Texas McCombs MBA Insider

Category: Alumni (page 2 of 3)

Alumni Spotlight: Becky Bui, Texas Evening MBA ’09

July 29, 2016 / / 2 Comments

Since graduating from the Texas Evening MBA Program back in 2009, Becky Bui has joined the team at Facebook and relocated to Dublin, Ireland to head up their Mobile Gaming team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the pursuit of taking risks to find success, she co-founded FocalPop, an online marketplace, during her time in the MBA program. Now, when she’s not exploring the world with her family, she’s working on developing Facebook’s business with companies such as Social Point, Game Insight and Pretty Simple.

We recently caught up with Becky to see what she’s up to and to learn about her reasons  #WhyMcCombs.

What were you doing before you decided to pursue an MBA?

I had spent most of my career in advertising agencies, consulting brands on their marketing and advertising strategies.

Why did you decide to pursue and MBA and why did you choose McCombs?

My career had been going well but I felt I needed a more well-rounded view of the business world in order to better understand my clients’ businesses and to open up additional opportunities in the future. McCombs was an obvious choice for an outstanding education as well as access to a strong MBA alumni network. The Texas Evening MBA Program was especially appealing, because I wanted to continue working full-time in Austin while pursuing my MBA. I applied to other programs, but halted the process as soon as I received early acceptance to McCombs!

What was the most valuable lesson — inside or outside of the classroom — you learned while completing your MBA?

The importance of taking risks. I am naturally pretty risk-averse and, in hindsight, I had not grown as quickly in my career because I had always played it safe and avoided failure. At McCombs, I was able to explore the New Venture Creation program and started a company with my classmates, which was an incredible experience. I also watched my classmates regularly take risks with confidence and have pushed myself to do the same ever since.

How has your McCombs MBA experience helped shape your success?

As mentioned, the New Venture Creation program and Texas Venture Labs helped me to launch a start-up called FocalPop coming out of school. This was an incredible learning experience and helped me take an entrepreneurial approach to my work, both professionally and personally. Having the McCombs MBA on my resume also helped me to move into a leadership role at Facebook, an incredible opportunity that likely would not have happened without the Texas MBA.

What have you been doing since getting your MBA? What is your current position?

FB-f-Logo__blue_512For the majority of my time since getting my MBA I’ve worked in leadership positions within the Global Marketing Solutions group at Facebook. I spent four years leading retail and eCommerce teams in the U.S. and the last year leading the Mobile Gaming team for EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).

What do you love about your job?

There are many things I love about my job, but if I have to narrow it down to a few:

1. I love working for a company that is having an incredible impact on the world. When I started, Facebook had around 700 million monthly active users and now we have nearly 1.7 billion.
2. I have really enjoyed being on the front-lines of a fundamental shift in marketing, particularly in the mobile space.
3. In the last year I’ve had the opportunity to live abroad, travel to 20+ countries, and truly learned how to conduct business with a global lens.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy exploring the world with my husband, Ben, and my three-year-old, Berkeley. (And soon a baby boy will join the adventure!) Together, we started the Dublin chapter of Little Helpers, a service organization for families, so we spend time planning service events and volunteering with the kids. I also just launched a podcast in order to highlight stories of successful female leaders. It’s called She’s a Boss Podcast and is available on iTunes and the Stitcher Radio App. Follow the show on Facebook to be informed of new shows or to suggest more amazing women I should feature.

What advice do you have for future Texas MBAs?

Make time to invest in relationships with your professors and classmates. Your network will always be important throughout your career and the Texas MBA Program provides a unique opportunity to form relationships with a diverse group of talented people. Take advantage of it and make the effort to stay connected after your graduate.

Catch Up with the Texas MBA on Social Media

July 6, 2016 / / Comments Off on Catch Up with the Texas MBA on Social Media

Want an easy way to keep up with the Texas MBA Program? Follow us on social media for program news, event information, application updates,  and all the reasons #WhyMcCombs!

 

social_facebook(1)social_twitter(1)social_googleplus(1)social_youtube(1)insta

 

See What We’ve Been Up To This Summer

#TXMBA Consortium Class of 2018 #WhyMcCombs Photo by @chelleschenk

A photo posted by Texas MBA (@utexasmba) on

Photo Credit: www.launchandhustle.com

Alumni Spotlight: Justin Key, Texas MBA ’16

June 30, 2016 / / Comments Off on Alumni Spotlight: Justin Key, Texas MBA ’16

Despite having just walked the stage two months ago, recent Texas MBA graduate Justin Key is already well on his way to leaving his mark on the tech world. Prior to his time at McCombs, Justin had an idea for an app that would allow friends to compete against each other while watching Netflix by answering trivia questions pertaining to a specific show or movie. As a part of the Class of 2016, Justin was able to make Plot Guru a reality. AAEAAQAAAAAAAAR4AAAAJDRmZGE5Zjc3LWI1YjctNGViYi1hMGZhLTJmOGQ3ZjUwZmRkOAHe and the rest of the Plot Guru team launched the app in November 2015 and have already had tremendous success. In order to continue to develop his entertainment tech skills, Justin recently made the move to Seattle, WA to embark on a new exciting adventure and join the team at Amazon.

