Pathik Bhatt

Category: Business & Marketing

  • 6 Reasons Why You Should Visit Zappos When You’re in Vegas

    My wife and I had the privilege of going on a Zappos Tour on our Vegas trip last month, and I’m so glad we did! I knew I wanted to make it out there ever since I finish reading Delivering Happiness, the story about their company & how they built a great culture written by their CEO Tony Hsieh. zappos-family-sign (more…)

  • What Does the Flexibility of an Online MBA Do For You

    How important is “flexibility” to you when it comes to managing your schedule? That’s something every prospective MBA student must consider. For me it came down to choosing between 90 minutes of commuting on a weeknight and using that time to get work done instead. I haven’t thought about it much since I started my MBA, but I took out a few minutes to think about what the flexibility of an online MBA has meant to me over the past year and quickly came up with three scenarios. Read the first story about the flexibility of an online MBA below: (more…)

  • The 2013 Kelley Connect Week Takes MBA Students into the Emerging African Market

    I just got back from my second Kelley Connect Week, the week-long experience that Kelley Direct MBA students get to share with their classmates and professors each year. I did not expect to learn about Africa much less Swahili from my MBA program, but that’s exactly what I got this week.

    The Kelley Connect Week Experience

    Before I go into the details of this Connect Week, I want to describe what this experience is like for the uninitiated. During these Connect weeks, we attend classes with some of the same professors who teach our MBA classes and get to spend a lot of time with other students. As online MBA students, this is something we cherish and really take advantage of. Part of the reason you get your Nick's on IU CampusMBA is to meet and build relationships with other motivated people. Kelley Connect Week not only gives us the chance to do this, but really encourages it. Something new that KD tried this year was giving us open meal vouchers to spend at any Bloomington restaurant. That was a great way for us to go explore Kirkland Ave on our own – although I should note our team just decided to go back to Nick’s (IU’s most popular campus bar) because we were craving good pizza.

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  • 4 Pieces of Content About Happiness That You Shouldn’t Miss

    I’ve been posting a lot about business, marketing and entrepreneurship lately, so I thought I’d change it up and go back to happiness for a bit. Here are links to a few great videos and books about the subject of happiness that I’ve watched, read and listened to (audiobooks are the greatest gift to commuters in the world – and your local library has so many… for FREE!!!) recently. I’ve started jotting down takeaways from each of them, but I figure I should share them for the people who want to actually go and experience these pieces of content about happiness for themselves.

    Why Happiness is the New Productivity (The Story of Mindvalley)

    Vishen Lakhiani - CEO of MindvalleyThis video features a talk by Vishen Lakhiani, the founder and CEO of Mindvalley. If you haven’t heard of him and the company yet, you will soon. He offers 10 tangible takeaways to help you make your life and the lives of everyone at your workplace happier. (more…)

  • Tips for Entrepreneurs From Aalap Shah – Co-Founder of SoMe Social Media

    Aalap Shah of SoMeI had the opportunity to work with Aalap Shah on the board of the 2012 NetIP Conference hosted in Chicago last year. Both us were Social Media Co-chairs and Aalap also spoke on a digital marketing panel with other marketing experts there. It was great working with him and I’m glad he took some time out to share some lessons he’s learned about entrepreneurship while starting his company, SoMe Social Media. (more…)

  • Tips For Entrepreneurs From Arpan Shah – CEO & Co-founder of PrintEco

    Arpan Shah CEO of PrintEcoI ran into Arpan Shah a few times when we were both at U of I in Champaign, but hadn’t seen him since. I came across PrintEco while browsing start-up companies in the Chicago area. Arpan started his business around a great tool that helps companies save paper and ink (and money). Read on to learn more about it.

    What gave you the idea for PrintEco?

    I saw a significant problem of wasteful printing at University of Illinois and during my internships. It was a big enough problem that I figured needed a simple solution. After gathering a lot of feedback, I came upon my current idea. It started out as a side project but kept snowballing from there. (more…)

  • Lessons From Shaan Shah – Co-Founder of MakerSquare

    Shaan Shah of DevJumpstartShaan and I have known each other for several years now, and he has even helped me with RAAHI while we were in college together several years ago. After spending some time behind the desk post-graduation, Shaan decided to learn programming and take his talents to Austin so he can help others do what he did. He is now teaching the first batch of students learn how to become developers in a matter of weeks. I appreciate him taking the time to share his tips and experiences with me as he starts his new venture.

    What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture and how did the idea for MakerSquare come about?

    I wanted to give other people the opportunity to do what I did. Switch careers into tech. The idea for MakerSquare quickly gained momentum after talking to Ravi in Austin, and was solidified once we got Shehzan and Harsh on board. The groundwork for creating a web development school was laid out for us by the awesome team at Bitmaker Labs. (more…)

  • Lessons From Himanshu Shah – Co-Founder of Saucee

    Himanshu Shah of SauceeHimanshu Shah is the Co-Founder of Saucee, a “brand new line of 100% organic sauces crafted to inspire people to eat more creatively. These flavorful, colorful sauces are locally made in the San Francisco Bay Area.” I found Himanshu through a mutual friend literally right as his Kickstarter campaign for Saucee was wrapping up, here’s a screenshot from today (3/14/13) showing their success! (more…)

  • Lessons from Keith Hanson – Founder of RateYourSeats.com

    Rateyourseats.com LogoKeith Hanson is a fellow Batavia (western suburb of Chicago) Bulldog from the Class of ’03. I distinctly remember one time in gym class when our teacher decided the teams were unfair. His solution: splitting Keith me up onto separate teams haha. So seeing that Keith started RateYourSeats.com, a business that caters to sports fans, was not surprising. It was great catching up with him! Here are Keith’s thoughts on Chicago sports and entrepreneurship: (more…)

  • Lessons from Harsh Patel – Education Architect at MakerSquare

    Harsh Patel - DevJumpstart in Austin, TXHarsh Patel is the Education Architect / TA at MakerSquare, a brand new 10 week intensive bootcamp for aspiring developers and entrepreneurs in Austin, TX. He is also the co-founder and product guy at Portfoliyo, a tool that helps teachers and parents communicate with each other easily through text messages. I want to thank Harsh for taking the time to sit down with me and offer some insight into entrepreneurship and what drives him. Read the interview below. (more…)