Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: DU EMBA 67

Exploring Prague

This past summer in the end of May, I visited Prague, Czech Republic with my University of Denver Daniels MBA program class. This was right after my trip to Saudi Arabia and Austria, and was the start of our MBA Program International Business Segment. We had a great time meeting with local businesses and exploring the town. Prague is an incredibly well preserved, beautiful town, with rich history, incredible architecture, and interesting culture. Although it’s very touristy, it’s that way for a reason – it really is worth visiting, and should be on everybody’s list. After Prague, we continued onto Israel…

A few snapshots from Prague…

2017-10-15
Speaking on the Triple Bottom Line at University of Denver Margery Reed Hall

This week, in conjunction with me Executive MBA at the University of Denver Daniels College of Business, I, along with my great team, gave a talk on the work we’ve been doing with Accendo Solutions to bring solar power and satellite internet to two remote villages in Bolivia.

2017-08-05
Analysis of Human Capital Management Strategy for Vail Resorts

Slides from an analysis of the human capital management plan for Vail Resorts, done during my MBA Human Capital Management class as a group project and presentation.

2017-03-20
Analysis of Netflix’s History and Business Model
University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Cohort 67

Issue Identification

The three key decisions Netflix is faced with coming to terms with at this point in their history are:
1. Licensing its proprietary movie and media recommendation engine to 3^rd party providers, while maintaining its existing DVD rental service as one of many service offerings featuring the Netflix recommendation engine. (Shih, Kaufman, & Spinola, 2007)
2. Launch its own VOD service, and integrate streaming media capabilities in with the existing Netflix DVD rental service. This would let consumers use either service somewhat interchangeably, and require customer to pay for both, despite their own usage.(Shih, Kaufman, & Spinola, 2007)
3. Build a VOD service as a completely separate product. This would allow consumers to choose which service they use and only pay for that service, but would create a significant division within the company, and a dilution of their resources. (Shih, Kaufman, & Spinola, 2007)
Foundation for Recommendations

Core recommendations for Netflix in this case is primarily:
- Stay the course of building out VOD product, and enhance future offerings with HD content, enhanced metadata, more sophisticated planning and research tools, and access on mobile, embedded, and other third part devices.
- Integrate VOD offerings in with existing DVD offerings to preserve existing customer base. This is based on analysis of the six paths, with a particular emphasis on the product scope, as well as emotional connection.
- Slowly transition to separated service offerings for VOD and DVD, but both under the same “Netflix” branding.
- Keep recommendation engine integrated into all Netflix products, focus resources on developing more advanced recommendations. Don’t license out recommendation engine to third parties.
- Maintain “Blue Ocean”(Mauborgne & Kim, 2005) of separation by continuing to innovate in media delivery pipeline, deep learning to enhance recommendation engine, as well as slowly enter into studio industry. This recommendation stems from analysis of escalating product delivery costs, which will continue to balloon with the existing, “old school” DVD delivery product.
Closing

It’s clear that Netflix has been, and will continue to be an innovator in the movie and TV delivery industry, and is a quick-emerging leader in the recommendation, customer segmentation, and content delivery industries as well. In this critical point in the pathway of Netflix, they have the opportunity to continue innovating in the areas where they’re already strong – DVD delivery, building VOD, and recommendation engines. However, they also have a ripe opportunity for enhancing their vertical integration, and stepping into new industries – namely studio development, media delivery, deep learning, and psychographic segmentation and optimization.

Their current moat is fairly wide, however they face an impending competition from Blockbuster, and other potential VOD networks. Additionally, they face regulatory and network capacity hurdles to overcome before their VOD network can truly flourish unfettered.

Works Cited

Jenkins, H. W. (2016, April 1). Netflix’s Lesson in Net Neutrality Karma. Retrieved September 14, 2016, from The Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/netflixs-lesson-in-net-neutrality-karma-1459550381

Kotler, P. (2016). Marketing Management (Vol. 15). Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.

Mauborgne, R., & Kim, C. (2005). Blue Ocean Strategy. Boston: Harvard Business Review.

Porter, M. (2010). Porter’s Five Forces. (The Internet Center For Management and Business Administration, Inc. ) Retrieved 07 20, 2016, from Quick MA: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml

Shih, W., Kaufman, S., & Spinola, D. (2007). Netflix. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Appendix

Appendix – Porter’s Five Forces Analysis (Porter, 2010)
- Bargaining power of suppliers
  - In this case, suppliers represent a diverse set of technology and media companies.
  - First, media companies who own the rights to movies and tv content must license the content to Netflix. Since content licensing rules are vastly different between DVD/physical media and online streaming or downloading, a significant amount of variability could exist as Netflix aims to efficiently license the content it provides to consumers. Additionally, Netflix faces a significant amount of uncertainty – the market for online media licensing is just emerging, and it’s likely that many rules may change quickly.
  - Additionally, suppliers include technology companies – in the case of Netflix, this is mainly ISPs, which deliver Netflix VOD Content to consumers. If Netflix is to be successful, it needs to ensure that its content can be reliably and quickly delivered over a pipeline that 3^rd parties control. Securing this transport will involve both technology innovations for Netflix, as well as service level targets and general support from ISPs. Already today, we’re seeing major issues with ISP’s restricting their pipelines, and the ever-growing “net neutrality” debate.(Jenkins, 2016)
- Threat of substitute products or services
  - Since Netflix is entering into a “virtual” business with its VOD product, it exposes itself to an almost-nonexistent physical barrier to competitors. In this respect, it would seem that they’re repositioning themselves squarely into a quick to emerge “Red Ocean” of competitive products. (Mauborgne & Kim, 2005)
  - However, by integrating their robust recommendation engine, securing top notch and exclusive licensing deals with studios, and being first-to-market with a continuously innovative and compelling product, there is indeed a chance for Netflix to maintain their Blue Ocean, and genuinely carve out a niche for themselves in our rapidly changing media and technology environment.
- Buyers bargaining power of channels and end users
  - During the period when Netflix was in a DVD rental business, the primary competitor was Blockbuster – a video rental chain which required customers to travel to a physical store. While this model is easy to use, convenient, and compelling for last minute shoppers, it failed to address surge and inventory constraints, didn’t serve all markets, and was slow to respond to changing sociological nuances.
  - The Netflix model struck down many of these barriers. However, in its innovation, it also created many more potential pitfalls, including opening itself up to competitors, easier to replicate technology developments, and more vendors and suppliers in the game, who could exert an increasing bargaining power.
- Barriers to entry
  - Barrier to entry are significant for Netflix to break into both the industry of providing their recommendation engine to 3^rd parties, as well as to create a separate or integrated VOD market.
  - Barriers include content licensing, bandwidth allocation, provider partnerships, studio partnerships, IP protection, product maintenance, and achieving a critical mass of consumers.
- Rivalry among existing competitors
  - At this time, the main rivalry comes from competitor Blockbuster. However, with a mature strategy focused on the technological and marketing superiorities of Netflix’s VOD solution, immediate rivalry can be minimized.
Appendix – Paths to Growth
- Current Customers, Current Products
  - In order for Netflix to maintain a consistent growth with its current customers and current products, it’s going to have to massively expand the number and quality of warehouses for stocking DVD’s, as well as will have to find a way to edge out competitors. The way I see it, the only way this could work would be a massive increase in quality of its recommendation engine. However, even if that takes places, I can see their “Blue Ocean” creeping out from under them.
- Current Customers, New Products
  - Their current customers are poised to become their new customers, with a massive rollout of new products aimed at the next generation of media consumption – online, on demand, all the time. The most logical course of action for Netflix in this case may be to continue innovating in new products, continue offer its original products, and gradually turn its existing customers into new-product customers, while simultaneously generating products for an entirely new breed of tech-savvy customers.
- New Customers, Current Products
  - New customers simply won’t flock to Netflix’s existing line of products in the numbers that they would need to maintain a viable business. Netflix must innovate to stay on top.
- New Customers, New Products
  - Clearly, this is the way to go for Netflix – bring both their recommendation engine as well as VOD services to the forefront of their product offering, attract the new generation of customers, and continue to innovate.
Appendix – Four Actions Framework (Mauborgne & Kim, 2005)

