Steinbeck Family Business Seminar
Steinbeck Family Business Seminar
Growing Healthy Business Relationships
Running a family business successfully comes with its own unique set of challenges in addition to the typical issues faced by any business. While all businesses may struggle with lack of systems and vision as well as management and team performance issues, family businesses must also navigate the complexities of family relationships and dynamics.
Building and maintaining healthy relationships can greatly overcome these complexities and thrive. The Steinbeck Family Business Seminar offers a series of workshops and conferences focused on leading effective and profitable family-owned (or closely-held) businesses
Attendance and Fees
Seminar in person (limit 60)
Registration fee $725
For a list of current COVID-19 protocols,
please see the UCLA COVID-19 Guidelines
Agenda
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Welcome and Introduction
Holly Han (’02), Director of Special Projects and Steinbeck Family Business Seminar, Price Center, UCLA Anderson
Olav Sorenson, Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies; Professor of Strategy; Faculty Research Director, Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, UCLA Anderson
Jay Steinbeck
Mark Kelegian, President and CEO, Randy’s Donuts
Moderator: Holly Han (’02), Director of Special Projects and Steinbeck Family Business Seminar, Price Center, UCLA Anderson
Randy’s Donuts is a renowned brand and landmark in Los Angeles, known for its giant rooftop donut and appearances in various media. Kelegian acquired Randy’s Donuts in 2015 for a little more than $2 million. Kelegian, a former trial attorney, was operating casinos with his father and brother, but wanted to work with his three daughters. He wanted to shift away from casinos and create a venture they would enjoy running together.
With over 40 stores open and agreements for more, Randy’s ambitious plan is to franchise 150 domestic and 300 international locations for swift expansion. International expansion is prioritized due to quicker construction approvals and permitting compared to the domestic market. While Randy's offers specialty donuts like Red Velvet, S’Mores, and Matcha Tea, the majority of revenue comes from glazed and chocolate doughnuts, long johns, and bear claws.
Soon, you will be able to get your Randy’s Donuts cravings satisfied globally in Hawaii, Utah, Kentucky, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Succession Planning for Family Businesses
Given the unprecedented rise in interest rates, M&A activity, business valuations, and adjusted commercial real estate values across the country, now is the time for family businesses to strategize for the future. The current estate tax exclusion of $13.61M will be dropped to $6.8M and the 40% gift and estate tax rate will increase to 45% in 2026. Discover how to navigate these estate planning strategies in the current economic environment.
Bernstein is a leading global investment management and research firm with $780 billion under management. In addition to managing capital for institutional investors, It manages money and acts as an outsourced family office for successful business owners and entrepreneurs.
Christopher J. Clarkson, National Director of the Wealth Strategies Group, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Brian Reichert, Managing Director, CFGI
Moderator: Ryan A. Martinez, Principal, Bernstein Private Wealth Management, National Director of the Wealth Strategies Group, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Moderator: Ryan A. Martinez, Principal, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
OR
My Way vs. Your Way: How to balance the “current” generation’s desire for control and the “next” generation’s desire for autonomy in a family business.
In the changing landscape of family businesses, a critical dichotomy emerges between the “current” generation's inclination to maintain control and the 'next' generation's yearning for autonomy and trust. In this session, we will delve deep into this nuanced interplay, highlighting practical insights and strategies for achieving equilibrium in family-run enterprises. The discussion will open dialogue, encouraging family members to express their concerns, aspirations, and expectations regarding control and autonomy.
Business Consulting Resources (BCR) has been championing successful transformations for 40+ years. BCR has grown into a diversified team of consultants and partners that work together to make their client’s business dreams a reality.
Moderator: Kyler Gilbert (‘25), Vice President/Consultant, Business Consulting Resources, Inc.
Alex Canter, Co-Founder and former CEO, Nextbite
Since 1931, the Canter's family has been synonymous with offering the most authentic and traditional Jewish deli experience in Los Angeles. Alex Canter, a member of the 4th generation, started in the family business at the age of thirteen, as a waiter. After completing college, he returned to Canter's with innovative ideas despite facing resistance from family members and employees. By 2017, the restaurant kitchen had a dozen separate tablets to process online orders from delivery apps. Alex and his team saw an opportunity to create a solution for order management and co-founded OrderMark, one of the first companies to conceive of a software solution for restaurants to manage online orders, and Nextbite, a leader in virtual restaurants.
