Stern Stories

Tech Possible

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Students in NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Technology and Entrepreneurship MBA Program traveled to Seattle and Silicon Valley as part of their experiential coursework to explore the West Coast tech ecosystem
Students in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Over the course of two weeks in January, students in NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Technology and Entrepreneurship MBA Program traveled to Seattle and Silicon Valley for the opportunity to learn, network and explore the West Coast tech ecosystem. The West Coast immersion is part of the required experiential coursework for the focused one-year program and exposed students to a variety of global firms across industries at the leading edge of business and technology.

The immersion was a component of Professor Melissa Schilling’s course, “The Evolution and Economics of Technology,” where students examined the dynamics of industries driven by technological innovation, training them to think strategically about new product development and deployment.

As part of the course, students embarked on several corporate visits to firms including Amazon, Boeing, Expedia, GoFundMe, HBO, IBM, Lyft, Microsoft, PayPal, Tableau Software, Starbucks, Tesla and 500 Startups.

While onsite, students also engaged with two members of Stern’s Tech MBA Advisory Board:  Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal, and Jeff Teper, Corporate Vice President, Office, OneDrive & SharePoint at Microsoft.

Students also engaged in a Stern Solutions experiential learning project with PayPal focused on data analysis for the firm’s blockchain-based internal incentive program.

“The West Coast Immersion provided amazing exposure to companies, individuals, and a way of thinking that you cannot replicate in the classroom,” said Matt Krasnoff (MBA ‘19). “I gained a more thorough understanding of how different industry leaders approach innovation and new product development. We really got a feel for what makes those two cities so unique in the larger technology ecosystem and learned how we can bring that type of product-focused thinking back to NYC.”

See photo and social media highlights from the NYU Stern Andre Koo Tech MBA West Coast Immersion below:

Seattle

Microsoft

Sign in Microsoft office, "Welcome NYU Stern Tech MBA"
Tech MBA students begin their West Coast immersion at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, just outside Seattle

Jeff Teper
Jeff Teper, Corporate Vice President, Office, OneDrive & SharePoint at Microsoft, and member of NYU Stern’s Tech MBA Advisory Board, addresses Tech MBA students onsite at Microsoft
 
Amazon ​​​​​​

Students at Amazon headquarters
Tech MBA students at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, where they went on a corporate visit and had class with Professor Melissa Schilling onsite  
 
Boeing

Students at Boeing campus
Tech MBA students at Boeing’s campus in Seattle, where they engaged on a corporate visit and factory tour
 
Expedia

Students at Expedia's headquarters
Tech MBA students during a corporate visit to Expedia’s headquarters in Bellevue, just outside Seattle, where they were hosted by alumna Prasanna Nagavalli (MBA '14), Senior Manager, Strategic Payment Partnerships, Expedia

Starbucks

Students at Starbucks' headquarters
Tech MBA students during a corporate visit to Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle

Students at the HBO corporate office
Tech MBA students during a corporate visit to HBO Code Labs, the company’s software engineering office in Seattle


Silicon Valley

PayPal

Students at Paypal's San Jose headquarters, with Dan Schulman
The Silicon Valley leg of the West Coast immersion kicked off at PayPal’s San Jose headquarters, where Tech MBA students met with Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal, and member of NYU Stern’s Tech MBA Advisory Board

Dan Schulman
Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal, and member of NYU Stern’s Tech MBA Advisory Board, addresses Tech MBA students onsite at PayPal’s headquarters in San Jose
 
IBM

Tech MBA student and Melissa Schilling
A Tech MBA student speaks with Professor Melissa Schilling at IBM Watson West in San Francisco after her class, which she taught onsite

500 Startups

Students at 500 Startups corporate office
Tech MBA students during a corporate visit to 500 Startups, an early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator in San Francisco

Lyft

Students at Lyft's headquarters
Tech MBA students at Lyft’s headquarters in San Francisco where they engaged in a corporate visit
 
Tesla

Students at Tesla's headquarters
Tech MBA students during a corporate visit to Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto

Tesla car
A Tech MBA student checks out some of the innovations at Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto