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FALL 2013 | ISSUE NO. 8 | LAUNCH! MAGAZINE | 1 launchmag.co ISSUE EIGHT LAUNCHMAG.CO INSIDE: Validate Your Business Idea Mastering Digital Innovation iBiblestory.com ModalMinds Larsen Toy Lab WeSearch.org B Revolution Consulting Muddy Shoe Adventures’ Michael Bennett

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Page 1: LAUNCH! Magazine Issue Eight

FALL 2013 | ISSUE NO. 8 | LAUNCH! MAGAZINE | 1 l a u n c h m a g . c o

I S S U E E I G H T L A U N C H M A G . C O

INSIDE:Validate Your Business IdeaMastering Digital InnovationiBiblestory.comModalMindsLarsen Toy LabWeSearch.orgB Revolution Consulting

Muddy Shoe Adventures’

Michael Bennett

Page 2: LAUNCH! Magazine Issue Eight

2 |LAUNCH! MAGAZINE| ISSUE NO. 8 | FALL 2013 l a u n c h m a g . c o

ENTREPRENEUR NATIONBy LARRY COX

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship

MBA student Neal Bloom co-founded The Portfolium (theportfolium.com), an

interactive platform for visually showcasing one’s work, knowledge, projects

and experiences. Ideal for students of all ages, it allows career-seekers to go far

beyond the limits of the traditional resume to include media, photos, video, .PDF

documents and more! Customers may add a custom URL to further market

themselves, build their brand and found in Google searches! Social features built

into thePortfolium, such as messaging, commenting, liking, bookmarking and

sharing encourage connecting and collaborating with others across all fields of

study, as well as receive valuable feedback and ideas. Neal is currently targeting

University career centers; seeking to get The Portfolium distributed to students

and alumni searching for employment opportunities. With all of their work and

experience neatly organized in a portfolio, they will be well-prepared and

confident to connect with exciting job and internship opportunities.

Jennifer Estes (IMBA ’13) successful completed a KickStarter fundraising

competitor for her T-shirt line #SELFiE T, inspired by Facebook’s and Instagram’s

newest #selfie craze. The shirt has a mirrored logo, indecipherable to other. When

you see the #SELFiE in the mirror, you and everyone else can read it. Check out:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/330057192/selfie-ts-find-your-selfie?ref=live

Recently, “Renny! The Original Bluetooth Home Ringer” was featured in USA

Today and The Fuser, headphones that increase your awareness of the natural

sounds while listening to music, made its debut on the Home Shopping Network

and in the New York Times. Both are products produced by Paul McCloskey III

(MBA ’11) and his company Ölens Technology. Along with his THE PERFECT

ARTICHOKE, a proprietary cooking time measuring scale, Paul celebrated all three

products making it to the next round of Walmart’s annual “Get On The Shelf”

Competition.

Noelle Nguyen (PKE MBA ‘12) and her online shopping site American Love Affair

raised $30,840 in a crowdfunding campaign to spotlight little-known American

designers, all of whom manufacture their clothing in the USA at a remarkable

value. American Love Affair is currently home to such brands as Cut Loose

clothing, Terox footwear, and Rich & Skinny denim.

Erik Forbes Paxman (MBA ’07) entered his startup PAX Designs into the Intuit

Small Business Big Game Contest. Erik launched started PAX Designs, LLC in 2012

and in short time introduced its first product, University Nail Pax, a line of

officially licensed nail wraps at www.shopunp.com. He offers a line of custom

designed nail foils for collegiate fans to sport their school pride. Erik has licensed

with 34 schools around the United States and he is continuously looking to add

new institutions.

Darren Popek (MSEN ’12), the Graziadio School’s very first Master of Science in

Entrepreneurship program graduate) is launching his new business, Crafted

Beverage Company (http://craftedbevco.com/). It offers ready-to-drink fruit juice

and bar mixes made from preservative free, all-natural ingredients. Flavors

include cherry ginger, lemongrass lemonade, mint elderflower, lychee pear and

blackberry tart.

Page 3: LAUNCH! Magazine Issue Eight

FALL 2013 | ISSUE NO. 8 | LAUNCH! MAGAZINE | 3 l a u n c h m a g . c o

HOW TO VALIDATE YOUR

BUSINESS IDEA BEFORE

IT’S TOO LATE

ALEx LARSEN Larsen Toy Lab

CHRIS ROVIN WeSearch

DIRK SAMPSELLEB Revolution Consulting

ENTREPRENEURS

MICHAEL BENNETT Muddy Shoe Adventures

O. MICHAEL BRADSHAWiBiblestory.com

STEFAN HOFMEYER Modalminds

LAUNCH!LAUNCH! Magazine celebrates the cre-

ativity, dedication to responsible busi-

ness practice and entrepreneurial spirit

of students and alumni at Pepperdine

University’s Graziadio School of Business

and Management. These principles

are fundamental to its values-centered

mission, which the school and its faculty

have embraced and actively advanced

for more than 40 years.

PUBLISHED BY GRAZIADIO

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND

MANAGEMENT

DEAN:

LINDA A. LIVINGSTONE,

PH.D.

ASSOCIATE DEAN:

GARY MANGIOFICO, PH.D.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

PROGRAM:

Larry Cox, Ph.D.

PUBLISHING EDITOR:

Dianne King

EDITOR:

F. Douglass Gore III

CONTRIBUTING

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Leroy Hamilton

Shutterstock.com

© 2013 PEPPERDINE

UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS

15

6

8

12

4

FEATURES

MASTERING DIGITAL INNOVATION

10

16

18

Page 4: LAUNCH! Magazine Issue Eight

4 |LAUNCH! MAGAZINE| ISSUE NO. 8 | FALL 2013 l a u n c h m a g . c o

How to

Validate Your Business Idea Before It’s Too Late

By YAEL GRAUER

With rates of unemployed and underemployed graduates at an all-time high, many MBA grads are putting their skills to the test

by attempting to start their own businesses, either full-time or on the side. But before diving into the deep end, validating a business idea can help you determine whether to pursue your solution for a common problem, or replace it with some-thing more viable, before you sink your life savings on launching your new business or startup.

