Deadlines
MSM 5th Annual Strategy Alumni Conference
Speakers
Keynote Speakers
In 1954, William H. "Bill" Child took over the small 600 sq foot appliance store, from his father in law, RC Willey. The store, with cement floor and cinderblock walls had no bathroom facility and the electric power as well as a nine-party telephone line was run from the Willey home next door, with one employee, and $250,000 in sales. Forty years later, Bill sold RC Willey Home Furnishing to Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the world. RC Willey now has stores in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California with over 2,500 employees. Bill currently serves as Chairman of the Board.
Todd Santiago is Chief Sales Officer at Vivint Inc., the largest home automation provider in North America. In this capacity, Todd leads all sales efforts at Vivint, including the direct-to-home division, inside sales, and channel partners. He is also responsible for expanding Vivint’s smart home and energy solutions into the commercial sector and international markets.
Before joining Vivint, Todd was president of 2Gig Technologies. While at 2Gig he built the company’s security and home automation platform into an industry leader. He also developed a network of more than 2,000 dealers throughout North America. Since it began shipping products in 2009, 2Gig has sold more than 800,000 of its Go!Control panels. Todd’s leadership was instrumental in the company’s acquisitions by Blackstone and, most recently, Nortek for $135 million.
Todd received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
State of the Program
Negotiations Workshop
Katie Liljenquist is on the faculty of the Department of Organizational Leadership & Strategy at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. As a National Science Foundation fellow, she earned her Ph.D. from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, where she was an award-winning professor in their MBA program. She was voted Teacher of the Year three times by graduating students of BYU for her MBA-level Negotiations course. Katie studies the psychology behind decision-making in the domains of ethics, power, and influence. She has published in the premier scientific journal, Science, and was recognized by the New York Times' annual "Year in Ideas" magazine as proposing one of the most innovative scientific ideas of the year. She has also authored multiple articles in Harvard’s Negotiation newsletter and conducts executive training in all aspects of negotiation and influence. Katie is the mother of five wonderful children and is an avid gardener and cook—she attended culinary school in England before pursuing her Ph.D.
Idea to Action: Starting Your Company Right
A member of the Strategy program’s charter class, Gregory Schulz followed his undergraduate studies by attending law school at BYU. Gregory now practices with the firm of Shumway Van & Hansen in Salt Lake City. His practice focuses on complex corporate transactions, securities law, and commercial litigation. His work has included a $15 million dollar securities placement for a private equity fund, international securities litigation on behalf of a group of British investors who placed money in a North Dakota oilfield project, and a wide variety of real estate-secured financing transactions. Gregory and his wife Sarah have two children. In his spare time, Gregory enjoys mountain biking in the Salt Lake foothills.
Lance has a passion for building businesses and people, and has spent the last five years consulting startups and starting businesses of his own. He currently spends most of his work time on a real estate development here in Utah. He is a strategy program alum, and loves the program and the people that come from it. Lance was a member of the BYU Track and Field team, and continues to enjoy staying active. He is currently recruiting for his amateur cycling race team if any of you are interested. Originally from Sandy, UT, Lance married Chrissy and they have 3 children, and live in Orem, UT.