aaron's blog

Last week some of my classmates and I had lunch with Jason Mlicki a Fisher College of Business MBA and “Resident Left Brain” at Mlicki, a Columbus branding agency.

His feeling in that service and b2b (business-to-business) branding is still in its infancy. Some of the firms biggest successes have been with business that operate in industries that have not traditionally invested in very much branding. He highlighted some of Mlicki’s experience with engineering and construction firms including R.W. Setterlin. I found particularly interesting Jason’s response when asked him how he sold Mlicki’s services to such firms. By demonstrating “thought leadership” as it applies to business problems he could sell work to firms that operated in industries or were in need of services not represented in Mlicki’s portfolio.

Another of Jason’s central themes was the idea that consumers shop comparatively and buy emotionally. He shared an anecdote of his experience buying a flat screen HDTV a few years back. Before heading to the store, Jason looked a copy of Consumer Reports and circled several products in the sizes and categories which he was looking. The products he circled were almost exclusively Samsung brand televisions. However, he came home from Best Buy with a brand new Sony. Only when Jason found the circled Consumer Reports a few weeks later, did he realize what effect the emotional power of the Sony brand had on his buying decision.

Thanks again to Jason Mlicki for visiting us at Fisher. For more of his thoughts on branding check out his blog.

Reposted from Fisher Grad Life blog.

A

Last week I had what was hands-down the coolest opportunity since starting Business School: the Evening at Limited Brands program. Limited Brands is a Columbus based apparel company that is home to Victoria’s Secret, Pink and Bath & Body Works among others. Last Wednesday evening a hundred or so Fisher MBAs came to the Limited Brands campus east of Columbus where the Limited Brands executive team hosted a cocktail party and networking event. We were also treated to a private address from Limited Brands founder, CEO, Chair of the Ohio State University Board of Trustees and Columbus legend Les Wexner.

While Wexner spoke for nearly an hour covering a range of topics some of his most noteworthy ideas were:

Flexing your change muscle – His idea was that agility in more important in today’s business environment than ever before. By challenging yourself to think differently, by picking up a book you wouldn’t normally read or taking a new approach to solving a familiar problem you can prepare yourself for the day that you will have to adapt.

Inner-self leading your outer self – As the Limited grew, Wexner found others looking to him for leadership even though he never considered himself a leader. As he tells it, he found that there was something inside him—an inner-self—that was decisive and convincing that would lead his outer-self to do what must be done. In fact, he explained, his two selves often had a dialog while he stood in front of the bathroom mirror shaving.

Thank you again to Les Wexner and the Limited Brands executive team. Altogether this was a very exciting event and the only opportunity I have had to meet someone who had a campus building named after him.

Reposted from Fisher Grad Life blog.

A

This week’s guest was at the Cullman lunch series was Jim Terranova, Director of Fund Operations, WS Investments at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati a Silicon Valley law firm. WSG&R specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law with a focus in start ups. Jim essentially runs the firms internal venture fund that it uses to invest in its clients.

Jim is a Fisher Alum and has been very engaged with the Fisher Entrepreneurship Association—he has taken the lead in organizing an annual entrepreneurial tour of Silicon Valley—as well as a member of the Fisher Alumni Society Board.

Jim spoke about the firm’s history of starting with “first circle” companies (i.e. start ups) and growing their offerings as their clients grew to “second” and “third circle” companies. While he hesitated to provide legal “advice” he did share some of the legal pitfalls he had seen with early stage companies; the most common mistakes centered around failing to clearly define relationships with partners, founders, employees or vendors.

Thanks again to Jim for coming in to share his experience with us.

Reposted from Fisher Grad Life Blog.

A