of AI currently, how those uses could shift in the near future, and if the overall impact of AI on our world is net positive or negative. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:What he got from his time at Haas“Open doors is probably the biggest kind of value that [Haas] can bring and meeting people that also were in the spirit. And I think at least like two or three of the opportunities after just came from other classmates who were trying to build something. And I think that's saying something that, yeah, opening doors is not because of going to a class. It really is like people that you interact with and have common values or common alignments of what you want to build.”On what RocketFuel Education is“We converted that into kind of like lessons on the crypto markets. And now it's more like crypto macro and AI markets and just like really understanding what's going on. And then again, being predictive.And if I'm accurate, sometimes that's great. And sometimes I'll be wrong, but I think over time, just having the understanding. And really understanding how markets work on RocketFuel Education, that is why people stick to it.”How he got the idea for RocketFuel“If you join these crypto communities, you actually get some really good insights as to what is upcoming that nobody else is going to be joining. If you go to these crypto conferences, you meet people that are actually the CEOs of these projects. And you can see if they're like for real or not. Or you could even meet the CEOs of projects that had not even been released yet. And you could actually invest in those companies as well. So you can get an edge by just being very early. And a lot of those interactions like kind of compelled me to be like, ‘Hey, spending all this time doing all this research, at least I should put a brain dump of that somewhere.'”On how AI is going to help humans“Everywhere that we are stuck in right now, like even if it's due to physics or if it's due to just manpower, right? Anywhere that humanity has slowed down. I think AI is just going to speed it back up again. I mean just think about like, if I could add more, headcount to any problem that humanity is facing. I think AI is kind of that solution, right?”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileJeff's education platform: https://rocketfueledu.com/Jeff's AI blog: https://jeffwang.substack.com/Codeium: https://codeium.com/Twitter: @jeffwangcrypto Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode of OneHaas, entrepreneur, advisor, and investor Albert Lee shares his career journey from finance to the startup world and his invention of the app, MyFitnessPal.Born to Korean-immigrant parents, Albert grew up in a small town outside Albany, New York. His dad worked as a scientist at a research and development laboratory right next to Albert's high school – a school with a reputation for producing successful entrepreneurs.Albert chats with host Sean Li about co-founding the health app MyFitnessPal, why his approach to entrepreneurship has a lot to do with solving everyday problems, and how his time at Haas helped him reinvent himself. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his unique high school experience “Our school actually, you know what's kind of crazy is, has a couple other very successful entrepreneurs that have gone through it. So prior to me, a guy named Colin Engel, who founded iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba, actually went to my high school. And after me, actually Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, went to my high school as well. So it's kind of this small high school in the middle of nowhere, but has this sort of background of being affiliated with all of these like inventors and scientists. And so there, I think it fostered some entrepreneurial activity.”On the invention of MyFitnessPal“My brother and my sister-in-law were getting married and they had decided to have a beach wedding in Mexico. And my brother was like, man, I am not in good shape. He's like, you know, I really want to look good for this wedding. So they went to a gym, they went to see a trainer, they started working out. And the trainer said, you know, it's great, this is definitely important to get him to a fitness plan. But if you really want to reach your goals before this wedding date, you're also going to have to think about what you're eating. And so the way that I want you to do that is to keep a food journal. And here it is. And he literally presented my brother with this, like, paper and pen diary plus, you know, a little reference guide that had some generic information about foods and calories…And so my brother took that. I think he felt like logically it made a lot of sense to do this thing, but just couldn't believe there wasn't a better way to do it.”On his approach to entrepreneurship“You can start very organically from your own experiences and say, okay, well, what is the stuff in everyday life that I'm doing, seeing, feeling that just doesn't feel quite right to me? You know, are there products that I'm using that I don't like? Are there experiences that I'm having that don't make any sense? And I think my brother and I had determined that the latter way of  trying to build something was much more aligned with how I think we think and we operate and how we feel motivation. And it comes a little bit from the selfish place, which is like, well, I have this problem and I kind of want to solve it, you know, and it doesn't look like anybody else is going to solve this. So I'm going to try to do it on my own.”On how his experience at Haas shaped his mindset“I think one of the magical things about being a business school student is sort of this, you get this kind of new identity where you are.  You're kind of something, but also nothing, you know?  And I don't mean that in a disparaging way, but it's sort of like you have this opportunity to sort of reinvent parts of who you are and expose yourself to a lot of different things. And just like immersing myself in a community of people who, many of whom had entrepreneurial aspirations, just completely changed my personal mindset.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Advocating for Transparency and Oversight in Pain Management Introduction: Welcome back to Painexam, where we delve into the latest advancements and challenges in pain management. Today's episode highlights a significant advocacy effort made by leading Interventional Pain Physicians and industry experts. Summary of Lobbying Effort: On March 20, 2024, a group of widely known and respected pain physicians and industry leaders, including Drs. Sean Li, Peter Staats, Mehul J. Desai, David Reece, Hemant Kalia, and David Rosenblum, alongside industry figures Mark Stultz, Christopher Conrad, and Cecelia Ruble, visited Capitol Hill to advocate for greater oversight and transparency in independent review organizations. Despite their busy schedules, they recognized the critical need to address the 0% turnover rate in appeals for denied treatments, which disproportionately affects patients seeking alternatives to surgery and opioid medication. Importance of Transparency: The issue extends beyond pain management, impacting patients across various medical fields. While opioid therapy may seem economically favorable initially, the long-term consequences, including delayed care and medication side effects, often outweigh the costs. The group emphasized the importance of an unbiased review for  accessible, cutting-edge treatments to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall healthcare expenses. Purpose of the Lobbying Effort: Contrary to pushing any specific company agenda, the initiative aims to highlight the challenges patients and physicians encounter in securing optimal treatment outcomes.   For Board Prep, Ultrasound Training and more, visit: Dr. David Rosenblum, a pioneer in interventional pain medicine, particularly in ultrasound- guided procedures and regenerative pain medicine, underscores the necessity of addressing these issues for the benefit of countless patients suffering from chronic pain. Conclusion and Actionable Steps: To schedule a consultation with Dr. Rosenblum, patients can visit www.AABPpain.com or contact the Brooklyn Office at 718-436-7246 or the Garden City Office at 516-482-7246. Stay tuned for more updates on advancements and advocacy efforts in pain management. Outro: Thank you for joining us on this episode of Painexam. Be sure to subscribe for future discussions on navigating the complexities of pain management.

