Darden Businesscasts

When all is said and done, it was important to do what was best for the family. With over half a century of experience and wisdom, the family behind K&K 5&10, K&K Toys and Dollar Tree reflects on lessons learned while navigating the toy industry and pioneering discount retailing. From the early days under the family patriarch to a new company and second generation leadership, and ultimately the decision to go public, the Perry family recounts how a dwindling industry, changing landscape and sudden growth led to necessary decisions – always made in the best interest of the family.

Scientists assert that global warming must be kept below two degrees Celsius to avoid insurmountable global disruption. Getting there will require near total decarbonization of economic activity by 2060. Electricity generation accounts for a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and worldwide. Electric grids around the world are being decarbonized but a complete shift to 100% clean energy will likely take longer than 40 years. What will facilitate the transition and what threatens progress?  Let's begin by reviewing four zero-carbon emission generation sources and technologies that could lead us into the clean energy future – hydropower, nuclear energy, wind, and solar. We'll then discuss the levers and opportunities for solar and wind adoption with Devin Welch, Sun Tribe Solar, Erik Haug, Apex Clean Energy and Darden Professor Mike Lenox, who is a co-author on the forthcoming report titled Path to 2060: Decarbonizing the Electric Utility Industry. This is the second in a series of podca

Why has the rate of U.S. entrepreneurship been on a steady decline for the past decade and what does it mean for the U.S. economy? Sean Carr, Ph.D., Executive Director of Darden’s Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation speaks with Prof. John Haltiwanger from the University of Maryland and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), whose research has played a major role in our understanding the determinants of firm-level job creation, job destruction, firm dynamics and economic performance. He has published more than 100 academic articles and numerous books including Job Creation and Destruction (with Steven Davis and Scott Schuh, MIT Press).

Scientists assert that global warming must be kept below two degrees Celsius to avoid insurmountable global disruption. Getting there will require near total decarbonization of economic activity by 2060. Transportation accounts for a quarter of GHG emissions in the U.S. but with the help of electric technologies we believe that we can decarbonize the passenger car sector by this deadline. The first part of the podcast tells the story of the electric car and the market conditions and innovations that have paved the way for electric cars today. We then follow the story with an interview with Darden Professor Mike Lenox (https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/authors/michael-lenox/), an expert in business innovation and strategy and co-author on the report titled Path to 2060: Decarbonization of the Automobile Industry. Topics we cover include (1) the era of ferment occurring as incumbents and entrepreneurial ventures battle to become the dominant electric vehicle platform. (2) how global d

How do you focus managing something as important yet abstract as user privacy? How do you define success? In this episode, Darden alumni Inbal Reichman Cohen discusses her time at Facebook managing privacy. 

With something as complex as a robot, can you still use short cycle innovation techniques like Lean Startup? The answer from Ira is a big "Yes" and he'll tell you more about how they do it at iRobot, makers of the widely popular (and super useful) robot vacuum, Roomba.

In this episode you'll hear how Amazon product manager Duygu Karaboncuk keeps their Woot property fresh and relevant for users. Duygu describes where and how she finds insights about how to improve customer experience and how she grooms and tests new ideas. You'll also hear about her use of Amazon's vaunted 'press release process' where PM's write a future press release to describe the impact of a new idea.  

Infosys Founder Narayana Murthy is an IT industry icon and considered one of the world’s greatest entrepreneur for his trailblazing work creating the global delivery model, which launched India as a major player in the IT industry. Traveling to the University of Virginia to receive the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Global Innovation, Murthy joined Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley for a special C-Suite Insights interview in front of a live audience to share his story founding Infosys, his tips for today’s entrepreneurs, his advice to help India become a more business-friendly global economy and his outlook on technology trends for the future.

American Banker named Barclays Investment Banking Vice Chairman Barbara Byrne the second most powerful woman in finance in 2016. She has also financed a Hollywood movie about a female investment banker and launched a fund that invests in women-led companies. She sat down with guest host Melissa Thomas-Hunt to discuss her work blazing trails for more women to join the traditionally male-heavy fields of investment banking and finance. She also discussed the impact Brexit is having on Barclays, the London finance industry and the United Kingdom, in addition to how Brexit is one of many examples around the world of populist frustration with weak economic growth.

The Darden Leadership Speaker Series welcomes Barbara Byrne, a Vice Chairman within the Investment Bank at Barclays. Based in New York, Ms. Byrne is Chairman of both Barclays Americas Citizenship Council, overseeing strategic programs to foster global economic growth and opportunity, and Barclays Social Innovation Facility, a cross-business resource dedicated to the development of self-sustaining commercial solutions to social challenges. With over 35 years of financial services experience, Ms. Byrne has been at the forefront of developing and leading longstanding partnerships with some of Barclays’ most important multinational, corporate clients. She is responsible for leading cross business teams in delivering the firm’s products and services to those clients, and is the primary architect of several of the firm’s marquee transactions. She has held senior management positions in Energy and Technology Banking groups throughout her career, and has led diverse strategic advisory initiatives across the firm focu

"We need to find the right user for the right product. That's my goal." If you're interested in the role of 'growth product managers' or growth in general, tune in for a first hand perspective from Google product manager Nastia Root. In this interview, Nastia describes the role and focus of the growth PM. You'll hear about the ways she drives growth on Google for Work (formerly Google Apps) and how she arrived at the role of growth PM.   