The Four Actions Framework helps evaluate key factors used in defining a company’s optimize value curve, ultimately focusing on a goal of a newly defined and efficiently focused curve.
- Raise
  - Netflix must raise their VOD delivery technology and recommendation engine intelligence significantly above the industry average. This means allowing customers to start watching content faster, in better quality, and at the most appropriate time.
- Reduce
  - Reduction of focus on the DVD delivery business may allow competitors to close in, however this industry will be in decline anyway, and it’s not strictly necessary to continue to sink money and focus into bolstering this fading industry.
- Create
  - Netflix should create a more robust content delivery network, and more engaging viewing experience that’s head and shoulders above what anybody else in the industry is offering. Factors that could contribute to a truly groundbreaking viewing experience include enhanced metadata, viewing recommendations, collaborative viewing, and mobile device viewing.
- Eliminate
  - Eventually, Netflix should eliminate their DVD rental business, and get rid of physical media entirely. Maintaining warehouse, sorting, and delivery systems is costly and inefficient, and will not be the way to move into the future.
Appendix – Six Path Framework (Mauborgne & Kim, 2005)

Netflix clearly has a number of opportunities to transcend a number of categories of the six paths framework to plant them squarely in a number of Blue Oceans:
- Industry
  - Clearly, Netflix is going after industries that don’t yet fully exist with both their recommendation engine as well as their VOD service. On the surface, both of these areas seemingly present as somewhat vast “Blue Oceans”. However, upon further inspection, it’s obvious that both are easily replicated on a basic technological level. In order to continue to keep its ocean blue, and preserve its “economic moat”, Netflix must continue innovating in the intelligence of its recommendation engine, and ease of delivery of its VOD product, as well as continuously expanding its media offering. Another eminently valuable step for Netflix will be to put its media delivery might into building its own production studio, thereby sidestepping media licensing issues, controlling its own content, and distributing as it sees fit.
  - Netflix does have rivals, but by continuing to focus on innovating in new directions, rather than on beating competition, the blue ocean will remain wide and clear.
- Strategic Group
  - I believe that Netflix’s role within its strategic group is somewhat complicated. This is certainly an area which commands an enhanced level of communication, collaboration, deal making, and strategy in order for Netflix to remain on top. Strategic partners for Netflix will overwhelmingly be internet service providers, networks, and media studios. In the initial phase of Netflix’s drive towards a successful VOD product, they must strike deals with all of these partners. However, as their business matures, they’ll be able to look across that pool as they begin to create their own media studios and protected delivery pipelines.
  - In support of building its recommendation engine, Netflix can immediately partner with deep learning and neural network vendors such as AWS and IBM Watson, until it’s at a level where it can move artificial intelligence and deep computing in-house for a holistic, value adding technology buildout.
- Buyer Group
  - In this case, I think the prudent thing for Netflix to do would be to slowly shift its existing buyer group from its existing service offering to its new service offering of VOD. There will certainly be a large decrease in “traditional” subscribers. However, a successful transition will also result in opening up Netflix to an increasingly large and relevant new buyer group. It’s this new group which will grow to many times the size of the “traditional” buyer group, and allow Netflix to remain profitable far into the future. Additionally, Netflix can help bridge the gap by improving its recommendation engine.
- Scope of product offering
  - This is an area which Netflix should stay focused in, and not disrupt their current blue ocean by trying to change scopes. In this case, I feel like there’s enough of a blue ocean already in place that Netflix can continue to refine and solidify its existing product offering, without necessarily differentiating into additional product scopes.
- Functional-emotional orientation
  - Media consumption brings people together, and sets people apart. It’s this emotionally-driven consumer behavior that Netflix will certainly benefit from innovating with. In this case, their recommendation engine seems like it would be an excellent candidate for additional emotional and social applications, such as allowing collaborative selections, demographic and situation-specific recommendations, and peer to peer recommendations.
- Time
  - Sure, at the present moment, Netflix is highly dependent on the timing of the film and television industry, as well as on the delivery efficiencies of ISP’s and other providers. However, in order to maintain its blue ocean of time value, a future strategy of controlling its own media properties will be key. By producing the media as well as distributing it, Netflix can get close to complete vertical integration of its service offerings, and thereby be able to more completely control the timing of delivery of its content.
Appendix – Netflix Financial Statements

Based on a brief analysis, it’s apparent that Netflix fulfillment cost is ballooning out of control. Since DVD rentals require the use of warehouses, human labor, shipping fees, and material fees, the more subscribers Netflix acquires, the more expensive it will be to continue to send DVDs. Although content delivery via the internet (VOD model) certainly has delivery fees associated with each subscriber, those costs are kept in check to a much greater degree. The enhanced efficiency of digital delivery means that only server farms are needed, instead of massive DVD warehouses. Since digital infrastructure is easily outsourced, it’s not even strictly necessary for Netflix to build or maintain their own server farms – allowing Netflix’s business to shift into existing solely in the virtual realm.

It’s ultimately recommended that Netfix continue the march towards VOD delivery of its content, which will be instrumental in keeping fulfillment costs in check, maximizing profits.

Endnote – For general interest, in January of 2008, I wrote a quick blog post covering the launch and eventual decline of potential Netflix competitor Joost. https://www.jeffreydonenfeld.com/blog/2008/01/joost-doomed/
- Case Reading: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/607138-PDF-ENG
- Case Synthesis
2016-09-17
Frozen Money: The Economics of Antarctica
Science and Operations in Antarctica has been a keen interest of mine for many years. During the Austral Summers of 2012-13, 2014-15, I worked at a number of locations in Antarctica. In this paper, I take a closer look into the sources of funding for American operations in Antarctica, as well as explore a number of geopolitical issues.

Executive Summary

Antarctica is the world’s southernmost continent, and is a the last remaining unexplored and uncolonized frontier. It’s a haven for advanced scientific research, exploration, and international geopolitical cooperations. A massive amount of funding is necessary to support these various objectives in Antarctica – this includes funding of core logistics, facilities, as well as the essential research and development projects. The National Science Foundation is the Federal Government’s agency which is tasked with managing funds and overall management of all operations in Antarctica. Out of the NSF’s total FY2015 budget of $7.463 billion dollars, $67.52 million goes into direct funding in Antarctica. This paper breaks down analysis of operations in funding in Antarctica into these key categories:
- Funding sources and distribution to Antarctica initiatives
- Scientific and Geopolitical goals of America’s presence in Antarctica
- Historical trends and future outlook for operations in Antarctica
Introduction

Antarctica is the frozen frontier of humanity. It’s the world’s southernmost continent, is almost completely frozen, and remains one of the last pristine locations for conducting scientific research. Because of its unique location and circumstances, almost all of the research that happens in Antarctica can’t be done anyplace else.

This is a cold, hostile environment, and in order for scientists to work in the harsh conditions of the frozen continent, they require a large amount of support, supplies, and logistics. The management and support of science in antarctica is overseen by the National Science Foundation, who through the use of taxpayer dollars, funds almost all aspects of operations on Antarctica. In this paper, I’ll focus on defining and assessing the economic, governmental, scientific, and social implications of the US maintaining a consistent presence and producing useful research in the highest, coldest, windiest, driest, and highest desert on earth.

In researching this topic, I used the resources of the University of Denver Library, including various online publications, governmental databases, books, and journals. Additionally, I drew heavily on my own personal experience working in Antarctica, as well as interviews with a small subset of my peer group.