Advocating for Transparency and Oversight in Pain Management Introduction: Welcome back to Painexam, where we delve into the latest advancements and challenges in pain management. Today's episode highlights a significant advocacy effort made by leading Interventional Pain Physicians and industry experts. Summary of Lobbying Effort: On March 20, 2024, a group of esteemed physicians and industry leaders, including Drs. Sean Li, Peter Staats, Mehul J. Desai, David Reece, Hemant Kalia, and David Rosenblum, alongside industry figures Mark Stultz, Christopher Conrad, and Cecelia Ruble, visited Capitol Hill to advocate for greater oversight and transparency in independent review organizations. Despite their busy schedules, they recognized the critical need to address the 0% turnover rate in appeals for denied treatments, which disproportionately affects patients seeking alternatives to surgery and opioid medication. Importance of Transparency:   The issue extends beyond pain management, impacting patients across various medical fields. While opioid therapy may seem economically favorable initially, the long-term consequences, including delayed care and medication side effects, often outweigh the costs. The group emphasized the importance of an unbiased review for  accessible, cutting-edge treatments to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall healthcare expenses. Purpose of the Lobbying Effort: Contrary to pushing any specific company agenda, the initiative aims to highlight the challenges patients and physicians encounter in securing optimal treatment outcomes.   For Board Prep, Ultrasound Training and more, visit: Dr. David Rosenblum, a pioneer in interventional pain medicine, particularly in ultrasound- guided procedures and regenerative pain medicine, underscores the necessity of addressing these issues for the benefit of countless patients suffering from chronic pain. Conclusion and Actionable Steps: To schedule a consultation with Dr. Rosenblum, patients can visit www.AABPpain.com or contact the Brooklyn Office at 718-436-7246 or the Garden City Office at 516-482-7246. Stay tuned for more updates on advancements and advocacy efforts in pain management. Outro: Thank you for joining us on this episode of Painexam. Be sure to subscribe for future discussions on navigating the complexities of pain management.

Advocating for Transparency and Oversight in Pain Management Introduction: Welcome back to Painexam, where we delve into the latest advancements and challenges in pain management. Today's episode highlights a significant advocacy effort made by leading Interventional Pain Physicians and industry experts. Summary of Lobbying Effort: On March 20, 2024, a group of widely known and respected pain physicians and industry leaders, including Drs. Sean Li, Peter Staats, Mehul J. Desai, David Reece, Hemant Kalia, and David Rosenblum, alongside industry figures Mark Stultz, Christopher Conrad, and Cecelia Ruble, visited Capitol Hill to advocate for greater oversight and transparency in independent review organizations. Despite their busy schedules, they recognized the critical need to address the 0% turnover rate in appeals for denied treatments, which disproportionately affects patients seeking alternatives to surgery and opioid medication. Importance of Transparency: The issue extends beyond pain management, impacting patients across various medical fields. While opioid therapy may seem economically favorable initially, the long-term consequences, including delayed care and medication side effects, often outweigh the costs. The group emphasized the importance of an unbiased review for  accessible, cutting-edge treatments to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall healthcare expenses. Purpose of the Lobbying Effort: Contrary to pushing any specific company agenda, the initiative aims to highlight the challenges patients and physicians encounter in securing optimal treatment outcomes.   For Board Prep, Ultrasound Training and more, visit: Dr. David Rosenblum, a pioneer in interventional pain medicine, particularly in ultrasound- guided procedures and regenerative pain medicine, underscores the necessity of addressing these issues for the benefit of countless patients suffering from chronic pain. Conclusion and Actionable Steps: To schedule a consultation with Dr. Rosenblum, patients can visit www.AABPpain.com or contact the Brooklyn Office at 718-436-7246 or the Garden City Office at 516-482-7246. Stay tuned for more updates on advancements and advocacy efforts in pain management. Outro: Thank you for joining us on this episode of Painexam. Be sure to subscribe for future discussions on navigating the complexities of pain management.

