Brian Colbert
Executive MBA, Class of August 2012
Brian serves as Vice President of Mobile Advertising Sales and Strategy at Pandora, the largest internet radio provider in the United States. In this role he helps the company make the shift from driving advertising revenue from its desktop website to mobile devices, a category that is still evolving. Brian felt it was time to expand on his marketing and sales background with more strategy and finance. But there was also a personal goal in pursuing the NYU Stern Executive MBA program, as Brian says “it was about becoming smarter and improving my business acumen.”
With the MBA now in hand, Brian sees that he has achieved his personal goal to “think different” after business school. He credits the finance training at Stern for his increased understanding of macro-economic issues that affect his company’s stock price and investor sentiment, an important factor for any company but particularly for a growing one. He also credits the program for providing learning on subjects like Competitive Strategy and Negotiation that are useful no matter your business or function. Finally, he sees the Stern community as one of the largest benefits of the program. “If you are going to spend two years under challenging conditions, you better do it with people you truly respect, can learn from and you care about.”
With the MBA now in hand, Brian sees that he has achieved his personal goal to “think different” after business school. He credits the finance training at Stern for his increased understanding of macro-economic issues that affect his company’s stock price and investor sentiment, an important factor for any company but particularly for a growing one. He also credits the program for providing learning on subjects like Competitive Strategy and Negotiation that are useful no matter your business or function. Finally, he sees the Stern community as one of the largest benefits of the program. “If you are going to spend two years under challenging conditions, you better do it with people you truly respect, can learn from and you care about.”