Economic
downturn?
Start something
CONTENTS
@MAYS Mays Business School, Texas A&M University
Spring 2011
12–25 | Entrepreneurship NATIONAL RECOGNITION
1 | Mays programs reach new heights in
Good times or bad, entrepreneurs the rankings
and small business contribute 2 | Three Mays students land national
substantially to the U.S. economy. scholarships
Damani Felder ’14
This issue of @Mays highlights Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship
current and former students who’ve Terrence Weaver ’11
started something. Pat Tillman Foundation Scholarship
Omar El-Halwagi ’11
12 | Opportunity knocks Harry S. Truman Scholarship
Chris Nicolaysen and Ohad Nezer, both MBA Class 8 IN WEHNER
of 2009, learn through experience the importance of
focusing on core business. 8 | Duty of Care
SAVE THE DATE PepsiCo CEO and Chairman Indra Nooyi
14 | Be your own boss?
JUNE 11, 2011 10 | Marketing 3.0
Important considerations before you strike out on
your own. Marketing thought leader Philip Kotler
15 | Engineers to entrepreneurs Mays Summer
FORMER STUDENT NEWS
Aggie engineering students add business knowledge Learning 26 | Marketing and ministry
in a 3-week summer course. Seminar 2011 Marketing graduate Greg Matte ’92 follows his heart
16 | Philanthropreneurship Business in a 27 | Aggie 100 2010
Corporate+nonprofits in a new model of creating Turbulent Economy The annual event celebrates Aggies of every stripe
sustainable wealth. Andy Ellwood ’04 of Gowalla 28 | Outstanding Alumni
pursues a vision. 17 This past fall, Mays honored former students
18 | Just say ‘iiwii” John Van Alstyne ’66, Bob Loeffler ’77, Bruce
Larry Warnock ’83 urges everyone to avoid “death Broussard ’84; and doctoral former students Sundar
by duck bite.” Bharadwaj and Sandy Wayne.
19 | A bite of business
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Still in college Erin Eisenrich ’11 launches a print
magazine devoted to BCS local eateries. The generosity of donors supports Mays Business
School students, programs and faculty
20 | For the children
30 | Business of blessing
A study abroad project turns into much more for
Robert Furr ’04 and Jose Mahomar ’04. 31 | Honor through honors
22 | File your taxes, then go shopping 32 | A parent’s pride
Coming to a mall near you? Kyle Klansek ’13 wins 16
$10K for tax filing kiosk idea. FACULTY RESEARCH
33 | Increase incentives, decrease corporate
23 | BCS Fashion Week pollution
International Fashion Week 2011 came to BCS 7 | Living Large
34 | You say illegal, I say legitimate
thanks to Paige Melvin ’09. At a surprise 90th birthday
party for Professor 35 | In the name of the company
24 | Empowering Entrepreneurs
Travelling to South Africa to share what they know, Emeritus of Marketing 36 | Don’t skip on marketing or R&D
Lauren Dunagan ’11, Paul Morin ’10, Rishabh Herb Thompson, former to stay on top
Mathur ’10, and Kelly Kravitz ’13 help under- students, friends and
resourced small business owners. family gather
Mays Business School Design @Mays is a semi-annual publication for Update your mailing information
Jerry Strawser, Dean Linda Orsi, HSC Marketing the former students and friends of Mays at aggienetwork.com
and Communications Business School at Texas A&M University.
Director of Communications For our business graduates, we use the
This publication is made possible by
and Public Relations Illustration information The Association of Former
the generosity of private donors.
Pam Wiley Tamara Strecker Students provides. To update your mailing
Monthly news updates are available in information, go to aggienetwork.com,
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and Alumni Relations Gabe Chmielewski
Online, at maysbusiness.tamu.edu. maroon band and follow the instructions.
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@Mays Editor
Jim Lyle degrees and programs offered by
Chrystal Houston
Nicholas Roznovsky Mays Business School is available
Editorial Assistant Texas A&M Media Relations at maysbschool.tamu.edu.
Elyssa Jechow, Kelli Levey
Feature
Philanthropreneurship
Gowalla Executive Andy Ellwood ’04 discusses sustainable philanthropy
W hat would happen if the hustle
of the entrepreneurial spirit were
brought to the philanthropic world? What if
the footwear of choice on college campuses.