He raised more than $150M in funding (SoftBank-backed) for Nextbite before selling to SBE Hospitality in 2023. Alex will discuss the disruptions, trends, and future of the restaurant and food technolgy industry. Alex is a recipient of the Forbes 30 Under 30, Business Insider’s Top 33 Food-Tech Power Players, and Fast Casual Executive’s Top 25. Alex is a restaurant industry innovator, investor, advisor and passionate foodie.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Corinne Bendersky, Professor and Area Chair of Management and Organization, UCLA Anderson
Even as teams become a way of life in many organizations, widespread myths and misconceptions about them often stand in the way of effective teamwork. At their worst, teams create more problems than they solve. Participants in this session will learn how to optimize the performance of the teams on which they work and lead by diagnosing complex team dynamics and taking appropriate action to improve team functioning.
Corinne Bendersky is an expert in workplace conflict, status, justice, and diversity and inclusion in teams and organizations. Bendersky’s research contributes to both academic knowledge and organizational practice. In recent projects, Bendersky has developed interventions to reduce the gender bias experienced by women who work in extremely male-dominated professions, like the U.S. fire service, and conducted a workplace DEIB climate assessment for public-sector employees of the City of Los Angeles. Dr. Bendersky is the Faculty Director of the Human Resources Roundtable at UCLA, known as HARRT, and Founder of Morpho Leadership Development consulting.
Ramit Varma (‘02), Founder and CEO, Breakout Learning
Join Breakout Learning's founder and CEO, Ramit Varma, as he highlights key milestones in the history of AI and shares common AI tools used today. With this foundation, he will delve into Breakout Learning’s innovative use of AI to revolutionize educational publishing. With a distinguished 25-year career in education technology, Ramit’s journey began when he graduated from UCLA Anderson in 2002 and started Revolution Prep, which supports families' journey in K-College education and was ultimately sold to Apax Partners.
11 Big Tax Changes on the Horizon: Secure Your Legacy Today
OR
Funding for Growth with Private Equity: What to know, how to prepare for investment, and what to expect.
Ryan Sung, Executive Vice President, Honolulu Cookie Company
Moderator: Jane Wu, Assistant Professor of Strategy, UCLA Anderson
Established in 1998 by Keith and Janet Sung in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Honolulu Cookie Company is renowned for its iconic pineapple-shaped cookie, symbolizing the spirit of Aloha. Inspired by Hawaii, their products and packaging are meticulously crafted using the finest ingredients. Their son, Ryan, grew up around the business, assisting wherever he could whether it was in the bakery dipping the cookies in chocolate, wrapping cookies on the line, or even delivering products to the stores.
After leaving Hawaii in 2006 and graduating from USC in 2011, Ryan gained experience in the advertising industry as a Media Planner, Strategist, and Sales Planner. He returned to Honolulu Cookie Company in 2016 working his way up ultimately to his current position as Executive Vice President. Prior to the pandemic, the company's sales relied heavily on tourism. When travel came to a halt, so did their sales. To counter this, Ryan focused on their "mini bites" product line, which were ultimately sold in Costco and other retailers across the U.S, Canada, and Asia. This initiative created a new market and generated fresh demand for their products, ensuring the survival of Honolulu Cookie Company.
Session Speakers
George Abe
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, UCLA Anderson
In 1976, George Abe joined Computer Sciences Corp (CSC). Abe designed the IP data service for CSC’s spinoff, Infonet Services Corporation, and later signed on as business development manager at Cisco, where he became the product manager for data over cable products. In 1997, Cisco published his book Residential Broadband, an early practical guide to what were then emerging access networks and internet technologies, which has been published in two editions.
After Cisco, Abe was a venture partner with Santa Monica–based Palomar Ventures and served on various corporate and nonprofit boards. In 2002, he joined UCLA’s technology transfer office, as Business Development Manager. In 2003, he joined the faculty at Anderson. Abe serves on the board of advisers for UCLA’s Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies and Biotech Connection, Los Angeles. He is author of the newly published Entrepreneurship: A Tools-Oriented Approach (Vandeplas Publishing, 2020).
