[APPLAUSE]
Thank you, I find these
events really interesting.
We've had great
speakers over the years,
and something I've really
encouraged the school
to continue.
So hopefully, everybody
does enjoy it tonight.
I want to introduce the
dean, Dean Scott Derue.
Scott has been at the school
for about three years now.
I've got to know Scott
pretty well over the years.
We serve on a couple of
different boards together.
I obviously spend a lot
of time at Michigan.
And I've really
watched his passion
for education and
business education
and changing the way
business is taught
and the impact that's
had on students.
After three years
of effort, we're
finally now seeing
things come to fruition.
And it's really been
incredible to watch the change.
And he's really
pushed the MAP program
to continue to get every single
student to work in companies.
And I think that's had a
real impact on students.
I'll also say he's really
expanded the investment
side of the education.
So a couple of new
funds were created.
We have a real estate fund
now that I've been active on.
And it's really been
Scott's initiative
that's made all that happen.
The other thing
I'll say about Scott
is it's not just students
that he cares about.
He actually cares
about us as alumni
and reaches out constantly.
And I think if you
talk to people,
alumni engagement at the
school has really increased
since Scott has been there.
And I think we all owe Scott
a big thank you for that.
And he always has
interesting things to say,
so I'm very excited
to hear what you're
going to talk about tonight.
But before I do, my one
last parting comment.
I've had the opportunity to
meet so many more alumni people,
some people that I had known
from school, but really,
the broader New York
alumni community.
And it's great to see
people come together.
The Michigan networking
effect is truly incredible.
When you see another Michigan
person that a company
that you're doing
business with, it's
a little bit like
a secret handshake.
And I think it kind of makes
the conversation easier.
I was in Saudi Arabia.
I told Scott just a month ago.
And these are pretty formal
meetings that you're having.
And you're not quite sure
how the customs work.
And we went through a
very formal presentation.
And at the end, the
guy who was in charge,
who was much younger than I
thought he was, turns to me
and he goes, I knew
all that about you.
You didn't have to
do that presentation.
I went to the
University of Michigan.
Go blue!
I just think to see that
kind of stuff is great.
And I met Steve
Ross, my partner now,
when I was at
University of Michigan.
And it's obviously had a
huge impact on my career.
And so I feel it's been
very important to me
to give back to the school.
And the impact that it's had on
the school has been terrific.
And I really hope that
everyone else here
considers doing the same.
Thank you, and welcome, Scott.
- Good evening.
- Evening.
- How everybody doing?
I love that we haven't
started and you're already
asking questions.
I will put those down.
But really excited to be here.
Jeff, thank you so much.
You're a true champion for
the University of Michigan
and the Ross School of Business.
Jeff is being extremely modest.
If you go a few blocks
down the street,
Hudson Yards, which they are
still continuing to finish out,
largest real estate development
project in US history,
I believe it is.
And it is breathtakingly
beautiful.
So if you get a chance,
go check it out.
It's really special to come here
many times throughout the year
and just get to engage with our
alumni, hear what you're up to,
be inspired by all
the work you're doing.
So I want to thank you
for coming out tonight.
We have a very special guest
Michigan Ross alum, Rohan Oza,
is with us tonight.
And if you don't know--
how many of you are
Shark Tank fans?
All right, yes,
you're a fan as well.
So Rohan is a shark in all
the best sense of the term.
But what you might not know,
the people in the industry
call him the Hollywood
Brand Father.
The Hollywood Brand Father.
He is a brand guru.
He is the mastermind
behind many of the brands
that you and I consume
and use every single day.
Most notably and
famous for his work
with Vitamin Water, Smartwater.
He's worked with celebrities
by the names on Beyonce,
Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent.
The list goes on and on.
And we're really honored to,
one, call him an alum, and also
have him with us here tonight.
He's been featured on pretty
much every media outlet
you could possibly imagine.
So without further ado, please
give Rohan a big welcome and a
round of applause.
[APPLAUSE]
- Thank you.
- Welcome.
Got my good side?
- That's it, yes.
- I asked him what
chair he wanted.
And he said it doesn't matter.
Both are bad sides.
- Exactly.
You're supposed to
have a good side.
I have not figured
which one might be--
maybe do a poll later.
We'll switch halfway through.
- You should ask Mr. Wonderful.
He's got no good sides.
- A cue ball.
- Outstanding, Ron thank
you for joining us tonight.
It's really an
honor to have you.
I've been following your career.
You're doing amazing work.
The format that we're going
to use, casual conversation
among friends.
We'll collect questions.
Our team's running
around with these cards,
given that there's
a number of you all.
Please submit them.
And we'll certainly ask and
entertain those questions
as well.