An easy and inexpensive way to get started is by providing a service; whether that’s graphic design, consulting/coaching, writing, or something else altogether. Before ramping up advertising and marketing, seek out those around you to see if they are interested. If your friends and acquaintances aren’t willing to pay for your services, it’s far less likely that a stranger will.

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FIND THAT FIRST CUSTOMER

Instead of getting caught up in ask-

ing people whether your idea is good,

get started by finding that very first

customer.

“The first thing you should do is think

about one person you can help today,”

said Bridgett Hart, who worked in cor-

porate America as an executive before

branching out into a coaching business.

To validate the idea, she reached out to

women in her target market to deter-

mine whether they had parts of their

life with which they needed some extra

guidance. “Then I presented them with

the opportunity for an introductory

coaching session regarding the areas

that interested them.”

The sales came in, and she’s now in the

process of ramping up her business.

BACK UP YOUR IDEA WITH MARKET RESEARCH

While using word-of-mouth marketing

to find people around you for a ser-

vice-based business is an easy, effective

and inexpensive way to start, building

and developing a technical solution

(such as an app) raises the stakes sig-

nificantly.

Spending a lot of time researching your

target market is critical, and this goes

beyond collecting survey responses and

determining market value, says Brant

Cooper, co-author of New York Times

bestseller, The Lean Entrepreneur.

“Validation is not seeking out market

research that backs up your idea, or

going out to find evidence in support of

your theory. Rather, it’s trying to

disprove it; trying to eliminate your

experimental bias that we as human

beings are endowed with,” says Cooper.

Where many entrepreneurs go wrong,

he says, is when they buy into the myth

of the visionary, assuming that they

must have so much conviction in an idea

that they can simply skip over this nec-

essary step. But spending a lot of time

speaking with people in the industry

you’d like to target can help you answer

some pivotal questions; such as whether

or not they even have the problems you

think they have in the first place.

The key is to spend a lot of time

listening, observing behavior, and un-

derstanding deeply what a day in the

life is like for the people you’d like to

introduce an idea to.

“In the first interview, never mention

your solution,” Cooper recommends,

pointing out that many business owners

take the wrong approach by developing

a solution and then searching for some-

one who has the problem.

MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT MODEL

“Don’t just tell people you have an idea

and ask them what they think about it.

[Avoiding that] frees you up to learn

what pains they have and whether

there’s something solvable there,”

he says.

Your next step would then be to run

some experiments to see if people do

what they think they do, and whether

or not your solution would work for

them, ideally by developing a minimum

viable product.

One widely publicized startup that

skipped this step was Color Labs—a $41

million disaster. Despite the very high

amount of venture capital funding and

a great deal of media buzz, the mobile

photo-sharing app received poor

reviews in the media and bad ratings in

the Apples iTunes store. The company

folded at the end of 2012.

LISTEN, LEARN, ADJUST

In stark contrast are startups that have

responded to customer feedback and

shifted their models accordingly.

Groupon is one such example. It started

as ThePoint.com, a site that allowed

users to start campaigns to organize

donation drives or group activities,

which would only take place if enough

people signed up and the ‘tipping

point’ was reached.

Another example is Instagram, which

started out as mobile app allowing

users to check into locations, plan

future check-ins and do a million other

things, before focusing primarily on

photographs.

“For most of the successful

companies we know, it’s not that they

had this great idea and went out and

executed on it. Almost all of them had

to learn what the right thing was

before they became successful. Almost

all successful startups end up as some-

thing different than what they started

out as,” Cooper said.

So the listening doesn’t end after

launching a product or starting a ser-

vice-based business. “Once you have

one person that gives you money, that

first customer, you can track what they

need, by really listening and hearing

what they want and what you can

provide,” Hart says.

This allows you to improve on a service

or product and continue tweaking it,

while making some money in the

process. n

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ENTREPRENEUR

Michael BennettMuddy Shoe Adventures

By KATERI WOZNY

P epperdine Full-time MBA alumnus Michael

Bennett (MBA ’06) has always been a travel

enthusiast at heart.

“My first trip was to Costa Rica at age 19. From

t h e r e , I ’ v e b e e n t o G u a t e m a l a , M e x i c o , C h i n a ,

Switzerland, Norway and even spent five months of my

MBA program in Denmark. Every time I travel, I learn

more about myself. It is an inspirational aspect in my

life,” he says.

Bennett turned his traveling passion into his own

business this year by starting Muddy Shoe Adventures, a

company whose tours combine travel, physical adventure,

cultural interactions, nature, supportive group

environments, facilitated group discussions and personal

coaching that empower people to reconnect with

themselves through self-exploration.

“I was reading Deepak Chopra’s book ‘The Seven Laws

of Spiritual Success’ and in it he asked: If you had all the

time and money in the world, what would you do?

I decided I wanted to do two things: travel and help

other people reconnect with themselves through travel

experiences,” he says.

After graduating from the MBA program with a

concentration in global business, Bennett worked at the

Los Angeles Universal Preschool and then at Pepperdine’s

Graziadio School for Dr. Gary Mangiofico for seven years

doing corporate training and development. Along the

way, he learned that it was the “soft skills” of business

that made him want to help people and become an

entrepreneur.

“Team dynamics, organizational behavior and all of

those aspects were more interesting than the hard skills

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“You may not walk away with perfect clarity, but our trips

are a start of this process of reflection by helping you create

the life that you truly want.”

(i.e. marketing, financing). I discovered that I liked

helping individual people grow professionally and

personally,” Bennett says.

With Muddy Shoe Adventures taking off this fall with

four trips, Bennett is constantly attending seminars, we-

binars and adventure travel events to help him identify

the current travel trends.

“It’s all about marketing and creating brand awareness,”

he says. “The travel industry is also unique in the fact

that most companies do not spend money on traditional

advertising. We have had many of our referrals through

word of mouth.”