The OneHaas alumni podcast is thrilled to welcome Eileen Kwei, the Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer of Artisan Partners, a global investment management firm that offers a wide range of high-value-added investment strategies. Eileen was born in the U.S. and spent the first six years of her life in New York where her parents furthered their studies at American universities. When they decided it was time to move back to Taiwan, young Eileen quickly realized she was not going to fit in with her classmates who all spoke and read in Mandarin while she only knew English. But she was determined to assimilate into the culture of her new home. A determination that would come in handy again when Eileen moved back to the U.S. for high school and had to re-assimilate into another culture. Eileen chats with host Sean Li about how those cultural experiences have influenced the way she builds relationships with people in her career, her family's rich cultural history as mainlanders in Taiwan, and her approach to mentoring and networking.  *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Her experience assimilating to Taiwanese culture“Having spent the first six years of my life in the U.S., English was my first language. I didn't speak or write Mandarin. I think thinking back to that period of time, despite how I looked on the outside, I was different, and being different was hard, and I learned that firsthand. But in hindsight, that period of time was also a very valuable life lesson for me to learn about perspectives. Don't make assumptions. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Walk in other people's shoes.”The importance of preserving Chinese culture in her family“My family fled from mainland China to Taiwan, but so did I think a million other people.And my grandparents on both sides had this strong sense of responsibility to provide for those who came along with them and to uphold that culture and those values that they were accustomed to when they lived in mainland China.”A major takeaway from her first job“There are many ways to invest. Alpha generation or generating returns above the benchmark is possible in any market environment and to be a good investor does not just require skill, but it requires tremendous judgment.”Her approach to networking“I really care about people, I want to understand where they come from. I want to be able to appreciate their perspective, whether it's the same or even better or different than mine, gives me maybe a more genuine starting point and hopefully that sincerity and authenticity comes across and is reciprocated, as not just a launch pad to have that connection off the bat, but to really serve as a foundation to foster meaningful, long-standing, hopefully lifelong relationships.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

On this episode of OneHaas, we hear about the incredible career journey of Laura Clayton McDonnell – the president of Corporates at Thomson Reuters and a board member at Signal AI and Zora.A first-generation American, Laura grew up in a military family from Panama with her parents always encouraging her to stay curious and never stop learning. She got her undergraduate degree at San Jose State and went on to earn her JD and MBA at Haas. From there, she worked with some of the biggest tech companies in the world, including Apple, IBM, and Microsoft.Laura and host Sean Li discuss her experience working with tech giants, the important influence her parents have played in shaping her view of the world, and why finding your personal philosophy is crucial to your success. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:The influence that her parents' have had on her life“I think about that a lot, about how they came to the United States first of their family to come here. And I think about the sacrifices that they made. They left behind their family, friends, food, culture, language to create a life for a family yet to be born. And I think about the strength and the courage that they bring to the table and you know what – it actually informs the way that I think about the world.”How she uses her personal philosophy statement every day“When I start my day, I think about my personal philosophy and I commit to doing the best that I can. At the end of the day, I reflect and sometimes I don't do as well as I would like, but I commit to do better the next day. And so this, once again, you know, it just really influences everything, everything that I stand for, that I think about and how I live my life.”On her decision to join Microsoft“Sometimes you get these calls out of the blue and you almost have to say yes, because it absolutely made a difference in joining that organization. Satya had just been appointed the CEO, maybe he had been in the role for a year and a half, but he put together an incredible program to change Microsoft from being known as a ‘know it all' company to a ‘learn it all company.'”Why the personal philosophy statement is crucial in business“The first thing that you do when you meet a customer, [is] you're trying to build empathy as a salesperson, [and] you've got to know who you are. So you need to know what your personal philosophy is. So you're supposed to convey that. ‘Hi, my name is Laura Clayton McDonnell and I'm so glad to meet you. I'd like to share my personal philosophy and then I'd like to hear yours too.' And then you build that connection point. Talk about those words and what they mean.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileGrowth Mindset by Carol DweckSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

The OneHaas alumni podcast is thrilled to welcome Dr. Victor Santiago Pineda – a social impact entrepreneur, globally-recognized human rights expert, and a leading scholar on inclusive and accessible smart cities. After immigrating to the U.S. at seven years old and navigating life with a disability, Dr. Pineda graduated from the Haas School of Business in 2002 and has since gone on to advise Fortune 500 companies, negotiate international sustainability agreements, founded and run the foundation World ENABLED, and is an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Sciences. Dr. Pineda chats with host Sean Li about moving to the U.S. from Venezuela, the different opportunities that gave him, his work to enact social change in the world, and why building inclusive environments benefits everyone. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:The impact that moving from Venezuela to the U.S. had on Dr. Pineda“My mother was told that I would not be able to be educated, that I would not be able to have a job, I would not be able to form a family. And all of those ended up being not true, because it wasn't my physical limitations that constrained me but the lack of public policies, the lack of institutions, programs, and laws that allowed somebody like me to thrive. That all changed when I came to California.”How Dr. Pineda is enacting worldwide social change with his work“We're not going to fix these challenges by only pointing out what's wrong with the world, but rather what's investing in what's right with the world. So what we've invested in, in a partnership with the city of Amsterdam, was a three-year project on leveraging AI to map access barriers. Now that's important for disaster risk management and for emergency preparedness, as well as for infrastructure upgrading and climate adaptations.”How listeners can make an impact and support Dr. Pineda's mission“We can each become advocates for more inclusive innovation, no matter what sphere we work in. I think sharing my research around AI, this playbook on inclusive cities, the autism-friendly design guidelines, as well as some of the work we're doing to build a global advisory council on inclusive innovation becomes ways that the very talented Haas community could connect with real systems change.”Dr. Pineda's thoughts on ensuring AI is used as a force for good in the future “I think we need to open up our hearts. I think we need to be grounded with who we are as individuals, what we value, and really create a more intentional approach to how we direct our attention. Because what you appreciate, appreciates, right? If we're in a fear economy, we're feeding fear. For an economy that's investing in more integrated, holistic approaches, we're building those.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileThe Victor Pineda FoundationWorld EnabledMy Disability Justice Youtube seriesVictor Santiago Pineda's book: Building the Inclusive City: Governance, Access, and the Urban Transformation of Dubai Other recommended reads in this episode: Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) by Kat Holmes Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanThe Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

In commemoration of Native American Heritage Month, Indian Country Executive Michael Garrow joins the OneHaas podcast to talk about his cultural heritage, his career, and his time at the Haas School of Business. Michael is a member of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in upstate New York and grew up on the reservation. After spending some time in an aviation career, he applied to Haas to get his MBA so he could give back to his community. Michael and host Sean Li discuss what it was like growing up on a reservation, the current challenges facing Native American communities, and how Michael has been able to use his MBA to help his tribe economically. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Why he decided to change careers and get his MBA“I just started wanting to learn more about the finance and operations side and help the tribes. That really was my passion was to be able to give back to the community. When I applied to Berkeley, that's what I said I was going to do. And that's what I had always done with the reservation is helping youth and trying to develop the economy of the tribe because there's nothing really here. It's economically depressed.”How gaming changed the economic landscape for tribes“It gave our parents jobs, or in my case, us jobs, so our children had somebody to guide. Meaning like, they could see like a career path… You can get a job in a casino, and you can go get your education. But what's interesting with the Mohawks is a lot of people went to Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, back in the 1800s. So we are one of the most educated tribes, like reservations, where people have education. It's a big part of our culture is getting your education. So growing up was tough because there was not much opportunity.”How his generation keeps the next generation involved and connected to their culture“I think a  lot of that responsibility lies in the home with the parents and making sure they get out. For the Mohawks, a big part of our culture is the sports, you know, unplugging them and they're involved in sports and they have a positive outlet rather than drugs, alcohol. So I think doing things with your children as they're growing up. So when they're teenagers, you have a relationship with them, so they'll listen to you better.” His advice to young Native Americans about the value of college “I've talked to a lot of tribal youth and said, ‘Oh, I don't want to get in debt.' And I would, almost like a spreadsheet, explain to them how it makes sense to get in debt for a university. How you would be better off. I always say, ‘Well, you can get your sneaker at Walmart or you can get a Nike sneaker. Which one has more perceived value? Well, the Nike does.' And then go, ‘Well, that's about education. You go to a top university, the top employers hire there. And so that's why you need to work hard to get into these universities.'”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

This month on the OneHaas podcast, we're celebrating Filipino Heritage Month with Cassandra Salcedo, a Product Marketing Senior Lead at Salesforce. Cassandra is a first-generation Filipina American whose parents emigrated from the Philippines in search of the American dream. It was this story that propelled Cassandra's adventurous career path and ultimately led her to Haas. She and host Sean Li discuss what it was like growing up in a traditional Filipino household and her trips back to the Philippines, her diverse career path from accounting to commercial banking to social enterprise to tech product marketing, and how she made it her mission to meet and spend time with nearly every single one of her Haas classmates before graduation.  *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:When she took the first big career transition “During my social impact fellowship, I had the opportunity to travel to the remote parts that most people in the world have not heard of in Ecuador and Peru and meet people from these regions and hear their stories about what they're using their loans for and how they're using it to propel them forward and got to tell those stories through different blogs, through different interviews that the organization I was working for could do.”What it was like to visit the Philippines and reconnect with her family heritage“They built up this whole community… It doesn't exist anymore today, but there's a family gas station that was called the Salcedo gas station. To see so many people in my family that I had never met before not really having a lot of things and enjoying life and just laughing with each other. That's when I think it sparked for me my appreciation for all the sacrifices that my parents had made.”Why she was drawn to Haas over other business schools“I remember very vividly at the first Haas info session I went to and there was a slide there that showed the career paths that people at Haas go into post graduation. And of course there was, you know, the traditional paths of banking, tech, but it was actually quite a linear graph across different industries. I felt like a lot of the other schools, it was primarily one, but that graph actually really stood out to me because I wanted a school that did that and I also wanted a school that was small enough to build a community.”On her initial introduction to the Haas community“I actually received a hundred percent response rate from all of the Haas alumni that I cold messaged on LinkedIn, which I thought was a telling sign of the community and people actually wanting to give back and share their experiences out of the goodness of their heart and just wanting to help.”Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