The Darden Leadership Speaker Series welcomes Claudy Jules, Ph.D., Managing Director, Accenture Strategy, Talent & Organization. Dr. Jules leads Accenture’s strategy consulting work globally on leadership. He has extensive experience working as an advisor and executive coach to corporate, government and NGO executives, providing counsel on a wide range of organization and leadership issues in many countries globally. A prolific author and innovative thinker on leadership effectiveness, Dr. Jules writes and presents on a range of topics including executive leadership, top team effectiveness, coaching and global operating models. He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University. This event was co-sponsored by Darden's Black Business Student Forum (BBSF). Recorded 22 February 2017.

The Darden Leadership Speaker Series welcomes Tobias Dengel, CEO of WillowTree. This event was co-sponsored by the Darden Technology Club. Prior to his role as CEO of WillowTree, Tobias co-founded Leads.com in 2003, based in Northern Virginia. He was at AOL from 1996 to 2003, with his final role being VP of AOL Local. Tobias holds a BS in Economics and a BS in Engineering, both from the University of Pennsylvania. WillowTree, Inc. is an international leader in digital strategy, design and development. The majority of its 150 employees are in Charlottesville, VA with an additional office in Durham, NC. Clients include HBO, Johnson & Johnson, GE, Fox News, CBS Sports, Regal Cinemas and Wyndham Hotels. Recorded 15 July 2017.

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth President Shamina Singh is leading a global effort to close the data divide between data “haves” and “have-nots” so that the two billion people who are not currently participating in the formal economy can access the technology and tools needed to benefit from modern financial services. In this Darden Ideas to Action C-Suite Insights interview with University of Virginia Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley, Singh details the steps she and global leaders are taking to end information inequality, which she calls “the issue of our time.” From banking on smart phones to data-collection systems used to confirm the identity of people in developing countries who don’t even have birth certificates, Singh said there are incredible technologies available today in financial services, but that those technologies must be put to use to achieve results that improve financial inclusion. 

Aston Martin former Chairman and former CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez sat down with University of Virginia Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley to discuss the future of the luxury automaker, including how new technologies like electric vehicles, self-driving features and connected car features will change the iconic vehicles known for their custom craftsmanship. Bez also discusses the importance of Aston Martin’s relationship with the James Bond movie franchise and what new products customers will see from the company in the future.

What makes startups successful? Professors Raul Chao from Darden and Batten Fellow Rahul Basole from Georgia Tech discuss their research project, Visualizing the Startup Genome. This study brings together innovation science and computational toolkits to understand how the core elements of startup activities such as recruitment and financing, as well as the sequence of these events, relate to performance. Their project analyzes structured and unstructured data, as well as other forms of data such as images and video, to gain insights useful for innovation leaders. They also discuss the importance of data visualization for effective communication with a variety of stakeholders. Hosted by Erika Herz from Darden’s Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.    

In this interview, you'll hear how RelishMBA co-founder Zach Mayo took his project from idea to tested business model. If you have a new idea and you're just dying to get some software built, don't listen to this interview because that's not what happened. Zach and his co-founder put their idea through the paces with minimum viable product (MVP) vehicles like PowerPoint and curated emails. Their idea changed substantially during the process and so did (ultimately) their software. If you want to hear about a lean, disciplined approach to new product development, tune in!

Kim Morrish (MBA’93), Owner and Director of Ground Control Ltd. joins us as part of Darden's Leadership Speaker Series. Kim and her husband are directors and majority shareholders of Ground Control Ltd., the UK’s largest landscaping company with over £100 million in annual turnover. In 2016, Ground Control received the prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation for their leading edge technology that enables a rapid response to evolving customer demands. Additionally, Kim has launched several start-ups, acquired five businesses and enjoys backing promising entrepreneurs in new ventures. Kim holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Darden School of Business.

Cultivating successful relationships between enterprise software vendors and their customers is a challenge- you know if you've been there! The customer has a lot of moving parts and your job is to listen, consider, and deliver them a good outcome. That's why they came to you in the first place. In this episode, Oren talks about his process at Socialcast (a VMWare company), balancing customer input with data and purposeful experimentation to get the customer great outcomes. 

Senior Associate Dean and Chief Strategy Officer Mike Lenox moderates a fireside chat with Jim Moffatt, CEO, Global Consulting, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and Deputy CEO, Deloitte LLP, as part of Darden's Leadership Speaker Series. Since joining the Deloitte U.S. practice in 1987, Jim has earned a long-standing reputation for serving clients with distinction from strategy through execution and developing the next generation of leaders. He has served in various senior positions in Deloitte U.S., including serving as Chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP from 2011-2015. Additionally, Jim has authored multiple articles on leadership, innovation, talent management, and mentoring in top tier media outlets including Bloomberg Business Week, Fox Business, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes, CNBC.com, Huffington Post, and Consulting magazine. Recorded 15 November 2016.