Congratulations to the full-time MBA classes of 2012 and 2013. In just one year you have accomplished an extraordinary amount, from organizing conferences and international treks to winning case competitions. We are so proud of all you achieve at Haas–and have captured what we could (i.e. some, certainly not all!) in this Haas Achieves video. We know you have many achievements yet to come and wish you the best.
Tag Archives: digital media
MBA 11s at Work: Riot Games
Welcome to MBA 11s at Work, a periodic series on the career launches—in consulting, finance, tech, entrepreneurship, and more—of the Berkeley MBA class of 2011.
Nan Duan (front and center) From MBA glee to Riot Games gig
Grad: Nan Duan, MBA 11
Working as: International Publishing Manager at Riot Games, a Santa Monica-based video game developer. Riot is known for League of Legends, which has over 32 million registered users worldwide. “My main responsibility is working with Asian publishers who operate our game in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.”
Riot because: “It’s one of the most dynamic companies in the video games industry right now.” In his second year, Duan narrowed an interest in consumer tech down to gaming. “Riot emerged as attractive due to its combination of a free-to-play business model with a ‘hardcore’ video game, as well as its aggressive expansion in Asia, which fit well with my international student background.”
Inside Riot: “We have adopted many of the techniques used in social games and applied them to a really competitive, hardcore title,” says Duan. The company organizes development around a highly rapid and iterative cycle. “This is not common at all for traditional core gaming, where studios spend two years and multi-million dollar budgets before the game is launched.”
Networked: “Haas has great presence in some of the leading areas in gaming—during my job search I interacted with alumni at Zynga and EA.” Duan observes that gaming has not been a typical sector for MBAs (He thinks he is the first fresh MBA grad hired at Riot), but says this is rapidly changing with recent social/mobile gaming trends. “Gaming is rising as a heavyweight component within the broad entertainment sector so, in this sense, I feel I’m helping Haas establish a footprint in this industry.”
Best career search strategies: Taking advantage of every event to socialize and know more people in the industry. “The opportunity at Riot came up after two Rioters were invited to speak at Haas.”
Classroom lessons in action: Duan is a big fan of Reza Mozzami’s strategy courses on IT, Media, and Wireless. “They have really shaped how I think about the technology industry and are a must for anyone interested in the sector.”
Living the So-Cal life: It’s Santa Monica—beaches and the weather to enjoy them are a top draw, along with “an amazing selection of Asian food.” 
Clubbing
One official week in and full-time MBA students have already been clubbed: They’ve worked through a Zynga case with the Digital Media and Entertainment Club (DMEC), attended an “Energy Boot Camp” held by the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative (BERC), and heard Bain & Company perspective on the smartphone ecosystem, thanks to the Haas Consulting Club. Here is just a sampling of what’s happened in just a couple of weeks on the club scene–and what’s coming up:
A number of DMEC club officers, fresh off of summer internships at Zynga, came to Haas during O-Week to work through a Zynga Career Workshop with new students. Along with alumnus and Zynga Product Manager Matt Salazar, MBA 11, they gave an overview of the product management role and how games are designed. First-years then pitched game ideas for prizes.
Zynga COO Marcus Segal addresses Digital Media club event
Those game industry contacts were leveraged once again the first week of school, when Zynga COO Marcus Segal addressed DMEC’s first speaker series class. Brain Guenther, MBA 12, serves as VP of Marketing for both DMEC and the Haas Technology Club (HTC) and says to watch for career treks to prominent digital media and technology companies, the annual DMEC >play conference, and a new case competition from HTC sponsored by VMWare.
BERC greeted students with an energy boot camp, where a crowd of people turned out to hear VC and legal perspectives on technology, policy, and business aspects of clean energy. BERC’s annual lecture on Sept. 1 features Samir Kaul of Khosla Ventures and UCB alternative energy Professor Chris Somerville, who will discuss a regulation, the role of large corporations in cleantech startups, and financing and deployment of clean technology. 
The Haas Consulting Club welcomed some 80 people at each of their first two events: A management consulting primer and a discussion by Bain & Company consultants on the smartphone ecosystem wars. Watch for Consulting 101 on September 1, when a panel of 2nd-year students will discuss their internship job search and work experiences. “Interviews for management consulting start early and resume drop deadlines are coming up soon,” says Co-president Jarom Feriante. “The Haas Consulting Club has a lot of members who are serious about executing interviews successfully, and the time to start preparing is now.”
From Marketing to Latin American Business to Design and Innovation Strategy, if you’d like to go clubbing, visit the Berkeley MBA Campus Groups web page to learn more.
MBA Internships: Disney
Student: Sam Filer, MBA 12
Interning with: Walt Disney Studios, Los Angeles
Thrilled to be with Disney because: “It is the ultimate entertainment company and I’m contributing to its transition to digital.”
Can’t believe he’s getting the chance to: “Work on product development, attend private screenings, and get paid to go to Disneyland.”
Already, he’s learned: How movie distribution works, both traditionally and digitally.
Advancing career goals by: “Expanding my network dramatically in entertainment.”
Who makes you proud to be Berkeley-Haas? Tell us in the comments below or share your stories with vgilbert@haas.berkeley.edu.
Buzz Right-Here
Digital Media Club Meets Pixar Pres.
The buzz was right here when Pixar Animation Studios President and Co-founder Ed Catmull spoke at Haas last week as part of the Dean’s Speaker Series. Sensing a rich opportunity, students in the Berkeley-Haas Digital Media and Entertainment Club (DMEC) angled in advance for a small private audience with the man who made monster fur look real. “We knew this was a rare and valuable opportunity for our members to interact with one of the pioneers of computer animation and to hear his advice for aspiring digital media professionals,” says MBA 12 Brian Dunham, DMEC co-president, along with classmate Bradley Okamoto, who worked with the Dean’s office to help orchestrate the opportunity.
MBA 12 Jason Lyman, one of the other six student participants, appreciated the opportunity to “drill deeper” on topics covered in Catmull’s larger talk at Haas. Lyman notes that the 40-minute discussion took in everything from the impact of rapidly-shifting movie distribution channels to harnessing the genius talent at Pixar, and the reason behind the long wait for sequels (More Cars and Monsters are coming.) The key takeaway for both Lyman and Dunham was the role of the leader and of organizational structure in innovation. “A flatter structure with more equality is essential to creating an environment in which divergent ideas are both shared and seriously considered,” says Dunham. “And only certain executives have the temperament to work in that environment.”
Who makes you proud to be Berkeley-Haas? Tell us in the comments below or share your stories with vgilbert@haas.berkeley.edu.
