Tag: Washington University

We’ve heard it for the past few years—St. Louis is a hub of startup activity.  There’s an energy, a buzz, a whirr about the town and it’s catching on.  And now—our little secret is spreading.

St. Louis is getting national attention for the startups that call it home.  And the really cool part?  Wash U MBAs (both current and alums) are a huge part of the action.

Last week Ben Castleman of The Wall Street Journal ran a story called, “Cities Hunt for Startup Magic.”   In it, he profiled the entrepreneurs who were bucking national trends by launching their own companies—and he profiled the city in which they were doing it:  St. Louis.

Accompanying his article was a video called “Will St. Louis become the next Silicon Valley.?” Cultivation Capital General Partner and Olin alum Rick Holton was a key part of the story, describing how St. Louis emerged as a hub for entrepreneurship.

But the St. Louis startup love didn’t stop there.  Last week, James Corbett put together this snapshot of St. Louis entrepreneurship.  It takes viewers inside the  T-Rex startup city.  Current Olin MBA Geoff Stonner describes his work with FoodEssentials and what it’s like being a part of the community (if you pay close attention, I even make a cameo in there at one point).

The takeaway?  Big things are happening here in St. Louis.  This is a town that is proving that entrepreneurs don’t have to pack up and move to the coasts to be successful.  In fact, St. Louis is proving that startups can even be more successful and their employees can lead better, happier lives by basing themselves here.  Five years ago, that thought might have sounded crazy.  Today, it’s a reality.  And Washington University Olin MBAs are a huge part of that success.

Photo credit: postcard collage by Jeff Kopp.

Policy and leadership were smoothly woven together in the Brookings Executive Education (BEE) course Politics and Policymaking. This open enrollment program is one of the required courses for the MS-Leadership.

Combining academic expertise and illustrious experience from Capitol Hill, this course brought to life the intersection of these two essential learning elements. Lynn Ross, PhD, of Georgetown Public Policy Institute introduced the class to the policy process via the policy windows framework. This model provides participants with the means to actively engage in the process as policy entrepreneurs.

Dennis Hastert, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Steven Smith, professor of political science, and director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, discussed real world examples of rational choice theory and spatial theory.This additional analysis provides participants with a tool to assess the likelihood of policy change.

Closing the program was former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert. Speaker Hastert emphasized the way to learn is to jump in and do it.  Nothing can duplicate personal experience. He additionally advised that knowledge is the greatest power an individual can acquire and the key to being effective is to stay savvy on key issues. In essence, Hastert said, “knowledge is power”.

Capitol dome photo by: SMSGT Munnaf Joarder, U.S. Army familymwr

After a year of planning, last Friday afternoon we celebrated the final presentations of the Olin Sustainability Case Competition (OSCC)!  This was the fourth year of the competition, which began as a way to increase awareness about sustainability as it relates to business practices.

This year, we had more than 20 teams express interest in the competition. The case topic was “Blight, Plight, and Urban Flight: Stimulating the Sustainable Development of Vacant Land in the City of St. Louis.” For the first year ever, the case writers decided to take the case off-campus and work with administrators from the City of St. Louis to develop a case that would produce implementable ideas to reduce the amount of vacant land around our city.

After weeks of reviewing submissions, the committee narrowed it down to our final three teams. These teams presented their ideas to a room of about 100 people, including our corporate sponsors from Novus and Tarlton, as well as a prestigious judging panel made up of administrators from around the Washington University campus and the City of St. Louis.

At the end of the day, Team 4 and Team 13 tied for first place and each team won $4,000!

Team 4: Watch Team 4’s Video Submission
Brian Arnold, MS in Finance 2013
Deona DeClue, Juris Doctor 2013
Cody Greer, PhD Neuroscience 2017
Benjamin Mueller, MS Construction Management 2015

Team 13: Watch Team 13’s Video Submission
Megan Berry, Master of Architecture 2014
Grace Goldstein, Master of Architecture 2015
Grant McCracken, BA Architecture and English Literature 2014

And Team 8 came in as our runners-up winning a prize of $2,000!

Team 8: Watch Team 8’s Video Submission
Steven Boughton, MBA 2014
Daniela Pacurar, MBA 2014
John (Turner) Peters, MBA 2014

Be on the look-out for the Fifth Annual Olin Sustainability Case Competition next year!  In the meantime, be sure to congratulate our 2013 winning teams!