We recently caught up with him to see what he’s been up to since graduation and to learn about his reasons  #WhyMcCombs.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA and why did you choose McCombs?

After six years in consulting I was ready for a change. I had been working on a startup idea on the side for some time, and was looking for a program where I could pursue a top-tier graduate education while also pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors. I found the experiential opportunities at McCombs to be just what I was looking for. After visiting the campus and getting a sense for the student culture I was hooked – no pun intended!

What were you doing before you came to McCombs for your MBA?

I was a strategy consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers for about six years. I spent the latter three years based in their Zurich, Switzerland office, and was based in Washington, D.C. prior to that.

What was the most valuable lesson — inside or outside of the classroom — you learned while completing your MBA?

Two things: The value of hands-on experience and the importance of networking. Both are instrumental in getting a job and succeeding once you’re there.

How has your McCombs MBA experience helped shape your success?

The MBA Program gave me the opportunity to explore new career paths, including entrepreneurship, while I was still in school. The classroom experience was important, but the opportunities that McCombs gave me outside the classroom really helped prepare me for the next stage in my career.

Tell us a little bit about Plot Guru. How did you come up with the idea for it?

Plot Guru is all about making the television-viewing experience more interactive. Our app syncs with the show you’re viewing online and sends you games and trivia in real-time based on what you’re watching on-screen. The idea for Plot Guru started during a weekly gathering of friends to watch one of our favorite shows. Before the episode started we would always compete to see who could guess what would happen next in the show. At some point my wife suggested, “What if we made a game out of this?” The rest is history.

What is your role at Amazon and what will you be working on?

AmazonVideoDirect_200I recently started a new job as a Sr. Product Manager at Amazon. I’m working on a new platform called Amazon Video Direct, which is a self-service program for content creators, such as independent film makers, to make their content available to stream online through Amazon Video. I’m really excited to use my experience in strategy, technology and entertainment to help small film producers get their content in front of millions of viewers on Amazon Video.

What else have you been up to since you graduated from McCombs, outside of work?

I’ve been pretty busy with the move up to Seattle, starting the new job and continuing to work on Plot Guru in my spare time. Besides all that, I always make time for travel. In the past couple months I’ve visited seven states and two countries!

What advice do you have for future Texas MBAs?

Figure out what you’re interested in and get as much hands-on experience in that area as possible! Take on MBA+ projects, fellowships, internships, and independent studies. You’ll never have a better chance to try out new things like you will during your time at McCombs.

Texas MBA Alumni @ SXSW Interactive

March 9, 2016 / / Comments Off on Texas MBA Alumni @ SXSW Interactive

SXSW Interactive and McCombs Entrepreneurship Night are quickly approaching! Several of our talented Texas MBA alumni and current student entrepreneurs will be present on March 12 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. to talk about their startups and network with attendees. Check out which alumni and current students will be attending below and find out more about UT Austin’s presence at SXSW with #UTatSXSW.

Company Name
 Alumni
 Grad Year
 Entrepreneurship Night?
 SXSWi Trade Show?
Bravo Tip or Pay Maria Luna 1993 Yes Sunday, March 13, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
YouRefund Omar Garza 2017 Yes Sunday, March 13,  10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Merivis Foundation Kate Perez 2015 No Sunday, March 13,
2 p.m. -6 p.m.
Renovate Simply Will Mitchell 2015 Yes Sunday, March 13,
2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
 3 Day Startup Cam Houser  2010  Yes Monday, March 14, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
 soFetch Renae Donus  2000  Yes Monday, March 14, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
TradePending Brice Englert 2004 Yes Monday, March 14,
2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
TripRiff Jeremy Sapriel 2016 Yes Monday, March 14,
2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Cybernance Charlie Leonard 2015 No Tuesday, March 15, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Knock Knock Rebecca Tongsinoon 2008 Yes Tuesday, March 15, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Lady Epicure Gourmet Tenaj Ferguson 2017 Yes Tuesday, March 15,
2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Ordoro Naruby Schlenker 2010 No Tuesday, March 15,
2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Plot Guru Justin Key 2016 No Wednesday, March 16, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Skoop Martin Oberli 2006 Yes Wednesday, March 16, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
BeatBox Beverages Aimy Steadman 2013 Yes  
eyeQ Michael Garel 2012 Yes  

It’s not too late to register to attend McCombs Entrepreneurship Night! All attendees will need to RSVP below:

Register for McCombs Entrepreneurship Night
Note: Due to capacity restrictions, registration does not guarantee entry.

