Leeds Business Insights Leeds School of Business

In this episode, we are discussing innovation and inclusivity in entrepreneurship with Ethan Poskanzer.
Ethan is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship in the Leeds School of Business, and studies how organizations can select and connect people to develop innovative ideas and how the opportunity to innovate can be democratized and made more inclusive.
Host Amanda Kramer sits down with Ethan to discuss his latest research: the science behind matching entrepreneurs and mentors, some striking data in how gender factors into mentor/mentee relationships, and what we can learn from pitch evaluation & sequencing.
Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.

EPISODE QUOTES:
Why do entrepreneurs need to stick to their convictions?
[00:07:38] One thing that I would encourage entrepreneurs to do is stick to their convictions about what they need help with and to reach out to people who they think can help them, because they know what's going on under the hood more than other people do.

Gender differences in funding referrals
[00:17:42] Women mentors are about equally likely to make a referral for a man, entrepreneur, or a woman entrepreneur. But men mentors were much more likely to make referrals for men. So that meant that through those same-gender relationships, men had greater access to this super coveted resource of introductions to investors and the opportunity to pitch their businesses for funding.

Something to keep in mind in the entrepreneurial process
[00:24:31] That's something important to keep in mind that an organization is designing a process to select new ideas to fund an investment that you think of. We need to be really careful about defining the criteria that we're going to use to select this. 

SHOW LINKS:
Ethan Poskanzer Faculty Profile at Leeds School of Business
Ethan Poskanzer - Personal Website
Paper: Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation, by Alex Bell, Raj Chetty, Xavier Jaravel, Neviana Petkova, John Van Reenen

Commercial construction and real estate development is a difficult space to break into, and building plans can change at the drop of a hat, forcing you to be flexible and nimble with clients. 

So joining us to talk about this dynamic and ever-growing industry is Case Swenson, alumnus and president/CEO at Swenson in the San Francisco Bay area.

Case joins host Amanda Kramer to share the trends and challenges he is seeing in the construction and real estate space, so-called “green building,” the skillset needed to enter this industry, and what he's learned from scaling a 4 generation family-owned business. 

Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.


EPISODE QUOTES:
The importance of understanding your market
[00:11:22] I've seen a lot of different contractors go outside of their area, and a lot of times, they get hurt by doing that because they don't understand the market there, they don't understand the labor there. And it is very important to really understand the market that you're in, how much it costs per square foot, how high you can build, how wide you can build, what kind of municipality you're dealing with, and how difficult they are.

The value of leverage
[00:12:19] Leverage is the most important part of development and something that you should really focus on understanding. There's a difference between the science of money and the science of maybe something like brain surgery, and the science of money is complicated. But your deep understanding of that is the most helpful thing when it comes to doing development and construction.

What is the current challenge in the construction industry?
[00:05:24] Right now, the biggest challenge for us is the economic cycle. We have rising interest rates. Also, bring up cap rates, which is how your building is valued at the end of the day. 

SHOW LINKS:
Swenson - The Swenson Group
Case Swenson on LinkedIn

Crowdfunding and volunteer mobilization are at the heart of how non-profits function on a day-to-day basis. But how does this work in an ever-growing remote workforce? And how can this ethos transfer to the business sector and for-profit organizations?

Joining us to answer some of these questions and more is Gloria Urrea, an Assistant Professor of Operations Management in the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Operations Management (SEO) Department at the Leeds School of Business. Gloria studies operations of humanitarian organizations (HOs), whose mission is to alleviate human suffering and improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable population. 

She joins host Amanda Kramer to discuss crowdfunding in emergency support situations, mobilizing donors without burning them out, weighing volunteer experience, and the power of transparency.

Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.


EPISODE QUOTES:
Getting to know your volunteers is important
[00:10:02] When we think about volunteer management, we are thinking about people that are donating their time. It's also important to recognize their heterogeneity, how they are different, and how they may have different priorities, or how I can offer them different tasks depending on who they are.

The role of retention in volunteering 
[00:17:42] Retention is also important because charities want to avoid losing knowledge and experience. Moreover, research has already shown that when volunteers gain experience with a platform, they are more willing to take over maybe monotonous tasks or other tasks that are needed to be done for the long-term sustainability of the platform.

The power of transparency
[00:08:54] There is also a lot of research showing that even revealing some sensitive information to an extent, like costs, also incentivize people, really makes customers feel more valued by the companies. And they appreciate that with more loyalty or purchasing more, one key takeaway for businesses in general and for people is the power of transparency.

SHOW LINKS:
​​Gloria Urrea Faculty Profile at Leeds School of Business
Gloria Urrea - Google Scholar

If we look at the events that have unfolded in the first part of the year, our guests believe likelihood of a recession has increased, and changed expectations for the economy.
Joining us today for this discussion on the economy and a look ahead, are Rich Wobbekind, the Dean for Business and Government Relations and Senior Economist at Leeds as well as Brian Lewandowski, Executive Director of the Business Research Division at Leeds.
We dive deeper into the SVB crash and its ripple effects this episode, including effects on smaller community banks, the current status of inflation and interest rates on a national and state level, the status of labor shortages and where cryptocurrency fits in the economy. 

Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.

EPISODE QUOTES:
What are the implications of the collapse on smaller community banks? 
[00:08:40] Richard Wobbekind: People have much more technology-based mobility now than they've had historically, and that is allowing or encouraging the flow of these funds out of the banking system.

On the current status of inflation and interest rates
[00:25:09] Brian Lewandowski: When we look at Fed policy, the fear or concern is that the Fed would stop too soon. If they pause or even make that bold decision to change direction and lower interest rates because of what's going on in the economy, that signal would sort of derail some of the progress that's being made on inflation right now.

Post-pandemic trends that may contribute to recession
[00:24:49] Richard Wobbekind: I think we've gotten much better at working remotely. We've really adapted to the use of technology more. We've become efficient in a number of ways, and it helps us recruit people from all over the country. If you have a remote job, we can have people working anywhere. And that's one of the things that may be impacting us locally.

SHOW LINKS:
Richard L. Wobbekind | Leeds School of Business
Brian Lewandowski | Leeds School of Business

Everything on paper was perfect for Ashish. A successful job with McKinsey, a beautiful wife and baby, a happy and peaceful life in Boulder. But everyday, he would wake up with intense anxiety, nausea, and an overwhelming sense of doom. Where was this coming from, and what could it be pointing to? 

This is when the real journey began, and Happiness Squad was created. With a goal to help enhance joy, health, love, and meaning in your life, Happiness Squad works with organizations as well as individuals to help people reach their highest potential.

Ashish Kothari is the Founder of Happiness Squad, author of Hardwired for Happiness, and a friend of the Leeds School of Business. 

He joins our host Amanda Kramer to debunk myths surrounding happiness & success, help us find happiness in our work, job crafting, and how we can integrate more happiness, gratitude and good habits into our own lives. 

Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.

EPISODE QUOTES:
Burnout, stress, and anxiety affect people everywhere
[00:04:59] I thought stress, anxiety, and burnout are prices insecure overachievers pay to climb the ladder and accumulate wealth. When I did this research to build this offering, I realized how wrong I was. I realize how big this issue of stress, anxiety, and burnout was in our world.

Happiness is something that ensues
[00:07:16] You can't actually pursue happiness. Those who have happiness as a goal are inherently unhappier because they're so focused on, Am I happy? Am I happy now? Why am I not happy now? And Tal talks a bit about this notion of happiness being something that ensues. You can't see the light, but you can break the light into its different components, and you can see the different colors.

How companies help reduce stress and anxiety and increase performance
[00:09:18] We can be less stressed if organizations join forces to fundamentally shape cultures of flourishing. It can make a big difference, both in an individual's life but even bigger in the performance of organizations.

SHOW LINKS:
Daniel Goldman, Psychologist
Happiness Squad
Sonja Lyubomirsky 
Martin Seligman
Ed Deiner
Tal Ben Shahar
What Job Crafting Looks Like, by Jane E. Dutton and Amy Wrzesniewski
BJ Fogg
Dr. Kristin Neff
Hardwired for Happiness by Ashish Kothari
Happiness Squad Podcast

Both Silicon Valley and Signature Bank are two of the top three largest bank failures in American history, both in terms of dollars, but also on an inflation-adjusted basis. And they happen just a few days apart, just over 2 weeks ago now.

To get more insight on this incredible financial event, we sat down with Shaun Davies. He is an associate professor and research director of the Burridge Center for Finance at the Leeds School of Business.

We grabbed some time with Shaun during this hectic week to get the low down on what the SVB collapse means, the parallels between the 2007/2008 financial crisis and today, and what to look out for moving forward.

Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of Leeds School of Business and is produced by University FM.

EPISODE QUOTES:
Bank fraud still exists
[00:09:01] Typically, when we think about bank runs, we think back to black-and-white movies, like "It's a Wonderful Life," and we think that bank failures, they’re a thing of America's past. Well, the Silicon Valley Bank failure showed us that bank runs still exist. They can still happen.

The unexpected failure of Silicon Valley and Signature Bank
[00:03:44] Silicon Valley and Signature Bank are two of the top three largest bank failures in American history, both in terms of dollars but also on an inflation-adjusted basis. Even when we take bank failures 25 to 30 years ago, these are still larger, even on an inflation-adjusted basis. And it's hard to believe we saw that out of nowhere. And in the span of a few days.

Moments of crisis should be expected
[00:24:38] There will never be a time in which all risks are hedged, and everything is safe. Moments of crisis, massive stock market volatility, moments of your portfolio going down in value. Those should be expected. They're not fun, but they should be expected.