My personal experience in Antarctica covers two seasons on the ice. During my first season spanning the Austral Summer of 2012-2013, I worked for Gana a’Yoo Service Corporation, under contract from the Lockheed Martin Antarctic Support Contract. I was deployed to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, located at the geographic south pole of the earth. My primary job was as the station’s breakfast cook. However, during almost all of my available free time, I volunteered to work at an Emergency Medical Technician at the medical clinic, as the South Pole Press Correspondent for the National Science Foundation, and as a field science assistant for the Askaryan Radio Array, Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory, KECK Array Microwave Telescope, South Pole Telescope, and BICEP2 Microwave Telescope. I got the absolute most I could out of my season at the south pole.

My second deployment was during the Austral Summer of 2014-2015, to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Field Camp. During this deployment, I worked as a field science manager for the University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center’s Ice Drill Design and Operations Division, under a science grant from the National Science Foundation. I spent the first month of my deployment at McMurdo station taking care of core expedition logistics and preparations, and the rest of my time on the ice at WAIS Divide Field Camp, working on servicing, disassembling, packing, and shipping the Deep Ice Sheet Coring Drill.

Throughout both of my seasons in Antarctica, I wrote an extensive account of my experience, which is available online at http://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica .

This research paper aims to assess how the National Science Foundation accounts for and supports research and operations in Antarctica. This study is limited by the amount of accurate and timely information available at the time of writing. Antarctica has been a controversial topic for many years, managed piecemeal by a wide variety of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and broadly overseen by the United States Antarctic Program, overseen by the Office of Polar Programs. As such, there’s somewhat little specific information readily available about the business and economic aspects.

The answers and issues that this paper aims to address are:
1. How does funding flow from American taxpayers, through the National Science Foundation, into both science grants as well as Antarctic support contracts?
2. How is a budget for Antarctic science and support spending developed, and how has the budget fluctuated in recent years? Is the current scope of operations appropriate, or should more/less funds be allocated? What are the top negative issues surrounding the historic allocation of funding for science in Antarctica?
3. Why does it make sense for the United States to support operations in Antarctica? Is “Basic” research economically important? Are there other reasons, including geopolitical reasons, to maintain a presence in Antarctica?
4. Do other government organizations who use Antarctic resources, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Department of Defense (DOD) contribute significantly to the overall project?
5. Does money come from sources other than tax payers?
This paper is organized into 5 main sections addressing each of the five main questions, as well as summaries and a bibliography.

Literature Review

The studies of this topic that were most relevant seemed to be the US Government’s “Blue Ribbon” Studies, as well as the NSF’s Congressional Budget Request documents. These studies contained a good amount of hard data, as well as worthwhile analysis of the issues they covered. Additionally, I made use of a number of excellent journal articles. Most of these sources tended to focus on budget issues and geopolitical issues of the presence of the United States in Antarctica, with a few also covering the value of science. Additionally, the most abundant and insightful research for this study came from my own expeditions to to the ice, where I learned firsthand what it takes to make the United States Antarctic Program run. The pieces of data that were the most useful for this study were the quantitative analyses of actual budgetary constraints.

Results and Analysis

General Funding Flow from US Government to Antarctic Projects

Signed into law December 18, 2015, the United States Consolidated Appropriations act of FY 2016 appropriated the National Science Foundation $7.463 billion dollars in funding. That amount was $119 Million (1.6 percent) above the previous years appropriation level, and $119 more than the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the act. It was $69 million more than the version passed by the house, as well. See Fig1 for the FY16 Omnibus breakdown. ^[1]

That $7.463 billion dollars that the NSF receives is subsequently distributed through a number of subcategories. These include Research and Related Activities ($6.033B), and Major Research Equipment ($200.31M). These funds are then broken down even further, and eventually flow to activities directly related to both Antarctic science and Antarctic operations support. ^[2] Fig 2 & 3 highlights the portions of the NSF Omnibus that goes to sectors supporting Antarctic activities. ^[3]

Further breaking down the flow, within the Research and Related Activities account, funding flows to Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), among other accounts. It’s within the GEO account that the Polar Programs division is housed (PLR), and within PLR, i sthe US Antarctic Logistical Support (USALS). GEO is the office that supports the fields of basic research into the earth’s global environment, including Water cycle, geologic interactions, and ice sheets. The USALS requested $67.52 million in funding for 2016. ^[4]

Within the Division of Polar Programs, there’s an additional breakdown of funds. The primary benefactors include The Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory (Which I’ve visited personally), US Antarctic Facilities and Logistics, US ANtarctic Logistical Support, and the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science initiative, which includes the “Master Plan” McMurdo redevelopment plan. ^[5] See fig4 for a complete breakdown of this section.

The McMurdo “Master Plan” is a phased plan to redevelop the entire McMurdo station area, including science, housing, logistics, and support facilities. It’s the subject of an ongoing Blue Ribbon Panel review chartered in 2011^[6], and is expected to cost a total of $300 million in all. ^[7]

Historical Budget Fluctuations

According to a presidential request to congress in 2014, and the subsequent House Appropriations Committee voice vote on the FY 2015 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, the NSF, and related R&D projects were one of the only categories to receive an increase in funding. This follows the historical trend of Science receiving more funding year over year since 2000. More specifically, the GEO office, which manages funding of Antarctic operations has seen a steady rise in its funding. In 2000 GEO was appropriated roughly $650 million, which has now increased to roughly $850 million in 2015. ^[8] Fig6 highlights this increase in funding.

Maintaining National Presence and Geopolitical Influence in Antarctica

In addition to supporting science and research in Antarctica, there’s a strong drive to maintain a powerful geopolitical influence in Antarctica. As of FY16, the Directorate of Geosciences is directly tasked via Presidential Memorandum 6646 with funding and supporting the US Department of State. ^[9] The Department of State acts as the primary steward of the Antarctic Treaty, which covers all territory of the continent of Antarctica, as well as the Southern Ocean. ^[10]

Despite America’s overwhelming geopolitical influence and power in Antarctica, there are still large, unrecognized territorial claims by various nations. The nations formally claiming (sometimes overlapping) sections of Antarctica are Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Notably absent from this list is the United States and Russia, who make no formal claims, yet reserve the right to do so if and when that time comes. ^[11]

Other Governmental Organizations Using Antarctic Resources

In addition to primary scientific grantee groups performing research and activities in Antarctica, there are a number of other intergovernmental agencies with interests there. These include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Smithsonian Institution, and the Department of Energy (DOE). These organizations are supported directly under the Directorate for Geosciences, as per Presidential Memorandum 6646, and receive a portion of the $67.52 million in funding for GEO in Antarctica.

In my personal experience working in Antarctica, I’ve interacted with representatives from NOAA, USGS, DOE, and NASA. For example, I was privileged to be given a tour of the NASA Satellite Downlink control room and witnessed the repositioning of the major downlink satellite dish. I’ve been given a personal tour of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atmospheric Research Observatory at the Amundsen Scott South Pole Station. I’ve stood in the former location of the first and only nuclear power plant in Antarctica. I’ve used Antarctic maps created and maintained in part by the US Geological Survey. These supported organizations play a critical and necessary role in both completing their own missions, as well as supporting the missions of the various other scientific and logitical groups involved.

Sources of Funding for Antarctic Operations

Funding for operations in Antarctica comes primarily from the federal government. According to a 2009 NSF report , while overall R&D expenditures has been increasing from 2000 onward, the actual proportion of federal funding of academic R&D effort has been steadily dropping – from 64% in 2000 to 60% in 2008. See Fig7. Other sources of funding, besides the federal government include state and local governments, industry, institutional funds, and a small portion from other sources, which may include private funding. ^[12]

Conclusion

Out of the 7+ billion initial budget, a surprisingly small amount of money flows down to support for the complex logistics or operating in Antarctica – a mere $67.52 million. Since 2000, the budget for science and operations in Antarctica has been steadily increasing, from $650 Million in 200o to over $650 Million in 2015. The US supports and maintains operations in Antarctica not only for science and research, but also for geopolitical reasons, such as acting as the primary and most powerful steward of the Antarctic Treaty. The South Pole Station is a major symbol of America’s key role in Antarctic Geopolitics. A presidential memorandum directs the usage of Antarctica for other governmental organizations, and appropriates a portion of the overall Antarctic funding to them. These organizations include both scientific, logistical, and geopolitical players. In addition to federal funding, roughly 40% of the overall funding comes from other sources, which include both local governmental resources, academic institutions, and private organizations.

