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S U M ME R 2021 18> Olympic Mettle Haas Olympians talk medals and resilience Plus: ALUMNI GUIDE THE FINTECH REVOLUTION P. 12 MANAGERS AND NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR P. 30
Tech-enabled financial
services are game changers
for many worldwide,
especially those left
out of the traditional
financial system.
TENTAKE AWAYS The cost of MISSION
MISALIGNMENT among workers
6
PAGE 5
A key 8
time to make
RISKIER Maintaining
INVESTMENTS WORKPLACE
CULTURE
PAGE 8
post-pandemic
2 7 PAGE 50
PAGE 10
How imperfect MEMORY affects
choices—and brand equity NONVERBAL SIGNALS 9
you want to be sending
PAGE 30
3 Are you
PAGE 54
unwittingly
spreading
Interview PREJUDICE?
tips to land PAGE 4
LEADERSHIP
roles 4
I LLUSTRATION: HA NNA H BARCZYK; TOC ILLUSTRATIONS: DRUE WAGNER
5 Olympians’ advice for
cultivating resilience A CURE FOR BLINDNESS
PAGE 45 10
PAGE 18
MASTHEAD
1
Ute Frey Contributing Writers Address changes: SUMMER
How fintech Executive Editor Michael Blanding, Meilan Car-
ter-Gilkey, Krysten Crawford,
alumni@haas.berkeley.edu
Contact:
2021
aims to Amy Marcott
Managing Editor
Jeneé Darden, Andrew Faught,
Carol Ghiglieri, Kate Madden
letters@haas.berkeley.edu
Berkeley Haas Magazine,
democratize EmDash
Yee, Kathleen Pender UC Berkeley
2001 Addison St., Ste. 240
finance Art Director Berkeley Haas is published
three times a year by the Haas
Berkeley, CA 94704
PAGE 12 Staff Writers School of Business, University Cover: Photo of Ryan
Laura Counts, Kim Girard, of California, Berkeley. Murphy, BS 17, by Tom
Natasha Payés Pennington/Getty Images
BEHAVIORAL FINANCE
Only Human
The myth of the rational CEO
BY LAURA COUNTS
ILLUSTRATION: DA N PAGE
CEOs are paid big bucks for their abil- found CEOs to be substantially more optimistic
ity to make rational, objective decisions that than both the lay population and CFOs.
boost company performance. But do they really “Biases don’t stem from a lack of education,
do better than the average worker? intelligence, or ability—they’re a hard-wired
A new analysis by Berkeley Haas behavioral part of human behavior that affect even the
finance researchers shows convincing evidence most educated and influential decision mak-
that CEOs are just as susceptible to biased deci- ers,” says Marius Guenzel, MS 17, PhD 21,
The Takeaway sion-making as the rest of us—in some cases, who conducted the analysis with Prof. Ulrike
2 A growing body of research has documented
that CEOs are vulnerable to bias at every stage
of their careers.
even more so. For example, past research has Malmendier, the CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE>
Berkeley HAAS
COMMUNICATION
FOUL #HAASOME
LANGUAGE
< CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance.
Economists have long assumed that powerful
market forces ensure that the elite group of people
who steer companies through complex decisions
are exceptionally rational. Guenzel, now an assis-
How prejudice spreads
tant professor at the Wharton School, and Mal-
WHAT CAN mendier argue that 15 years of behavioral finance BY LAURA COUNTS
BE DONE TO research (much of it by Malmendier, a leader in
COMBAT the field) has whittled away at those assumptions.
When you insist you’re not racist,
CEO BIAS? The first assumption in the so-called “ratio-
you may unwittingly be sending the
SOME IDEAS: nal-manager paradigm” is that smart, highly trained
opposite message.
people strive for the top jobs, and the competitive JOURNEY OF
Malmendier and That’s the conclusion of a new study
selection process weeds out those with poten- A LIFETIME
Guenzel suggest by Berkeley Haas researchers who con-
tially harmful biases. Yet research has shown that
a “behavioral ducted experiments with white partic- When it comes to
overconfident decision-makers—biased by defini-
approach” to corpo- ipants claiming to hold egalitarian seeing the world,
tion—are more likely to be appointed as CEOs. One
rate governance and views. After assessing their underlying Indy Nelson, BS 16,
reason is that boards looking for a candidate with
hiring that recog- racial attitudes then asking them to has most people
the “best” past performance might select someone
nizes everyone is write statements explaining why they beat. He holds two
who made a risky move that happened to pay off. EMPLOYEE MORALE
subject to biases. weren’t prejudiced against Black peo- world records, as
And biased board members themselves may choose
ple, they found that other white people the youngest person
MISSION MISALIGNMENT
candidates who match their way of thinking.
Assess candidates for could nevertheless gauge the writers’ (age 24) to visit all
potential biases. A second assumption is that CEOs learn from
underlying racism. 196 sovereign coun-
Past research has shown their mistakes and improve their decision-making
that managers with a “Our results suggest that the tries in the fastest
over time, thus reducing biases. But big decisions,
explicit goal of appearing egali- time (539 days), a
financial background seem
to exhibit fewer biases.
like acquisitions, happen so infrequently that there
tarian might blind people to the
The cost of partisanship among federal workers feat he completed
are limited opportunities to learn. An overconfident
possibility that they could be com- soon after gradu-
leader might plunge the company into a dicey deal.
Make procedural municating, and perpetuating, prej- BY LAURA COUNTS ating from Haas.
changes and other It’s also hard to distinguish between correlation
udicial attitudes,” says Asst. Prof. Nelson says going
“corporate repairs” and causation in most decisions, and a person with
to increase oversight. Drew Jacoby-Senghor. into the unknown
“self-attribution bias” tends to attribute successes A president appoints just 0.23% of the Comparing similar contracts, the researchers
For example, require two What were those linguistic cues? each day helps him
to their own actions and blame failures on others. federal workforce. The vast majority of civil ser- found an 8% increase in cost overruns among
uninvolved managers to The most powerful indicator, they in his product man-
Plus, biased CEOs may pad management ranks vants, then, carry on regardless of their party affil- contractors who were registered as Democrats
evaluate the assumptions found, was language that dehuman- ager role at Adobe.
in major projects. with like-minded colleagues who reinforce their iation. But this inevitable political mismatch takes under a Republican president and vice versa—even
ized or objectified African Ameri- “The best way to
biases: Malmendier has found that overconfident a toll—a new study has found reduced performance among officers within the same department in the
Restructure CEO cans—for example, “I have a great learn how to solve
CEOs are seven times more likely to appoint over- from workers misaligned with the president’s party. same year.
compensation packages relationship with the Blacks.” the most difficult
confident CFOs. Malmendier also pioneered a line “Some people might think there’s some sort of “We didn’t see any change in how people were
to change incentives. Co-authored by Derek Brown, PhD of situations is to
of research that shows people’s tolerance for finan- ‘deep state’ slowing things down,” says Haas Asst. choosing contractors or the types of contracts, so
Research shows that 23, and Michael Rosenblum, PhD 20, be exposed to them,”
executive compensation cial risk is shaped by their lifetime experiences— Prof. Guo Xu, who conducted the research along the decline in performance occurred while they
the research also found that white he says, “especially
currently rewards risk another source of bias. with colleagues from Northwestern University, were overseeing the contract,” Xu says. “These
takers, who tend to be readers reported greater racism those that you can’t
Finally, economists have argued that watchful “but we see the same thing from the Republican overruns really do seem to be due to a decline in
overconfident, while toward Black people after reading even fathom.”
boards keep bias-driven errors at bay, disciplining side as the Democratic side. Based on our evidence, morale, which we corroborated through data from
those who are risk averse statements from self-avowed white
are paid less. or replacing leaders who go astray. Yet there’s little it looks like misaligned civil servants just become employee surveys.”
egalitarians who scored high on
evidence that boards objectively evaluate CEOs for less motivated overall.” The relative continuity of the U.S. civil service LEARN MORE:
ILLUSTRATION: JON KRAUSE
underlying prejudice. In other words,
bias, and biases at the top are not necessarily asso- The study spanned four administrations: Bill contrasts with countries such as India, where there indynelson.com/travel
the readers mirrored the attitudes of
ciated with higher rates of dismissal, the research- Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and is far more political churn, which is in many ways
the writers, even when they reported
ers conclude. Donald Trump, and focused on some 7,200 pro- a sign of a well-functioning bureaucracy, Xu says.
they were ideologically dissimilar
“Can a board link company performance to a curement officers, who select and monitor federal However, he notes, the research underscores the
(conservative vs liberal).
CEO’s decision?” says Guenzel. “It’s hard to deter- contracts for services, construction projects, and potential costs and significant impact of mission
mine causality in a way that leads to their firing.” more, amounting to over 9% of the federal budget. misalignment in any organization.
CONNECTIONS
Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, a leader in the field The Takeaway The Takeaway
4 of behavioral corporate finance research,
was the first woman awarded the prestigious
Fischer Black Prize, analogous to the John
Bates Clark Medal in economics.
Even though white people may naturally
try to come across as egalitarian
regarding race, the language they
choose can betray them.
Cost overruns in federal contracts
increase by about 8% when the worker
overseeing them is misaligned with
the president’s party.
5
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021
pretty much put me on the entrepreneurial path,” computer science), created “study pact,” which
she says. helps Cal students find online study partners via
Rajavi Mishra, BS 22, began dreaming of launch- the Berkeley Mobile app. Now, with the help of the
ing a startup as a high school student in India. At Larson Scholarship, Mishra is researching her next
Berkeley, her passion for entrepreneurship and tech venture—or ventures. She says she’s got several
led her to co-found AccelerateHer, which seeks to irons in the fire. “For entrepreneurs there’s always
encourage young women to pursue startups. a financial crunch when you’re starting off, with
Earlier this year, with the entire campus work- development and user acquisition costs,” Mishra
ing remotely, Mishra and a collaborator, Sudarshan says. The scholarship will ease some of that burden
Gopalakrishnan, BS 21 (electrical engineering and and help her realize her entrepreneurial dreams. #HAASOME
Refugees in the Croatian
town of Bapska on the
Serbian-Croatian border.
LIVING THE DREAM
ENTREPRENEURSHIP The profile of
Matthew Wangeman,
Funding Fearlessness BS 92, in the
spring 2020 issue
of Berkeley Haas
magazine, won a
Larson scholars flex their ingenuity BLOCKCHAIN bronze medal in the
prestigious CASE
BY CAROL GHIGLIERI Circle of Excellence
In the fall of 2016, when Sarrah Nomanbhoy first arrived at
POWER HUNGRY
The economic cost of cryptomining
competition.
Wangeman is a
father, scholar,
and disability
Haas, hundreds of thousands of migrants were seeking refuge in Europe, most studies lecturer
BY LAURA COUNTS
fleeing armed conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Nomanbhoy knew she who himself has
a disability.
wanted to apply the skills she’d learn at Haas to the intersection of forced When cryptominers come to town, local thin margins, so I don’t think they’d be The profile and
migration and technology. residents and small businesses pay a happy to pay for the energy that cryp- accompanying
price in surging electricity rates. tominers are using,” says Asst. Prof. photo essay reveal
The next summer, she traveled to Greece, Nomanbhoy’s trip to Greece was pivotal to That’s because “proof-of-work” Matteo Benetton, who co-authored the not just the
ILLUSTRATION: ISTOC K; PHOTO: COURTESY M ATTHEW WANGEMAN
where she interviewed refugees seeking asylum. Marhub’s success, and it was made possible by cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and paper with finance colleagues Assoc. systemic hardships
“The people we spoke to were facing a lot of infor- the Jack Larson Scholarship, which aims to assist Ethereum, demand brute computational Prof. Adair Morse and Giovanni Compi- that people with
mation barriers,” Nomanbhoy says. “And they the next generation of innovators at Haas. power to solve the complex math prob- ani, now at Chicago Booth. disabilities face
were desperate for assistance.” John “Jack” Larson, BS 73, a successful entre- lems required to verify transactions on Miners choose northern locales but also Wangeman’s
Nomanbhoy, who earned her MBA in 2018, cre- preneur in the field of post-secondary education, a blockchain. Cryptomining server farms to keep servers cool and are lured by sheer joy of living.
ated Marhub to help refugees access crucial infor- established the annual scholarship in 2008 to help guzzle electricity by the megawatt. abundant, cheap power—sometimes
mation. The online platform answers questions, both graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurs. A new Berkeley Haas working paper— with discounts. While those excess
PHOTO: © UNHC R/ TA NYA HA BJOUQA
READ THE ARTICLE:
screens refugees to determine eligibility for vari- “For MBA students, it’s a chance to take a risk the first to quantify the negative eco- costs are slightly offset by tax reve- haas.org/
ous pathways toward resettlement, and connects and share an idea,” Larson says. For undergradu- nomic impacts of cryptomining on local nue of about $40 million, the miners’ matthew-wangeman
them with legal assistance and other resources. ates, who are less certain about their career path, communities—estimates that the power massive server farms employ just a
“So far we’ve reached about 17,000 refugees,” it can inspire them to test the entrepreneurial demands of mining operations in upstate handful of people, and profits aren’t
Nomanbhoy says, and there’s been a 250% rise waters. “It encourages them to explore what they New York push up annual electric bills by local. “The real profits from bitcoin
in efficiency for caseworkers at legal aid organiza- want to be,” says Larson. “I know it makes a dif- about $79 million for individuals and mining can be moved from upstate New
tions—meaning they’re successfully processing ference in their lives.” $165 million for small businesses. York to Italy or Colombia or China in a
more cases. Nomanbhoy agrees. “The Larson Scholarship “Small businesses operate on very second,” Benetton says.