Corinne Bendersky
Professor and Area Chair of Management and Organization, UCLA Anderson
Professor and Area Chair of Management and Organizations Corinne Bendersky is an expert in workplace conflict, status, justice, and diversity and inclusion in teams and organizations. Bendersky’s research contributes to both academic knowledge and organizational practice. In recent projects, she has developed interventions to reduce the gender bias experienced by women who work in extremely male-dominated professions, like the U.S. fire service. She has advanced methods to measure the effects of different configurations of conflicts expressed within teams. She also has been using machine learning techniques to study conflict expressions in Wikipedia editorial disputes, and how working women have been represented in the news media from the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963 through the #MeToo movement in 2018.
Bendersky teaches in UCLA Anderson’s Full-Time and Fully Employed MBA programs, as well as in many of its executive education programs. As faculty director of the UCLA human resources (HR) roundtable known as HARRT, she engages with a mix of academic, consultant and practitioner knowledge of cutting-edge HR topics with the roughly 50 corporate HR executives who are members. As founder of Morpho Leadership Development, she consults with corporate and public service agency executives, particularly on conflict management and diversity and inclusion.
Ken Gilbert
Co-Founder, Business Consulting Resources
A long-term Hawaii resident, Ken is the CEO/President and co-founder of Business Consulting Resources. He brings BCR’s clients over forty years of consulting knowledge working with private and public corporations, not-for-profits, the military and government agencies. BCR has grown over the past 40 years having built consulting teams focused on Hawaii, California, Texas and Florida.
Under Ken’s leadership, Business Consulting Resources has consulted with well over 400 Hawaii, mainland and international companies in diverse areas including: succession and transition planning and implementation; strategic planning; strategic partnering; financial management; human resources; mergers and acquisitions; commercial real estate; new business development; life coaching; career transition coaching and leadership development.
Prior to co-founding BCR in 1981, Ken founded his own Life Insurance Agency in Hawaii and expanded that Company into a real estate and development firm, growing the Company to over 40 employees. Ken has owned and operated other diverse businesses throughout his career.
Ken is a management consultant and coach to many CEOs and senior executives in a number of industries including: maritime industry; banking, insurance; real estate; retail, construction; manufacturing; government and military; and the visitor industry. He works with corporate executives in diverse areas which include strategy development and implementation, leadership skill development and building and creating effective teams. Ken is also known as a Master Life Coach, notably guiding individual clients of all ages in creating Life Plans, which give them a map for achieving their life goals and dreams.
As Hawaii’s premier Family Business Consultant, Ken is the past Chair of the Advisory Board of the Family Business Center of Hawaii, which is one of the top-ranked family business centers in the U.S. BCR is one of the major sponsors of the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management Steinbeck Family Business Program in Los Angeles. BCR is also in a strategic partnership with Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and is working with LMU to create and assist in operating and building the LMU Entrepreneurial Family Business Center.
Ken embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and learned early on that providing an objective and high-level perspective to BCR clients is the key to the firm’s long-term success. By instilling this characteristic with Business Consulting Resources clients, BCR has given clients the ability to navigate any trend, obstacle, or roadblock to success they may face.
Ken earned a B.S.B.A. in Personnel and Employee Relations; and a Master of Science in Business and Governmental Relations, and International Business from the American University in Washington D.C.
Ken is quite active in the Hawaii business community and has served on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Art Museum and numerous other for and not-for- profit organizations. Ken is very involved with the Family Business Center of Hawaii and was a past chair of this organization’s board of directors and has served on the board for many years. Ken is a past president of the Metropolitan Rotary Club of Honolulu and has served several terms as a member of the Club’s Board of Directors. Ken is a volunteer faculty member at Punahou School and also taught at the University of Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific University for over 10 years.
Ken is married to Jean Santos. They have twins, Kyler and Miranda, who both graduated from Punahou School. Kyler is a 2020 graduate of UCLA with a double major bachelor’s degree in business economics and communication. He is working with the Capital Group, Los Angeles, and will pursue an MBA. Miranda earned her bachelors in political science in 2020 from LMU, and, in 2022, her master’s in literature and gender studies at The New School in New York City. She plans on obtaining a Ph.D. and pursuing her academic and writing career.
Holly Han (’02)
Director Of Special Projects and Steinbeck Family Business Seminar, Price Center, UCLA Anderson
Holly Han is an entrepreneur and business strategist who founded and led media, technology, consumer products and fashion businesses in New York and Los Angeles for over two decades. Han began her career at Vera Wang and developed product for Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie, authoring the Vault Career Guide to the Fashion Industry. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she received fellowships from the Young Presidents’ Organization and Asian Business League. She also holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the Fashion Institute of Technology, with additional studies at Caltech and Parsons School of Design, and was a professor at Marylhurst University’s MBA program.
Han was a co-founder of MyShape, an innovative online retailer with over 700,000 members backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Tenaya and featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. As COO of SmartWear, she developed a new class of patented energy-generating textiles in partnership with DuPont, Nike, the NIH, NSF and NASA. She restructured luxury chocolatier John Kelly Chocolates as COO, with a focus on profitability and targeted expansion. She was a founding account director for the Taproot Foundation in Los Angeles, providing pro bono consulting for deserving nonprofits. As the managing director of 64North, she led business strategy, branding and digital media for clients including MIT, Target, Yves Saint Laurent and Motown’s Berry Gordy. She is the vice president on the board of directors for CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts and runs marathons.
Ryan A. Martinez, CFP®
Principal, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Ryan Martinez is a Financial Advisor and Principal at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. He works closely with family business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives as their outsourced CFO and confidant. Building and managing a business creates unique complexities—raising capital, growing, leadership and governance, succession and exit planning, and creative estate and tax structures. To help his clients navigate these areas, Ryan first seeks to understand their aspirations and life goals. By proactively recognizing issues and opportunities, he empowers his clients to make educated, well-informed decisions that result in a more meaningful life and legacy for them and their families.
Prior to beginning his career as a financial advisor, Ryan successfully led a business unit for a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For. He earned a BS, cum laude, in business with a minor in economics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIALPLANNER™, and has completed the advanced financial planning program at Boston University. Ryan is passionate about giving back to the community. He serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo College of Business, as well as on the boards of the Latino Deal Makers. He isa member of the Forbes Finance Council. In addition, he acts as an advisor to the UCLA Anderson Steinbeck Family Business Seminar and was the past president of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council. His involvement in these organizations helps him develop key learnings, best practices, and resources that he can share with his clients. Ryan resides in West Los Angeles with his wife, Amanda, and their two young sons. They enjoy adventure travel and outdoor activities.
Daniel A. Nathanson
Faculty Advisor and Continuing Lecturer, UCLA Anderson
Dan Nathanson is an entrepreneur, executive, investor, consultant and educator. Nathanson has a 25-year record of success in building businesses, creating financial value and helping entrepreneurs succeed. He is a visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he teaches Small Business Management and Business Plan Development, and is a faculty advisor in the AMR, GAP and SMR field study programs.
Nathanson began his executive career as the chief corporate planner in charge of mergers and acquisitions at Vernitron Corporation, a publicly traded diversified electronics firm. He then founded and served as CEO of Computerized Retail Systems (CRS), a nationwide turnkey point-of-sale computer company. After selling CRS in 1993, he became a clinical assistant professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, where he taught entrepreneurship and business strategy. In 2008, Nathanson accepted a teaching position as a visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and has resumed his mission of helping entrepreneurs succeed as the CEO of the Entrepreneurs Resource Group.
Nathanson holds a Ph.D. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from NYU's Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. His publications include Strategy Implementation: The Role of Structure and Process (Galbraith and Nathanson, West Publishing Company, 1978) and various articles on business strategy and organizational design.
Alfred E. Osborne, Jr.
Professor Emeritus, Global Economics and Management; Faculty Director Emeritus, Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Alfred E. Osborne, Jr. served as UCLA Anderson's interim dean from July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019. Osborne’s areas of academic expertise include social entrepreneurship and the development of a leadership approach that applies business models and methodologies to the nonprofit world. Under his leadership, the Price Center created a number of management development programs, including five in partnership with health care giant Johnson & Johnson: the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Start Management Fellows Program, the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Advanced Management Institute for Head Start, the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute, the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program, and the Management Development Institute (MDI) for health care organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. Several related, innovative programs include the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) and the UCLA/Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Head Start Leadership Institute.
A deep belief in the value of entrepreneurship has guided Osborne’s vision for what is possible throughout his decades-long tenure at Anderson. In addition to founding the Price Center, he facilitated infusion of an entrepreneurial approach to leadership into the Anderson culture and curriculum, including and transcending the notion of business startups.
Osborne is an active participant in the business community, serving as a director of Kaiser Aluminum, Wedbush Inc. and the First Pacific Advisors (FPA) family of mutual funds. His nonprofit affiliations include serving as a trustee of the Geffen Academy at UCLA, Fidelity Charitable, the Harvard Westlake School and the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation. He served many years on the corporate boards of the Times Mirror Company, US Filter Corporation, Greyhound Lines Inc., Nuverra Environmental Solutions Inc., First Interstate Bank of California, Nordstrom Inc. and K2 Inc., among others.
While on sabbatical from UCLA in the 1970s, Osborne was an economic fellow at the Brookings Institution and directed studies at the Securities and Exchange Commission that contributed to changes in Rule 144, Regulation D and other exemptive requirements to the securities laws designed to lower costs and improve liquidity and capital market access to venture capitalists and emerging growth firms alike.
Osborne’s research interests also include venture capital and private equity, family and closely held business, and the role of boards of directors in private, public and not-for-profit organizations.
A corporate governance expert, Osborne established a Director Education and Certification Program designed to help officers and directors of public and private companies and nonprofits prepare for the fiduciary duties and legal responsibilities of governance. This program also addresses best practices and topical issues confronting directors.
Michael Palmer
Chief Executive Officer, McConnell's Fine Ice Creams
Founded in 1949, McConnell's makes their ice cream from scratch with decadent, high butterfat dairy ice cream with signature flavors from Eureka Lemon & Marionberries to Toasted Coconut Almond Chip. Palmer, a winemaker, along with his wife, Chef Eva Ein, acquired McConnell's in 2012 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. They now supply over 2,000 grocery stores including Ralph's, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Central Market, Target, Wegmans and others. McConnell's owns their retail shops in Southern California and operate a growing e-commerce business.
Heidi Roddenberry
President and Board Chair, Roddenberry Foundation
Heidi Bianca Roddenberry (née van Lydegraf) embraces infinite diversity in infinite combinations. With an open mind, heart and spirit, she works to elevate the human condition, protect the planet and secure a beautiful future for all people. At the helm of the Roddenberry Foundation, she draws inspiration from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in advancing big, bold ideas that can change the world. An explorer and global citizen, Heidi is a progressive leader in the realm of imagined possibilities, willing to take the risks necessary to realize a more inclusive, just and collaborative society. With a sense of wonder and eternal optimism that has guided her since childhood, she truly believes that if we can envision a future of hope and light, then we can achieve it, together.
Jean Santos
President & Co-Founder, Business Consulting Resources
A founding member of Business Consulting Resources, Jean manages the human resource and organizational development activities at BCR. She works extensively with family owned companies, private corporations, not-for-profits and government agencies.
Jean brings over 40 years of experience to Hawaii corporations and family owned enterprises in organizational development, strategic planning and market strategies, human resources, executive coaching, team building and leadership development.
Born and raised on O’ahu, she began her career in consulting after earning a B.A. and then her Master of Arts in Communication and Organizational Development from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Jean is an expert in workplace behaviors and in job-to-skillset matching. She regularly assists clients in employee selection, team building, training and development, motivation and incentives, internal communication structures and conflict resolution.
Her experience in executive coaching includes assisting top executives in team building, personal and team performance improvement, and overall business strategy building and strategy implementation processes.
In BCR’s family business practice, Jean plays an active role in guiding BCR’s annual family business research which BCR has been conducting since 2017. In addition, Jean leads the firm’s efforts in creating and growing the Women Leaders In Family Enterprises organization which is a non-profit organization designed for women in family businesses who are currently in leadership positions or growing into leadership positions, to navigate the challenges, biases and preconceived notions that women must still manage through, even in family owned enterprises.
Jean embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and knows that business people care not only about bottom-line results but how they are achieved; she learned early on that objectivity is the key to helping her clients to thrive in the marketplace. By instilling this characteristic in Business Consulting Resources clients, she shows them how to navigate any trend, obstacle, or roadblock to success they may face.
