The series continues! This week's entry focuses on the Technology Network and Courses at Haas.
As compared to other schools, Berkeley-Haas sends one of the highest percentages of graduates into the tech space. The result is a significant network within tech companies that has already been established for years – alumni set the tone for the high level of performance. This is an advantage from a direct recruiting perspective but also in learning more about these companies from within and bringing alumni back to campus for initiatives like the annual Technology Speaker Series.
We have quite a few technology based course offerings, from the Technology Speaker Series to a course on the Management of Technology taught by an executive at Cisco. We're able to pull some amazing speakers both Haas/Non Haas through the Bay Area network and this really adds a level of depth to our courses. This year’s Tech Speaker Series included the Head of Business Development at Salesforce,com, Partnership folks from Facebook, the VP of Marketing from Adobe, and Strategy folks from YouTube, among others. Engaging with these leaders on a weekly basis was really insightful.
Finally, if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, both personal and professional networks tend to play a huge role in a company’s success; it’s beneficial to attend a business program close to the hub of activity. Berkeley does a good job of setting up opportunities to actively engage other graduate programs such as engineering and IS in the hopes of matching people interested in a start-up idea. In addition to the Tech Club, Haas also have a huge entrepreneurship forum and the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship that cater to such needs.