In this paper, I’ve aimed to explore the organizational and appropriation structure of broad R&D funding for operations in Antarctica. I’ve explored high level budgeting, geopolitical objectives, science breakdowns, as well as funding sources.

I found that the flow of funds from the US Taxpayer to projects in Antarctica is long and complex, and that in recent years the amount of overall funding has been steadily increasing. I’m a huge supporter of scientific researching and development, and am glad to see that the US is putting increasing dollars into supporting this R&D.

Further lines of research include a closer look at budgeting for the upcoming “Master Plan” McMurdo redevelopment and reconstruction plan, a deeper analysis of how funding translates to a tangible economic ROI, and further implications of geopolitical friction and economic interests on the ice.

Although this study take a good look at a few of the topline issues surrounding operations in Antarctica, there are a few caveats. Oftentimes details surrounding operations on the ice can be murky. It’s also notoriously difficult to trace the exact path of dollars, and harder still to track those dollars back around to the other side of economic ROI. Going forward I’m looking forward to being able to parse these aspects further.

The most important broad implications of this study are the scientific discoveries that come from research done in Antarctica. For example, recent work by Cornell University and the BICEP2 Microwave telescope could one day shed light on what happened at the very beginning of the universe. ^[13]

Figures

Fig 1^[14]

Fig 2 ^[15]

Fig 3 ^[16]

Fig4 ^[17]

Fig6 ^[18]

Fig7 ^[19]

Primary References
- (2016). Jan. 4th Congressional Highlight – NSF. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from https://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/114/highlights/cu16_0104.jsp.
- (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.
- (2012). US NSF – OPP – U.S. Antarctic Program BLue Ribbon Panel … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/usap_special_review/usap_brp/.
- (2013). The Antarctic Sun: News about Antarctica – Master Plan. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=2947.
- (2014). NASA, NSF Continue R&D Budget Recovery in House, But … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.aaas.org/news/nasa-nsf-continue-rd-budget-recovery-house-climate-research-cut.
- (2012). Antarctic Treaty – US Department of State. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.state.gov/t/avc/trty/193967.htm.
- (2007). The World Factbook – CIA. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html.
- (2009). nsf.gov – NCSES Federal Government is Largest Source of … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf09318/.
- (2015). Joint Analysis of BICEP2/$Keck Array$ and … – inSPIRE. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://inspirehep.net/record/1342425.
Additional Sources
- Mervis, J.. (1997). NSF Fits in New Projects Despite Squeeze on Funding. Science, 275(5300), 609–609. Retrieved from http://0-www.jstor.org.bianca.penlib.du.edu/stable/2891175
- AIBS news. (2009). Bioscience, 59(6), 530-531. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/216480990?accountid=1460
- Committee reviews logistics of U.S. antarctic program. (2012). (). Lanham: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/1152171176?accountid=14608
- (2014). NASA, NSF Continue R&D Budget Recovery in House, But … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.aaas.org/news/nasa-nsf-continue-rd-budget-recovery-house-climate-research-cut.
- NSF Congressional Highlight Consolidated Appropriations Act of FY 2016. (n.d.). (2016) Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://nsf.gov/about/congress/114/highlights/cu16_0104.jsp
- (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.
The author standing at the Geographic South Pole, Antarctica, with the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in the background. 2012.

Author Note

Written as part of University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Program Economics Class, Taught by Prof. Robert Melville, Spring 2016.

[2] (2016). Jan. 4th Congressional Highlight – NSF. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from https://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/114/highlights/cu16_0104.jsp.

[3] (2016). Jan. 4th Congressional Highlight – NSF. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from https://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/114/highlights/cu16_0104.jsp.

[4] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[5] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[6] (2012). US NSF – OPP – U.S. Antarctic Program BLue Ribbon Panel … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/usap_special_review/usap_brp/.

[7] (2013). The Antarctic Sun: News about Antarctica – Master Plan. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contenthandler.cfm?id=2947.

[8] (2014). NASA, NSF Continue R&D Budget Recovery in House, But … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.aaas.org/news/nasa-nsf-continue-rd-budget-recovery-house-climate-research-cut.

[9] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[10] (2012). Antarctic Treaty – US Department of State. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.state.gov/t/avc/trty/193967.htm.

[11] (2007). The World Factbook – CIA. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html.

[12] (2009). nsf.gov – NCSES Federal Government is Largest Source of … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf09318/.

[13] (2015). Joint Analysis of BICEP2/$Keck Array$ and … – inSPIRE. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://inspirehep.net/record/1342425.

[14] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[15] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[16] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[17] (2015). FY 2016 – NSF Budget Request to Congress | NSF – National. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/.

[18] (2014). NASA, NSF Continue R&D Budget Recovery in House, But … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.aaas.org/news/nasa-nsf-continue-rd-budget-recovery-house-climate-research-cut.

[19] (2009). Federal Government is Largest Source of University R&D … Retrieved April 15, 2016, from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf09318/.

Written by Jeffrey Donenfeld, originally for the University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Program Macro Economics Class, Spring 2016. I received an A on this assignment. (Original paper PDF)
2016-05-07
Leadership on the High Seas – Dawn Riley at the America True
Leadership is a critically important factor affecting any team or group venture. In this paper, I analyze the leadership and management style of Dawn Riley, CEO and Captain of the America True Sailing Team, as she guides her team to race for the 1999 America’s Cup.

Dawn Riley Case Abstract

From: http://iacc120cup.altervista.org/immagini/immaginiACC/51-USA.jpg

Dawn Riley is the CEO/Captain of America True, the first coed syndicate to race for the America’s Cup. Over three years, based on her vision for America True, she built the syndicate from scratch, bringing on investors and sponsors, designing and building a boat, and hiring a sailing crew to race it. In June 1999, Riley must decide how to handle the San Francisco office now that America True’s base of operations is moving to Auckland, New Zealand, where racing will begin in four months. She is facing pressure to phase out the office to cut down on costs, but Riley believes that the people in San Francisco and the work they are doing are key to her vision for America True. She must weigh the tension between immediate pressures to win and the longer-term sustainability of her vision.

The full case is available for purchase directly from Harvard Business School.

Leadership Analysis – Dawn Riley at the America True

By Jeffrey Donenfeld, Spring 2016

Executive Summary

The Dawn Riley case (Hill, 2000) describes the circumstances, goals, and challenges that CEO Dawn Riley faces in managing and preparing the America True sailing team for the Louis Vuitton Cup sailing regatta, as well as the challenges of adapting her role to the highest benefit of the team. Dawn Riley is a veteran sailor, and now in this most critical point in her team’s history, she must make decisions as to her leadership style, responsibility undertaking, and focus. Additionally, a veteran upper management team, leading designers, expert office staff, and a solid boat crew all stand to benefit from her leadership. There are various factors at play, including her team and company’s organizational structure, prismatic personalities among the team members, and rapidly changing goal requirements, all on a rapid timescale leading up to the defining event in this team’s history.

Key Issues and Recommendations
- Dawn Riley fills a variety of roles within the team, must strive to specifically define her optimized position and fulfillment of these roles.
- The America True team is diverse and multi-talented, but also hotheaded and driven. They must bond together and work towards a common goal.
- Key leaders within the team must support Dawn in her role as CEO, as well as step up to lead the team within their areas of expertise.
Thesis

Dawn Riley, while an experienced sailor and longtime CEO of the America True sailing team faces personal and team leadership challenges within her team. In this most trying moment, Riley must revolutionize and define her role within the team in order to ascend as the best leader for her team.

