1. You were one of the youngest patent holders in the United States. What was the patent for and have you always been an entrepreneur at heart?

Woodbridge: I have always been curious about how things work, and have been thinking of new ideas for products and services for as long as I can remember.  My patent was for a chainsaw accessory that ran a brush attachment to help clean wood pulp from cut trees.  I remember it took nearly a year and a half for the patent to be approved.  I never commercialized the idea, but it lit a fire in me that has yet to be extinguished.  

In my apartment, I have a collection of my idea notebooks, full of new product and service ideas, some going back nearly 20 years.  I really appreciate my parents’ encouragement and support of my unusual hobby.  I can remember getting in trouble as a young child for picking our neighbor’s strawberries and selling them door-to-door.  And I had to get creative to support myself in San Francisco for six months after the dot-com bust by fixing discarded vacuum cleaners and selling them on Craigslist. 

The key is to really understand your environment and the people around you, and look for opportunities to satisfy a need or fix an inefficiency.  People are surrounded by and use poorly designed products every day.  I believe it is the responsibility of the entrepreneur to be the voice and hand that directs consumers to better alternatives. 

Now, as CEO of the Rady Entrepreneur Club, and VP of Marketing for the UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge, I get to help the next generation of entrepreneurs launch their new ideas.

2. Tell me about your experience at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative University conference.

Woodbridge: The event focused on inspiring young leaders of the world to make commitments to address the pressing global issues of climate change, energy, health, poverty alleviation, and peace and human rights.  Nearly 1,000 students, from 50 states and 60 foreign countries, were accepted to attend, as well as heads of leading educational institutions, including UC San Diego’s Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.  Former President Bill Clinton moderated many of the sessions and presented awards.  Guests included celebrities such as Natalie Portman, Matthew McConaughey and producer Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). 

As a prerequisite, all applicants had to devise, and commit to implement, practical and innovative solutions to global issues.  I committed to creating a single, go-to Web site for social and environmental entrepreneurs wanting to compete in business plan and case competitions.  Thousands of these competitions take place around the world each year, and innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues, such as pollution and poverty, are submitted.  I believe creating a Web site to market these events will help spread the knowledge of new technologies and services, and connect those individuals with the funding and resources necessary to turn their ideas into reality.   My Web site, Competefortheworld.org, should go live very soon.

During the conference, there were discussions about the use of technology in developing countries to help improve health and raise individuals out of poverty.   Luckily, here at UC San Diego, we are in the forefront of environmental research and the advancement of technology.  This gives students the unique opportunity to help launch some of these potentially world-changing products. 

According to President Clinton, the key is to have focus.  If you’re too broad, and say, “I want to alleviate hunger,” you’ll be bogged down by the magnitude of the task. However, if you focus your efforts on a specific area or single technology, and partner with organizations with similar goals, you will have a better chance of accomplishing your mission.

3. Why did you choose to attend the Rady School of Management?

Woodbridge: I evaluated dozens of programs all over the world.  I was looking for an innovation-driven school with a strong international aspect, yet small enough that I wouldn’t be just another number.  And although Rady was a relatively young school, it had attracted faculty from some of the top business schools in the country, offering the same strong educational experience one would expect from a top-ranked school.  I was also enticed by the opportunity to potentially influence the design of the curriculum and future path of this young school, which would be otherwise impossible at the more established institutions.

The school’s Lab-to-Market program was also a big selling point for me.  In this program, students form groups and spend three quarters taking ideas from the initial concept phase to the eventual writing and pitch of a full business plan to Venture Capitalists and other judges.  It is the perfect exercise for people who want to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills and their ability to recognize, evaluate and launch good ideas.

4. How did your undergraduate degree in anthropology, and work experience in archaeology and market research, prepare you for your studies at the Rady School?

