School News
MBAs “Sprint” to Solutions for The Wall Street Journal and Rocket Mortgage with Innovative New Tech Solutions Experiential Learning Course
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In January NYU Stern’s Office of Student Engagement (OSE) introduced a new, intensive-style Stern Solutions experiential learning course, “Tech Solutions.” In the four-week class offered online, two-year Full-time and Langone Part-time MBAs were charged with helping to provide real-time solutions for corporate partners The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones, and Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans. The hands-on learning opportunity was offered as an alternative to courses that typically take place abroad in January but are on pause due to Covid travel restrictions.
The course was designed and led by Professor Andrew Breen, who helped support the School’s new Tech Product Management MBA specialization. In creating the course, Professor Breen saw a perfect opportunity to leverage the hyper-focused “problem-solving sprint” approach used in Tech Product Management that was popularized by Google Ventures.
“The field of Tech Product Management involves the ability to quickly create, test and deploy innovative ideas in technology-enabled businesses,” said Professor Breen. “When I was presented with the challenge of designing a four-week experiential learning course, I knew the problem-solving sprint approach that is essential in Tech Product Management would be the perfect fit for MBAs to be able to provide valuable, actionable insights to our corporate partners The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones, and Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans.”
“I knew the problem-solving sprint approach that is essential in Tech Product Management would be the perfect fit for MBAs to be able to provide valuable, actionable insights to our corporate partners.” Andrew Breen
MBAs were divided into small, four-to-five person teams and then put the sprint framework into action: mapping the problem, sketching out multiple potential solutions, deciding on the best option, building a prototype, and then testing. The testing phase was conducted with actual users and the goal was to deliver insights into the market viability of the products in question.
Professor Breen explained, “The intensive sprint approach itself is unique, allowing students to progress from a loose concept to a testable prototype in a short period of time given the condensed class format. In doing so, students become hyper focused on the problem in question and are able dive deeper to find otherwise hidden insights that may be missed when doing this as a part-time project over a longer term.”
According to two-year Full-time MBA Alpana Mehta (MBA ‘21), "Tech Solutions was a great way to get hands-on product experience with real and impactful clients. The class was organized perfectly around the Google Design Sprint which gave us a balance between learning the methodology and real-world application of those skills with our client project.”
"Tech Solutions was a great way to get hands-on product experience with real and impactful clients.” Alpana Mehta (MBA ‘21)
The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones teams were focused on expanding the company’s membership base while the Rocket Mortgage teams were focused on increasing the company’s market share. After testing their solutions, the teams each presented their findings to C-suite executives from the corporate partners.
“We were thrilled to partner with Stern on their 'Tech Solutions' initiative,” said Helen Hewitt, Head of Global Data Transformation, Dow Jones. “We were impressed by the professionalism of the program, the students and the quality of the presentations they delivered to our panel at the end of the four-week course. The Stern team was also fantastic, and really helped us refine our problem statement about reaching younger and more diverse audiences. It was a great program and we will certainly be keen to partner again next year."
Alpana worked on The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones team. She noted, “It was not only exciting to be a part of, but also allowed me a space to be as creative and innovative as possible. Professor Breen gave us a solid foundation of problem-solving techniques to break what seemed like a large task into a concrete and attainable goal.”
“At Rocket Companies, we create certainty in life’s complex moments,” said Lauren Acquista, Head of Product Management & Market Intelligence, Rocket Companies. “Few things are more complex than buying your first home. NYU Stern students helped us consider what we should solve on both sides of the homebuying transaction— for the consumer and their real estate agent.”
Professor Breen noted the success of this new course structure.
“Tech Solutions was created in response to a challenge, but we found the intensive-style format was beneficial to both the students and our corporate partners, and created similar time restrictions MBAs will encounter in their career, especially when working with technology companies,” said Professor Breen. “We hope to continue to offer this sprint-style course in the future.”
For students, the course provides skills that will extend beyond the classroom.
“The class helped me understand how to be truly collaborative, creatively brainstorm, and insights driven,” said Alpana. “Through Tech Solutions, I have been able to reinforce my passion towards product management and have even walked away with new UI design skills."
The course was designed and led by Professor Andrew Breen, who helped support the School’s new Tech Product Management MBA specialization. In creating the course, Professor Breen saw a perfect opportunity to leverage the hyper-focused “problem-solving sprint” approach used in Tech Product Management that was popularized by Google Ventures.
“The field of Tech Product Management involves the ability to quickly create, test and deploy innovative ideas in technology-enabled businesses,” said Professor Breen. “When I was presented with the challenge of designing a four-week experiential learning course, I knew the problem-solving sprint approach that is essential in Tech Product Management would be the perfect fit for MBAs to be able to provide valuable, actionable insights to our corporate partners The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones, and Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans.”
“I knew the problem-solving sprint approach that is essential in Tech Product Management would be the perfect fit for MBAs to be able to provide valuable, actionable insights to our corporate partners.” Andrew Breen
MBAs were divided into small, four-to-five person teams and then put the sprint framework into action: mapping the problem, sketching out multiple potential solutions, deciding on the best option, building a prototype, and then testing. The testing phase was conducted with actual users and the goal was to deliver insights into the market viability of the products in question.
Professor Breen explained, “The intensive sprint approach itself is unique, allowing students to progress from a loose concept to a testable prototype in a short period of time given the condensed class format. In doing so, students become hyper focused on the problem in question and are able dive deeper to find otherwise hidden insights that may be missed when doing this as a part-time project over a longer term.”
According to two-year Full-time MBA Alpana Mehta (MBA ‘21), "Tech Solutions was a great way to get hands-on product experience with real and impactful clients. The class was organized perfectly around the Google Design Sprint which gave us a balance between learning the methodology and real-world application of those skills with our client project.”
"Tech Solutions was a great way to get hands-on product experience with real and impactful clients.” Alpana Mehta (MBA ‘21)
The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones teams were focused on expanding the company’s membership base while the Rocket Mortgage teams were focused on increasing the company’s market share. After testing their solutions, the teams each presented their findings to C-suite executives from the corporate partners.
“We were thrilled to partner with Stern on their 'Tech Solutions' initiative,” said Helen Hewitt, Head of Global Data Transformation, Dow Jones. “We were impressed by the professionalism of the program, the students and the quality of the presentations they delivered to our panel at the end of the four-week course. The Stern team was also fantastic, and really helped us refine our problem statement about reaching younger and more diverse audiences. It was a great program and we will certainly be keen to partner again next year."
Alpana worked on The Wall Street Journal & Dow Jones team. She noted, “It was not only exciting to be a part of, but also allowed me a space to be as creative and innovative as possible. Professor Breen gave us a solid foundation of problem-solving techniques to break what seemed like a large task into a concrete and attainable goal.”
“At Rocket Companies, we create certainty in life’s complex moments,” said Lauren Acquista, Head of Product Management & Market Intelligence, Rocket Companies. “Few things are more complex than buying your first home. NYU Stern students helped us consider what we should solve on both sides of the homebuying transaction— for the consumer and their real estate agent.”
Professor Breen noted the success of this new course structure.
“Tech Solutions was created in response to a challenge, but we found the intensive-style format was beneficial to both the students and our corporate partners, and created similar time restrictions MBAs will encounter in their career, especially when working with technology companies,” said Professor Breen. “We hope to continue to offer this sprint-style course in the future.”
For students, the course provides skills that will extend beyond the classroom.
“The class helped me understand how to be truly collaborative, creatively brainstorm, and insights driven,” said Alpana. “Through Tech Solutions, I have been able to reinforce my passion towards product management and have even walked away with new UI design skills."