But I'll start with a
few questions for Rohan.
And then we'll open up and
turn to you all as well.
But really, just
another opportunity
to discuss entrepreneurship,
innovation, and your career,
and get to learn from
your experiences.
And that's where
I'd love to start,
is when you first made your
way into food and beverage,
it was with Coca-Cola.
- Yes.
- Right.
- [INAUDIBLE] actually, I first
worked at Mars M&M's, and I was
in manufacturing.
And I tried to get
into marketing.
And the head of marketing
said look buddy,
you don't have the
skills it takes.
Because I'm 23, I
graduated when I was 20.
So I've worked for three years.
And I'm all excited.
I felt I paid my dues
in manufacturing.
I used to clean the
chocolate machines.
I was 20 pounds overweight.
- That's how you cleaned them.
- You'd have to actually sample
the chocolate every two hours.
That's when I started, in
food at Mars and M&M's.
And it's funny now because I
spoke at the Mars leadership
conference a month ago to
their entire global team.
And they're like, Rohan, just
don't bring up the getting
fired from Mars part.
I said, OK.
- That was your opening
line, obviously.
- Yes, that was my opening line.
I said you guys fired
me, but I'm back.
And where Michigan played
a role in my life was,
it was the bridge that let me
get to where I wanted to go.
I always felt that I had
marketing and branding
skills in me.
And a lot of times, when
I give presentations,
if you don't fail, it's unlikely
you'll succeed in a big way.
Maybe [INAUDIBLE] fail.
But most of us really have
failed in some capacity.
And that's what
makes you stronger.
The learnings, I took
from my Mars M&M's,
where I wasn't good, what
I lacked skill sets, what
I needed to get rounded out was
my choice to go to Michigan.
And I think that's what gave
me the platform to then go
to Coke in the branding world.
And then I went from there.
A lot of what I learned, a
lot of the skills I developed,
the network that I built
helped me platform.
- Let's go to Coca-Cola.
You're working in marketing.
And I assume you're working
your way up the executive ladder
and doing really well
there, as from everything
that I've read and heard
and talked with you about.
And then you decide
to make a shift.
And so you're on the
fast track at Coca-Cola.
And you decide to make
a shift and go work
for a company making in
bottling water that has,
I believe at the time,
$25 million in revenue--
- A little bit less,
but thereabouts, yeah.
- What was the reaction of your
colleagues and your mentors
at Coca-Cola when you walked
in one day and said thank you,
but I'm going to go work for
this small water company that
you've never heard of?
- To be honest, it wasn't
totally voluntary at the time.
When I joined Coca-Cola,
I was ranked at the bottom
of the recruiting class.
But I was in.
I got in there.
And then with time,
I fought my way up.
And the dot com era helped,
because a bunch of my friends
went into the companies.
And that didn't
work out so well.
So I just took their spots.
But I think with time, I was
able to build up the marketing
acumen at Coca-Cola.
I learned branding, marketing.
It's a great learning spot.
And I think even today, everyone
wants to be Mark Zuckerberg.
Everyone wants to go
out and build an empire
within a year and 1/2 or two
years, and billionaire by 29.
It doesn't really
happen in general.
There's obviously a
few examples of that.
But I still feel that some
of the bigger companies
are still good learning bases.
Just don't spend 20 years there.
So I was there.
It was going very well.
And then, I don't know, it's
a combination with my boss
not liking me and me
being a little too fresh.
I was pretty sure
going to get fired.
And so the day
before I got fired,
I went to the president of
the company and I said look--
he actually liked me.
But it was the people below
him that didn't like me.
So I said look, this is
not panning out in Atlanta.
I'm going to go to New
York to expand my horizons.
He said, great,
where are you going?
And I said, I'm going
to Vitamin Water.
And he goes, what do they do?
I said well, they put
vitamins in water.
And he's, like, good luck
with that one, basically.
And everyone
thought I was crazy.
There was only one guy there--
actually, a guy called
Darrell Corbin who was like,
you should go.
You should take the risk.
And I respected him
as one of the guys.
And at some point you've
just got to take the leap,
because if you're too
comfortable, again,
you won't do very well.
You've got to be a
little bit uncomfortable.
You've got to take the leap,
and you've got to do it early.
My business partner--
I did it before I was 30.
I was 28, 29.
My business partner,
his grandfather
told him the same thing.
If you want to make a
seismic shift in your career,
kind of have to do
it before you're 30,
because otherwise you
wife, kids, family,
golden handcuffs, and
the ability to leap
becomes a lot tougher.
So I knew I was going to be
kicked out, so I had to leap.
And I took a risk to
something that I believed in.
- That's great.