OneHaas' commemoration of Latinx Heritage Month continues with an interview with Adrien Lopez Lanusse, the former vice president of consumer insights at Netflix. Adrien's intersectionality between being Latinx and gay gave him a certain kind of insight into the culture within corporations and the impact of those companies' products on the consumer. He and host Sean Li delve into the art of consumer insights, how Adrien's upbringing shaped his work ethic, and what it was like to watch Netflix grow into the behemoth company it is today. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Why he was drawn to a business career from an early age I was very curious. And in our household, being in a multicultural household, we consumed products and services very differently than my friends. And I was always curious as to why or how does culture drive or influence us as consumers?On how to ensure consumer insights work is inclusive I think finding the level of granularity is part of what leads to some of the insightful ideas. So, for example, oftentimes, a company will talk about their consumer in a monolithic way. And by not looking at some of the nuances of the different segments, the different types of consumers, you're balancing things out and missing some of the opportunities.How the Haas Thrive Fellows program is empowering future Latinx business leadersLatinx representation in business, particularly in the executive ranks, is a challenge…They've created this program to help educate, prepare, and motivate folks from underrepresented groups to apply and succeed in business schools, hopefully, Haas. And we want to reverse the trend in declining applications from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups. So programs and efforts like these, I think, are really important to increase representation in the executive ranks.On what his promotions have meant to him in his career The fact that someone recognized my value and decided to promote me was something I wouldn't have imagined earlier in my career. Growing up in a Latino household where we're taught to be humble, to be grateful for what we're given, I think, leads to a lot of us not being good at self-advocacy. And it's something we need to work on to increase our representation in the executive ranks. So, all the promotions that I've gotten, I never take them for granted, and I'm incredibly grateful for them.Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileHaas Thrive FellowsThe Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick LencioniSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Sean Li is the CEO and Co-founder of Magic Labs, which is a wallet that enables passwordless login and Web3 onboarding without seed phrases. Despite not being as well known as other Web3 wallets, Magic Labs recently raised $52M from PayPal Ventures, onboarded mainstream brands like Mattel and 7-Eleven, and have over 25 million wallets installed. In our conversation, we will dive into how they've built enterprise-friendly wallet solutions, their major collaborations, the onboarding process of Web2 brands and how they're using Web3 technology, how DeFi can be more palatable for the mainstream, and much more. But first, Sean will get us started with Magic and describe how it's different from the other wallets. This episode is brought to you by: Bumper: Defend your crypto from market crashes & downside volatility

To celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, the OneHaas podcast welcomes Patty Juarez, the executive vice president and head of Hispanic and Latino Affairs at Wells Fargo Bank. Patty found her passion for finance and banking at an early age, growing up in Mexicali, Mexico, watching her father run his business. After moving to the U.S. at age 11, education became a top priority for Patty and her siblings. When it came time to apply for colleges, Patty knew Haas was the school for her. She and host Sean Li discuss her childhood in Mexico and how her life changed after moving to the U.S., the work she's done at Wells Fargo to increase capital access for minority business owners, and how she got her nickname of “the people's banker.” *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:What it was like to leave Mexico at a young ageAs a sixth grader, I felt like it was the end of the world, like moving away from my birth country. Even if it was just across the border, really a few miles away, it just felt like a huge change. Of course, you know, you leave your friends behind and you start a whole new world in the U.S.Where her passion for finance beganI always knew I wanted to be a banker. It's almost like since I was a kid, I was the bank. Monopoly, I was the bank. If we played like little store, I was always the bank. I always handled the cash. And I always had money. I would save my money from birthdays and things. I would lend my money if my grandmother was short or whatever, and then she would pay me back. And if I'd give her $20, she'd give me back $21 or $22. And she taught me about interest when I was a little girl.On her idea to diversify commercial banking I just wondered how much more business we could get if we did it, right? If we actually came to clients in a culturally relevant way, if we recruited talent that looked like our client base, you know, how much more successful could we be? And that was the basis of me launching diverse segments, which really propelled my career to new heights at Wells Fargo.How she hopes to make a difference for minority business owners My goal is to have no access to capital gap, right? So that any business owner can get the financing they need and there's no bias in the decisioning process that leads to them getting turned down for a loan. And that's not gonna be something that's maybe gonna be solved in my lifetime, but I'm damn gonna try really hard to help it along. Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Our spotlight on first-generation alumni continues with a conversation with Cassidy Nolan, the co-founder and managing member of Mach 1 Hot Sauce. Growing up, Cassidy struggled in school. But joining the Marine Corps after high school helped him find his drive and discipline that ultimately led him to Haas.  Cassidy and host Sean Li discuss his family roots in the kitchen, his military intelligence work for the Marines, how his education at Haas helped shape the idea for Mach 1 Hot Sauce, and why it's the hot sauce that pairs well with anything. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:How his time in the military helped with schoolPost-Marine Corps, I never found trouble in school. I learned how to study, I learned how to be disciplined. There weren't any distractions like what I used to have when I was younger. It was like, here's the work, and 50% of the job is just showing up, right? 