Muddy Shoe Adventure’s programs focus on four areas:

• Who participants are as individuals

(values,strengths, passions and purpose)

• Where these people are right now in their lives

• Creating a vision for where they want to be in

the future

• Developing a plan to reach these goals

Bennett’s research suggests that 65 to 75 percent of

Muddy Shoe Adventure’s clients will be women, likely

in their late 30s to early 40s, who want to try adventure

travel. He currently has a handful of customers who want

to embark on a self-examination journey.

“The programs force people to get out of their comfort

zones, let their guard down and be who they are. They’re

on a journey of physical and mental exploration,” he

says. “You may not walk away with perfect clarity, but

our trips are a start of this process of reflection by

helping you create the life that you truly want.”

On average, the tours cost $2,500 for a five-day program

and $4,000 to $6,000 for an eight-day program.

Once the trip is complete, customers have the option to

stay in touch with Muddy Shoe Adventures.

“Post-program, we hope participants will stay engaged

with us on our Facebook page. We a l so have

opportunities for clients to continue their journey of

self-exploration with their program leader through

follow-up coaching,” Bennett says.

As for the future of Muddy Shoe Adventures, Bennett

sees great growth.

“We’re going to leverage strategic partnerships to help

build awareness of our company. It’s critical to get our

name out there as quickly and effectively as possible, and

working with other adventure operators is the best way

for us to do that,” he says. “We also plan on engaging

corporate clients and working with individual travelers

and their friends and families on customized programs.

The possibilities are endless.”

Bennett credits Pepperdine’s MBA courses for helping

him become a successful entrepreneur.

“The MBA classes at Pepperdine taught me how to

play nicely with others, how to work in groups and

self-management skills to control the wave of emotions

that are an inevitable part of the entrepreneurial

process,” he says.

Bennett says for Pepperdine students wishing to become

entrepreneurs, it’s best to figure out which direction to

take at the beginning of the program.

“If you don’t know, talk to someone in the career depart-

ment or with one of the professors. Do your best to make

sure all of your courses are geared towards building the

business. The sooner you can figure out what you want

to do, the sooner you can use that as an incubator for

your company,” he says. n

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8 |LAUNCH! MAGAZINE| ISSUE NO. 8 | FALL 2013 l a u n c h m a g . c o

ENTREPENEUR

O. Michael BradshawiBiblestory.com

By ALAN KRAWITZ

Some might call Orange County resident Michael

Bradshaw’s business venture, iBiblestory.com, a

wholesome collection of more than 200

Bible-themed stories and topics available as an

app for Android and Apple iPhones, divine intervention.

But, to Bradshaw, Master of Science in Technology

Management ’93, the venture was something he put

together in his spare time when not working on technol-

ogy management projects for a variety of aerospace and

defense industry contractors, including Boeing, Raytheon

and Northrop Grumman.

“The initial idea for iBiblestory sprang from my interest

in educating people on difficult subjects, such as math

and science,” Bradshaw said, noting that the actual

business started more than a decade ago.

“I always had an interest in Bible stories,” he explained.

“I talked to people in various user communities and they

said there would be a need for such a product as

iBiblestory.com.”

Bradshaw, the sole proprietor of iBiblestory.com,

explained that hismaster’s thesis was about general

learning systems and had nothing to do with

iBiblestory.com specifically. But, Bradshaw’s abiding

interest in Christianity would eventually give way to an

entrepreneurial idea.

One day, while flying for business, he had an epiphany

that his time in the air could be used more productively

by learning about the Bible. So, Bradshaw set out to try

and make it possible for people to learn about the Bible

in just 40 hours, or in one week with the use of interac-

tive apps as well as feature-length movies.

“The idea really grew out of my own lack of time to

learn enough about the Bible,” he said, noting that he

found the prospect of employing free apps to be very

intriguing.

R a i s e d i n C h i c a g o b y p a r e n t s o f E u r o p e a n a n d

Afro-Caribbean heritage, Bradshaw said he was always

involved in volunteer teaching of Christian education,

multimedia music projects and worship services.

He added that while he always had an interest in religion

and prayer, it was “never his trade.”

Further, Bradshaw explained that his family was

instrumental in guiding him to the iBiblestory.com

venture. “My main inf luence in rel igion was

family-based,” he said.

Among some of Bradshaw’s early challenges included

the fact that at the time the site was launched around

2001, apps were not yet widely available as they are now

through channels such as iTunes and Google Play.

Bradshaw’s somewhat enviable position was that he was

ahead of the technology curve.

“I was basically waiting for mobile technology to

advance to the po int where we are now—with

smartphones, iPads and other tablets—to allow

iBiblestory’s free apps to be readily downloaded and

used on-the-go,” he said.

While Bradshaw explained that the site’s apps are free

for download for both Android and iPhone systems, he

added that the site’s movies are competitively priced. The

apps are available through both iTunes and Google Play.

Some of the site’s Bible-based stories include Journey to

the Promised Land, Jonah the Whale and Seven Sayings.

While unsure of exactly how many downloads the site

has, Bradshaw estimates they are upwards of 10,000 at

this point.

Moreover, he said that growth of the mobile market and

the Internet helped to reshape his business.

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Other challenges, Bradshaw said, included “developing

the right relationships” and staying “faithful to your

vision.”

Asked about how Pepperdine helped with his entre-

preneurial vision, Bradshaw said the school helped him

answer some key questions.

“Pepperdine was amazing for me because my initial in-

terest at that time was finding out how managers make

decisions that eventually flow down into the workforce,”

he explained.

He also said the school helped him form very “diverse

relationships.”

“Pepperdine entrepreneurs are highly focused and do

have goodwill,” Bradshaw continued.

When asked about advice for future and budding

entrepreneurs, Bradshaw suggested being modest and

learning from others’ successes.

“Everyone has the ability to have great impact on the

world,” he said, advising that entrepreneurs keep their

egos in check and instead concentrate on how they can

make positive impacts on the world.

Bradshaw also gave some pointed advice.