It's interesting for the
MBA today, roughly 28,
29 years old.
And to your point,
students are using it
as a platform to make that
shift and create opportunities
for leaping, just
like you've done.
That's really exciting.
So you get to Vitamin Water.
And what's your role
at Vitamin Water?
- I'm the head of marketing.
I'm probably the number
three or four guy.
I'm a partner in the company,
albeit a small partner.
And my friend who was the
head of sales, went on
to become the president of
the company, said to me,
hey look, I've done
your job for you, buddy.
Here's the marketing team.
I recruited them.
You're ready to rock and roll.
And so I'm like, great.
It's a lovely team, but it
was at a different caliber
to what we needed to
make the company great.
- To really go where
you want it to go.
When you were there,
one of your innovations
that you've really
become known for
is partnering with
celebrities to drive brand.
Where did the ideas for
those celebrity partnerships
come from?
How did you use them?
And what makes for a
good celebrity brand
partnership in your mind?
- Just three things.
Where they came from was, I
grew up in Sprite and Powerade.
And I did a lot of
hip hop commercials
back in the day with a bunch
of hip hop celebrities.
I did marketing with
Sprite and the NBA.
I signed Kobe Bryant right
when he's out of high school.
I signed Andy Roddick.
I'd sign, but they
were all endorsements.
But I found a way
that I could connect
with a lot of these celebrities.
I'll go to the last part
and come to the middle.
And one of the things
that I talk about--
I just came out of meeting
today with a big brand.
And I'm like, you have to make
sure that celebrities believe,
especially today, more than ever
before, believe in the product.
I would meet directly with them.
You can't take the
agent's word for it
because they just want
the cash for the money.
Do they believe in your brand?
And even if it's an endorsement,
it's fine if it's genuine
and they believe in it.
If they don't, consumers
today will figure it
out a lot quicker.
But when I went to Vitamin
Water I had no cash.
Small company.
To be fair, hip
hop was big, and I
wanted to bring
in a hip hop star,
because Vitamin Water was this
medicinal looking product that
fundamentally was
cool on the Upper East
Side, Lower Eastside, Chelsea.
It wasn't cool nationwide.
And hip hop was bigger
than it's ever been.
And there was two guys that I
wanted to sign, 50 and Jay-Z.
And everyone thought
it was very strategic,
but I just didn't
have Jay's number.
So I called 50.
I still don't, by the way.
Nobody has Jay's number.
I called 50 through
a mutual friend.
And I give him a lot of credit.
I said look, I don't
have the money.
Here's what I can pay.
He said, don't worry about that.
You can't afford me, he
said to me basically.
He said, but I'll take equity.
And we structured
an equity deal,
and that's what changed
the game, because when
50 made what he made--
when that came out, every
celebrity is like, one second.
What am I doing wrong?
Why am I taking the small
endorsement paychecks?
I want to be in the equity game.
It was a combination of Fif and
I brainstorming with the fact
that I didn't have money.
And it was a creative
brainstorm with the both of us.
It wasn't just my idea.
Both of us came up
with it together.
And he believed in himself.
I structure an equity deal for
him, and it worked out great.
- What was it about the
product that he connected with?
I mean, this
authenticity that you're
referring to about the
celebrity genuinely believing
in and admiring the
product in some sense.
What was it that made
that marriage work?
- He thought it was a healthier
Kool-Aid, is what he thought.
I mean, he created
a song out of it.
I took a quart of water and
I made it worth $4 billion.
Fif, ironically everyone
sees him from a rapper--
I mean, he definitely
has a colorful past.
I mean, he's legitimate.
A bunch of those
holes are legitimate.
But he is very healthy
as an individual.
What he eats, when he works
out, his videos, he's--
that's him.
So when he saw the product--
we're going back 15 years
now, 16 years, 15 years.
I created Zero afterwards.
Vitamin Water still had 1/2 to
a 1/3 of the sugar of sodas,
and it was better for you.
It had real levels of vitamins.
And he's like, this is a kind
of drink that I could drink
and I feel good about.
And I think the reason it worked
is because it wasn't a liquor
or it wasn't something
that was expected.
It was, a wow.
It's a healthier,
better for you beverage
from someone who is not
expected to bring it.
And that's what made
the whole thing work.
And Fif took it everywhere.
Actually, when he met
the original founder
of the company, a guy
called Darius, it was funny,
because 50 at that point
had told the whole world
that he owned Vitamin Water.
So Darius walked up to 50
and said, great to meet you.
By the way, I am the actual
owner of Vitamin Water.
- That's a good story.
Now at that time,
I read something,
and I want to know
if this is true,
that you discovered
what an influencer is
before anyone else.
And it somehow connects
to flight attendants.