Situation

Dawn Riley is the CEO and Captain of the America True Sailing Team. In preparation for the Louis Vuitton Challenger sailing regatta, Riley faces management, organizational, and team challenges which she must address both with herself, as well as the rest of her team. Implications of this case study include analysis of broad team and corporate leadership methodologies, an understanding of basic sailing and regatta mechanics based on the author’s personal sailing and regatta experience, and an in-depth look at Riley’s personal leadership and management style. The key issue of the case is determining the optimal course of action for Riley in defining and refining her role within the team. Recommendations contained within this study are critical because the success of the America True sailing team depends heavily on Riley’s own success as a leader, manager, and sailor.

The Dawn Riley case is difficult to analyse. On one hand, Dawn Riley is an admirable, multitalented, and successful leader who has brought her team to the upper echelons of the competitive sailing community. On the other hand, Riley can be seen as an overstressed, thinly spread micromanager who presents conflicting directions to her team and has driven them almost to the brink of organizational paralysis, unable to effectively compete in the Louis Vuitton Challenger series.

These two sides of the issue make proper evaluation, refined recommendations, and exacting follow through important. At stake here are Dawn Riley’s pride, career, and professional sailing record. More importantly, her entire team’s success is on the line her. Riley getting her act together as CEO and Captain is the most important task at the present moment for Team America True.

Questions

The questions that need to be answered in evaluating this case are:
- What roles is Riley currently undertaking within the team?
- What does the team most need out of Riley in these final six weeks before the regatta?
- How can the rest of the team members step in to help Riley define and refine her job roles?
- How specifically should Riley define her roles to best benefit the team?
- What else needs to happen on the team to give them the best chance of success in the Louis Vuitton Challenger?
These questions must be answered collectively by Dawn and the team immediately, and deliberation and decision should include all levels of team members.

Analysis and Recommendations

One pervasive issue facing the team is their focus on meetings. The team consistently spends time, energy, and resources assembling themselves in various factions to discuss issues that could have been handled one on one, or by other means of communication. Some amount of meetings are good – they build team synergy, allow for groupthink, announcements, and collaboration. However, the amount of time the America True team spends on meetings takes away from their time and resources they could be spending on other more important items. In the case material it’s noted that Riley seeks to encourage the boat crew to connect and collaborate with the design crew. (O’Toole 1996) This is admirable. However, in the current form, the meetings don’t actually encourage a free and open exchange of ideas. They do just the opposite by setting a rigid and terse environment in which ideas are stifled and time is wasted. In order to step away from the rigid meeting structure and encourage more productive and free-flowing communication, novel new methods should be employed. This could include asynchronous communications such as email and instant messaging, as well as synchronous communications such as one-on-one chats and calls. (Lifehacker 2012) As discussed in class, leaders don’t necessarily always need to be rulers or dictators to effect change and communication among those being led. By relaxing her command over the team with rigid meetings and allowing communication to organically flow, Riley will become a more effective leader. (O’Toole 1996)

Riley works on both a management level as CEO, as well as on a crew level as a member of the boat crew. This creates an increased workload for Riley, and hampers lines between her professional and crew personas. Ultimately, Riley needs to be removed from the crew. In limited instances, Riley should join the boat crews only an outside observer in order for her to maintain basic connection to on-water development. She could sail with the crew on a semi-regular basis in order to integrate between business leadership and on-water intelligence. However, she should not be working as a consistent member of the race day A or B crews.

Unfortunately, sexism is rampant in our world today, and especially with high-level leadership. (Beswick 2015) Riley’s diversified position puts her in the hotseat, and open from attacks from all sides. In order to combat sexism from the outside, as well as within the team combat sexism, Riley should ascend to her core CEO role, and put in the time to make the team shine. By focusing more time on CEO duties, she can make the team better competitively, as well as tackle other “press worthy” tasks that could help gain future sponsorship and funding. These could include gender equality, under dogness, and altruistic funding partnerships/sponsorships. It’s her undeniable success in this one role that may help insulate her from a myriad of criticisms, including the scourge of sexism.

Riley faces a team bonding issue that’s arising from the “A” and “B” crews being selected just prior to race day limits the amount of bonding and “synergy” that can be built.(Beauchamp 2013) Optimally, “A” crew selection needs to happen well prior to race day in order or develop sub-team synergy. Waiting until race day or just prior to race day eliminates the possibility of building crucial sub-crew synergy. It’s that potential synergy that could make or break the team during the critically stressful regatta day.

Currently, the America True team, at the request of Riley, begins their post-practice debriefing on the boat, as they’re being dragged back to port. This is a measure that was implemented by Riley as a way of saving time and getting the debriefs done as soon as possible. However, setting up debriefings so soon after racing fails to give crew members adequate time to decompress and develop their own thoughts and feelings about how the day’s practice unfolded. In order to give the crew appropriate down time after practice, and to enact a structure that allows Riley to stay off the boat during practice, formal debriefs should happen on the dock. Sure, it may take a bit longer, but those minutes of rest and reflection for the crew as they’re being towed into port may prove to be valuable.

Recommendations

In order for Riley to become a more effective leader of her team, she must step fully into the role of CEO, giving up her conflicting duties as a member of the boat crew. As CEO, a number of changes must be made. These include:
- Streamline team communications by reducing meetings, introducing novel new communication tactics.
- Give the team rest after practice, before debriefs.
- Focus on team fundraising and sponsorships as full-time CEO.
- Delegate other design and staffing decisions to other experienced members of her team’s senior management.
Conclusion

The core question of the Dawn Riley case was how can Riley change her management techniques and roles within her team in order to give them the best chance of winning the Louis Vuitton Challenger regatta. It was found that there were a number of structural, functional, social, and hierarchical changes that should be made. Class material on ethics and leadership styles, as well as other outside sources was drawn from. Further analysis of the issue could reveal additional efficiencies, techniques, and ideas for bringing the America True team to victory.
References
- (2012). 5 Alternatives to Time-Wasting Meetings – Lifehack. Retrieved April 11, 2016, from http://lifehack.org/articles/featured/5-alternatives-to-time-wasting-meetings.html.
- Jeffrey, H. L., Beswick, E., & Meade, J. (2015). Learning and unlearning sexism in the workplace. Human Resource Management International Digest, 23(5), 18-20. doi:10.1108/HRMID-05-2015-0086
- Bruner, M. W., Eys, M. A., Beauchamp, M. R., & Côté, J. (2013). Examining the origins of team building in sport: A citation network and genealogical approach. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 17(1), 30-42. doi:10.1037/a0030114
- O’Toole, J. (1996). Leading change: The argument for values-based leadership. New York: Ballentine Books.
Written by Jeffrey Donenfeld, originally for the University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Program Executive Leadership Class, Spring 2016. I received a 94/100 on this assignment. (Original paper PDF)
2016-04-30
HBR – In the Company of Givers and Takers

“False acceptance”, overcommitment, and an imbalance of giving/taking behavior is a huge consideration in both the workplace and our everyday lives. It’s been a subject that I’ve been keenly aware of and interested in, stemming from my days working in interactive media in NYC. This article from the Harvard Business Review is a great analysis of workplace giving and taking, and I highly suggest reading it as a beginning step in refining your role as a manager in your busy work environment.

Harvard Business Review – In the Company of Givers and Takers, by Adam Grant, from the April 2013 issue. (PDF)

Summary, from HBR:

Employees make decisions every day about whether to contribute to others—and their willingness to help is crucial to group and organizational effectiveness. But in a competitive, often zero-sum, world of work, generosity can be a dangerous path. How can leaders foster it without cutting into productivity, undermining fairness, and allowing employees to become doormats?

The key, explains Wharton’s Adam Grant, is to help givers reach a more nuanced understanding of what generosity is and is not. They’ll be better positioned for sustainable giving when they can distinguish generosity from three attributes that often travel with it: timidity, availability, and empathy.