CONNECTIONS
Sarrah Nomanbhoy co-founded The Takeaway The Takeaway
6 Marhub with classmate Peter
Wasserman, MBA/MPH 18.
The Jack Larson Scholarship, given annually to
graduate and undergraduate students, helps budding
entrepreneurs advance their innovations.
The power demands of cryptomining can cause
electricity rates in local communities to spike.
That’s true for other large data-processing centers:
for cloud computing, AI, or other tech applications.
7
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021
EQUITY PRICES AND THE ELECTION CYCLE
Six-month
#HAASOME 12% average
YEAR ONE
YEAR TWO (MIDTERM)
returns in U.S.
10% YEAR THREE
equity prices
YEAR FOUR surrounding #HAASOME
BIANNUAL CHANGES IN EQUITY PRICES
(PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION) November for
8% the different
years of the
6% election cycle.
(Data period:
1871–2015)
4%
LIGHTING THE WAY
Haas School Board 2%
member Haruki
Satomi, MBA 12
0%
(shown right), Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June Jul
took a turn passing ASSESSING RISK
the Olympic torch
President Biden
in Tokyo, where a INVESTING
nominated Haas
Lighting Ceremony
Lecturer Grant Har-
replaced the RISK
traditional Torch
Relay on public
streets due to the
MIDTERMS MATTER MOST PAYS OFF
IN POST-
MIDTERM
4
OTHERS
ris to serve as assis-
tant secretary for
industry and anal-
ysis in the Depart-
pandemic. The theme RETURNS
POST-MIDTERM
for the Torch Relay
When election cycles really pay off ment of Commerce.
3 Harris, the CEO of
was “Hope Lights
BY LAURA COUNTS consultancy Connect
Our Way,” uniting The researchers
Frontier LLC, is a
AVERAGE EXCESS RETURNS (PERCENT)
the Japanese people plotted returns
leading expert on
around messages Every four years, presidential elections thirds of the past 36 election cycles. for a range of
strategy and
about supporting, roil the stock market amid uncertainty Marsh says he was puzzled at first portfolios from 2 political risk in
accepting, and over who will hold power in Washington. about the significance of the midterms. December to
emerging markets.
PHOTO: PATTI MCCONVILLE / STOCKI M O / A LA MY STOCK PH OTO
encouraging one Yet for investors, the more important He and Chan speculated that the cause is April in mid-
another. Satomi is election milestone may be the midterms. a decrease in uncertainty—a theory the term years versus
president and COO New research by Berkeley Haas Prof. researchers were able to back up by analyz- other years. They
of SEGA Sammy Emeritus Terry Marsh has documented ing indices that measure economic uncer- found that risk- 1
Holdings, Inc. and significantly above-average returns in the tainty and partisan conflict monthly. ier investments
chairman and CEO of six months following midterm elections “When you’re dealing with the stock (portfolios with
SEGA Games, Ltd. over the past 145 years. market you’re dealing with expectations,” higher beta, a
In fact, since 1872, average annualized says Marsh, CEO of risk-management measure of
equity market returns were over 15.4% firm Quantal International. “Midterm volatility relative 0
in the months following midterms, voters tend to penalize the president’s to a benchmark)
compared with just under 3% in other party to maintain checks and balances. yield higher
months, Marsh and co-author Kam Fong Uncertainty about the political division returns in mid-
Chan documented. They found the post- in Washington—and what that means for term years. In 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5
midterm months outperformed the economic policy—peaks in the months other years, risk BETA (STOCK’S SENSITIVITY TO MARKET-WIDE RISK)
post-presidential months in roughly two- leading up to the midterm.” decreases returns.
The Takeaway The Takeaway The Takeaway
8 Equity market returns in post-midterm months
outperformed the post-presidential months
in roughly two-thirds of the past 36 election
cycles. They were on a par in 2016 and 2018.
There’s some truth to the so-called
“winter effect” of seasonally higher
returns from November through
April—but only every four years.
The months immediately following
national midterm elections are the best
time for riskier investments.
9
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021
HAAS LEADERSHIP
BOLSTERING THE BOARD
Haas diversifies pool of advisors
BY KIM GIRARD
#HAASOME
Three new Haas School Board members are adding diversity and depth of corporate
experience to the group of advisors helping the dean and senior leaders strengthen
the brand and reputation of Haas. “I’m proud that our Haas Board has become more
representative with the addition of new board members, including those from under-
represented minority groups,” says Dean Ann Harrison. “These voices will help us
achieve our audacious vision to forge business leaders who will work to create a more
innovative, inclusive, and sustainable world.”
NEUROSCIENCE HIGH IMPACT
Brain Freeze
California
Management
Review remains
one of the most
highly cited prac-
Why brands should care about our imperfect memory titioner-oriented
research journals in
BY MICHAEL BLANDING
the world, earning a
PHOTOS FROM LEF T: GENEVI EVE SH IFF RAR, COURTESY O F FRANK COOPER III, HEATHER HOUSTON
“Equity fluency and “Excellence requires “I’m very interested in single-year impact
Quick: List your three favorite fast- Zhang, a Haas postdoctoral scholar, who conducted
leadership excellence go help. That simple fact Haas remaining in the factor of 8.8 and a
food restaurants. the research with Assoc. Prof. Ming Hsu and UCSF
hand in hand. As a board has motivated me to top rank among its peers five-year impact
If you’re like many people, McDonald’s, Wen- neurologist Andrew Kayser.
member, I’m thrilled provide whatever sup- in all key measures. My factor of 9.2 in the
dy’s, and Burger King may come to mind—even if To measure the influence of memory on deci-
to serve with Dean Ann port and guidance I can hope is also that I will newest Thomson
you much prefer In-N-Out or Chick-fil-A. sions, the researchers examined people’s choices
Harrison and others to give to help students be able to contribute to Reuters ranking of
A new Haas study combining decision-making for different types of branded and nonbranded con-
help meld and magnify thrive. I saw the poten- the ongoing and develop- global research pub-
experiments with brain scans found that when it sumer goods, such as fast food, fruit, and sneak-
those tenets for Haas and tial to contribute to ing activities regarding lications. This high-
comes to making choices, we frequently and pre- ers. In one open-ended study, 30% of people said
the broader community. advancing diversity, DEI. As a Black American, est-ever ranking
dictably forget about the things we like best and are McDonald’s was their preferred fast food; yet for
We can expand the pie so equity, and inclusion DEI is a topic of par- compares favorably
instead swayed by what we remember—a finding those given a list of restaurants, only half that many
everyone gets a meaning- (DEI), promoting ticular resonance and to other top
Brain scans showing that explains the importance of brands for consum- chose the golden arches, while the other half chose
higher activity of ful and fulfilling activities that expand interest to me.” management jour-
ers and has implications for crafting public policy restaurants like In-N-Out or Chick-fil-A.