When you buy a pair, a pair is given away
to children in need. TOMS Shoes was
every nonprofit organization had a for-profit approaching the milestone of its millionth
business to sustain it? pair of donated shoes. AT&T, a major
What would happen if the passionate supporter of TOMS, wanted to capitalize on
and the called gave no thought to whether the celebration.
they have the financial support needed to The promotion worked like this: Gowalla
continue their work? users could “check in” at any place where
What if there was a truly sustainable shoes or cell phones were sold. Doing so
model to create a lasting impact in the would enter them in drawings for TOMS,
neediest communities? AT&T smartphones and netbooks, and the
These are the questions Andy grand prize, a trip for two to Argentina to
Ellwood ’04. As the business development participate in the “shoe drop” when the
executive at Gowalla, the location-based millionth pair of TOMS would be given away.
social experience service, Ellwood says Gowalla users could get a feel for the history
he wants greater collaboration between of TOMS Shoes by taking a “trip,” checking
nonprofits and corporate entities, creating in at sites significant to the company (such
sustainable wealth that supports both. as the first store where they were sold) and
This idea was born when he was working collecting “pins,” like stamps on a virtual
as a sales executive for a private jet company. passport.
In his interactions with high net-worth The promotion raised sales for AT&T
individuals, he frequently heard them and TOMS, and awareness for their global
lament, though they wanted to support good philanthropic work. Thousands of kids in
causes, the ROI was low — that the money Misiones, Argentina, received new, high-
they gave was not utilized as efficiently. quality shoes — perhaps for the very first
This conundrum intrigued him. time in their lives. By every metric, this was
Generally the brightest minds in business success.
don’t work for nonprofits. What if he supports both. “We need more companies that
could help bridge that gap, injecting his understand the opportunity for impact that
entrepreneurial know-how they have, not in one-time ‘check it off the
into social causes? list’ charitable contributions, but with a true
His favorite example understanding and integration into the very
of this happened in “We need more companies soul (or in this case sole) of their company’s
August 2010. One of mission,” Ellwood wrote in a blog
his first big projects that understand the oppor- post about the event.
at Gowalla, the tunity for impact that they While not every
project was a union partnership Ellwood
between his forges between
company, AT&T Gowalla and other
and TOMS companies (such
Shoes. Perhaps contributions, but with a as Disney, CNN,
you’ve heard
of TOMS.
true understanding and the NBA, NASA
and Whole Foods)
Slipper-like integration into the very has a philanthropic spin,
canvas
shoes,
soul (or in this case sole) of Ellwood’s personal tagline
is “connecting good people with great
they are opportunities.” This includes giving a
replacing “philanthropreneur” flavor to every project
flip-flops as possible. “The more I talk about it, the
16 @MAYS Spring 2011
Feature
Gowalla cooperated with AT&T and TOMS Shoes to raise awareness of their
global philanthropic work. The pay-off? New shoes for thousands of children
in Argentina.
more energized I get. What if we led with are three defining characteristics of an setbacks, no one to give feedback on
entrepreneurs and followed with clean water, entrepreneur: persistence, hustle and self- your performance. Here, self-coaching is
education and healthcare?” This model coaching. He would know. He started his invaluable.
would turn donations into true investments, first business at the age of 12 — a business “You’ve got to look honestly at your
so that a donor could give one time and he sold, and which is still in operation today. work and see where there’s an opportunity
make a difference perpetually as the business “The most successful entrepreneurs I to improve, to make the business better,”
continues to grow. know stick to it no matter what,” he says. Ellwood says.
Ellwood will keep developing this idea That means no expectation of vacations or What happens when you put those
as he grows his own entrepreneurial toolkit working from 9 to 5. Work and life are fully concepts to work philanthropically? You
by building Gowalla, which launched in integrated. improve your business — and you improve
2009. Since then, the company has grown It can be lonely if you’re the sole the world.
to 27 employees (he was the eighth hire) employee. There are no co-workers to See more at andyellwood.com, or go with
and 600,000 users. In his experience there celebrate successes or commiserate about him on Gowalla at gowalla.com/andyellwood.
Mays Summer Learning Seminar 2011
Business in a Turbulent Economy
S AV E T H E D AT E
J u n e 11, 2 0 11
Join us for a day-long seminar exploring challenges and opportunities in the turbulent global economy. This
is a unique opportunity for graduates of Mays Business School to enhance their knowledge, network with
fellow former students, and reconnect with Texas A&M and Mays.
Keynote presentations by:
Mark Doutzer
Chief Economist and Research Director, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University
“The Economic Outlook for Investors and Business Decision Maker”
and
Asghar Zardkoohi
T.J. Barlow Professor of Management, Mays Business School
“Domestic and Global Economies and the Implications for Human Resources”
For more information and to register, visit mays.tamu.edu/sls2011
mays.tamu.edu 17