Givers can overcome timidity, Grant says, by learning to act as agents—using “relational accounts” to advocate for others while negotiating for themselves. They can set boundaries on when, how, and whom to help. And they can strive to be perspective takers, not just empathizers, gathering knowledge about others that can lead to more-productive allocations of time that will benefit the organization as a whole.

2016-04-27
Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do?

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be going through Harvard Professor Michael Sandel’s Ethics and Morality course “Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do”. It’s part of my University of Denver MBA program’s Executive Leadership class, and I’m glad that we’re incorporating so many high quality resources into our overall curriculum.

Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do?
Book on Amazon

Sandel address a series of alternative theories of justice. The utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham is outlined and criticised and then John Stuart Mill’s refinements are discussed. The libertarians, in particular Robert Nozick, and their arguments are discussed. Then Sandel discusses Immanuel Kant and his ‘categorical imperative’. The discussion then goes on to John Rawls’s work. Then Aristotle and the concept of ‘telos’ is discussed. It is here that Sandel begins to make clear his own perspective. He argues that justice, rather than being or autonomous (as Kantians or Rawlsians might have it), has a goal. A form of communitarianism. Sandel quotes Alasdair MacIntyre and his characterisation of humans as being ‘storytelling beings’ who live their lives with narrative quests. (From Wikipedia)

One of the excellent characteristics of the course it that the class lecture recordings are available freely online, and compliment the book of the same name. It’s broken up into 12 Episodes:

(more…)

2016-03-24
Application Essays and Starting My MBA at University of Denver

Starting this spring, I’ll be attending the University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Program in order to earn my Master of Business Administration graduate degree. It’s an 18-month long program, in a small cohort experienced professionals.

Applying for MBA programs, and making my ultimate selection was not an easy process. I took both the GMAT and GRE standardized tests multiple times, attended multiple test prep courses, filled out lots of applications, refined my resume, tapped my peer group for recommendations and advice, and researched many courses. In the end, I applied to 6 programs.

My admissions essays took a time and energy. As a means of preserving them, and making them accessible to future aspiring MBA students, I’m publishing them here.

Thanks again to my trusted friends and colleagues who supported and advised me through the application process. The journey has just begun…

MBA Program Admissions Essays

Written by Jeffrey Donenfeld, Winter 2015 to Spring 2016

University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business

Why Leeds? Illustrate why earning your MBA at Leeds will enable you to achieve your ambitions?

Joining the Leeds community and earning my MBA will give me the clarity, community, and skills to enhance my career and rapidly become a leader and visionary in my field. What follows is the story of my career trajectory so far, and an explanation of how Leeds will enable me to take my work — my passion — to the next level.

Shortly after graduating from The University of Colorado at Boulder, I was recruited to join a digital marketing firm in NYC. Over the next eight years, I moved up rapidly in the field and ultimately joined the core team of a small interactive media agency called Morpheus Media. At Morpheus, we built our core team of 12 into a 125-expert strong industry leader. This was a life-changing experience and an unsurpassed opportunity to make significant inroads in the quickly expanding interactive media and technology industry. At our height, we were the North American agency of record for LVMH, encompassing over 30 luxury brands. My experiences in interactive media gave me the forum to become the effective team leader, group manager, salesperson, consultant, communicator, and innovator that I am today.

Although my career in interactive media was engaging, challenging, and a natural fit for me, my next big step was just over the horizon. I asked myself: “What’s the ultimate, most ambitious, most fantastic dream job I can imagine?” The answer was to work on science expeditions in Antarctica.

The road to becoming an Antarctic Field Science Technician was long and frustrating, but ultimately successful. Because I knew nothing at all about the specific science, lifestyle, and career options on the continent, I started researching, networking, and applying for every job I could find. To support my research and engagement with the scientific community, I wrote a blog post every single day until I accomplished my objective. I also met countless scientists, contractors, managers, and explorers. And then one day, three years after I started my quest, I received a call from Lockheed Martin telling me I had a week to get to the Denver Airport and catch my flight to the ice.

Working in Antarctica was a life-changing experience. During my most recent season on the ice, I worked as a Field Technician and Project Manager on the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center’s DISC Drill team. I was in charge of comprehensive accounting for our team’s scientific equipment and industrial machinery, management of the packing and shipment process, and general gear and logistics for the entire season.

My experience working in the field set the stage perfectly for my next step. My next endeavor is to combine my team leadership, agency-level project management and sales skills developed in NYC with my field science management and organization experience to move into the upper levels of field science and technology project creation, development, sales, and management.

My post-MBA plans cover two important areas of possibility and interest, and I look forward to using my time at Leeds on academic pursuit and discourse, surveying potential pathways, and exploring the options I can create for myself.

On one pathway, I envision relaunching my own technology and media consulting company, Four North, to specialize in field science-related management and consulting. On the other pathway, I look forward to joining a field/science project management team as a project leader and visionary at a government agency such as NSF, USAP, NCAR.

The scope and offerings of Leeds are perfectly aligned with my academic and career pursuits for multiple reasons. First, the program’s focus on entrepreneurship speaks to my curiosity and passion for leadership and innovation in my own endeavors. As a serial entrepreneur myself — having formed my first company over 15 years ago — I’m excited for the opportunity to engage in more formal academic studies of entrepreneurship, and to connect with my fellow like-minded classmates.

Second, Boulder is a rapidly expanding hub for innovative new companies and novel ideas. It’s the perfect location to not only learn about these companies, but also to interact with them directly. While at Leeds, I look forward to exploring the full scope of area-based companies and ideas, and to relating them to my own passions and studies. Further, in addition to the new startups, Boulder is also home to some of the world’s premier scientific laboratories, government contractors, and government agencies such as the Lockheed Martin Antarctic Support Contract offices in charge of high-level Antarctic support management, which synergizes directly with my previous and future career endeavors.

Finally, Boulder is… beautiful. The location, environment, people, and general feeling of Boulder make it the ideal place to pursue my MBA while remaining engaged with, and energized and inspired by, the surrounding environment. I know this firsthand because I’m already a CU Undergraduate alumnus, and I live in Boulder.

I’m very much looking forward to joining the Leeds School of Business 2018 MBA Class, and hope you’ll invite me to join your community.

How does your intellectual curiosity drive your professional and personal growth?

My intellectual curiosity has been the primary driver of my growth, both personally and professionally, for as long as I can remember. As an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, I chose to major in Psychology —not because I had planned to become a psychologist, but because I loved the subject matter, loved my classes, loved learning about the human mind and the way individuals interact, loved doing projects with my fellow classmates, and loved engaging in my studies. I chose to study psychology because it satisfied my intellectual curiosity, and this innate interest paid off by providing me with the academic focus to solidify the ideas and understanding I already possessed within.

Similarly, I chose my first career — in interactive media — based on my personal passions and innate understanding of the principles of advertising, marketing, sales, technology, and a vision of the future. I started down this path not because I had studied it in depth in school or because I calculated that it would be a rapidly expanding field (which it became). I chose interactive media because I had a passion for it and an innate understanding of its fundamentals, which allowed me to quickly stand out as an industry leader, innovator, and creative thinker.

My interest and employment in managing field science operations in Antarctica was also fueled by my intellectual curiosity. I had long been personally interested in discovering remote corners of the globe and understanding its supporting infrastructure. I wasn’t sure where the road would lead, but I followed my passion and learned as much as I could about Antarctica and how to get a job there. After three years of persistent fact-finding, training, and networking, my dream came true. I secured a position working in support of scientific discovery in Antarctica with Lockheed Martin.

The final example of my passion fueling my personal growth is my blog. In my freshman year of college, in 2000, I set a personal goal of writing an article in my blog regularly. I succeeded! And I have continued writing ever since, maintaining a comprehensive blog chronicling my thoughts, interests, and pursuits. In the past 15 years, I’ve written close to 1700 online articles, countless portfolios, studies, analyses, and montages. The ultimate exploration of my intellectual curiosity is online at http://JeffreyDonenfeld.com

My long history of passionate pursuit has lead me to my next step of academic focus and discovery, as I look forward to continuing to pursue my passions at Leeds.