30% of the job after that is participating in class, and then 20% is actually doing the homework and the test and the quizzes because if you do, if you show up and you ask questions, you're gonna learn and retain so much of it.One of the things he loved most about HaasIf you made it to Haas, chances are you're curious, you're not afraid to ask questions. You're not afraid to go out on a limb and say, ‘Well, I think it's this.' There weren't a lot of politics that got in the way. Like a lot of the time, we're just looking at brass tax…and I felt like the dumbest one in the room, and I loved it because it meant I had the most to gain, you know?The push he gave himself towards Mach 1 Hot SauceLook, if you don't jump off on this hot sauce thing, you're never gonna do it. Because you've always been scared to do it. You know what I mean? Because you're married, you have kids, and if not now, when? And that's such a hard thing, I think, for a lot of entrepreneurs or people who wanna be entrepreneurs is that fear of failing. But I think I just got to a point in time where the fear of not trying was greater than the fear of failing.What makes his hot sauce stand outThere's a dichotomy that exists between either it has flavor, but there's no heat, or it's just complete dry heat, and there's no flavor. And I really believe that we created a hot sauce that can pair with your food because it has a lot of flavor upfront. And then the heat rolls on in the back so you can still have your food and not have it be overpowered by the hot sauce.Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileMach 1 Hot SauceSteve Jobs' 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford UniversitySupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Sean Li is the cofounder and CEO of Magic. In this interview we discuss:- Magic's Web3 Wallet solutions- Raising $52 Million from PayPal Ventures - Working with brands such as Mattel, Macys, 7Eleven and more - Fractionalized NFTs for streaming services- BlackRock Bitcoin ETF filing - PayPal stablecoin - Metaverse

This month, the OneHaas podcast is highlighting first-generation alumni like Carolina Picazo. She's the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Spectrum Equity – a private equity firm focused on growth capital for internet-enabled software and information services companies.Before Spectrum Equity, Carolina spent 15 years at Deloitte working in tax services. Even as a child growing up in a Mexican immigrant family in San Francisco, she always had an affinity for numbers. That passion only grew in her accounting classes at Haas. Carolina and host Sean Li discuss her parents' immigration story from Mexico, why she initially hid her college applications from her father, and how she went from taxes to now holding a top executive job at Spectrum Equity. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On why she was drawn to a career in accounting Math was a strong suit of mine. You know English was harder for people like me whose parents don't speak fluent English or speak conversational fluent, but not super fluent, not a large vocabulary. So it's a lot harder. So, you know, you tend to go towards what you feel you're good at, right?Her first impression of classes at Haas My high school was crazy. It's even crazy now. It's a pressure cooker place. The whole time you feel like you're not good enough. When I went to Berkeley and I took classes, I felt like I belonged. I felt like I was prepared, and it wasn't a crazy pressure cooker situation.How her mom views her careerWhat makes her happy is the fact that I am an independent, self-reliant woman who is financially successful.I think that to her as a woman that grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s, having a daughter who isn't dependent on someone else is really important to her. The other thing she says she's very proud of is the fact that I have three children who are successful. My youngest daughter is 19. But she's successful. I mean, my mom views her as successful. And she's like the continuation. She's like, ‘You did your career and you did all that, but you were able to balance raising three daughters who in and of themselves can be independent and strong and successful women.' She said, ‘That's not easy. And that's all you.The advice she gives her daughtersIt's a very long life after you graduate, and you need to feel like you have the tools to do something that satisfies you. Reality is you can't live without earning a paycheck, so find a way to earn a paycheck. And find a way to do it with something that makes you happy and makes you feel like you are intellectually satisfied.Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileSpectrum Equity BioSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Welcome back to another episode of The Struggles with Sean Li and James Park!Ever caught yourself standing in front of your wardrobe for way longer than you'd like to admit, trying to decide what to wear? You're not alone. In this episode, we'll share some unique hacks to simplify your daily decisions so you can have more time and energy to focus on what truly matters!From what to eat or wear to more pivotal life decisions, we'll walk you through our strategies and experiences. Hear about our recent personal and professional triumphs that include adventures across the globe and a recent move to Las Vegas. Be prepared for an engaging conversation as we reflect on our roller-coaster journey over the past two months. Whether you're a golfing enthusiast, a seasoned traveler, or someone looking to simplify daily decision-making, there's something for everyone in this episode. Tune in for an engaging discussion about eliminating inconsequential decisions from our lives to make room for ones that matter. *Struggles podcast is produced by Ventures FM.*Episode Quotes:On what he has learned after a year of being a sales associateJames: Honestly, this job is one of the hardest jobs I've ever had. I don't know how much longer I can do it, but I know that I have a higher goal, right? A higher purpose. Sometimes it feels like I'm going backward. It feels like I'm regressing in my skills to be able to talk to people, to be able to cold call people, and it doesn't actually ever get easier. You think that at some point, it's going to get easier, but you become more, I guess, comfortable with the uneasiness. I don't know if this really relates to a golf swing, but for every swing, you have to focus. You can't just not really think about your swing. At any point you could fuck up. So, it's not necessarily that things get easier, it's just you become more comfortable with your routine, your process. You just keep swinging. I'm at a point where I'm still swinging, but I do have to take a step back and think about how I'm approaching a lot of my swings now, a lot of my cold calls. Slowly improving there, but I still think I have a lot to improve on.Life is a grind.Sean: One thing to keep in mind is a lot of things in life is a grind. It's a grind until it gets better. Some certain things might seem like it's more enjoyable than others from the outside, but it's still a fucking grind.James: Maybe it's that you like something enough that you're willing to go through the grind.On sticking with things that matterSean: When I think about how I make my decisions to stick with something, there's definitely always a high-arching goal. That's how I stick with things. Not to say I stick with everything. But the things I do decide to follow through on, I'm very patient with it. There's always an overarching objective that keeps me going.