“Take some people you can study,” he advised. He also

said that simply asking people about the personal goals

that led to their success is very beneficial.

“Potential entrepreneurs need to hear stories of success

and see how people made their own paths in order to

succeed.” n

“I was basically waiting for mobile tech-nology to advance to the point where we are now—with smartphones, iPads and other tablets—to allow iBiblestory’s free apps to be readily downloaded and used on-the-go.”

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10 |LAUNCH! MAGAZINE| ISSUE NO. 8 | FALL 2013 l a u n c h m a g . c o

ENTREPRENEUR

Stefan HofmeyerModalMindsBy ALAN KRAWITZ

By his own admission, Alameda, CA resident Stefan

Hofmeyer (Executive MBA’12) already had the

good life with a family he adored, a stable senior

management job, a house in a good neighbor-

hood, and a sailboat to spend weekends on in the San

Francisco Bay.

But, his decision to pursue an MBA at Pepperdine was not

so much a function of his desire to fulfill the American

dream, but rather to broaden his horizons and keep his

career as well as his life moving forward.

“To me, life is not so much about the person with the

most toys wins but the person with the most experiences,”

said Hofmeyer, who grew-up in Iowa and has always been

involved in information technology and business process

improvement.

He added that he really wants to enjoy what he does for

work and not just “slog away” day after day.

So, when the opportunity to ramp up an entrepreneurial

company such as ModalMinds presented itself in 2010,

Hofmeyer, who has studied at both Stanford and Harvard

business schools, jumped at the chance.

“I had known my business partner, Adam Signaigo, for

quite some time doing projects with him and also by

connecting and staying connected through social media,”

Hofmeyer said, explaining how he established himself as

the company’s president and helped to re-launch it in 2011.

Signaigo originally founded ModalMinds in 2007.

ModalMinds provides temporary executive management,

operations management, technology integration and

strategic advisory services to a variety of companies.

Hofmeyer says the company has an important focus on

helping firms plan and complete Mergers and Acquisitions.

“The challenge for us,” said Hofmeyer, “was determining

how to define and then market our somewhat abstract

services and find a niche.”

Hofmeyer explained that what his company basically does

is to go in and make sure various systems and processes,

especially technology management systems, match-up and

make sense for each company.

In addition, they also make certain that companies aren’t

duplicating vital services and processes from key account-

ing practices to complex technical systems.

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When asked about how Pepperdine’s MBA program helped

prepare him to launch into his work at ModalMinds,

Hofmeyer had nothing but praise for the school and its

professional approach to business education.

“Pepperdine was a high-quality program targeted at

executives,” said Hofmeyer, who definitely fits the

executive bill with nearly 20 years of experience at

companies such as Accenture, Wells Fargo Bank, and growth

oriented consulting firms.

Calling the school’s program “very high-end,” Hofmeyer

described how the school would actually fly-in certain

professors for various classes.

“Pepperdine brought the professors to us,” he said, also

recalling that class sizes were small, in the 10-25 student

range and that there was “excellent engagement” with

professors.

Hofmeyer added that he still keeps in touch with many of

his professors even now.

Further, he also noted that learning to effectively use

connections is a key part of the Pepperdine educational

experience. “The network I developed and continue to use is

extremely valuable,” he said.

Hofmeyer also credits Pepperdine’s program with helping

him realize what’s important.

“I realized there is much more to life than what I was doing

in my management consulting role,” he said. “The program

teaches overall balance in community, with your family and

overall well-being.”

Asked about key challenges that ModalMinds has faced,

Hofmeyer said that being able to continue to have

long-term vision while not losing sight of day-to-day is most

important.

Hofmeyer’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs was basically a

message of total commitment to your vision.

“You can’t do this [be an entrepreneur] half-way,” he

warned. “You must be ‘all-in,’ it would be really tough to

work a day-job and start a company in your part-time.”

He also advised new business start-ups to be aggressive

about going after contracts and to not underestimate the

time and effort it takes to get things done.

“Maintain control of your time and achieve some type of

balance between work and personal life. If you really love

your work and related experiences, then your career is

destined to be great.” n

ENTREPRENEUR

“To me, life is not so much about the

person with the most toys wins, but the

person with the most experiences.”

Stefan Hofmeyer (center), President, ModalMinds and a graduate of EMBA86N, with Jonathan Bunce (Executive MBA ‘97), Principal, ModalMinds, M&A Services; and Adam Signaigo, Founder and Principal.

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Alex LarsenLarsen Toy Lab

By KATERI WOZNY

Siblings, co-founders Courtney and Alex

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G rowing up, Alex Larsen loved to play with

building blocks.

“My dad always wanted to turn his lifetime

hobby of carpentry into a business and he had all

the tools necessary to create the blocks,” says Larsen (MBA

’11). “When I was a toddler, I loved stacking them as high as

possible and watching them crash to the ground. When I got

older I became interested in creating more intricate

structures that were built to last for days or weeks.”

With the seed being planted at a young age, Larsen

launched Larsen Toy Lab in 2012. Based in Westport,

Connecticut, the business aims to provide high-quality

blocks and a fun, educational experience for children. The

blocks, made out of maple and cherry wood from Pennsylva-

nia and Vermont, come in 15 different shapes.

The original idea was to have each set come with one of two

different children’s books that are part of a series with

recurring characters. The main character, Leif, a poor Viking

boy, is able to overcome challenges in his life by tapping

into his powerful imagination. Since then, Larsen has

expanded the concept by creating a block-based game and

puzzle.

“Our mantra has always been to make better blocks and

make better experiences. The blocks are better quality,

hand-sanded and have natural finishes,” he says. “Blocks,

building and creativity are central themes of the books and

they aim to challenge kids to think about what they can

create with their own blocks. I am the author of the books

and my mom (an artist and art teacher) is the illustrator.”

According to Larsen, few high quality American toys are on

the market these days.

“We hadn’t seen anything like it so we knew the opportu-

nity was there. The name Larsen Toy Lab just felt right since

there was such a strong connection to our personal skills

and values,” he says.