Tell me that story.
- I mean, these days, one,
no chance you could do this.
And two, looking like I look,
there's not a hope in hell.
But we used to take beverages.
Back in the day--
there's a stat, one in
10 influencers in America
influences the other nine.
Great.
The tough part is to find
who the hell that one is.
We would actually take
bags of Vitamin Water.
So I would check
in, and I'd have
a cooler bag of 12 bottles.
And I'd give a couple to
the lady or gentleman who
checked me in, hoping
to get an upgrade,
because back then
we're back of the bus.
It's amazing today that
you could even think this.
Then I'd go for security,
which now, no water allowed.
We would go through security.
And I'd give the security
people some Vitamin Water.
Everyone loving it.
And then we'd get on the plane.
And the biggest
influence honestly,
is the flight attendant, because
they see per day 2000 people.
And if they're seen drinking
it, anybody coming on board,
oh, what's that?
Oh, it's this thing.
It's great.
So we would literally give--
at some points, I'd even
given the pilot some.
It's funny how the world
has evolved in a way
that you can't get anything
liquid past security.
But those were the influencers
that reached thousands
of people on a daily basis.
And we would take up.
And I was hoping,
one, to board quicker,
get upgraded, but
also, at the same time,
influence a bunch people.
And I think that was--
in all the companies
I've been involved in,
I believe in brand messiahs,
not brand managers.
And one of the things
I encourage people
is, I wouldn't go work for a
company just for the theory.
You've got to love
what you're doing.
Whether it's beverages,
whether it's real estate,
you got to be
passionate about it,
because if you're
passionate, then
you're a messiah for your
brand and your company.
And the influencer
strategy-- everyone
I hired at Vitamin Water were
all influencers themselves.
- Then you kept engaging
in food, beverage.
Partnerships By was a big
investment that you made,
and Justin Timberlake,
and that arrangement.
But then you found your
way into venture capital
before Shark Tank.
And I believe you're
on your third fund
that you're beginning to
raise in the VC space.
So what was it that
motivated you, inspired you
to move from branding
and marketing
and doing these celebrity
brand partnerships
to venture capital?
- What happened was, I
was doing it individually.
And with By, I was an early
investor, and it went great.
And Ben Weiss, the founder,
is a brilliant guy.
We created something
truly special.
But when there were follow
on investments, for those
of you in private
equity, you get in,
you make the first
couple of checks,
but then you had to
do follow on checks.
And I didn't have enough
money or it was just too much
for me to write
those sort of checks.
And I have in a way an
ability to find brands early.
My business partner
has an ability
to spot that stuff early.
Usually I'm the better one, but
he just got into Beyond Meat
recently, so I think
he might be ahead of me
based on that performance.
But we can ask the dean how
that valuation is holding.
So from my perspective, I felt
that I was getting in early,
but I wasn't controlling the
destiny of these companies
enough, and I wasn't able to
write the follow on checks
or large enough checks
to fundamentally change
the landscape.
Because my theory is
everyone in America
male, female, black
white tall, short
want to feel better about
themselves fundamentally.
And we're blessed to
be in a country that
allows you to do that.
The number one way
to do that is what
goes in your body, food and
beverage, then personal care,
what goes on your
body, and then how you
treat it, fitness and wellness.
That's the game plan.
The problem is most
Americans don't have access
to better few products.
And it doesn't have to
be healthy products,
it's healthier.
So how do I transition
from a Snickers bar
to a One bar that A, may not be
healthy, but it's definitely,
one gram of sugar,
20 grams of protein,
way better than a Snickers
bar or a Coca-Cola to a Bai.
So in order to fundamentally
change the entire landscape out
there, which is
upside down anymore.
If you go to grocery
stores across America,
80% of the stuff in there
is quite horrible for you.
When cheese lasts six years,
it's possibly not cheese.
Right?
I mean, you can melt it,
put it on your nachos,
but it's not cheese.
And so I think that the food
was actually better for you
in the 60s, 50s, etc.
And then come the 70s,
everything got processed,
everything got dropped in price.
The goal was how to
feed a nation food that
had to go into a bunker
in case the Russians
invaded, like everything could
last at least 16 months or 24
months.
So I think there's a
seismic shift happening.
And if I was doing
it individually,
there's only so much I could do.
If I formed a fund
and put together
a really smart team, which
includes Michigan people as
well, I felt that we could then
really transform the landscape.
And so we started
probably three years ago,
but we probably have one of the
best portfolios in the country
for food and beverage, because
we found the best partners,
and we provide the most
value to our partners.
- And just to put that into
perspective, three years
in this game, and you're
already on your third fund.
That doesn't happen.
- Yeah, that's what I hear.
I mean, I dye the
hell out of my hair.
No, no, I don't.
I don't dye it.
My sister thinks I
dye it, but I don't.
Yeah, we're
definitely very lucky.
Like, I think we
came in quickly, we
had pre-existing
relationships, and we found
a bunch of smart founders.
And what's happened now
is because of the partners
we have in our firm, because
of all the brands like Bai
and Health-Ade, and Vital
Proteins and One bar,
all the new entrepreneurs want
to be where those guys are.
So they look up and say,
oh wow, that brand's
done that, who are they with?
We've got to be with Cavu.
And I think that's because
it becomes like a nightclub,
right?
You want to go to the nightclub
that's got a line out the door,
everything's fallen,
50s on the mic.
- Yeah.
So how did the Shark
Tank thing come about?
Did you get a call one
day, and it's Mark Cuban,
and he says, hey, you
want to join me on stage?
- No way Cuban's going to
call, you gotta call Cuban.
He's you know,
that's how Mark is.
But it actually started
with NBC called me
for a show that was
supposed to rival
Shark Tank with Tyra Banks
and a guy called Rob Dyrdek.
And we shot it, but it
was just too convoluted.
The beauty of Shark Tank is
the simplicity of the show.
So when that went out,
ABC were like, one second,
who's that guy?
Even though that show
didn't go anywhere,
ABC was like we need
to speak to him.
So ABC then called me in.
And they're always looking
to change the, you know,
the format a little
bit, add some new sharks
and bring some
fresh perspective.
So they called me in like
almost like a test interview.
And beauty is my day
job is playing a shark.
So I just had to
ham it up slightly.
But it's pretty much what
I do on a daily basis.
I don't have to make stories up.
So I did the first year.
I was little bit nervous,
because what happens
is Shark Tank, one
it's all very real.
So I don't know anybody
who's coming on.
And, in fact, if you
tell them you know me,
they won't put you on my panel.
Then once they come on,
they're very nervous,
but they've only got about five
minutes to pitch their story.
You've got to absorb
the story, then
I've got to ask a bunch of
questions at the same time
as fighting off all these other
sharks who if the deal is good
are trying to nail you, and
decide if I'm going to put
my own money in that deal.
So it's just kind of
intense, and the time flies.
So it's not like
you're sitting there
during taping going, I
wonder what's for dinner,
like there's literally like
you're on the whole time.
And so it's a great
show, and it's
compact the way they shoot
it, but it's intense.
Because there's no
downtime during the it's
about a 40 minute
taping for each section.
- That's what I was going to
ask is, how many pitches do you
see back to back?
- Eight pitches in a day,
each one is about 40 minutes.
And that gets then shrunk down
to about eight minutes or nine
in real TV time.
- So consistent with the
startup venture capital space,
let me ask one of the
audience questions.
It says, I'm sure you know
not even 5% of venture capital
goes to women led startups, yet
these entrepreneurs regularly
deliver a higher rate
of return for investors.
Why, in your mind, does that
trend persist is the question,
and what can we, whether it's
an educational institution
or a venture
capitalist, what can we
do to create if you
will more gender parity
in entrepreneurship?
- I think one it starts younger.
So I think from a
younger age, you've
got to get that entrepreneurship
vibe going with women as
much as you do with men.
We have a bunch of companies
that have female founders
Health-Ade, WTRMLN WTR.
But you're right.
There's not enough,
and there's honestly,
no strength that a guy
has a woman can't do.
In fact, some of the
women in the company
are actually better in
terms of their understanding
of the marketplace.
Because the bulk of the products
are purchased by women still,
so even though it's
a guy's product,
70% of the budget
decisions are women.
So even if women are
sometimes on founding it,
I'm driving home having
women across the board
in different roles.
But I think that one it's
got to start earlier.
Secondly, and a friend
of mine's doing this,
there's got to be a
lot more networking
events with women founders
that give you the confidence
to go and make the leap.
And I think is it FounderMade,
Asha's, Megan Asha
does something where she
brings in predominantly women,
and there's a great
networking opportunity.
And I think the last
thing is then somehow
we need to be able to
showcase women founders
more, because same thing when
people are younger look up they
want to see, you see all
the tech stars, right?
Most of the tech stars are guys.
- Right.
- But there's other fields that
women have done and succeeded
in as entrepreneurs.
And I think more of those
have to be showcased.
Doesn't always have
to have a 50 billion
dollar valuation to it, but
I think that then women feel,
you know what, I'm going
to go for that as well.
I don't have to
take a safe route,
I don't have to take
the corporate route.
I'm going to swing
for the fences.
- That's right, that's right.
Here's an interesting factoid.