Our conversations for Pride Month continue with musician and composer Adrienne Torf. She and a few classmates co-founded the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual MBA Students Group, known today as Q@Haas.Adrienne has been a piano player her entire life, but after getting her undergraduate degree in Political Science at Stanford, she saw an opportunity to help fellow self-employed musicians build their businesses. She just needed to acquire the business skills before she could share them with her community of self-employed creatives. Getting her MBA at Haas sparked a second set of interests, and she spent the next 30 years in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds while still recording, performing and composing music. Adrienne and host Sean Li discuss her recent retirement from nonprofit CFO work and full-time return to music and composing, what it was like forming an LGBTQ student group at Haas in the ‘90s, and the current threat facing LGBTQ rights. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Her tough decision to either stay in school or go on tourMy father, ever the entrepreneur and, I think, really an insightful parent, cut me a deal. He said, “You finish school. You've only got a year to go, finish your undergrad, and I will pay your rent for a year after you graduate. So you can work as a musician without worrying about where you're gonna sleep at night.”What drew her to business schoolI wanted to come back to the community of artists, of which I was a member, with wisdom, with knowledge, with resources. And over time, I have been able to do that, but not as directly as I had intended when I started at Haas.The challenges her student group faced in the ‘90sWhen we wanted to get the word out that we were having meetings, many of the other men who were gay and who wanted to be connected to this group insisted that we not put announcements about the meetings in their mailboxes, which anybody could poke into if they wanted to. So we had to fairly clandestinely post notices about our meeting times and places on bulletin boards where these guys would sneak by and get the information. What she hopes people will do this Pride MonthSpend half an hour reading about all of the legislation in all of the states that is designed to silence the voices of queer and trans people that is designed to deprive everybody of books and films and curricula that keep us visible, and that are already making it impossible for trans people to access the medical care that they need in order to be physically healthy as who they are. Read that stuff, and I hope you will be compelled to do something about it.Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileAdrienne's music on Spotify and Apple Q@HaasSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Happy Pride Month! To celebrate, Mark Buchanan joins the podcast to talk about his work in LGBTQ advocacy and community empowerment. After graduating from Haas with a degree in finance and accounting, Mark spent 22 years at Apple as a finance and sales executive. But now, he runs Buchanan Advisory, where he helps diverse leaders reach their full potential. Mark and host Sean Li discuss Apple's one-of-a-kind culture, how coming out helped Mark in his professional life, and what people can do to be a better ally this Pride month.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:Why Mark decided to leave Apple and start Buchanan Advisory It was a journey about how to help develop people and help develop leaders and help people find a voice to be better leaders. And so that really inspired me after I left Apple to start another chapter of how can I give back and help others be successful? So that's what led me to starting Buchanan Advisory was, I think I can help other leaders be more successful and focus on diverse leaders, focus on the LGBTQ+ community and really help them be successful, and be a mentor, a confidant, an advisor, and help people reach their full potential. On the importance of being your full, authentic selfThe more I came out and was comfortable being myself in front of everybody, the more empowered I was and the more happy I was, which actually helped me in my professional career as well.How to support and be an ally to the LGBTQ communityI think learning and being a student of DEI and belonging is important for all allies. And I think participation, you know, with Pride Month coming up, it's an opportunity for allies to learn, celebrate, be a part of it. And I think the more people are willing to be open minded and learn about the community, the more a better ally they can be, and be self-reflective.Why an organization like Openhouse SF is so needed There's still a lot of adversity for the LGBTQ+ community who become seniors. Some of them feel like they have to go back into the closet because there aren't enough elder care services or communities that are accepting of LGBTQ plus seniors, believe it or not.Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileBuchanan AdvisoryOpenhouse SFStartOutGaingelsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Hi, Spring fans! In this (relatively quick) installment, recorded live from the lovely Spring I/O 2023, Josh Long talks to Microsoft's Sean Li about some of the latest and greatest in the Azure ecosystem for Spring developers

Our celebration of AAPI month continues with a conversation with Celeste Fa'ai'uaso. Celeste is a senior program manager at Google and has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. She attributes her academic drive to her parents' passion for education. Celeste's father grew up in American Samoa before moving to the mainland for college, and her mother, who is Mexican American, was raised by a single mom in Compton, CA. Her parents and older brother were instrumental in shaping her into the determined individual she is today.She and host Sean Li discuss her upbringing, her father's Samoan roots, how Pacific Islanders are a separate demographic group than Asian, and how companies can do better to support their AAPI employees. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:How she discovered her passion for mechanical engineeringMy dad had a lot of tools and I found out how to use a screwdriver maybe when I was like six or something. And once I found that out, I was really curious on how things worked. And so I started to take things apart in my house.I'd get a phone and take it apart or get a radio and take it apart. And I think at first it was cute, but then my mom was like, if you're gonna take something apart, put it back together.Why she chose Berkeley over other schoolsHaas is the perfect school for me because of the community. It's such a small group and such amazing, caring people … You are with people who believe in you. They're not sizing you up. They're actually interested in who you are as a person and what are your goals, and they want you to achieve your goals.On the Pacific Islander erasure that can happen during AAPI monthOftentimes when I see commercials or initiatives, I don't see Pacific Islanders, and that really makes me sad, makes me angry because I'm thinking this month is supposed to highlight us and even in this month, I don't see me or my people, and I just don't want people to forget the PI whenever they say AAPI or Asian and Pacific Islander.A piece of Pacific Islander history she's especially proud of My Polynesian ancestors were the best mariners in the world, in human history of sailing the Pacific Islands way before Europe or Vikings were doing what they were doing. Like I've heard the distance they've sailed is equivalent to traveling from south of Mexico to Alaska. They traveled  by using the stars, the currents, looking where birds were landing, and they were covering the Pacific Ocean way before people from Europe and covering a lot more space in the ocean than Vikings. Show Links:LinkedIn ProfilePolynesian Wayfinders And The CosmosPolynesian Culture Center in Oahu, Hawaii Map of Pacific Islands: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

As part of AAPI Celebration Month, we welcome Eurie Kim to the show. Eurie is a venture capital investor, serving as Managing Partner at Forerunner. As a former entrepreneur, Eurie has deep personal appreciation for the emotional commitment and relentless passion required of a founder, allowing her to be radically empathetic to the entrepreneurs she works with while being realistic and honest in the advice she offers. Her point of view reflects her practical nature and her penchant for seeing the big picture through the mess of fighting fires day to day. Inspired by identifying evolving consumer needs, Eurie seeks opportunities to leverage technology to optimize and innovate every aspect of life and to find the right entrepreneur with the vision to take on the challenge.  Listen as Eurie and host Sean Li discuss her South Korean roots, growing up in white spaces, pivoting from consultant to venture capital, and staying cool, calm, and motivated.*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On why she had not been vocal about her Asian roots and AAPI-related topicsMy answer, very authentically, is that I don't spend all my time thinking about it. I'm just really busy living life, doing work, trying my best, and moving forward. I didn't feel like I had discrimination overtly, either for being Asian, Korean, or female, to be honest. I know it was there, but I just didn't bother with it. I just kept moving on and ignored it and considered it the exception, not the rule.Now, with so much conversation that has happened over the years with all the AAPI hate, I felt very personally afflicted. And it's always sad that you can't really feel it until it gets that close. And I hadn't felt it until those few years. And now, it's more on my mind. And I say, representation does matter.On the path to becoming a good venture capitalistIf you do not have an appetite for risk, you will never be a venture capitalist. Well, you'll never be a good venture capitalist.So, for all of those listening who want to get into venture, ask yourself really, do you have the risk appetite? If you picked your next job as though that was your venture investment and your dollars was your own labor, what company would you pick? That mentality will help you get your head in the right place to speak the language.Challenges of being a VCI think one of the largest challenges of this job is that you don't know if you're good for over 10 years. It's not just one investment makes you a star. It's the continued ability to do this job on an ongoing basis and to have internal validation and motivation. So, it's a roller coaster industry. You need to have serious conviction in, not only the companies you invest in and the founders and the entrepreneurs you invest in, but also yourself. Because there's plenty of weeks where I'm like, I don't have a good idea. I'm not inspired. And then, there's other weeks where I can't stop myself from thinking things that are interesting. So, you have to think about it as like it's an ultramarathon, and you can't just get give yourself a pat on the back at 26.2 miles and be like, “I crushed it.” You've got 99 million miles to go.How Eurie keeps the motivation up and goingIf you can enjoy the wins of the building, when you launch a product, when you see that consumers are excited about something, when you work with a founder and you see her crush a pitch or raise that next round, those are absolutely worth celebrating, because those are the moments that I like to always say, my philosophy is all about the baby steps. The pyramids were built one brick at a time. You can't see it yet for so long, but you're building something amazing. And so, it does require you to be able to pan back.And I don't want to say there's no validation, because there is. You have to celebrate those wins, because otherwise, I mean it's honestly too long, of a course. But the motivation comes from knowing that you took something that didn't exist and you gave it life, or you gave the founder of this idea the chance to bring it to life.And that is amazing. That feels really, really special. Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileForerunner VenturesThe Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor FranklAtomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James ClearSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Sean Li, Founder and CEO of Clever.FM; is the next-gen podcast app to drive deeper engagement and monetization for the next 40 million podcast creators. Website: https://clever.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices