ISS '13: Why The Cornell Experience Matters

The 8th Annual Ivy Sports Symposium will take place at Harvard Law School on Friday, November 22, 2013.  The Cornell Sports Business Society will be providing regular coverage before, during, and after the event. 

The 8th annual Ivy Sports Symposium held this year at Harvard University on November 22 showcases some of the most successful leaders of the industry. The eleven Cornell alumni speaking at the event reflect on what aspects of the Cornell experience was most helpful or best prepared them for their career paths.

CHARLES BAKER, JD ‘85
The analytic framework for studying business and commercial cases, identifying issues and solving for them, was invaluable training for my career as an M+A and Corporate Finance lawyer. The transactions I worked on early in my career built upon this foundation and enabled me to refine it. Today, not a day goes by when I’m not identifying issues for key clients with respect to proposed M+A and finance transactions and trying to propose creative solutions for dealing with counter-parties, like buyers/sellers, investors, banks and leagues.  Cornell Law School’s case methodology was critical to my development as a sports M+A and finance lawyer. In addition, I enjoy my career because I’m surrounded everyday by smart, creative thinkers. I found the same to be true of my experience at Cornell.

ANDREW DAINES ‘10 
Studying philosophy may seem like an unusual path to tech entrepreneurship, but studying Plato under Professors Tad Brennan and Gail Fine prepared me well. People - partners, competitors, investors, clients, whoever - appreciate appeals to reason. They are motivated by simple, sound arguments that rest on basic principles. Constructing a water-tight argument as to how and why my company will win and will help its clients and partners win is my job as CEO. Thanks, Plato, and thanks Professors Brennan and Fine. 

TRACY DOLGIN ‘81

There are only two assets in the media business:  content and people.  And, ultimately, you’re only as good as the people who make and market the content.  Human capital is really our only capital here at YES.  People are what have made YES what it is today. 

As a result of my ILR experience, I have a unique perspective of the media business…
There are only two assets in the media business:  content and people.  And, ultimately, you’re only as good as the people who make and market the content.  Human capital is really our only capital here at YES.  People are what have made YES what it is today.

The ILR school is all about maximizing that human capital.  Studying at ILR really gives you a leg up in that it trains you to use that part of the brain that most people in media don’t have a classical education in.  ILR alums not only deal with the analytical aspect of a situation, but with the people aspect of it, too.
When I am faced with a situation at work, the road to a solution begins with my human capital.   How do I get the most out of my people?   That’s how I was taught to think.  That’s what has differentiated me from people who do not have the ILR background.  Most others don’t even think about the human element.  

TOM GRILK ‘69
 Learning clarity of thought (philosophy) and economy of language (ROTC)

MATTHEW HILTZIK ‘94
I was first impacted by Cornell even before I was born, as my father’s experience at the ILR school set an example for my eventual career path of studying industrial labor relations, attending law school and eventually working in media in NYC - even though I ended up in a different (non-legal) profession.

While I don’t have many colleagues who cite specific lessons from courses they took in college, thanks to my Cornell education, I regularly still reference concepts from organizational behavior, labor economics, negotiations, and risk management. The relatively small student-to-professor ratio and diversity of my classes reflected the realities of the workplace, the courses helped me think strategically, and my experience as a supervisor refereeing intramural basketball was invaluable in learning to have a thick skin, which are all useful skills when dealing with crisis and other communication issues across a wide range of industries.

TODD JACOBSON 
Being a student athlete at Cornell was a big part of my experience and taught me many things on and off the field - - hard work, time management, preparation, teamwork, leadership - - that helped shape me in to the person I am today and prepared me well for my career.  Most importantly, the experience grew my love of sport and the power it has two inspire and unite people together for a common goal. 

BARRY KAHN ‘03
As an entrepreneur, there are no set answers or formulaic approaches. It’s not about knowing the right answer or recalling what to do, but to take what you know and apply it to a brand new situation with completely unique circumstances. That is a skill set that was fostered going through the very challenging Cornell Engineering Physics program. In running an analytics company, I’ve actually shocked myself by occasionally covering the white board with Fourier series and differential equations that remind me of my days in school. 

When I look back, the true value of what I gained was the ability to learn, to not be intimidated by new challenges, and to apply what I do know in ways that were never contemplated in the text book or classroom where they were taught to me in the first place.Coupled with my experiences running 100+ miles a week as a member of the Cross Country and Track & Field teams at Cornell, where I pushed past boundaries that I may have though existed and truly realized my ability to work hard, and I would say that my Cornell education, in the broadest sense of the word, gave me the tools to start a business. Perhaps the irony is that the focus of that business could have been anything.

JENNIFER KEENE ‘05 
The most applicable lesson I learned at Cornell was not to be discouraged. That there would be ups and downs along the way but that I have the ability to navigate them.

BO MOON ‘99
 The best part of my Cornell experience was the development of problem solving skills and a strong work ethic.  The first, problem solving, comes into practice every single day in my career, and the person that can come up with solutions to various problems quickly can become the thought leader for a business.  And it’s not that cliche “thinking outside the box” that I’ve seen succeed, it’s thinking inside the box but finding the optimal path.  

Secondly, it’s work ethic.  Cornell does not have grade inflation, and the school attracts incredibly intelligent students from all walks of life, so there is a real drive for success that necessitates a strong work ethic.  That will pay dividends when you graduate, because it’s that work ethic that will sustain you when you go a start your own business or climb the corporate ladder.  And trust me, other people don’t have it.
Finally—my advice is to be social, interact with classmates, and take classes with team-oriented projects.  Ultimately, people hire people they want to work with—and those people get promoted faster than others.

JOHN SERGI
In the Fall of 1987 my graduate work began at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.  My purpose for enrolling was to dedicate two full years to create a Strategic Hospitality Design firm for Sports.  By applying the principles of design thinking to food and hospitality, the mission of this consultancy was to shift sport’s perspective on food from tactical, a simple revenue source, to strategic meaning to see food as a way to communicate brand, place and fan connection.

The Cornell experience shaped my business in that my academic advisor Professor Leo Reneghan served as advisor, mentor, and in truth consultant to the design of the business.  In my view this alone was worth the tuition, and would often remind Leo of this.  To have one of the country’s great hospitality marketing minds at my side in the design of a business was an incredible, and invaluable experience.  This qualifies as preparing me for my career path, in spades.

In a broader sense, the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum was exactly what was needed to help me build the tools to manage the business.  Design as we practice it is a very collaborative process involving specialists in operations, facilities, marketing and finance.  We subscribe to the belief that to solve complex problems requires multiple points of view.  Creating strategic hospitality in a 70,000 seat venue is complex.  Familiarity with multiple disciplines via the Cornell curriculum has been critical to the project management process.

Finally, four years ago we effectively shuttered the business John Sergi Associates, to join the new CEO and primary stakeholder, Des Hague, in his reinvention of Centerplate, from sports concessionaire to event hospitality provider, i.e. from tactical player to strategic partner…sound familiar?  Now is the time to really broaden the audience for the conversation of a new way to look at food and sports, and Des has provided a multi-national, yet focused stage. Though not obvious until recently, Cornell laid the foundation to transition from entrepreneur and business owner to corporate executive. 

LOWELL TAUB ‘96TBA

Event Recap: Tracy Dolgin ('81)

 

On Thursday, October 22, 2013, the Sports Business Society partnered with the Big Red Sports Network, to host Tracy Dolgin (’81), a Cornell ILR graduate and current President and CEO of the YES Network.

Tracy Dolgin began his visit by sharing the unique path that he has taken in various industries on his way to becoming the powerful sports business influence that he is today. He began his post-undergraduate career by enrolling in Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Despite being offered a respectable job upon graduation by Atari, the video game company, Dolgin turned it down for a simple reason: he wanted an opportunity of employment that would provide education, too.

“They were offering me these incredible jobs, yet I really didn’t know what I was doing. So it was obvious if I had taken their offer to this glamorous jobs, I wouldn’t have really learned anything. I didn’t know anything.”
 

Dolgin continued by explaining that despite having been through six years of school and learning applicable material to his career field, he had no experience, didn’t “actually know anything,” and needed to learn on the job. Eventually, Dolgin found himself as a General Foods employee where he learned an important life less than he stresses to everyone to this day:

“If someone presents themselves as a mentor to you and you like them and they’re smart and you think they’re in the value system that you have and you respect them, then just cling onto them for the rest of your career.” 

Fortunately for Dolgin, his mentor gave him an opportunity to lead the marketing department of the brand new HBO home video division. “If at any point in your career you see something as a growth industry, it’s a great place to go into if you already have the knowledge and can add value,” he said. The point he was trying to emphasize was that it’s much harder to go into an already established company with hopes of a quickly growing career as opposed to starting higher up in a new company that can grow beneath you.

 

Dolgin continued his career in media when he became the Executive Vice President of Marketing for FOX Broadcasting where he lead the FOX Sports initiative of obtaining National Football League rights, along with NASCAR, Major League Baseball, and College Football, all in an effort to improve ratings. The project expanded into a determination to garner a prominent position in cable television by creating a group of regional sports networks.

 

This was only the beginning of his time working in regional sports coverage as after a brief stint in investment banking, Dolgin signed on to lead the YES network, a tri-state regional broadcasting company known for their coverage of the New York Yankees. The piece of the offer that really drew Dolgin in was that of a piece of ownership of the network. “Eventually you’ll learn that owner is better than employee,” he remarked.

 

At YES, Dolgin used creative strategy to turn the network into the US’s number one watched regional sports network. Generally companies practice the Peter Principle, a concept in which people are promoted until they’re not good enough at their job to be promoted any higher. “You have a company where people aren’t good at what they do,” he stated. Dolgin decided that at YES, the opposite would be the case: he would take people from managerial level positions and make them into “do-ers” again.
 

“I went back to these companies and looked for these people who were in managerial jobs that probably weren’t any good at the job, maybe they were okay at it, and I said to them, ‘I have a product you’re passionate about, come work for me and I’m going to make you do that function you’re great at for the product that you love.’ If they do that, then we’re going to have the best do-ers in the world, we’re going to have executional advantage.”

 

Before taking questions from members of the group, Dolgin concluded by giving his advice on the attributes that needed to be evaluated in choosing one’s first job out of school. His most important emphasis was that despite normal thinking, “the product is the least important thing you should consider in an early job,” he said. “Just because you’re passionate about the product, doesn’t make your job any better in a day-to-day functionality.”

 

 Dolgin’s most important attributes are:
 

1. Staff versus line jobs/companies

2. Is the organization a political organization or a meritocracy?

3. Does the organization follow best practices?

4. Does the organization reward teaching and employee development?

5. Will the job open or close future opportunities?

6. How well does this job compensate you versus other similar jobs?

7. Is there a path within the company to get where you want to be?

 

Dolgin concluded by offering some closing remarks for the SBS attendees;

“Find out what you’re good at, like to do, and find a place that does it the best,” he advised. “Enter a business when you can bring something more than passion. Differentiate yourself by being the best at something. It gives you a better bargaining position.”

As always, the Cornell Sports Business Society extends its thanks to alumni like Tracy Dolgin who take time to share their experiences with our members. The information and insight people like Dolgin provide to our group is unique and indispensable.

Event Preview: Tracy Dolgin ('81)

 

Join the Cornell Sports Business Society in Ives 105 on Thursday, October 24 at 4:45, as we host alumnus Tracy Dolgin (’81). The event, co-hosted along with the Big Red Sports Network,  will take the format of  an “Ask Me Anything,” Q&A with the audience.

Since 2004, Tracy Dolgin has been the President & CEO of YES Network, which is the #1 regional sports network in the country, and the exclusive television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets.

Dolgin received his bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1981 and an MBA from Stanford University in 1983.

Dolgin began his career at General Foods in product management, before becoming the Senior Vice President of Marketing at HBO Video from 1986 to 1992. After spending time with FOX Broadcasting Company and FOX/Liberty Cable, Dolgin served as President of FOX Sports Net from 2000-2003. Prior to becoming President and CEO of YES in 2004, Dolgin was also Managing Director and Co-Head of Houlihan Lokey’s Media, Sports and Entertainment practice.

Under Dolgin, YES became the first television network to produce a MLB game in 3D, the first television network to offer its MLB telecasts streamed live to its in-market customers, and the first television network to produce interactive MLB telecasts. Throughout his career, Dolgin has earned many industry accolades, including several Emmys, Clios and Worldwide Cannes Awards. In 2009 he was named one of Sports Business Journal magazine’s “50 Most Influential People in Sports Business.”

The network Dolgin is responsible for, YES, has won 67 New York Emmy Awards, as well. YES has been the most-watched and popular regional sports network in the country the past nine years, with its Yankees broadcasts consistently being some of the most viewed programming nationwide. Today, the network boasts more than 250 advertisers. Not only does YES have the most in-market subscribers than any other regional sports network in the country, but it has the most subscribers outside its territory than any other regional sports network.

As always we thank alumni like Tracy for generously sharing their time and knowledge with SBS. 

We hope you can join us for this Q&A for what is sure to be a high-end discussion with a true sports business icon.  Check out the event on Facebook for more information.