Larsen used Kickstarter during the 2012 holidays to help

fund Larsen Toy Lab, with 150 people donating nearly

$16,000. To date, Larsen has sold between 350 to 400 block

sets.

“The next step is definitely securing a bigger investment

that will give us the space to grow,” he says.

The biggest challenge Larsen has faced while building his

business has been marketing and sales.

“My background was focused on the product and design. I

didn’t have experience in online marketing but I have been

learning and making lead way,” he says.

Larsen always wanted to start his own company but never

had the confidence until he looked into the MBA program

at Pepperdine.

“I wanted an MBA because I wanted to learn how to start a

business and be around people that were starting a

business,” he says.

With a concentration in entrepreneurship and a Certificate

in Socially, Environmentally and Ethically Responsible (SEER)

Business Strategy, Larsen credits Professors Michael Crooke

and Larry Cox for having the biggest impact during his

course work at Pepperdine.

“Michael is a genius with the big picture and is living

evidence that value-based leadership works. Larry’s classes

were refreshingly creative and inspiring,” he says.

Larsen loves being an entrepreneur because of the freedom

to work in all areas of business.

“I worked as a design engineer in new product development

before business school and I never got to hear what the end

users were saying about the products we designed. Having

my hands in all areas of the business gives me a complete

and non-distorted view of the company,” he says.

In the future, Larsen wants to expand the business by add-

ing a warehouse and introducing new concepts, such as a

three-in-one block game set with a variety of shapes. He

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also wants to introduce a monthly subscription called Block

Club.

“We really want to expand on our basic idea with a

subscription model of where to send monthly toy deliveries

and add a few more blocks and games. The idea here being

that kids are always excited to get stuff in the mail every

month and now they will have a set of blocks that keeps

growing,” he says.

Larsen also wants to go beyond basic technology to get

children interested in toys.

“We want to have our toys in every single classroom in

America and have kids become interested in them instead of

competing with technology. Right now we have been using

classrooms for market research purposes only. There should

be a balance by bonding with natural and physical toys,” he

says.

Larsen also believes in giving back to the community and

gives part of the profits to local children’s hospitals and Trees

for the Future, a nonprofit organization that empowers rural

groups to restore tree cover to their lands.

“The message to our customers is that for every set of blocks

sold we will plant a tree through Trees for the Future and we

encourage our customers to learn more about this

phenomenal organization,” he says.

Larsen says future MBA Pepperdine students should be

constant learners and learn new tools while developing their

business, such as Kickstarter, Adobe Creative Suite, Word-

Press, social media, MailChimp, ShortStack and Google.

“There are some incredible tools out that have gone a long

way to level the playing field. I think most people would be

surprised to learn how easy some of these are to learn,” he

says. n

Alex Larsen was honored by Natural Child World with its

2013 Eco-Excellence Award in the category of Eco-Toys.

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By SEAN CHAFFIN

Pepperdine’s John Mooney Explains the New MBA Concnentration

In an increasingly complex technological world, Pepperdine University MBA students will soon have a new concentration to better prepare them for a digital world. The Graziadio School

of Business and Management will be adding a concentration in Digital Innovation and Information Systems (DIIS) this fall that will be available to full-time and part-time MBA students.

AN EMERGING FIELD

Department chair John Mooney says the school’s market research

identified a concentration in information systems to be among the top

three opportunities for expanding the portfolio of concentrations

offered in the MBA program (and also includes finance, business

administration and accounting).

Continued page 20

MASTERING

digital innovation

For entrepreneurs, about 50 percent of the ideas for new ventures emerging from Pepperdine students are online

businesses and apps or involve product, service or process innovations that are

substantially enabled by digital technologies.

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ENTREPRENEUR

Chris RovinWeSearch.org

By LINDSAY LAVINE

C hris Rovin has a full plate, but he’s not

complaining. In addition to being a second-year

MBA candidate, he’s the incoming president of the

Malibu Graduate Business Society (MGBS), and the

co-founder and executive director of WeSearch.org, a

business he describes as the “Kickstarter for medical

research.”

After graduating from the University of Michigan with a

degree in history in 2010, Rovin worked in a research lab. He

soon noticed that the lab couldn’t compete for funding with

larger labs and universities. Around the same time, a family

friend was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma, a rare

form of cancer. He wanted to donate to an organization that

supported research for the disease, but was unable to find

information online. In fact, he discovered that unless you

had very specific knowledge about the disease, it was very

hard to connect with labs that do that kind of research.

“I realized there was an opportunity for these [smaller] labs

to raise money from other groups,” Rovin says.

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The need to connect potential donors with labs doing

research for specific diseases was obvious, he says, and there

was a need for a new source of funding.

The smaller labs are more agile and flexible than their larger

counterparts, Rovin says, and therefore a crowdsourcing

model could work well. When someone gets diagnosed with

an incurable disease, patients, families, friends and

supporters rally around the patient and are more likely to

contribute or raise funds for the illness, Rovin says.

(His friend’s cancer is in remission, and he now serves on the

board of directors for WeSearch.org.)

The idea behind WeSearch.org came in late 2010, and by the

summer of 2011, the site was launched. So far, WeSearch.

org has raised nearly $15,000 to fund research for various

diseases. Rovin and his co-founder faced many challenges in

the early days of their business. For starters, he had a

bachelor’s in history and limited business experience. Rovin

says he spent many hours online figuring out how to start a

business, create a website and file the appropriate legal

documents. He also asked friends and family members for

help. In addition to the start-up challenges, Rovin notes

there’s also a risk-taking component involved in a new

venture.

“It’s scary putting your time and effort into something that

may not succeed,” he says.

Pepperdine’s MBA program gave Rovin and WeSearch.org a

strong business foundation on which to build. In fact, Rovin

has already incorporated accounting and financial best

practices into his business. He credits a strong network of

classmates and professors that has been so willing to help by

offering advice and support. Rovin looks forward to taking

elective classes as a second-year student, when he’ll focus

on entrepreneurial skills and strategies. These tools will help

Rovin decide where to take the business next, as well as

make any needed adjustments to the burgeoning business.

Rovin recommends finding and connecting with a network

of people on campus who are willing to offer advice or help.

He also advises entrepreneurial-minded students not to be

afraid of asking lots of questions of fellow students and

professors.

“You never know where a thought or question might lead

you,” he says. n

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ENTREPRENEUR

Dirk SampselleB Revolution Consulting

By ESHA CHHABRA

D irk Sampselle, just a few months out of grad school, is already a thriving entrepreneur. He’s not just running one company, but three.

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Founder of B Revolution Consulting, B Revolution Capital

and ezBcorp, Sampselle (JD/MBA ’13) wants businesses to

integrate the triple bottom line into their legal structure.

He’s converting businesses from traditional S and C corpora-

tions to benefit corporations and certified B Corporations.

The difference, he says, is, “The B Corporation certification

is the seal of approval that a company has survived a

rigorous third-party social and environmental impact

assessment, making them verifiably an ethical company that

consumers, investors and employees can trust. The benefit

corporation legal entity then locks those claims into place,

making the business legally accountable to doing good as

well as pursuing profit.” Already, many businesses have

adopted the new legal structure and certification. Famous

examples of B Corporations include Patagonia and Ben &

Jerry’s.

His passion for social enterprise started a decade ago when

Sampselle abandoned his career as a commodity broker to

start a 501(c)(3) that helped the homeless in Gainesville,

Florida. Leveraging the undergraduate pool at his alma

mater, the University of Florida, Sampselle created a student

volunteer organization with over 300 members, Citizens for

Social Justice, that ran a transitional housing and education-

al rehabilitation program for homeless individuals. While

the organization still exists, ultimately the challenges facing

the homeless inspired Sampselle to attend law school at

Pepperdine.

“I wanted to attend a school that would help me leverage

my skill set to change the world for the better and I’m

grateful that my experiences at Pepperdine did exactly

that,” Sampselle says.

Sampselle is a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship, which he

won in part because of his “service mentality” along with

his top grades and LSAT scores. He spent his first summer

during law school working at Public Counsel, the world’s

largest public interest law firm, on issues facing homeless

youths in Hollywood.

“I absolutely loved it—and I gained an incredible mentor

at Public Counsel because of my work there,” he says.

He continued this work by becoming president of Advocates

for Public Interest Law, a Pepperdine Law School student

organization dedicated to helping law students explore

public interest law volunteer opportunities.

Sampselle was on his way to a career in impact litigation

when Professor Janet Kerr, director of the Palmer Center for

Entrepreneurship and Law at Pepperdine, suggested that

he look into B Lab as a way to blend his entrepreneurial

instincts with his socially-conscious mindset.

“It changed everything. From the moment I saw their

homepage, I knew they were going to disrupt the way

organizations like my former charity created change,”

Sampselle says.

B Lab is the organization that certifies B Corporations

and advocates for the benefit corporation legal entity,

and through a fellowship at the Palmer Center, Sampselle

secured an internship at B Lab, where he authored their

Benefit Corporation White Paper, the legislative

memorandum that is used to advocate for the legal

entity.

After serving with B Lab, Sampselle knew it was time to

build a support structure for the legal and certification work

he had helped establish at B Lab. When he authored the

white paper, the entity had only been passed in one state,

and he knew that if more states were going to adopt it,

those companies would need help navigating the

certification and legal status.

“Through B Lab, I found my new vocation, which is to

advocate for integrating purpose and values into the way

we do business, so that we prevent the problems charities

solve before they happen. If we have more conscientious

commercial exchange, the realm of charity and the realm of

business start to blur, and we have just one mode of

conscious, compassionate exchange,” Sampselle says.

He launched B Revolution while in grad school, formulating

the idea, developing the business plan and gathering funds

while adding an MBA to his law degree coursework. The

biggest challenge?

“Effective time management quickly became much more

necessary,” Sampselle jokes. While he argues that nothing

can take the place of hands-on learning and going through

the exhausting task of launching a company, an MBA helped

him navigate the tasks ahead of him. “I learned the

language, frameworks, and models – material that was

very new for me since I hadn’t been a business major in

undergrad and all of my business experience was in the real

world,” he says.

Today, Sampselle runs a conglomerate of companies that

provide certification consulting to companies, low-cost legal

services to startups, and access to mission-aligned capital for

B Corporations and benefit corporations. As a member of

the growing contingent of students and alumni who see the

potential of becoming entrepreneurs, Sampselle advises that

current students aspiring to start companies do what he did.

“Don’t wait to start your company. Vet the idea, test your

hypothesis, iterate, make it happen. There will never be a

better time to start making your idea a reality. Life is too

short to wait.” n

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“This conclusion aligned with the

observations by our Information

Systems and Technology Management

faculty that the Graziadio School was

very strongly positioned within the

broader L .A.region to offer a

comprehensive, r igorous and

practice-oriented graduate curriculum

to those seeking career opportunities

at the interaction of business and

digital technologies,” he says.

Mooney is an associate professor of

information systems, and

technology management and has

conducted considerable research in

Information Technology and

information management. Feedback

from business has shown there is a

need for business professionals and

managers who can lead, manage and

envision business-IT initiatives.

“The extent of use of digital technol-

ogies across most business processes

and many products and services is

giving rise to a critical need for

professionals and managers who bring

deep understanding of the opportu-

nities for business innovation that are

enabled by digital technologies and

the sophisticated managerial

competencies necessary for effective

planning and implementation to

execute these opportunities,” he says.

“Such individuals will be best

positioned for career success by

acquiring a comprehensive mix of

business, technology, and managerial

knowledge and competencies.”

As technologies merge and change,

Mooney believes the emergence of

social media, smart phones and other

web-connected mobile devices, and

the pro l i fe rat ion of apps a re

combining to create a much broader,

powerful and more pervasive range of

digital technologies. As the world

enters a realm of “total digitization,”

he says, the most exciting opportuni-

ties for innovating products, services,

processes, and social interactions are

those enabled by digital technologies,

and the largest portion of economic

activity will occur within the

“digital economy.” Digital innovation

is a term used to describe the

innovation of business strategy,

business models, products, services

and processes that are enabled by new

and emerging technologies.

The new concentration differs from

the traditional study of Information

Technology in that IT usually refers to

technologies that capture, store and

process data. DIIS will cover a larger

scope along with the business aspects

related to the digital economy.

“There are a number of research stud-

ies that point to the need for business

professionals and managers who are

competent and comfortable at the

intersection of business and digital

technologies,” Mooney says.

With the new concentration, the

Graziadio School is hoping to meet

that need.

SERVING THE STUDENT

For students seeking a concentration

in DIIS, the hope is this addition will

offer a wide range of career

opportunities for graduates. For

part-time MBA students, the

department anticipates business or IT

professionals will be interested in the

DIIS concentration to seek professional

and managerial positions in areas that

bridge business and IT. These include

business/systems analysis, business

intelligence/analytics, process/work-

flow analysis and design, project

management, supply chain manage-

ment, and consulting and IT-based

entrepreneurial ventures.

For full-time MBA students, DIIS may

be of interest to those with technolo-

gy, business or related undergraduate

degrees who wish to pursue

professional and managerial career

opportunities with a technological

focus. These areas might include

business analytics, project manage-

ment, business process/workflow

analysis and design, business

innovation, supply-chain

management, consulting and technol-

ogy-based entrepreneurial ventures.

MASTERING DIGITAL INNOVATION Continued

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“Feedback from our own alumni and industry connections

has verified a critical need for business professionals and

managers who possess the knowledge and competencies to

envision, manage, and lead initiatives that span the realms

of business, IT and innovation,” Mooney notes. “More

broadly at a national level, there are critical shortages of

business and management professionals with competencies

and capabilities to lead the development of the Science,

Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM)

sectors, for which graduates of the DIIS concentration will

be well-positioned to contribute.”

All this is a definite plus for students. In the classroom (or

digital classroom), students will be offered coursework

ranging from business analytics and digital innovation to

enterprise architecture and infrastructure management.

Graduates will be uniquely qualified for a world in which

every industry will be affected by digital technologies,

Mooney says, including the greater Los Angeles area.

“Some industries are being impacted more than others.

Within the L.A. area, media and entertainment are being

totally transformed by digital technologies,” he says.

“Financial services and retail have already undergone

significant transformations, but new emerging technolo-

gies will continue to enable additional innovation

opportunities. Healthcare is at the very early stages of its

transformation. The continued emergence of

internet-connected, mobile, smart monitoring devices will

enable remarkable innovations in pro-active patient health

management and incident prevention.”

For entrepreneurs, about 50 percent of the ideas for new

ventures emerging from Pepperdine students are online

businesses and apps or involve product, service or process

innovations that are substantially enabled by digital

technologies.

Mooney says Pepperdine is uniquely situated to offer DIIS

because the school has one of the largest departments of

tenured faculty in Southern California whose teaching,

research and professional interests involve the courses

included in the DIIS concentration.

“ We a r e a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e d i n r e l e v a n t a p p l i e d

research projects, business activities and professional

organizations that inform our course design and teaching

approaches,” he says.

As part of the concentrat ion, the professor i s

planning a study tour of Dublin, Ireland in December that

will examine the globalization of the digital economy and

includes visits to the Dublin headquarters of Accenture,

Facebook,

Google, LinkedIn and Microsoft. What has been the

reaction to the new DIIS offerings so far?

“Very positive,” Mooney says of the faculty response.

“Student reaction has been very positive also, in particular

the possibility for students to qualify for a double

concentration in DIIS and another area such as marketing,

entrepreneurship, leadership and organization change, or

finance.”

In a changing digital world, DIIS will prepare business

professionals to become technological titans. n

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American Love Affair Noelle Nguyen, PKE MBA ’12

AnaTangoMichael S. Saddik, PKE MBA ‘08

Anedot Paul Dietzel, MBA/MPP ’11

B RevolutionDirk Sampselle, JD/MBA ‘13

Aquatics NowNicholas Stankevich, MBA ‘13 Artful GentlemanNathan Johnson, MBA ‘10 and Jake Wall, MBA ‘08

Bea Liz (Liz B. Latif) Bardelas, MBA ‘12

Beach House Winery Kimberly A. Murray, MBA ‘07

Behind the Brand Bryan Elliott, MBA ‘99

Beyond the OliveCrystal and Chip Reibel, MBA ‘09

BIOethics PetfoodSusan Hua (MBA ’10)