I tweeted this
out the other day.
Ann Arbor VentureBeat put
this out a few days ago.
Ann Arbor is the number
one city in the country
for female founders looking for
their first round of venture
capital.
- Really?
- Yes.
The home team.
- Yeah, I mean you
need more of that.
It's just there shouldn't
be disparity in that.
If you're creating
fashion or beauty
or food or beverage
or everything else,
there's zero difference.
And so the environment
is not there or maybe
it's not encouraged as
much from an earlier stage.
And I think it should be.
And if you do that,
and you basically
highlight the successes
of female founders,
I think you'll start to
see that flywheel effect.
- Yeah, that's a great point.
What's the Michigan MBA
done for you in your career?
- Two things.
It gave me a platform from
which to leap into a field
that I was very
passionate about.
And so I couldn't
get into marketing
and branding from where I
was, and I was at an impasse.
And Michigan allowed
me to do that.
I think it also helped
a lot in my two biggest
things at Michigan
were corporate strategy
and marketing.
And even today, those are
skill sets that I use the most.
So I honed in, actually back
in the day, rest in peace,
Ezekiel Prada was my professor.
And the guy was brilliant.
And corporate strategy today--
Because people think I'm just
a brander, but then when I
go into companies and I break
down the strategy part, which
I don't even think about now,
it's kind of second nature,
but a lot of it starts
with how your brain is
trained a little bit.
And I think as you would
evolve the program,
I think a big part is
how to train your brain
to think the way the
modern world is today.
And I think that's versus
just the same whether it's
case studies, whether it's
looking at brands and companies
differently, but the two areas
that I learned in Michigan
became my biggest strengths.
It allowed me to platform.
And then, I think
that it's probably
one of the best alumni
networks in the world.
Because you have schools
that are very big,
that have big alumni networks,
and we won't name any of them,
but maybe not as successful
as Michigan, Ohio State.
But then--
- It's not as big though.
- Not as big or as
successful, but anyway,
except on the football
field, it's unbelievable.
But I think that
with Michigan you
have a combination
of size and talent.
And if you combine the two, it's
one of the best alumni networks
in the world.
And I think that if
you're in a city,
whether it's New York,
et cetera networking
amongst the Michigan base is a
great way to try and progress
your career.
- So we did a survey
of our alumni recently.
And we asked them within
the first five years
of being out of school, what are
the biggest challenges that you
ran into?
And the top three.
Number one-- Actually
I'll go in reverse order.
Number three was
financial literacy.
I had no money, now I have
money, what do I do with it?
That was interesting.
And so the answer is
invest in his venture fund.
- I'm trying to figure out
my own money by the way.
- OK.
- Other than my fund, the
rest is very confusing.
- The second, which is the
question I'm going to ask you,
was how do I build
my personal brand?
And the first one
was tied to something
that you mentioned a moment
ago, which is essentially
in the category of wellness.
So everything from
just basically,
how do I take care of
myself, food, diet, sleep, et
cetera, which we don't at
a young age or higher ed,
we don't educate
folks on how to do.
But I'm curious from a
personal branding perspective,
if you were taking the
strategies and the systems
that you apply to companies,
whether they be small or large,
and build and elevate these
brands on a global scale, what
advice would you have for
our students or our alumni
looking to do the same
for their personal brand
in their careers?
How do they think strategically
about their personal brand
and elevate their brand?
- So I think first is you've
got to start by figuring out
what you're passionate about.
Same with the product.
If you choose a product, the
product has to have a purpose.
Most great brands that
have been created,
there's a purpose
for that product.
So as it comes to
being a person,
choose what you're
passionate about,
because if you start building
your brand on a foundation
that you're not
passionate about, then
it gets a little shaky.
So after a couple of years in,
what do you really like to do?
What have you honed in?
What are the areas that you
want to take your career?
LinkedIn is actually an
amazing place to build a brand.
Instagram, it's a
different type of brand
if you want to build
it, but LinkedIn
is a great place for
establishing who you are,
establishing what you've done,
and networking through that.
There's more and more talent
that is required today
than ever before.
Because this is the greatest
country in the world
to be an entrepreneur.
This is my pitch that
I gave on Shark Tank.
But I truly believe it,
because the greatest disruption
in the world today is being led
by America across every front.
And so everyone just
copies what we do,
so we created Uber and
Lyft here, you know,
India creates Ola.
No one is creating anything in
general that is breakthrough
that America is taking.
It's usually the
other way around.
So that means that the talent
requirements in this country
are definitely different
than they were in the past,
but definitely very critical.
