BYU Tech Club: at the Base of Silicon Slopes William R
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Marriott Student Review Volume 1 Article 5 Issue 1 The Power of Words April 2017 BYU Tech Club: At the Base of Silicon Slopes William R. Adams BYU Marriott School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/marriottstudentreview Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Business Intelligence Commons, E-Commerce Commons, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, and the Technology and Innovation Commons Marriott tudeS nt Review is a student journal created and published as a project for the Writing for Business Communications course at Brigham Young University (BYU). The views expressed in Marriott tudeS nt Review are not necessarily endorsed by BYU or The hC urch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Recommended Citation Adams, William R. (2017) "BYU Tech Club: At the Base of Silicon Slopes," Marriott tS udent Review: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/marriottstudentreview/vol1/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marriott Student Review by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Adams: BYU Tech Club 3. The death spiral. As insurance premi- The Bottom Line ums continue to rise, only the very sick No matter what happens in Congress, BYU TECH CLUB will choose to buy health insurance. At someone is going to pay for health some point along this spiral, insurance care. Don’t expect a replacement to companies will die, as losses add up. Obamacare anytime soon, but do expect continued weakening of its infrastruc- To prevent a death spiral, Congress ture. Republicans have already started made government funds available for pulling plugs on the legislation, and the AT THE BASE OF SILICON SLOPES use during what was called the “Risk health insurance industry’s resilience will Corridor.” Because of the drastic change be tried, with no guarantee of any bail- in who participated in health care markets out. Obamacare, Congress’s patient, has (a big increase in clients), accurate pricing a lot of preexisting conditions, and it became effectively impossible. The Risk doesn’t sound like anyone wants to give Corridor Funds were intended to shore up it insurance. insurance companies that priced too low and incurred losses. Notes: 1. “Executive Order Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Insuring the insurance companies in this Repeal,” The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/ the-press-office/2017/01/2/executive-order-minimizing- way created an additional moral hazard; economic-burden-patient-protection-and, (January 20, almost all the companies underpriced. 2017). With the promise of tax dollars to bail 2. Brian Blase, “Overwhelming Evidence that Obamacare Caused Premiums to Increase Substantially,” https:// Flickr User: a4gpa them out if they lost money, they had no www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2016/07/28/ motivation to price correctly. A death spi- overwhelming-evidence-that-obamacare-caused-premiums- to-increase-substantially/#2bcab13615be, (July 28, 2016). By William Adams to fuel their growth. For Brigham Young ral was avoided, but moral hazard racked 3. Kimberly Amadeo, “Obamacare Pre-Existing up a hefty bill, now up to around 8.3 bil- Conditions,” https://www.thebalance.com/obamacare-pre- University, the response to such explosive 4 existing-conditions-3306072, (January 5, 2017). lmost a decade has passed since Josh growth is the formation of what some have lion dollars. If Republicans choose to stop 4. Shelby Livingston, “The state of the ACA’s risk corridors,” bailing out companies, the insurance mar- http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20161205/ AJames christened the area connect- called “the newest, hottest club on cam- ket may again face a death spiral risk. NEWS/161129937, (December 5, 2017). ing Salt Lake and Utah Counties as Silicon pus”: the BYU Tech Club. Slopes. James, the founder of Omniture Letting Obamacare decay will cause and Domo, originally chose the nickname The story of BYU’s Tech Club begins in late another period of uncertainty, and as a nod to the technology metropolis of 2014. John Koelliker was a sophomore on Congress and the President have to Northern California and as a bit of a mar- an investment banking recruiting trip in decide how they will proceed. Promising a keting ploy to garner attention for Utah’s San Francisco. Amidst the stops to differ- “bailout” of sorts will generate security for own nascent tech scene.1 ent financial institutions, the group paid insurance companies and individuals who a visit to Facebook’s corporate headquar- rely on them, but the past shows such a Since that time, Silicon Slopes has kept ters. A light bulb went on in John’s head: bailout will not be free. Without funds to Utah’s press corps busy and propelled its “We should be placing more top students shore up potential losses, companies will business community to lead the nation in at tech companies in Silicon Valley!” be forced to predict more accurately, but economic growth.2 The few original acres the tendency will be to price high rather surrounding Thanksgiving Point have Returning to school, John couldn’t find than low. More companies will likely fail. expanded to include most of the Wasatch an organization specifically designed to Front, comprising dozens of startups and help students from every major learn more even spawning four unicorns.3 As the pro- about tech and get connected to opportu- liferation of tech companies has continued, nities at companies like Google or Apple. businesses have turned to local universities “There were several niche clubs trying to Published by14 BYU msr ScholarsArchive, 2017 Winter 2017 15 1 Marriott Student Review, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 [2017], Art. 5 The Bottom Line: Now in its first semester as an official our real measure of success will be how BYU organization, the Tech Club has seen many students within our club actually get In the last decade, Utah has seen unprecedented growth in the high-tech growth mirroring that of the surrounding internships and job offers as a result of our space. BYU’s new Tech Club is the university’s response. With a dedicated startups within the valley. From the orig- events,” says Erika Mahterian, the club’s group of students and the interest of local professionals, the club is out to inal team of five students, the club has VP of Member Experience. help you land the job of your dreams. exploded with 170 students attending the club’s kickoff and over 100 participating in The club is starting to see success in its placement efforts. One student, for exam- get a toe hold,” he recalls, “but nothing wasn’t a lack of interest; the school sim- Will building relationships with ple, came to the club’s kickoff with a casual substantial was happening because none ply didn’t have the infrastructure to take companies in Utah inhibit the curiosity in technology. After meeting of them had as their driving purpose place- on the daunting task of getting business Tech Club from making in-roads in with a club member who had worked at ment in elite tech companies.” Continuing students without technical skills into tech- Silicon Valley? Amazon, the student applied to the com- to research, John found that most of the nology giants like Google and Facebook.” pany and ultimately accepted a summer top universities across the nation had a “I think it is important to keep internship. technology club with just that purpose. If The two assembled a team with a few other a long-term perspective when BYU was going to capitalize on Utah’s tech interested students and agreed upon a we talk about the relationship The leadership team sees a bright future boom, it needed to take deliberate action. threefold purpose: between Silicon Slopes and Silicon for the club, and central to that vision is the continued growth of Silicon Slopes. Valley. We want to help students The following schoolyear (2015) John 1. Inform. Create awareness for students As Lauren Todd, VP of Communications, land jobs where they want to tried to get his idea off the ground, but about opportunities in tech. puts it, “Through the Tech Club, BYU has land jobs and we plan to show without a network—and no experience in 2. Prepare. Build the necessary skills to the potential to become for Silicon Slopes them all their options. With so the industry—the logistics proved to be be successful in various roles within what Stanford is for the Bay Area—a pipe- many incredible companies in our too much. “So I went back to the draw- tech. line for the university’s best students to ing board. I spent hours and hours calling 3. Place. Help students of all majors backyard, many students will feel work in their same geographic area and alumni, sending emails to anyone in tech. receive internships and full-time offers like staying in Utah is the best build camaraderie between businesses I flew out to Silicon Valley. I applied for from the tech companies of their option. Others might want to get and the school.” Such a symbiotic relation- 4 every position I could find online.” The dreams. out of Utah and try something ship is already underway, given that many hustle paid off; John landed an internship new. However, regardless of of the companies trace their roots to BYU, the following summer on Uber’s strategy With the help of a few enthusiastic infor- where these students go upon yet Lauren wants to further streamline team.