Product and Innovation Study Trip
Silicon Valley, California
July 28 to August 2
SUFE-Webster Joint MBA Program staff is working one the next Study Tour for 2013. Just back from
Washington, D.C., calling on solar energy specialists, plug-in car experts, marine biologists, and staff from the World Bank
and IMF, the Study Group is now focusing on Silicon Valley. We’ve been working on the project for more
than a year, talking with people who work in California, the Valley, San Francisco and other locations.
Just as we were pulling hotel and transportation plans together, the New York Times reiterated: Silicon Valley
is a powerful innovation and business engine. One of the quotes in the August NYT article about the Valley
focused on “Square”, a cash transaction tool. The NYT said, Square is really just an example of what Silicon
Valley is increasingly about: process and networking at its finest. Square was co-founded by Jack Dorsey,
who also founded Twitter.
Much like computers and phones from Apple, the NYT said, (Square) linked existing ideas and products with
innovation in design and usage to create a new technology.
Guess what! The cofounder of Square is Jack Dorsey from St. Louis, Missouri, same home as Webster
University. Mr. Dorsey was a huge hit at Webster three years ago, when he spoke to students, alums and
faculty. Innovation and entrepreneurship is part of Webster’s DNA.
From left to right, Dean Benjamin Akande, GHW School of Business, President Beth Stroble, Webster University
and Co-fouder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey and, Dean Debra Carpenter, School of Communications. September 18, 2009.
We don’t expect a welcome from Jack Dorsey when we arrive at Silicon Valley, but we’re very aware of the
key elements that make Silicon Valley so important: need, target audience, product, design, pricing, and the
capital for commercialization. The trip date is scheduled for the end of July or first of August, 2013. As we
get closer to the spring, we’ll have a firm date for business visits, tourism, and the hotel accommodations.