Woodbridge: I definitely have an atypical background for someone focusing on business.  I started my career as an excavations supervisor for an archaeological project in central Honduras in 2000.  I loved the work, but it wasn’t the right career choice for me.  However, having insight into past cultures and forgotten technologies is very useful when designing new products.  My experience as a project director of a market research firm really opened my eyes to the potential of applied anthropology methodologies in the business world.  Through surveys, in-person interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic and behavioral observations, you can uncover the unmet needs of the consumer and the underlying factors that drive purchase decisions.  Companies can then use this information to design new products and create targeted strategies.  It just takes patience and an open mind. 

I feel very lucky to have found a business school that welcomes and encourages individuals with diverse backgrounds.  The Rady School of Management provides a collaborative environment where students learn from the unique experiences of the other students and faculty.  We even have a ‘Students Teaching Students’ lecture series, where we share our industry experiences.  While I went to this school confident in my market research and marketing knowledge, I was completely unfamiliar with the principles of accounting and finance, which are integral to business.  Rady has helped me recognize and fill in pieces of knowledge I didn’t know I was missing.

I still haven’t lost my love for archaeology, though.  I now volunteer weekly at the San Diego Museum of Man, working with their archaeological collections department and a local Native American group to help create a system to identify, catalog and preserve thousands of cultural artifacts discovered throughout San Diego County, some going back over 8,000 years.

5. Tell me how you’ve applied what you’ve learned at Rady to your independent studies.

Woodbridge: I learn by doing and I really love how the Rady School encourages its students to apply what they have learned by participating in independent studies.  Some use the independent study to evaluate the feasibility of launching their own companies, others use it to help professors with research projects, and others conduct short-term projects with local companies.  It is a lot of hard work, but I have found them to be a very rewarding.

I have worked on three independent studies so far.  The first one was as a business strategy analyst for a clean-tech venture capital firm, helping them create a complete business plan for a revolutionary green building product company in their fund.  The second one was conducting market research and data analysis to help a well-known San Diego product designer determine whether or not to launch an idea for a new type of transportation device.  The third and current one is working to create and conduct visitor surveys for the San Diego Museum of Man and advise them in the design of innovative and educational exhibits to improve the experience and increase the number of visitors.  Next, I plan to assist a couple of my professors in researching brainstorming techniques that are most effective in helping companies innovate.

If you had asked me to do these thing two years ago, I wouldn’t have known where to begin.  The courses I have chosen at Rady, along with the guidance and support of my faculty advisors, have prepared me to conduct some very upper-level professional work.  The clients are happy, and I have gained invaluable experience.  I could leave school now, confident in the fact that I know how to apply what I have learned.

6. How is the Rady School preparing you for your future goals?

Woodbridge: As an entrepreneur, the Rady School has been the perfect fit for me.  The school consistently offers more learning opportunities than anyone has time for.  It has helped me discover and refine my strengths, and recognize my weaknesses.  It has given me the chance to learn valuable insights from top professors and industry leaders, while allowing me to test myself in real-world situations. 

In my career before Rady, I had the personal experience of seeing companies completely ignore the voice of the consumer, and launch poorly designed concepts that failed miserably, despite having data that told them not to launch.  These companies wasted tens of millions of dollars.  Through my experience at Rady, I feel I have gained some of the knowledge and leverage necessary to influence the top decision makers at larger companies and convince them to pay better attention to consumer needs, hopefully preventing them from wasting this money in the future.

I plan to focus my future career path on the synergy of anthropology and business in the realm of new product development. In the immediate future, my wife and I both love to travel, so we plan to work abroad in a developing country this following year to gain additional international experience after graduation.  Eventually, I would love to launch some of my own product ideas and start my own product solutions company that helps both corporations and non-profit organizations formulate and develop better products and services.

Fun Faves

Favorite subject in college: Osteology, the study of bones

Favorite place on or near UC San Diego: The Gliderport

Favorite hobby:
Cooking, especially Italian and Hawaiian food

Favorite way to unwind:
Surfing at sunset

Favorite business leader: Richard Branson of Virgin

Favorite quote: “Always do what you are afraid to do.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

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