memory retrieval for slice—there is enough student capability in nals, like Harvard
and managing neurodegenerative diseases. The researchers also scanned the brains of a group ERIC MCKISSACK, BCEMBA 04
open-ended decisions. for everyone to enjoy sustainability, and con- Business Review
The findings challenge the fundamental tenets of participants using fMRI (functional magnetic res- Founder and Former
and benefit.” tinuing to elevate the and MIT Sloan
of traditional economic models that assume people onance imaging). When people were asked to make CEO, Channing Capital
reputation of Haas.” Management Review.
make rational decisions from all available options. open-ended choices, the memory retrieval regions of MONICA STEVENS, MBA 96 Management LLC;
I LLUSTRATION: JAM ES YANG
Because most decisions don’t come with multi- their brains lit up. That didn’t happen when people Senior Vice President and FRANK COOPER III, BS 86 Independent Board
ple-choice answers, we instead conjure options from chose from a list. Credit and Risk Leader, Wells Senior Managing Director Director
our imperfect memories. All told, the findings show that our memories limit Fargo Merchant Services and Global Chief Marketing
“Everyone knows that human memory is limited, our choices. “What we observed for McDonald’s is Officer, BlackRock
but scientists know surprisingly little about how this true for every product category we investigated and
limit impacts our decisions,” says lead author Zhihao really speaks to the power of brands,” says Hsu.
The Takeaway The Takeaway
10 By combining economic models of decision-making with
psychological models of memory recall and fMRIs, researchers
accurately predicted how often people fail to choose their
more preferred options due to their imperfect memories.
Three newly appointed Haas School Board members are
eager to help Dean Harrison achieve Haas’ ambitious
vision addressing society’s biggest challenges and
opportunities: innovation, inclusion, and sustainability.
11
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021
By KATHLEEN PENDER • Illustration by HANNAH BARCZYK
MONEY
MOVES Haas alumni ride the wave
of fintech revolution
After growing up in India and emigrating to
the U.S., Harsh Sinha, MBA 14, learned firsthand about
the oft-hidden fees involved in moving money globally.
Traditionally, dollars sent overseas go through a network
of correspondent banks in two or more countries, each
marking up the exchange rate along the way. Remitting
wages back home, booking a hotel room, paying a foreign
supplier—all are subject to markups.
“I remember how expensive it was just to get Indian
rupees converted to U.S. dollars for my tuition,” he says.
“Banks were saying they had no fees, but the fees were
hidden in the exchange rates—sometimes as high as 5%
to 8% markups. It felt like a racket.”
Twelve years later, Sinha is helping eliminate the institutions. Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase
costly intermediary fees as chief technology officer CEO Jamie Dimon labeled fintechs an “enor-
at Wise, a London-based company started in 2010. mous competitive threat” in a shareholder letter,
Wise (previously Transferwise) has bank accounts contending that fintechs had an unfair advantage
in 80-plus countries. A person in the U.S. sending because they weren’t subject to the same regula-
money to France, for example, would deposit dol- tions as banks. Others say regulators have given
lars in Wise’s U.S. bank, and Wise’s French bank fintechs a wide berth in part because they ’re
would deposit euros into the recipient’s account. reaching populations unserved or underserved by
“The money never crosses borders,” says Sinha, mainstream institutions.
Harsh Sinha, MBA 14 who has helped grow the company from 40 to 550 Bill Rindfuss, executive director of strategic
Chief Technology Officer &
Senior Vice President, Wise
engineers over the past five years, making it one of programs in the Haas Finance Group, says that
the world’s leading fintech firms. It went public in in some ways, regulations are protecting banks.
July, listing on the London Stock Exchange. “Technology has kind of eaten some industries:
Instead of marking up the exchange rate, says Retail really stands out, and it’s rapidly encroach-
Sinha, Wise charges a transparent fee that is five to ing on transportation,” he says. “But it seems like
eight times less than what banks charge, and the there’s more of a symbiotic relationship between
money generally reaches the recipient in one day technology and finance.” Only regulated banks
or less—versus two to five days for bank transfers. can offer products insured by the Federal Deposit
Wise is part of an explosion of companies using Insurance Corp., and as some banks have acquired
technology to offer financial products or services fintechs, some fintechs have started, acquired, or
that are quicker, cheaper, or more accessible than partnered with regulated banks so they could offer
what mainstream banks, brokerages, and insur- insured deposit accounts or other services.
ance companies offer. And according to those in
the know, we’ve thus far seen only the beginning MAKING PAYMENTS SIMPLE
of the fintech revolution. One example of this interdependent relationship
Sinha is one of many Haas alumni at the fore- is online payments—highly regulated because of
front. Haas grads are playing leadership roles in the often-sensitive credentials, like credit card
determining how money moves at companies large numbers, required to conduct a purchase.
and small—including some hatched at Berkeley— “Payments is an unbelievably massive mar- million in March, vaulting its valuation to $95
as well as at venture capital firms and big banks. ket,” says Brian Dudley, BS 11, a venture capitalist billion, the highest of any U.S. private company, “We have the opportunity to
“Fintech applications are increasingly disrupt- specializing in fintech at Adams Street Partners. according to CB Insights. build new digital infrastruc-
ing many aspects of everyday life: from how we Indeed, Boston Consulting Group predicts that ture that will empower the
pay for our coffee to how we trade stocks and global payments revenues could grow to $1.8 tril- KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMER next generation of businesses
apply for a mortgage,” says Professor Paul Ger- lion by 2024—a 20% increase from 2019. It’s also Stripe announced this year that it’s expanding to
Brian Dudley, BS 11
Principal, Adams Street tler, the Li Ka Shing Professor of Economics and incredibly complex to set up payments in multiple Indonesia, but Xendit was there first. in Southeast Asia.” —MOSES LO, MBA 15
Partners faculty director of the Institute for Business and countries with different regulations and payment Co-founded at Haas by Moses Lo and Vivek
Social Impact (IBSI). “If properly harnessed, fin- preferences, Dudley notes. Ahuja, both MBA 15, and then-Berkeley computer understand the powers that be and how to get
tech has the potential to do something even more Stripe is one company facilitating those transac- science undergrads Juan Gonzalez, BA 13, and Bo regulators to work with you.”