And so entrepreneurial
companies start ups, et cetera,
et cetera all
looking for talent,
so you got to brand
yourself and you've
got to think about
in five years where
do I want to be, in 10
years where do I want to be,
and how do I then build a skill
set, if I'm a Swiss army knife,
how do I build a skill set
that allows me to be there.
And then using LinkedIn,
network the hell
out of it, because the
beauty of today is you
have an ability to
get to people that
historically you never could.
And you've got to go
after a number of people,
because you never know
which one of these emails
actually make it through.
And I think by
building your brand,
you've got to become known.
One of the guys who works for
us, actually a Michigan alumni,
is a tenacious,
tenacious bugger.
And this guy he basically, I
mean, he's extremely talented,
but he worked himself building a
brand in a big way on LinkedIn.
And then at every conference,
he knew where he wanted to be,
at every conference he went
and found all the right
private equity groups.
He grabbed them for coffee,
he grabbed them for lunch.
There's the online
networking and there's
the physical networking.
It's just like a brand,
the more people that
are aware of your name in
an industry, the more likely
you are to move up the ladder
or make it, because just
like a product, oh, you
heard of this guy, yeah,
actually I met him, the guy
hunted me down for coffee.
And people respect the tenacity.
Sometimes it can be annoying,
but you respect the tenacity.
And so you've got to build your
brand both online in the worlds
like LinkedIn, et cetera.
And if you have
real content, you
can start doing it
on Instagram, you
can start doing it on YouTube,
where you start posting stuff
in terms of what you have
done, if it's meaningful
and stuff people can learn from.
But then you've got to
get into the real world
and hit up everything
from events to conferences
and have rapid pitches.
People don't want long stories.
Rapid pitches, who are you, they
get to know your name, move on.
And then that name
starts to percolate.
And that's why I
come back to find
your passion and your zone,
because if you try and get
a brand name going
across five industries,
it's just going to dilute down.
To get a brand name
going in one area
that you're passionate
about, that's
where your brand
starts to elevate.
- Well, into your
earlier point you
become your own brand
messiah at that point,
but in a focused area.
- But it's got to be
focused, because otherwise it
just gets diluted down then.
- Yeah.
All right, so here's
what we're going to do.
We got a few minutes remaining.
I'm going to ask a question,
you get to ask me a question,
and I get the last one.
- Deal.
- Deal?
All right.
What's the next big thing
in the food and beverage
industry that people
are not talking about?
What is going to disrupt
food and beverage?
- I can't fully tell you,
because then everyone's going
to go after it is the issue.
- That's probably
why they asked it.
- So I'll flip the
script a little bit.
The food and
beverage giants, it's
a trillion plus dollars
worth of market cap,
are all melting icebergs.
No one's going to say
tomorrow, all right, guys,
fake news sugar's back.
It was all a hoax.
Please load up on
the sodas, right?
So sugars and carbs.
Carbs will evolve by the way
into different types of stuff.
But all these companies
are struggling,
and they're melting icebergs.
And I don't think it's
any one particular trend.
I think that you've got
to meet consumer's needs
across the day.
And there's trillions
of dollars or trillion
plus dollars of products out
there that just won't grow.
They won't disappear,
unfortunately.
And unfortunately, because
it's a lot of lower income
people across the
country, because of price,
end up buying the
crappy products.
But the goal is as
an entrepreneur,
you've got to look up and say,
OK, all of these categories
are imploding in some capacity.
How do I become the
solution for breakfast?
How do I become the
solution for snacking?
How am I the solution
to replace Diet Coke?
And I think that
in beauty you're
seeing it a lot, where the
movement in food and beverage
is starting to happen in
a big way in beauty now.
And I think that there's an
ability for you to go find,
and especially as women,
not me women or this group,
as women you understand
beauty a lot better obviously.
You use it.
Guys are a little
more rudimentary
in their understanding.
We wash our face, and that's
about it, maybe with soap
maybe not.
And so women understand
the regimen a lot better.
So by the way those
brands as well,
you guys know it, are starting
to slow down or decline.
So the ability to go disrupt
everything in food and beverage
beauty is huge now.
But my thing is look at
where the biggest melting is
happening, and
then go figure out
how you can put the
solution into play.
And I don't think it's
one silver bullet.
It's not like, OK,
keto's the movement now.
It's about finding
the gaps of where
the melting is happening based
on what you guys personally do.
Because this millennial
audience is looking for brands
that's there's.
They want to own
their own brands
not just do the brands
of their parents.
With us, we just ate the brands
of our parents fundamentally.
Like, OK, they like Frosted
Flakes, great Frosted Flakes
in the house.
OJ and Frosted Flakes is
probably not the best way
to start your day, unless
you want diabetes and a heart
attack.