I started to approach the world differently when …

I started to approach the world differently when I realized that I could do anything I wanted to do. That there was no specific, set career path that I was forced to take. That I could call anybody a friend. That I had the ultimate, blessed freedom to pursue what was in my heart. And I did it. I’m doing it right now by applying to join the community at Leeds.

Having the power to do anything I set my mind to is extremely liberating and energizing. Even in the face of an adversity, I can still do whatever I set my mind to is liberating and empowering. Suddenly, the whole world is available — and even if there are definite barriers to dreams, there’s always a way to make the essentials possible.

I remember sitting at my desk years ago and telling myself – “there’s nobody holding you here but yourself”, and making the decision to pursue my dreams. And although it’s been a long and hard fight — which I’m still fighting — I’m glad I did it.

It’s because of this realization, and my renewed, inspired, optimistic, and empowered approach to the world, that I keep a short, but powerful saying on my desk to look at everyday: “FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD”. I live by that every day.

University of Denver Daniels

What contribution will you make to the Daniels learning environment? Include examples of previous experience that demonstrates your readiness for graduate school, specific to the program for which you are applying.

My distinct diversity in career and life experience make me a superior contributor to the Daniels community and, more specifically, to my class. Several aspects of my background and experience support this.

After graduating from college at CU-Boulder, I was fortunate to start working in the quickly-growing digital marketing field in New York City. I worked my way up gaining experience with a number of smaller marketing firms, until I signed on to help develop and grow a then-small interactive ad agency. I was the 12th employee at Morpheus Media, and one of the two founding members of the SEO Department. During my four years at Morpheus, I helped grow the company from a 12-person startup to a 125-person industry leader. I was one of the co-founders of the SEO and Social Media departments, the founder of the Mobile Media department, and one of the agencies senior-strategists. I was also involved in sales and business development on a weekly basis. My experience at Morpheus exposed me to the full spectrum of business strategy, growth, management, and optimization. Looking towards the Daniels MBA program, I’m excited to combine my significant past experiences with academic discourse and team interaction, and to emerge as a community leader and motivator.

During the past few years, tI re-focused my career trajectory to pursue my interest in working in Antarctica with the United States Antarctic Program in supporting National Science Foundation-funded scientific exploration and experimentation. I pro-actively made this shift out of a desire to diversify and to continue to pursue what truly makes me excited. Working in Antarctica over two seasons was an incredible experience as I managed a team of deep-field professionals to service a precision deep-ice coring drill at the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Camp, one of the most remote Antarctic field camps in the middle of the largest highest, coldest, windiest, and driest desert on earth. Although a departure from the office life, my work at WAIS was a continuation of my on-the-spot decision making, dynamic management, and adaptive strategy experience, as we battled complex logistics, uncooperative weather, and remote locations to accomplish a shared objective the right way, at the right time.

It’s these diverse, multidisciplinary, and one-of-a-kind experiences that make me an unparallelled contributor to the Daniels community, which I look forward to joining in the fall.

Describe an ethical dilemma that you encountered. Explain alternatives you considered and how you determined the best action to take.

Antarctica. The whole place is a bit of an ethical dilemma, but during my two deployments, I got to witness firsthand the nuanced dilemmas inherent in living in a government-run town, scheduling housing and logistics in conjunction with the US Air Force, and grant-funded project operations.

I’ve deployed to Antarctica twice. My first year, I was stationed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The station houses about 150 people during the summer, and is a massive structure elevated above the snow and ice. The very existence of the station, given the extensive fuel, personnel, and resource requirements is incredible. The station burns millions of gallons of jet fuel to power generators for heat and electricity. There’s a fully featured galley on station serving three meals per day, in addition to holiday and special meals. Everybody has their own heated bedroom, and there’s a weight room, gymnasium, library, music room, and movie theater accessible to everyone – all at the south pole.

Merely living there brings to mind the ethical question of whether or not all of the infrastructure and energy is worth it. Sure, there’s great scientific research being done there – but could it be done with less luxury and excess? I asked myself this question almost every day while on station, and decided that yes, it would be possible to conserve more, but potentially at the cost of productivity and quality of life. In order to cope with this dilemma, I decided to do my best to conserve as much as possible while there, as well as do the best work I possibly could, maximizing the benefit of the myriad resources. Additionally, I wrote extensive articles on my personal blog documenting all of the interesting aspects of the station, with hopes of extending the benefit of the incredible structure at the south pole to people around the world.

Stanford GSB

What matters most to you, and why?

The relentless pursuit of dreams is what’s important.

Realizing my dreams. Making the choice to pursue my dreams. And critically, changing the universe to make my dreams happen is what truly matters to me. By far the most illustrative story of my pursuit of the impossible is my quest to get to Antarctica. I failed for four solid years, and finally, after struggle and questioning, finally arrived at the South Pole.

I worked in NYC for a number of years starting and growing an interactive ad agency from 12-125 people, and although my career in interactive media was engaging, challenging, and a natural fit for me, my next big step was just over the horizon. I asked myself: “What’s the ultimate, most ambitious, most fantastic dream job I can imagine?” The answer was to work on science expeditions in Antarctica.

The road to becoming an Antarctic Field Science Technician was long and frustrating, but ultimately successful. Because I knew nothing at all about the specific science, lifestyle, and career options on the continent, I started researching, networking, and applying for every job I could find. To support my research and engagement with the scientific community, I wrote a blog post every single day until I accomplished my objective. And then one day, three years after I started my quest, I received a call from Lockheed Martin telling me I had a week to get to the airport and catch my flight to the ice.

Working in Antarctica was a life-changing experience. During my most recent season on the ice, I worked as a Field Technician and Project Manager on the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center’s DISC Drill team. I was in charge of comprehensive accounting for our team’s scientific equipment and industrial machinery, management of the packing and shipment process, and general gear and logistics for the entire season.

For the past 15 years I’ve been writing regularly on my personal blog, and for the past 5 years I’ve been writing personal stories about my quest to Antarctica, including an entire account of the evolution of my journey there. http://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica

The quest for Antarctica initially seemed like a completely impossible dream, with so many questions at the beginning. Where to even start? However as I realized, you must start somewhere, anywhere, and just get moving. It’s this almost blind confidence that enables each of us to achieve what we truly want, and make the impossible dream happen.

The easy thing for me would be to go back to working an office job I’m easily qualified for. The hard thing is to continue to pursue my career, personal, and life goals – which includes joining the Stanford community.

To remix President Kennedy: I choose to go to Stanford. I choose to go to Stanford this year, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of my energies and skills, because that challenge is one that I am willing to accept, one I am unwilling to postpone, and one which I intend to win…

Why Stanford?

Joining the Stanford community is that next ideal, impossible, perfect, dreamy ideal which has sculpted my life and career since the beginning. It’s the continuation of my crazy idea to build a tech startup in NYC – and making it work. It’s the continuation of my insane idea of getting a job at the southern axis of the earth – and making it work. It’s the continuation of my proof that to change my world, and the world, FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD. That’s why Stanford.

It’s my conception of having a vision of a perfect path forward, where the universe falls into place and flows. What follows is the story of my career trajectory so far, and an explanation of how Stanford will enable me to take my work — my passion — to the next level.

Stanford is home to some of the most innovative thinkers, brightest minds, and weirdest dreamers anywhere. But it’s missing my creative drive and unwavering dreams.

My experience working in multiple fields, including in the middle of the world’s largest, highest, coldest, windiest, and driest desert sets the stage for a refinement, innovation, and elevated pursuit of vision – and Stanford is the community, curriculum, and challenge to make that happen.

Stanford’s focus on creative entrepreneurship, innovative thinking, and constant challenge is ideal. Stanford’s engaged community and extensive network is essential. This Fall, i look forward to joining the Stanford community, and creating the next step.

Hult Business School

To help our Admissions team better understand you, tell us about your professional and personal achievements, and why you are a good fit for Hult.