Jean has always been active in the local business community. She is a past member of the Board of Business Advisors of the Nu’uanu YMCA and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. She is an active member of the national chapter of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM). She is past President of the Parent Faculty Association (PFA) of Punahou School and is also a past Chair of the Board of Easter Seals Hawaii.
Jean is married to Ken Gilbert, who is also her business partner. They have twin children, Kyler and Miranda, who both graduated from Punahou School. In addition, Kyler is a 2020 graduate of UCLA with a double major bachelor’s degree in business economics and communication. He is working with the Capital Group, Los Angeles and will pursue an MBA. Miranda earned her bachelors in political science in 2020 from LMU, and, in 2022, her master’s in literature and gender studies at The New School in New York City. She plans on obtaining a Ph.D. and pursuing her academic and writing career.
Jonathan Schreter (’00)
Executive Vice President, Bolton & Company
For the past 20 years, Jonathan Schreter (’00) has served commercial property and casualty risks, primarily for charter and independent schools (K-12) and higher education clients, as well as middle-market businesses in the technology, manufacturing and entertainment industries. With a diverse background that began in marketing and advertising, Schreter combines creative thinking and analytics to offer a consultative approach to risk management. He works with progressive school and business leaders, who appreciate his commitment to mitigating unexpected losses.
Schreter earned his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2000 and his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research in 2010. He was president of Insurance Brokers and Agents San Fernando Valley, is the current president of the UCLA Anderson Alumni Network in Los Angeles and serves as treasurer of the executive committee for the board of directors of Inner-City Arts, a nonprofit program that unlocks the creative potential of inner-city children in downtown Los Angeles.
Olav Sorenson
Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies; Professor of Strategy; Faculty Research Director, Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, UCLA Anderson
Olav Sorenson joined the UCLA Anderson faculty in 2020. His primary stream of research pertains to economic geography, focusing on how entrepreneurship influences the growth and competitiveness of regions within countries, and on why some regions appear more supportive to entrepreneurs than others. “I was in graduate school in the mid-1990s at Stanford, in Silicon Valley, and it seemed like everybody and their brother was getting involved in a startup,” Sorenson says. “That’s really what got me interested in entrepreneurship and interested in ‘Why Silicon Valley?’ What was different about Silicon Valley than other places?”
He has called attention to unexpected consequences of the fact that social capital plays an important role in entrepreneurial success. Largely in recognition of this research, Sorenson received the 2018 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research.
His secondary streams of research have addressed the relationships between basic science and innovation and how organizations can better learn from their interactions with customers and from their manufacturing experience.
In total, he has delivered nearly 400 research presentations and has had more than 90 papers published on these subjects, in journals such as Science, the American Journal of Sociology, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Economics and Statistics, Administrative Science Quarterly, Strategic Management Journal and Research Policy. Sorenson serves as a department editor for Management Science and as a deputy editor at the American Sociological Review. He has also served in editorial positions at more than a dozen other journals.
Sorenson’s Venture Capital Strategy course is a version of one he’s taught since 2005. “My goal with that course is to do something that’s a little different from the typical venture capital course, which is usually about valuation and contract terms,” says Sorenson. “This course comes more from the perspective of someone who would be an active venture capital or angel investor, and some of the types of strategic decisions that are involved with that.” He’ll also be teaching Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation, an introductory entrepreneurship course.
In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities, Sorenson joins the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation as faculty research director. In that role, he plans to build on the curricular offerings of the Price Center and create a research arm dedicated to entrepreneurial studies. Sorenson also plans to mentor student entrepreneurial teams within the Anderson Venture Accelerator and those participating in the school’s Business Creation Option field study.
From 1999 to 2005, Sorenson taught strategy courses at UCLA Anderson. Prior to returning to Anderson, he held the Frederick Frank ’54 and Mary C. Tanner Professorship at the Yale School of Management and, before that, the Jeffrey S. Skoll Chair in Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto. He has also served on the faculties of London Business School and the University of Chicago, and has held visiting appointments at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, SDA Bocconi, Universidad Carlos III, Melbourne Business School, Singapore Management University, the National University of Singapore, BI Norwegian Business School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business and INSEAD.