Andrew Lee, MBA 15
revolutionary: provide access to millions of histor- tions for online businesses. Its core software product Chen, BS 13, Xendit acts as a payment gateway for John Frerichs, MBA 11, worked for another Partnerships, Stripe
ically underserved people or those lacking access ensures that information is handled in a compliant Indonesia, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia, payment fintech—but from within the nation’s
to the traditional financial system.” manner while allowing companies to accept many accepting and sending payments, holding funds, largest bank. He was part of the strategy team at
payment types—such as debit, credit, ACH, and wire and providing other financial services for global JPMorgan Chase that led the purchase of WePay
THE DAWN OF FINTECH transfers—in many countries, with one integration. names like Samsung, Wish, and Wise as well as in 2017 and became WePay’s CFO. WePay has
While the fintech era may have started when Andrew Lee, MBA 15, manages partnerships regional airlines, rural banks, and other businesses. since been incorporated into other parts of
PayPal (then named Confinity) launched money for Stripe, whose customers range from early stage Lo, Xendit’s CEO, moved the company to Indo- JPMorgan, and Frerichs is now managing parts
PHOTO: VIC TOR OK HUMA LE / A LAM Y STOCK PH OTO
transfers via email back in 1999, two things lit the startups to large public companies such as Door- nesia because he’s from there, it’s growing fast, of it as head of merchant services for small and
flame: the 2007 introduction of the iPhone, which Dash and Lyft. It may surprise some people, but and half the population is younger than 30. “It’s a mid-size U.S. businesses.
allowed for mobile financial transactions, and the “we’re still in the early innings of the move to dig- mobile-first, tech-savvy country, but the infrastruc- He says fintech is changing the balance of
2008 financial crisis, which left many consumers ital,” Lee says. “During COVID, brick-and-mortar ture is super old,” Lo says. “We have the oppor- power within financial institutions. “Historically,
distrustful of large banks and Wall Street firms. retailers realized that they were underinvested in tunity to build new digital infrastructure that will you have seen people with a finance or risk back-
Over the past year, the COVID pandemic gave e-commerce.” empower the next generation of businesses in ground steering the ship. Increasingly, you’ll see Moses Lo, MBA 15
fintech firms another boost by forcing more com- In fact, the continuing migration of financial Southeast Asia.” The Jakarta-based company has people in product or technology play a larger role Co-Founder and CEO, Xendit
merce online. Suddenly, businesses of all kinds services toward digital channels led to a near-re- raised $88 million and employs about 350 staff. because of their greater focus on the end user,”
were clamoring for digital payment options. cord $21 billion raised by venture capital-backed Lo says his understanding of Southeast Asian he says.
Today, many fintechs have valuations that fintech companies in the first quarter of 2021, culture has contributed to Xendit’s success. “It’s Banks ignoring customer experience is one
rival—or exceed—the nation’s largest financial according to PitchBook. Stripe itself raised $600 all about relationships,” he says. “You need to of the reasons fintechs have made inroads into
CONNECTIONS
The Takeaway Moses Lo, MBA 15, started Xendit while at
14 According to numerous finance professionals and
researchers interviewed for this article, we’ve thus
far seen only the beginning of the fintech revolution.
Haas with three other Berkeley students. Rob
Chandra, the late Haas faculty member, was
an early investor. Lo met another investor
through a startup competition at Berkeley.
15
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021
two initiatives bridge the gaps among research, and younger might not be able to access the stock
industry partners, and policy makers to reimagine market were it not for fintechs like Robinhood. He
the design and reach of digital financial services says commissions are an antiquated fee that made
worldwide. They combine rigorous field experi- sense when trading wasn’t digitized but in recent
ments and frontier research with fintech, big data, years only served to line the pockets of brokerages
and AI to build an inclusive, socially responsible, and lock out less wealthy investors. “Even at $5
and sustainable digital economy. per trade, commissions could eliminate profits on
a one-share stock purchase and sale,” he says.
MAKING SAVING A GAME Robinhood’s success forced most of its rivals
Inclusive finance efforts aren’t limited to the to eliminate commissions, but so-called “democ-
developing world. When Pedro Moura, MBA ratized finance” has raised other issues. Associate
18, came to California from Brazil at age 15, his Professor Panos Patatoukas, the L.H. Penney Chair
family was undocumented for a time. His mom in Accounting, argues that commission-free trading
cleaned houses, and when her car broke down, isn’t enough. “Access to trading is not equivalent
Pedro Moura, MBA 18
she had to get a high-cost payday loan to fix it so to access to informed decision-making,” he says. Co-Founder and CEO,
she could work. Patatoukas is working on a platform that he Flourish
“It’s expensive to be poor in the U.S.,” says describes as “the interactive Bloomberg for every-
Moura, who became a U.S. resident in 2010. “If you day people,” referring to the Bloomberg terminals
don’t have a credit history, your options are pretty that professional investors use to get real-time
limited in terms of accessing emergency loans.” market data and analytics. “I don’t think there is
Indeed, a Federal Reserve survey found that in true democratization of financial markets without
July 2020, 30% of American adults could not cover democratizing financial education,” he says.
a $400 emergency with cash or its equivalent.
While working on his MBA, Moura came to THE FUTURE, DECENTRALIZED
believe that lending alone was not enough to pull Enabling customers to make informed financial
banking, says Frerichs. “Banks historically focused people into the financial mainstream. “At Haas, I decisions will only become more important with
on managing risk, lowering prices, and offering “I don’t think there is true wanted to meet people who would redesign bank- the rise of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
rewards like credit card points—not how to make democratization of financial ing services for underserved consumers,” he says. Haas Professor Christine Parlour, the Sylvan C.
a financial service application work well,” he says. markets without democratiz- Moura found a kindred spirit in Jessica Eting, MBA Coleman Chair in Finance and Accounting, even
But they haven’t yet moved to the next level, ing financial education.” 18. Her father, a Filipino immigrant, suffered an aneu- envisions a possible future where no institutions
Frerichs adds: Using the payment data they collect rysm when she was nine and fell into a coma when control the financial system, thanks to the decen-
—HAAS ASSOC. PROF. PANOS PATATOUKAS
to create truly personalized offers and financial she was 11. He never recovered and died 14 years tralized nature of blockchain technology, which
services. “Google and Netflix have done this well,” later. Her mom, working as a teacher’s aide, went on records and verifies encrypted blocks of data in
Frerichs says. use a mobile phone app to send and accept payments food stamps for a time. “The financial struggles I saw such a way that no single entity controls it.