BizibleAaron Bird, MBA

BlindbidMichael O’Hare, MBA ‘09

BlogcastFM.comSrinivas Rao, MBA 09

BodaBid.comMargan Patee, MBA ‘10

Business Simply PutLori Williams, MBA ‘05

CandlessentialsTashah Johnson, MBA ’11

Capchure LLC Aaron Moskowitz, MBA ‘07

CE Made Simple LLCMatthew S. Lemert, MBA ‘12

CFS AcceptanceArmin Rafiee, MBA ’10

Circuit OneJon Hoenig, MBA ’10

CrowdBrewed.comTravis Benoit, JD/MBA ‘10

EndPlayChristos M. Cotsakos, MBA ‘83

DeJant Group Corp.Omid Semino, MBA

DerivatasDat Do, MBA ’11 and Geoffroy Dubuisson, MBA ’11

DermaShoppeJimmy Nguyen, MBA ‘09 and Patrick Leroy, MBA ‘09

Destino Vero Designs and Apparel LLCDerek Skorupski, MBA ‘10

DevDugal.com Dev Dugal, MBA ‘04

Docstoc.comJason Nazar, M.B.A ’05, J.D. ‘06

DuxterAdam Lieb, JD/MBA ‘12

FCearth www.fcearth.comJeff Rozic, MBA ‘06

Geek ContrabandSarah Scherff, MBA ’10

GenZum Life SciencesChris Achar, MBA ’11

GetMeThereNowMax Kipnis, MBA ‘12

GiftioniDavid Price, MBA ’11

Global4PLSergio Retamal, MS ‘04

Global WaveZubin P. Mehta, MBA ‘06

iBibleStory/MaxMediaO. Mike Bradshaw, MSTM ‘93

Incompli, Inc.Jason Locklin, BSM/MBA ‘12

identifiDesignNick Norris, MBA ‘09

Jobonomics.com Sameer Gupta, MBA ‘09

JockTalkBrendon Kensel, MBA ‘00

Jungo LLCMichael Cheshire, MBA ‘11

KameelperdJon Hoenig, MBA ’10

Kensel & CoBrendon Kensel, MBA ‘00

Krav Maga WorldwideMatt Romond, MBA ‘12 Larsen Toy LabAlex Larsen, MBA ‘11

LaylaDarlene Kiloglu, MBA ‘11

LearnItByEar.comBrett Fisher, MBA ‘11 and Stephen Yeoh, MBA ‘11

Linked Orange CountyBryan Elliott, MBA ‘99

LocaxionPratish Shah, EMBA ‘10

ENTREPRENEUR NATION

Elizabeth Schmidt (MBA ’96) has developed an idea that

is similar to Groupon, but provides small independent

businesses control over their marketing and advertising

It is not top heavy and runs itself over the Internet. She

is completing its development, but is offering this project

to individuals in the Pepperdine Entrepreneur Nation. If

you are interested in this concept and want to learn more

about what Elizabeth has already accomplished, contact

her at [email protected].

Student Steven Lee presented his concept Tiger Bowls for

converting the traditional Korean BBQ restaurant into a

fast food restaurant to the panel in his ENTR 667 class. To

his surprised he earned a term sheet from one of the

panelists the next day.

RHODES SCHOLARS INTERSECTION OF FAMILY AND BUSINESSMaster of Science in Organization Development faculty

member Kent Rhodes at Pepperdine University recently

released a new book, with consultant David Lansky,

“Managing Conflict in the Family Business: Understanding

Challenges at the Intersection of Family and Business”

(Palgrave Macmillan).

The authors identify family business conflict archetypes

(patterns), frames, roles, and tactics with a view toward

educating readers about the common conflict cycles that

families running a business can encounter. They address

twelve conflicts that are common in family-owned

businesses, how families can spot them, and then plan for

their successful and effective management in ways that

simultaneously uphold the family and the business.

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Lolay, Inc.Bardia Dejban, MBA ‘10

LSR LifestyleJordan Rockwell, MBA ‘10

Maine Forest YurtsDavid Crowley, MBA ’12

Markex GlobalKasra Ferasat, MBA ‘10

MindFire Inc.David Rosendahl, BSM, ’05

ModalMindsStefan Hofmeyer, EMBA ‘12

Muddy Shoe Adventures Michael Bennett, MBA ’06 and Sam Blake, MBA ’08

Neo Pro GuardAndrew Lowenstein, MBA ’12

Ölens TechnologyPaul McCloskey, MBA ‘15

Personal Care PhysiciansTroy Medley, MBA ‘03

Pet TimeSteve Swift, MBA ‘13 and Kathy Regan, MBA ‘12

PixtantLee Rankinen, MBA ‘10 and Justin Malik, MBA ‘10

Political Matchmakers, LLCAlexander Fondrier, MPP/MBA ‘14

PrivateEquityFirms.comSam Nelson, MBA ‘05

Quantumsphere Kevin Maloney, MBA ‘02

SG Biofuels, Inc. www.sgbiofuel.comKirk Haney, MBA ‘95

ShadysJaime E. Parker, MBA ’99

Shark Bite ScubaKimberly Isaac, MBA ‘10

SkoolofLife.comSrinivas Rao, MBA 09

Smile Brands Inc.Steve Bilt, PKE MBA ’01

SohveNick Mitchell, EMBA ‘07

Stag LabsFrankie Warren, MBA ‘10

Superhero EnterprisesDavien L. Watkins, BSM ‘08

SwitchStream, LLC Kyle C. Murphy, MBA ‘05

The PortfoliumNeal Bloom, MBA ‘18

TrustyMax www.go2socket.comTim Kim, MBA ‘10

Urban OysterDavid Naczycz, MSOD ‘07

VedanicVarun Khanna, MBA ’12

Webventurous.comDhaval Doshi, MBA ‘09

we-search.orgChris Rovin, MBA ‘14

ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURSHIP REMEDY FOR ECONOMIC ILLS

According to the recently released Global Entrepreneurship

Snapshot, a report compile by Spark Global Business in the

U.K., nearly every area of the United States is investing

resources in promoting entrepreneurship. Professor Kyle

C. Murphy, a serial entrepreneur and lecturer of Strategy

& Entrepreneurship at Pepperdine, is quoted saying that,

“enterprise innovation hubs like Silicon Valley have long

been the envy of other regions, and while some larger U.S.

cities such as New York, Boston, Austin, and Los Angeles as

well as smaller cities like New Orleans and Pittsburg have

burgeoning startup ecosystems, other cities like Atlanta

and Dallas are far behind.”

Murphy feels that, unfortunately, too many communities

are trying to create an innovation hub by throwing

everything in the garden and hoping something blossoms.

http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/newsroom/wp-content/up-

loads/2013/07/Spark-Entrepreneurship-Snapshot-2013.pdf

NExT ISSUE:

INVENTING NEW PRODUCTS

ANDREW LOWENSTEIN, MBA ‘12 Co-founder, Neo Pro Guard

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6100 Center Drvie | Suite 300 | Los Angeles, CA 90045© PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY. All Rights Reserved. GSBM.DG.100113

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We prepare students to launch and sustain a successful venture or become an innovative leader in a corporate setting.

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION with a concentration in Entrepreneurship

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CERTIFICATE IN SOCIALLY ENVIRONMENTALLY AND ETHICALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS STRATEGY