Joining the Hult community is that next ideal, impossible, perfect, dreamy ideal which has sculpted my life and career since the beginning. It’s the continuation of my crazy idea to build a tech startup in NYC – and making it work. It’s the continuation of my insane idea of getting a job at the southern axis of the earth – and making it work. It’s the continuation of my proof that to change my world, and the world, FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD. That’s why Hult.

It’s my conception of having a vision of a perfect path forward, where the universe falls into place and flows. What follows is the story of my career trajectory so far, and an explanation of how Hult will enable me to take my work — my passion — to the next level.

I moved up rapidly working with startups in NYC, particularly in building Morpheus Media. There, we built our core team of 12 into a 125-expert strong industry leader. It was life-changing, in that i developed solid business skills on the spot, and realized that I had the ability to help make an entire company run. My experiences in interactive media gave me the forum to become the effective team leader, group manager, salesperson, consultant, communicator, and innovator that I am today – that’s a lot of roles – all of which I learned as they became a critical necessity of my everyday life.

Although my career in interactive media was engaging, challenging, and a natural fit for me, my next big step was just over the horizon. I asked myself: “What’s the ultimate, most ambitious, most fantastic dream job I can imagine?” The answer was to work on science expeditions in Antarctica.

The road to becoming an Antarctic Field Science Technician was long and frustrating – but I made it a success. I have a knack for that. Because I knew nothing at all about the specific science, lifestyle, and career options on the continent, I started researching, networking, and applying for every job I could find. To support my research and engagement with the scientific community, I wrote a blog post every single day until I accomplished my objective. I also met countless scientists, contractors, managers, and explorers. And then one day, three years after I started my quest, I received a call from Lockheed Martin telling me I had a week to get to the airport and catch my flight to the ice.

Working in Antarctica was a life-changing experience. During my most recent season on the ice, I worked as a Field Technician and Project Manager on the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center’s DISC Drill team. I was in charge of comprehensive accounting for our team’s scientific equipment and industrial machinery, management of the packing and shipment process, and general gear and logistics for the entire season.

My experience working in the field sets the stage for a refinement, innovation, and elevated pursuit of vision – and Hult is the community, curriculum, and challenge to make that happen.

Hult’s focus on creative entrepreneurship, innovative thinking, and constant challenge is ideal. Hult’s engaged community and extensive network is essential. And Hult’s location, as well as global reach is literally where it’s at.

This Fall, i look forward to joining the Hult community, and creating the next step.

INSEAD

Give a candid description of yourself (who are you as a person), stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary.

The problem with me is that I dream big, and obsessively pursue my dreams until I achieve them. I’m an eternal optimist, and throughout my life I’ve been one to think that when I apply myself, I can change my world when it needs to be changed. I’ve proven this to myself time and time again, in my personal, social, and professional lives – and it’s been for the better AND worse.

The ability to dream, and believe in your dreams can be a powerful force of change. My career pathway is a telling example of my dreams constantly evolving, and my continuous pursuit of them. Coming out of college, I moved to NYC with the vision of living the big city life, working with my best friends, having a typical Manhattan apartment, and developing a close knit community in one of the world’s craziest cities. My first job coming to the city was at a very small marketing firm, but with time, I worked my way up, and eventually made my dream a reality. By the time I was ready to leave the city, I was on the management team of a large ad agency which I helped to create, working on strategy for the world’s largest luxury brands.

Onto the next dream: Antarctica.

What better way to take a next step than to step completely out of the city, and into the largest, highest, coldest, windiest, and driest desert on earth. That’s what I had in mind when I decided to get a job working with the United States Antarctic Program. I knew nothing when I started the quest, and I failed at it completely and consistently for 4 long years. But I was determined to make my dream into a reality. I was committed, and it was going to happen. Four years later, after numerous last minute flights to meet managers and administrators at Lockheed Martin, countless phone calls, training courses in the mountains, and sleepless nights, I got a cryptic email, and then a call. They said I had 5 days to get myself with all of my gear to the airport, and hop on a flight to the South Pole.

Those are two examples of how I’ve pursued my dreams, and luckily made them happen – but there have been numerous dreams I’m still working on, that I’ve failed to achieve, and that I don’t even know how to start. I’ve been fortunate enough to have the intellectual and unwavering drive to make lots of them come true, and I’ve also failed time and time again. Through all of this, though, I can’t imagine any other way to be. With so little time, the only thing that seems logical to do is the best, brightest, highest, most incredible things I can think of – and that’s what I intend to continue to do at INSEAD. I can’t picture it any other way.

Describe the achievement of which you are most proud and explain why. In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationships with others? Comment on what you learned.

I failed consistently on one seemingly impossible task for over four years.

Then, in a moment of synergy, luck, and opportunity, all of the pieces came together, and I found myself a week later on a US Military flight to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica.

Four years before my ultimate success, I was working at Morpheus Media – a rapidly growing digital marketing agency. Although my career in interactive media was engaging, challenging, and a natural fit for me, my next big step was just over the horizon. I asked myself: “What’s the ultimate, most ambitious, most fantastic dream job I can imagine?” The answer was to work on science expeditions in Antarctica.

The road to becoming an Antarctic Field Science Technician was long and frustrating, but ultimately successful. Because I knew nothing at all about the specific science, lifestyle, and career options on the continent, I started researching, networking, and applying for every job I could find. To support my research and engagement with the scientific community, I wrote a blog post every single day until I accomplished my objective. I also met countless scientists, contractors, managers, and explorers. And then one day, three years after I started my quest, I received a call from Lockheed Martin telling me I had a week to get to the Denver Airport and catch my flight to the ice.

Working in Antarctica was a life-changing experience. During my most recent season on the ice, I worked as a Field Technician and Project Manager on the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center’s DISC Drill team. I was in charge of comprehensive accounting for our team’s scientific equipment and industrial machinery, management of the packing and shipment process, and general gear and logistics for the entire season.

Throughout this life-changing quest, I met countless incredible individuals who taught me to follow my passions, do what’s interesting and weird, and never give up. It’s this very reason that I’m now excited take on my next endeavor of earning my MBA and revolutionizing my career with INSEAD.

The full story of my quest for Antarctica is told in exhaustive detail on my blog at http://JeffreyDonenfeld.com/Antarctica

Tell us about an experience where you were significantly impacted by cultural diversity, in a positive or negative way.

I ran my best marathon ever amidst smiling, confused, cheering crowds lining the streets of Pyongyang, North Korea.

Here, in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, cultural diversity takes a weird, homegrown, and remarkably flourishing twist. It’s mandated, controlled, and sculpted by the all-seeing government. And lacking an unbiased alternative or diversified voice, the one way truly is the way. As I explored North Korea, this homegrown spin of diversity was both an inspiration, and quite depressing at the same time.

In a certain light, North Korea’s insulated cultural, political, and social ecosystem is a fantastic distillation of truth and purity. For the last three generations of leaders, the cultural identity of the north has been singularly shaped and refined into an incredibly well defined, deep, and powerful national identity. It’s character is completely unique – beautiful expressions of creativity and inspiration abound throughout Pyongyang, if you look with the right eyes. People are pure and loving once you give them a chance. And within their microcosm the people of North Korea are healthy and proud of what they’ve built.

There’s a prevalent dark side to this insulated brand of singularized cultural diversity as well. Looking in from an outsider’s perspective, North Korea is a timewarp of short-sighted cultural norms, crushing control of the people, and oppression of even the most basic rights. Their society could be seen as dull and lackluster arising out of an almost complete embargo of outside influences.

I disagree with this fatalist view. The optimistic, inclusive, and loving view of North Korea is the one I choose to embrace. Government politics are one thing – but looking directly at the people and heart of the nation, it’s easy to see, with the right eyes, the flourishing warmth and unique cultural identity that’s been created.

The full story of my cultural exploration of North Korea is online at http://goo.gl/83SD7m

2016-03-23