Jessica Eting, MBA 18
and pay bills. The app maker can then see the seller’s my mom go through shaped me,” Eting says. It’s the technology behind Bitcoin and other
SERVING THE UNBANKED
Co-Founder and COO,
John Frerichs MBA 11 transactions and eventually use this data to provide For an applied innovation class, they created Flour- cryptocurrencies, but the potential applications are Flourish
Managing Director/GM of While payments have been a way for some fin- loans, insurance, and other financial products. ish, which uses behavioral science and gamification to almost limitless. It could allow a new system known
U.S. SMB Merchant Services,
techs to muscle in on areas dominated by the tra- One of IFC’s most successful investments is encourage people to save and build positive financial as decentralized finance or DeFi, Parlour says.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
ditional global banking system, others are using bKash, an app allowing people in Bangladesh habits. The pair now licenses its digital rewards and Under such a system, anyone theoretically
payment technology to reach those left out of the to send and receive money, pay bills, and more engagement software to regional banks and credit could make loans or other financial products avail-
system altogether. without a bank account. Fewer than 15% of Ban- unions, which then embed it into their own mobile able to anyone else through a public decentralized
The World Bank reports that 69% of adults gladeshis have traditional bank accounts but apps to attract customers and make it fun to manage network, cutting out the intermediaries—along
worldwide had an account at a bank or with a more than 68% have mobile phones, according to money wisely. At three years old, the company already with central banks and regulators—and vastly
mobile money provider in 2017, up from 51% in bKash, which in one decade has become the coun- has clients in Bolivia, Brazil, and the U.S. reducing costs.
2011, but that percentage is much lower in poorer try’s largest mobile financial services provider. “This is the biggest competitive threat to the
PHOTO: ZUM A P RESS, I NC . / ALAM Y STOC K PHOTO
countries. And access to financial services, it found, The Bangladesh Institute of Development Stud- EVERYBODY TRADES existing big financial institutions that I’ve seen,”
can reduce poverty and inequality. ies found in a 2018 household survey that using Some fintechs aim to democratize finance another Parlour says. But it also poses unknown risks to
Fai Lui, MBA 19, serves in the fintech invest- bKash has raised non-agricultural family income way—by simplifying trading. Anyone can download the global financial system, and “that should keep
ment group with International Finance Corp. (IFC), by 15.2% and total per capita income by 5.8%. the Robinhood app, for example, and start trading regulators up at night.”
Fai Lui, MBA 19 a part of the World Bank that helps to finance pri- Haas researchers are also at the forefront of stocks and cryptocurrency almost immediately, Indeed, regulators must walk that fine line
Investment Professional,
vate-sector projects in emerging markets. the inclusive finance movement. IBSI is poised with $1 minimum and no commission. Robinhood, between encouraging innovation and protecting
International
Finance Corp. In relatively poorer countries, says Lui, bank to launch two complementary initiatives in this which went public in July, was started in 2013; by individuals and the global financial system. But
accounts are limited to the upper class. “Payment is space: the Lab for Inclusive FinTech (LIFT), initially 2018, it had more users than E*TRADE, which whether upstarts replace financial institutions or
often the entry point where investors and companies supported by Ripple Impact and Binance Charity was founded some 30 years earlier. force them to become more nimble, customers
go first,” she says. A vendor selling vegetables on the Foundation, and the Wells Fargo Research Lab for Stripe’s Lee, who previously worked as Robin- should benefit as products continue to get cheaper,
street may not have a bank account, but they could Sustainable Financial Services and Innovation. The hood’s head of partnerships, says his generation simpler, and more accessible.
CONNECTIONS
The Takeaway One of Flourish’s first angel investors was fellow
16 Payment technology is one way to reach the unbanked.
In countries where mobile phones outnumber bank
accounts, fintech apps allow people to conduct trans-
actions and establish good financial reputations.
student Edgar Vigil, MBA 18. Jessica Eting and
Pedro Moura honed their business model through
the LAUNCH Accelerator, run by and for UC found-
ers, and Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator.
17
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021PASSING THE TORCH
The lives of Haas Summer Olympians
By Carol GhiglieriNO SPORTING EVENT CAPTIVATES THE
ROWI N G / / U.S.A .
DAVID DERUFF, BS 83
WORLD QUITE LIKE THE OLYMPICS. Partner, DBO Partners, San Francisco
PHOTO PREVIOU S SPREAD: B ECCA W YANT; THIS PAGE FRO M LEFT: B ECCA W YANT;
D
The games celebrate athletic prowess and sheer excellence—and, with the avid DeRuff already had a job lined up when
© XU CHANG/ XINHUA VIA Z U MA PRESS; CO U RTESY DAVID DERU FF ( 2)
he graduated from Haas in 1983. But that
postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Games until this summer—patience. But summer he rowed in the Pan American
Games, and his eight-man boat won the gold
they also honor dedication, resilience, and grit, qualities that resonate more medal. DeRuff decided to put the job on hold so
he could train for the 1984 Olympics.
deeply in the wake of the global pandemic. The Berkeley Haas community What followed was a year of all-out effort—
though, of course, there was no guarantee of suc-
includes numerous Olympians, both current and former, who all made it cess. “In most situations in life, you don’t know if
you’re going to get there,” DeRuff says. “But your
to the pinnacle of the athletic world, showing they know how to succeed. only chance of getting there is to go for it.”
But they also know about striving, handling disappointment, and moving In the end he didn’t get a spot in the eight- or
the four-man boat, but the coach recommended above). They were headed to Los Angeles.
on—lessons anyone can learn from. Here, a look at how being an Olympian he train for the “coxless pair”—a technically chal-
lenging race in a two-man boat. After training only
DeRuff grew up in Newport Beach, so the L.A.
games were essentially in his backyard. “Both of
has informed the lives of alumni and a current student. five weeks together, he and his partner beat out all
the other pairs and won the Olympic trials (shown
my grandmas were there, my parents, friends,
and coaches. It was wonderful.” BRAGGING RIGHTS
SW I MMI NG // U .S.A.
RYAN MURPHY, BS 17
Professional Swimmer
SUMMER OLYMPICS
Los Angeles, 1984
ADDITIONAL HONORS
Gold Medal
O
n his first trip to the Olympics, in 2016, 1983 Pan American
Ryan Murphy defied his own expectations, Games, Men’s Eights
taking home three gold medals and setting 1st Place
BRAGGING RIGHTS 1981 Henley Royal
a world record for the backstroke.
“I expected to do well at the Olympics, but it Regatta, Thames Cup
was still a surprise to win,” he says. “There’s so
SUMMER OLYMPICS
Tokyo, 2021 much focus on trying to make sure things don’t
Rio de Janeiro, 2016 go wrong, that when things go right, you go, ‘Holy
cow! That’s awesome!’”
Gold Medal // Tokyo Unlike the Games in Rio, however, Murphy’s
4x100-meter family wasn’t in the stands due to COVID-
medley relay 19 restrictions.