Sorenson received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. He has also received an honorary doctorate from Aalborg University.
Eric Sussman
Adjunct Professor, UCLA Anderson
Accepting an offer to teach as a means of earning some additional income may have been one of Eric Sussman’s more auspicious decisions. Currently an adjunct professor of accounting and real estate at UCLA Anderson, Sussman first taught a certified public accountant exam review course after graduating from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and accepting a position with a small real estate investment firm. It was a role he thoroughly enjoyed. So when he was first offered a lecturer’s position at Anderson by his mentor and former teacher, David Ravetch, he jumped at the opportunity.
Since 1995, Sussman has been teaching courses in the areas of cost/managerial accounting, financial accounting, financial statement analysis, equity valuation, corporate financial reporting, and real estate investment and finance to undergraduate, graduate and executive education students. Throughout his teaching career, he has remained active in the real estate industry. He is president of Amber Capital Inc., manager of Fountain Management LLC and Clear Capital LLC, and managing partner of the Pacific Value Opportunities and Clear Opportunity Fund, which have acquired, rehabilitated, developed and managed more than 2 million square feet of residential and commercial real estate over the past 20 years. The firms’ portfolio at present consists of industrial, multifamily and single-family residential, and retail properties.
Sussman is also audit committee chairman and former chair (2012-2018) of the board of trustees of Causeway Capital’s group of funds (International Value, Emerging Markets, Global Value, Global Absolute Return Funds, International Opportunities and International Small Cap), which collectively have more than $15 billion in assets. With his wide range of expertise, he has consulted for large and small firms, nationally and globally, and is a frequent lecturer on varied financial, accounting and corporate reporting topics. He has served as an expert witness and consultant for commercial litigation involving matters of corporate financial reporting and disclosure, audit effectiveness, valuation, real estate due diligence and related practices, and overall damage analyses. He is a licensed CPA in California.
Sussman relies on his real-world experiences to make his classes relatable and exciting, aspects that are not lost on students or faculty. He is an eight-time winner of the MBA Teaching Excellence Award, a seven-time winner of the FEMBA Teaching Excellence Award and recipient of numerous other teaching awards and national honors.
Elizabeth Tene
President & CEO, Access General Contracting
Elizabeth Tene born and raised in Southern California. The youngest of three siblings, born to immigrant parents who migrated here from Mexico with nothing but a dream for a better future.
Her parents have always been Entrepreneurs. Every day after grade school and weekends, Elizabeth would work at her mother’s “shop” from selling wedding décor or loading chairs and tables, to helping her father, taking pictures of jobsites, invoicing and everything else in between.
While other kids her age played, Elizabeth worked. As she got older, she would jokingly say that her childhood was robbed. What she would later realize is that these experiences instilled a great work ethic and prepared her for the journey ahead.
Elizabeth Tene graduated from Marina High school, and attended Golden West College. She received a double Major in Social, Behavioral Science and Humanities. She also has completed multiple courses including Turner Construction management, mastering business with So Cal Gas, and Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses program.
As a young adult, feeling unfulfilled with her retail and banking sector jobs she decided to embark onto something more challenging. She decided to take after her father, and join her brother in the construction industry. She has since then, never looked back. She is now President/CEO of her family business and continues to pave the way forward. Elizabeth represents one of few successful women-owned businesses in the construction industry serving public utility, federal and military clientele.
Elizabeth’s accolades include: 1) Inner City 100 ranking, representing firms that drive inclusive economic prosperity in under-resourced communities by creating jobs, income, and economic prosperity for local residents; 2) Supply of the Year nominations from SoCalGas recognizing key performance on infrastructure and pipeline safety programs; and 3) INC 5000 Fastest Growing Private Company ranking, highlighting the fastest growing private companies in the US.
Chris Welton
Wealth Management Advisor & Managing Director, Silicon Valley, Northwestern Mutual
Chris Welton is a Wealth Management Advisor & Managing Director, Silicon Valley at Northwestern Mutual where he leads a team who work together with their clients to implement a financial plan that integrates risk management, wealth management, tax-efficient strategies, and estate planning. Chris earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude from Amherst College in Massachusetts, an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and holds both Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. He and his wife Rosa are avid health nuts, love to cook, and enjoy having people over for lively discussions and good food!