So I think that
there's an ability now
where watch the melting
icebergs, what are the gaps,
and then pick things that
you think are missing,
and then roll right through it.
- Yeah.
Thank you.
- All right.
I'll give you a question.
- What do you got?
- I mean, you know,
I think you're crazy,
because I didn't
realize you did this,
but I'm going to rock
out the question.
Can you please share
your perspective
on the extremely high
risk and return or reward
for climbing Mount Everest.
- It's been in the
media a lot recently.
So for those that don't
know, I climb mountains
and I climbed Mt.
Everest in 2013.
What you had happen this
year that everybody's
paying attention
to is one, somebody
got that beautiful picture
of that really long line
of people.
- Is that always that line?
- No.
- OK.
All right.
So what you had happen
this year is you
have a record
number of climbers.
So 381 permits were issued,
when I was there in '13,
maybe 330 something like that.
So a non-trivial increase
in number of climbers.
You have a number of
inexperienced guide companies.
So Nepal and the
Himalayan region
and Everest in particular
completely unregulated.
So you and I could
decide right now
that we're going to
start a guiding company.
- Off we go.
- And if people will pay
us, we can take them.
OK?
And that is a tragedy
in and of itself.
And this year you had a
very narrow weather window,
and it is one lane of traffic.
There's only one way
up and one way down.
So if you have a very narrow
weather window where there's
only maybe three
or four days where
you can summit versus
when I was there
we probably had maybe
a week and a half,
two weeks where people
were summitting.
You have more people
in a tight space.
And that's what you saw with
the traffic jams this year.
That is not the first
time it happened,
nor will it be the last.
But the risk if you go
with the right people
and with the right
training, I never
felt scared in some basic sense.
There's a lot of risk obviously.
But if you do it right
with the right people,
I think it's pretty safe.
The return is there is
nothing like standing
on the top of the world.
Make sure you get
the right training,
go with the right people.
It's should not be
your first rodeo,
it takes years to get there.
- Pick Kilimanjaro or
something before that.
- Exactly.
Last fall, I took 30
undergraduates to Killmanjaro.
We had a magnificent time.
Go, it's unbelievable.
All right.
- We'll start with
the Catskills.
- Yes, yes.
So let me go back to Shark Tank.
So I am fascinated by the
show, my wife Kathy loves it.
And we've watched it
ever since it started.
And so for graduation this year,
I pick the commencement speaker
each year, and one of
your pals Damon we called.
And said, hey Damon, you want to
come to the University Michigan
and give the Ross School of
Business graduation speech.
And he did an unbelievable job.
It was fabulous.
What's your best Damon story?
So Damon and I aren't
on the show together.
I think we're just
too good to be
on the show at the same time.
So I get stuck with
wonderful and Cuban.
- So you've never
been on together?
- No, not on with Damon.
Because there's six
full time sharks.
- Right.
- And there's a couple of us
that, myself, Alex Rodriguez,
and probably Sara Blakely
are the three that
come through the most often.
There's an entrepreneur, by the
way, female entrepreneur that's
done incredibly well.
- Amazing, right.
- And so I don't go on with
Damon at the same time,
so it's tough for me
to give a Damon story.
I can give you plenty of
stories of how wonderful,
he's an interesting character.
But yeah, it's in the
tank though, it's funny.
One thing I realized
about Shark Tank
is when you're in
the tank it's real,
meaning people come after you.
Like, one of the last
episodes, Barbara has come,
I mean, I was trying
to bid on this thing,
Barbara's trying
to come after me.
First she wants to
partner with me,
then I say no, then
she tries to trash me.
And she's like, why
don't you do the deal?
You can fix this brand.
This poor guy has like
invested $3 million
to get to 300,000 in sales.
I'm like this is
not a good model.
And so you end up in a very
aggressive scenario sometimes
where I'm trying to
fight the other sharks.
They've been doing
it for a while.
But the amazing thing
is once it's done,
everyone's friends afterwards.
Like you're legitimate
intense, you're
trying to fight for
the deals, you kind of
trash each other on the
show, and then you get off
and you hug it out.
I don't think there's a
lot of shows like that.
The Real Housewives has
a long tale on animosity.
- No real housewives
stories on Shark Tank.
- Yeah, well, there
is one, but I'm not
going to get into it, yeah.
- All right.
Well, on that note, can we give
Rohan a big round of applause?
[APPLAUSE]
- Thanks, appreciate it.
- Thank you, sir.
It's, as I said before,
it's amazing to come back
to this city every time and get
to see friendly faces and all
of you who we have
one thing in common,
it's a love for the
University of Michigan.
So thank you for coming out.
And as always, go Blue,
stay enjoy yourselves.
Thank you very, very much.