Silver Medal // Tokyo “It’s a bummer,” “There’s so much focus on trying to
200-meter backstroke he says, “but we knew
Bronze Medal // Tokyo these games were make sure things don’t go wrong,
100-meter backstroke going to look a little that when things go right, you go,
Gold Medals // Rio different and that sac-
200-meter backstroke rifices would have to ‘Holy cow! That’s awesome!’”
100-meter backstroke be made.”
4x100-meter
medley relay In his second Olympics, Murphy again won
three medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze and
World Records
100-meter backstroke, added another world record to his list of accom-
4x100-meter plishments as part of the 4x100-meter medley
medley relay relay team.
CONNECTIONS
The Takeaway The Takeaway
20 “You have to be a great athlete to reach Olympic
level, but honestly, 80% of it is mental. I’ve seen a
lot of people who have a ton of talent, and they’re
not able to quite put it all together,” says Murphy.
Says rower David DeRuff: “There’s
nothing more thrilling than to come
from behind—to know you’re gaining
ground on the other boats.”
21
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021TRA C K A N D FI E LD — TRI PLE J UM P / / U.S.A .
on reaching big, impressive goals and more on the
ERICA MCLAIN, MBA 15
Product Manager, Google, Celina, Texas
resilience it takes to overcome adversity, no matter
what the goal is.
That’s something McLain knows a lot about.
She was just 22 when she competed in the triple
jump at the 2008 Olympics, and she thought she
A
s a public speaker, Erica McLain used to had two or three more games ahead of her. “Jump-
talk about the qualities it takes to reach the ers tend to peak somewhere between 29 and 33,”
Olympics. But while her audiences were McLain says. But in 2012, a serious ankle injury
undoubtedly impressed by her achieve- and a subsequent treatment gone awry forced her
BRAGGING RIGHTS
ments, she sensed that some found her accom- immediate retirement.
plishments hard to relate to. McLain’s resilience kicked in, and she wasted
“Any grand goal can seem totally out of reach,” no time moving on to her second act. She was still
SUMMER OLYMPICS
“I’d like to think I play the game says McLain. So she revised her narrative, shifting recovering from surgery when she began working
Beijing, 2008
pretty unconventionally. As a her brand as an Olympian. Now she focuses less on her application for Haas’s MBA program.
relatively small player, I’ve found ADDITIONAL HONORS
USA Outdoor
creative ways to be better than larger Champion
or taller competitors.” 2005 & 2010
USA Indoor
Champion
2010
Record Holder
U.S. Junior and
Collegiate
Triple Jump
PHOTOS FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF JOHNNY HOOPER; PATRICK SMITH/G ETTY I MAGES; COURTESY ERIKA M CLAI N (2)
BRAGGING RIGHTS
SUMMER OLYMPICS
Tokyo, 2021
WATE R P OL O // U .S.A.
ADDITIONAL HONORS to be better than larger or taller competitors.”
Cal’s #2 all-time
leading scorer
with 245 goals;
JOHNNY HOOPER, BS 19
Member, Men’s Senior National Team,
Hooper had long had his eye on the 2020 Olym-
pics, so naturally their postponement last year was
a letdown. “The day we found out was a little
helped the squad win USA Water Polo // Pro Water Polo Player, tough,” he says. “But then you pick yourself up and
the 2016 NCAA A1 Ethniki League, Greece figure out the best way to keep going.” The team
Championship
trained remotely, and Hooper, along with many of
Finalist, his teammates, spent part of the last year playing
A
Cutino Award
(for top player in t 6 feet, 2 inches tall, Johnny Hooper is one professionally in Europe. At the Olympics, they
the NCAA), 2018 of the shorter members of the U.S. men’s made it to the quarterfinals.
water polo team. Most of his teammates Hooper is half-Japanese, so attending the
1st place and are three or more inches taller. But Hooper games in Tokyo had special meaning for him.
tournament’s
highest goal scorer, says his size has pushed him to excel. “I’d like to His grandmother still lives there, and although
2019 Pan think I play the game pretty unconventionally. As a last-minute ruling barred spectators, Hooper
American Games a relatively small player, I’ve found creative ways knew she was nearby, proudly cheering him on.
CONNECTIONS
The Takeaway The Takeaway The Takeaway McLain cites professional
22 When dealing with setbacks, Hooper says
he has a “24-hour rule” for himself. The
next day, it’s back to business.
Hooper doesn’t mind a little nervousness
before competing. He says being uncomfortable
is part of the game. “You want to be
comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
“While we may not all achieve the pinnacle in our
field, we all experience adversity. The need to over-
come it is a bond we all share and something we can
collectively help one another through,” McClain says.
faculty members David
Riemer and Kellie McElhaney
as having a big impact on her
life at and beyond Haas.
23
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021BRAGGING RIGHTS
SUMMER OLYMPICS
London, 2012
ADDITIONAL HONORS
Silver Medal
2006 European Junior
Championships,
50-meter backstroke SW I MMI NG // DE NMAR K
National runner-up
2010 NCAA
Championships,
MATHIAS GYDESEN, BS 13
Project Manager, Bain & Company,
100-yard butterfly
Copenhagen, Denmark
F
rom an early age, Mathias Gydesen loved
competing. “When you’re standing in front
of a few thousand people, or even just racing
at practice,” he says, “there’s an intensity I
haven’t experienced in many other places in my
life. You’re very, very present.”
Gydesen says that one of the lasting benefits
of going to the Olympics in 2012 is that it gave
him the license to aim high. “You’ve proven to
yourself that the dream you had when you were
10—you actually achieved it,” he says. “It’s a kind
SWI M M I N G / / S W EDEN
of confirmation that you really can do it.”
Although swimming in the Olympics was the
culmination of a dream, Gydesen wasn’t happy
with his performance, and shortly after the games,
“You’ve proven to yourself that
the dream you had when you were
BENGT BARON, BS 85, MBA 88
Board of Directors Chair,
he retired from competing. Yet he took something 10—you actually achieved it.” Thule Group, Stockholm
important away from that disappointment: The
wisdom that whatever you do in life, it really is
O
the journey and not the destination. ver three decades, Bengt Baron has held
leadership positions at some of the world’s
top consumer brands: Coca-Cola, Kodak,
WAT ER PO LO / / S ERBIA
Nevertheless, while a freshman at Haas, Šapon- Absolut Vodka. Most recently, Baron was the
PHOTOS FROM TOP RIGH T: © TASS VIA ZUM A WI RE; © A NDREAS L ERIKSSON
BRAGGING RIGHTS
PHOTOS FROM BOTTOM LEF T: COURTESY KNELT GROUP; M ICH AEL J. BURNS
ALEKSA ŠAPONJIĆ, BS 15 jić was selected to go to the London Olympics CEO of Cloetta, a Swedish confectionary company,
PHOTO A BOVE: © AN DREAS L ERIKSSON /BI LDBYRAN VIA ZUMA PRESS;
with his nation’s team, and he took home a bronze before stepping down in 2015. He currently chairs
Head of Digital Products, Nelt Grupa, SUMMER OLYMPICS the Thule Group’s Board of Directors.
