The Virtual MBA

Ronald is at a crossroads. Having just graduated from Wharton and taking a start-up through YC, he doesn’t have a job, nor does he know what he will do next. His flaws, how to find happiness while unemployed and a look into his process. New podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wall-street-oasis/id1223825795?mt=2

Jon tell us how he built a media company that has paid out $10 million to content creators over the past 3 years for videos like Pizza Rat and Chewbacca Mom. We discuss why the future of storytelling is user generated content and how technology mixes with methodology to find the best videos online.

Professor of entrepreneurship at Anderson "Coach" discusses why he enrolled in law school after earning an MBA, being a successful entrepreneur and a professor. Coach then tells us how to know if you’re doing the right thing in life and how to define happiness. We end the podcast with Coach singing the alphabet backwards, sharing his favorite movie quotes and discussing a book about the most important business decision you will make in your life.

Michael Montgomery Co-Founder of Montgomery & Co. discusses how technology is changing the entertainment business, his background working as the Treasurer of Disney, being taped by Jeffrey Katzenberg to work at Dreamworks, being an angel investor in Oculus, starting the iconic investment bank Montgomery & Co. and the advantages of having an MBA.

Dennis has had a huge career. Starting off in the entertainment business with Ted Turner tapping him to run Turner, being one of the first guys at Lionsgate and then running TV at Sony. Having a fascination for how tech impacted the content business, Dennis transitioned to an investing role in the venture capital world. Dennis tells us what it’s like to be at an influential venture firm from the very beginning and how his career has helped him see where to put his time and money on the non-profit side and how easy and important it is for you to get involved now.

Alex Angelov, my friend from investment banking who went on to work at Canada’s largest private equity fund discusses going to school at the “Wharton of Canada”, What investment banking recruiting out of undergrad is like and how just a few months into the job, private equity funds make you $400K offers. We talk about what private equity investors looks for and the traditional path to business school. Alex tells us why he left the world of finance to pursue his passion to run a business and how he intends to accomplish that through starting a search fund, and why he doesn’t need an MBA to do so. Alex talks about the logistics of starting a search fund, his pros and cons of business school and his favorite places to eat at in LA.

Pad Madigan, current MBA student talks with us about turning down an offer from Google, how he was the first employee at Hotel Tonight, a fast growing start-up that has raised $80 million and why he left Hotel Tonight to pursue an MBA. Pad also discusses the role of an MBA in the tech world, what a product manager really does and the incredible opportunities business school has afforded him.

Eric Wilker, my boss from my internship and USC Marshall grad, sits-down to discuss his transition from a creative background to a business role, the changing economics of the studio business and the evolving entertainment landscape, advice for future MBA’s and how to navigate working for a large corporation.

Andres Engel, Business development executive and HBS grad chats about his passion to work with people and empower teams, growing up in Chile and why LA reminds him of South America. His background in investment banking both before and after business school and why he didn’t see himself as a banker long-term. His work now building a growth equity fund and how business school opened his mind, as well as future travel plans.

Brian Farrell, the former CEO of video game publisher THQ sits down with me to discuss the future of the games business, lessons learned from his nearly 20-year career as CEO and the value an MBA has in the industry.

Matt Zarider, an HBS grad working in business development for Warner Bros. Television group, stops by to discuss why he got an MBA, its value in the entertainment industry, his 50-year goals, the ATT acquisition and advice for MBA’s looking to break into the industry.

Jordan Toplitzky, the CFO of the multi-channel network Studio 71 and recent MBA grad from Michigan’s executive program talks with us about the future of content distribution, what a CFO does, balancing work and life while getting an MBA, his background at a hedge-fund, the worst job he’s had, differences between executive and full-time MBA’s and what what’s it’s like being part of a capital raising process.