The Texas MBA will also have a booth at the SXSW Interactive Trade Show, Sunday, March 13 through Wednesday, March 16. If you’re attending the conference and/or Trade Show, please stop by our booth to say hello and for the chance to win some Texas MBA swag!

 

Exploring Career Paths with Texas MBA Career Management

February 8, 2016 / / Comments Off on Exploring Career Paths with Texas MBA Career Management

From Michelle Hardy, Director of MBA Employer & Alumni Engagement

Each year, Texas MBA Career Management leads Treks to various cities to visit the main offices of different companies, giving students a great opportunity to learn more about their industry of interest and allowing them to become more familiar with the culture at these companies. Visits typically consist of presentations, Q&A sessions, and numerous opportunities for networking with alumni and executive management.

Texas MBA students at the Google corporate office during the 2015 Bay Area Trek.

Texas MBA students at the Google corporate office during the 2015 Bay Area Trek

I have been on the Texas MBA Career Management team since 2007. My first role was as a Career Advisor for the  Texas Full-Time MBA program. On my second day of work, I found myself on a plane to San Jose, California with 30 students from the Class of 2009 for a Bay Area Trek. That was one of two treks planned in that school year–the other was a fall trek to New York City for Wall Street Investment Banking and Financial Services. Fast forward to Spring 2016: I am now on the MBA Employer Relations team (formed in 2010) and we have planned 15 student Career Treks for the 2015-2016 school year.

Clearly, we have seen a lot of change in the past eight years. One of the biggest trends has been an enormous increase in student career interest in the West Coast. When I started at McCombs, 9% of our graduates landed jobs on the West Coast–we’ve nearly doubled that percentage with the class of 2014! Interest in technology companies has exploded, making it a large area of focus for our Employer Relations team.

Complementing those two trends, West Coast tech companies have been opening offices and/or growing their corporate presence in Austin i.e., Facebook, Google, Apple, Cisco Systems, eBay, PayPal, VMware and Electronic Arts just to name a few. We continue to build our relationships with these firms, as well as seeking new opportunities.

We have also seen every facet of student interest in entrepreneurship increase, from coming into the program already running a firm, or founding a company in business school, to working at a startup or fast growing company post-graduation.

Texas MBA Students at the Intel Corporate Office as part of the 2015 Bay Area Trek

Texas MBA students at the Intel corporate office during the 2015 Bay Area Trek

In response, we have created many unique opportunities for MBA students to network with and connect to the startup community. We now host a biannual McCombs Entrepreneurship Night, which showcases startups founded by McCombs MBA students and/or alumni.

That event is held in conjunction with Austin Startup Week in the fall and during SXSW Interactive in the spring. We capitalize on SXSW, hosting a student-run booth during the SXSW trade show, allowing those students access to the 400+ companies showcased during the week-long event. The contacts we make during these events are invited to our Entrepreneur Society (ES) events during the school year, such as the Pitch Party in the Fall and ES Connex in the spring, a networking night for local startups looking to hire interns or full-time candidates.

The one thing that holds true across my tenure with the Texas MBA is the importance of our alumni as the key to companies opening their doors to our students.

We created a new team last year under the MBA Employer Relations umbrella to focus on MBA alumni engagement with both current and prospective students. We have come a long way and are excited about the future employment opportunities that await our Texas MBAs!

The Texas MBA Career Treks scheduled for the 2016-2016 school year include:

Texas

Houston Energy Finance
Houston CleanTech
Houston Investment Banking (Twice!)
Houston Consulting

Dallas Marketing
Dallas Consulting
Dallas Asset Management

Austin Marketing
Austin Asset Management
Austin Startup
Austin Big Tech

New York

New York Investment Banking

California

Bay Area

Washington

Seattle

Older posts Newer posts

The Latest RSS Items

  • No items found in feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/StefaniasBlog?format=xml. You requested 5 items.

    • powered by RSS Just Better 1.4 plugin

    © 2024 Texas McCombs MBA Insider

    Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

    Skip to toolbar