BRAGGING RIGHTS Belgrade, Serbia “I think having an option B in life Los Angeles, 1984 But before scaling the heights of the business
Moscow, 1980 world, Baron competed in two Olympics for Swe-
is very important.”
den, winning a gold medal at the 1980 games
I
n Aleksa Šaponjić’s home country of Serbia, medal. Even though he’d already played at a very Bronze Medal // L.A. when he was still in high school. Four years later,
SUMMER OLYMPICS 4×100-meter
London, 2012 water polo is a big deal, ranking in popularity high level, he says going to the Olympics was a his relay team took home the bronze.
freestyle relay
Bronze Medal with soccer and basketball. Šaponjić started dream come true. Baron says his early experience with swimming
playing professionally when he was 16, but But he always had his eye on his post-athletic Gold Medal // Moscow gave him a toolbox that he’s used throughout his life.
100-meter backstroke
ADDITIONAL HONORS he also stayed in school, which made him a career. “I think having an option B in life is very “Being crazy enough to embark on that [Olympic]
rarity among his teammates. Most other play- important,” Šaponjić says. After graduation he journey, you practice a number of skills that you’ll
Gold Medal
European ers dropped academics in favor of their sport. took a job at McKinsey and then went to work at have for whatever you decide to do,” he says. One
Championships, 2012 And in fact, in his senior year of high school, the company his father co-founded more than 25 such skill is the ability to learn from setbacks. “You
Gold Medal Šaponjić’s coach suspended him from the team years ago, Nelt Grupa, which handles distribution did something that didn’t yield expected results, so
FINA World League, for two months because he’d decided to prioritize and logistics for major brands such as Procter & now you need to do something slightly different.
2013 his education. Gamble in 11 countries. That’s how you learn and improve.”
CONNECTIONS
The Takeaway Gydesen credits Lecturers Stephen Etter, BS 83, The Takeaway The Takeaway
24 “Dreams, ideas, talk—these are easy.
But making it happen takes years of
hard work,” says Gydesen.
MBA 89, and Frank Schultz with helping shape how
he sees the world today and former roommate Guy
Barnea, BS 12, for friendship to last a lifetime.
“In playing sports, I understood
what authority was, which I think is
important,” says Šaponjić. “Having
a coach is like having a boss.”
“Embark on something you enjoy, and
the chance you’ll become good at it is
much higher than if you do it simply
as a ‘must,’” says Baron.
25
Berkeley HAAS SUMMER 2021SW I MMI NG // I SR AE L
time Cal had done so in 30 years.
GUY BARNEA, BS 12
Co-Founder and CEO, Weekends At,
Like any athlete, Barnea’s had his share of
disappointments. He missed qualifying for the
2012 and 2016 Olympics by a few hundredths of
Tel Aviv, Israel // Commentator, Tokyo Games a second. “Disappointments hurt,” he says. “But I
found a way to use that burn to push to be better
or stronger or smarter.”
G
rowing up in a small town in Israel, Guy Bar- Barnea retired from swimming in 2018 and
nea heard that in the U.S., swimmers were started a line of men’s swimwear called Week-
treated like kings. As he would later find ends At with designs that easily transition from
out when he earned a scholarship to swim the beach to city streets. Initially sold online only,
at Cal, that wasn’t so far from reality. Weekends At has opened pop-up shops in Tel
Competing in the 100-meter backstroke at the Aviv and started selling with two U.S. retailers.
Beijing Olympics, says Barnea, was a peak expe- They also launched an official Back to the Future
rience, but there were others, too, including win- edition in collaboration with Universal Studios
ning the NCAA championships in 2011, the first and Amblin Entertainment.
BRAGGING RIGHTS BRAGGING RIGHTS
SUMMER OLYMPICS SUMMER OLYMPICS
Beijing, 2008 Rio de Janeiro, 2016
London, 2012
Beijing, 2008
ADDITIONAL HONORS
Silver medal ADDITIONAL HONORS
2012 European Short
Course Swimming Gold Medal, Silver
Championships, Medal (x2),
50-meter backstroke Bronze Medal (x4)
2012–2015
Bronze medal FINA World
2012 European
PHOTOS FROM LEF T: WIKI PEDIA ; RICHA RD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IM AGES
Championships,
Aquatics 400-, 800-, and
Championships, SWI M M I N G / / N E W Z E A L A N D
Boyle peaked as a swimmer later than most and 1,500-meter freestyle
© PAN ORA MIC VIA ZUMA PRESS; COURTESY OF LAUREN BOYLE
50-meter backstroke
Israeli National
Record
LAUREN BOYLE, BS 11
Senior Associate, Commonwealth Bank of
says she relied heavily on what she learned from
her time at Cal with coach Teri McKeever. “I learned
a different way of thinking about swimming tech-
Appointed to the
New Zealand Order
of Merit
PHOTOS F ROM L EFT: REUTERS/STEFA N WERM UTH;
2015 European Short
Course Swimming “Disappointments Australia, Auckland, New Zealand niques,” Boyle says. “There were subtle differences for services to
Championships, in McKeever’s approach that I embraced and built swimming, 2020
100-meter butterfly hurt, but I found on in my professional career.”
W
a way to use that hen Lauren Boyle was eight, she watched Injury forced Boyle to retire from swimming in
fellow New Zealander Danyon Loader 2017, and following that she started in banking at
burn to push to be swim to gold at the Atlanta Summer Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Institutional
better or stronger Olympics. Seeing him on the world stage Banking and Markets team, in Auckland.
sparked a dream of her own. She wanted to go to “A key part of being an elite athlete is manag-
or smarter.” the Olympics too. And so she did—as a three-time ing stakeholder relationships,” she says, “and I’ve
Olympian; her best finish was fourth in the 800- found crossover in my team’s role managing the
meter freestyle at the 2012 London Games. bank’s relationships with clients.”
CONNECTIONS CONNECTIONS
The Takeaway When Barnea launched his swimwear line, he The Takeaway Haas Lecturer Stephen Etter, BS 83, MBA
26 “If you want to get somewhere, it’s
not enough just to set a goal. You have
to know and feel every day why you’re
working so hard,” says Barnea.
relied on his many Cal friends, like fellow
Olympian Mathias Gydesen, BS 13, his room-
mate at Berkeley, to wear his swimwear and
spread the word globally.
“Setting scary goals that seem beyond your
reach can help push you further than you
might expect,” say Boyle. “Even if you don’t
achieve them, you’ll end up doing more.”
89, helped Boyle see that the things
she’d developed as an athlete—like focus
and daily commitment—would help her
succeed in the business world.
27
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