Get to know our alumni

I came to Acton to learn how to make money. I left realizing money wasn’t the end all be all and picked up the tools to start and grow businesses.

After Acton, I started Affair Recovery, a digital platform dedicated to restoring marriages in distress, with a fellow Acton alum. I also started and sold a company called Apex Fun Run with another Acton alum, and took over a failing family summer camp, where we’ve increased revenue 3x.

I now have a much better grasp on my identity and calling, regularly stay connected to friends in my class, and am forming much deeper relationships.

You should consider Acton if you think money will solve all your problems.

I came to Acton because after attending a couple classes and talking to students and alumni, I was convinced it was the best business school in the country and would provide me with the best education in the world. After attending Acton, I now know I was right.

Acton definitely delivered on it’s promise to me that it would teach me 1) to learn how to learn, 2) to learn how to make money, and most importantly 3) to learn how to live a life a meaning.

I am a completely different person now than I was when I started Acton. My problems have become more complex, but easier to solve. I embrace hard problems and run to them, instead of running away from them. My relationships have more substance and have grown stronger. My whole approach to life has changed for the better and it’s an amazing feeling.

If you give Acton your everything, it will be the best investment you ever make; I guarantee it! This is a world-class education taught by world-class people. Acton isn’t the right place for everyone, but it’s the only place for those us who truly want to change the world!

You should consider Acton if you want to learn how to Master not only Business, but Life as well!

I came to Acton because I felt stuck. I didn’t know what to do next.  I knew I didn’t want to keep working where I was at and I wanted to do something entrepreneurial.

When I finished Acton, what I really walked away with was the confidence to go after my dreams. I also learned that failure is a good thing. Prior to Acton, fear of failure kept me from going after many of my goals in life.  Acton changed my perspective on what failure is. I recognized that it would actually be more of a failure to not go after my dreams then to go after them and fail.

Right now, I’m most proud of building a successful business while raising 4 kids.

You should consider Acton if you know you are great but don’t know how to manifest that greatness fully.

I came to Acton for the adventure of it.  Where else was I going to discern my calling, map a route to it, and develop the skills, tools, and habits needed for the journey? I simply lacked the skills needed to accomplish my professional goals.

At Acton I got new eyes through which to view the world around me. Not only did I refine my character and build the business “muscle memory” and pattern recognition  of a master entrepreneur, I met my heroes in life and made some of my greatest friends.

Since Acton I have been fortunate enough to lead and grow a thriving organization that is equipping hundreds of young people, especially those who need it most, to make positive life choices, and I’ve been able to do it all while growing my own family thoughtfully in a way that matters most to me.

I graduated Acton thinking I would change industries from consulting to real estate, and ended up as a nonprofit leader of a youth development organization. Along the way, I acquired a textile manufacturing company selling handmade goods to boutique retail and college bookstores. I’ve held positions as Director of Marketing, Director of Operations, CFO, CEO, and Board President. The truth is, I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, but I do know how I want to do it.

Thanks to Acton, I am not sacrificing time with my wife and four kids for some “pot of gold” or professional success. I am proud of that.

You should consider Acton if you want to learn the blocking and tackling of running a business.

I initially came to Acton because I kept bumping up against what felt like a “knowledge ceiling” in my day to day work. As a liberal arts/poetry major, I was lacking the toolkit to really do my work with the excellence and scale I desired. As I got to know Acton – its teachers, its alumni, and its beliefs – I was quickly convinced it was the only place for me. I wanted to build a meaningful life and do meaningful work like the principled entrepreneurs I’d come to admire – and they were the only ones I wanted teaching me how to do it.

My time at Acton was simply amazing. The challenge of it was incredibly real, the learning curve was vertical, and the workload was a bear – but, it was those exact reasons the learning was so deep and lasting. In just nine months, I got the toolkit I was seeking and so much more. It changed the way I think, the way I lead, and the way I relate to others. I’m not “there” yet, but I feel confident that each day I’m taking intentional and decisive steps in the right direction.

Since graduating Acton, one of the things I’m most proud of is navigating the path of being a working wife and mom. The journey hasn’t been perfect, but learning how to do great work and love my family well has been a generative and informative experience that has taught me a lot about myself and my entrepreneurial journey.

You should consider Acton if you’re ready to go from jogging to sprinting in your entrepreneurial journey – and to sprint with integrity and warmth.

I knew I would never go to a traditional business school but was looking for the next step in my life after graduating with a liberal arts degree and finding myself unsure of what to do next. I was familiar with the Socratic and experiential teaching methods employed by Acton and knew that I had enjoyed and thrived in such environments in the past, so I thought this might be the best way for me to both learn business and find my calling and next steps in life.

During my time at Acton, I got everything I thought I might and more. I learned how to vet business ideas and then how to start and run a successful business. I learned how to deal with any situation that might come my way in future business roles. And I learned how to think about both my business and personal life holistically and find the most meaningful life possible.

I’d grown up around the oil business but never thought I would end up in it, and certainly not as I graduated from Acton. I tried a number of different jobs and failed entrepreneurial businesses, from working for a hedge fund research firm to trying to open a medspa and advertising business, among other ventures.  Ultimately I realized the oil business was one of the most entrepreneurial industries I could find.  I started as a field landman buying oil and gas leases, eventually worked “in-house” for a private oil company, and then tried a stint in energy investment banking before raising some money from my former bosses and colleagues and starting our own company in 2008. Since then, we’ve had a number of exploration successes and are also running a successful business buying mineral rights in addition to oil and gas leases. We’re looking forward to many more great years ahead of us.

You should consider Acton if you’re looking to someday start your own business, be your own boss, and to find your entrepreneurial calling in life. In addition, you’ll learn how to live a life of meaning as it relates to your personal and family life.

I came to Acton because the path I was on (making music full-time) was no longer sufficient to provide the kind of life I wanted for my family.

I gained the tools I needed to be able to step into any situation and add value and since graduating, I’ve helped a small business realize their 5 year plan could be accomplished in 18 months.

Steven Tomlinson encouraged me to do two simple things after Acton: do what I love and share it with people. As a result (and as he predicted), I’ve been offered incredible opportunities to get paid to do what I love.

You should come to Acton if you know you have the grit to succeed, but aren’t sure on the next steps.

I came to Acton to bring order and frameworks to the chaos of entrepreneurship, to learn what I didn’t know, and to meet and learn from others seeking these same things. Acton gave me the opportunity to practice the frameworks for thinking about various problems, and opened my eyes to things I didn’t know about myself (my purpose, strengths, weaknesses) and the most challenging part of business, “People”.

Since graduating from Acton, I have strengthened my relationship with my family, and have restructured parts of my company in order to focus on what is important and understanding why.

You should consider Acton if you are truly seeking clarity for your entrepreneurial path.

I knew Acton was the only place to get what I needed. I just felt called there. I knew exactly what was holding me back, exactly the type of push back I needed to get me past it, and that Acton’s promises and modus operandi were the perfect fit to do so.

From Acton, I got a life’s worth of lessons and deep, true, meaningful relationships. I didn’t get all the answers, but I did get freedom, knowledge, and expanded awareness of my real power and potential.

Since Acton, I am most proud of the time I have spent investing in others. I have been a mentor, guide, and teacher for the better part of my life — passing along what I know, wrestling through what I don’t know, and doing life with others. I am blessed to continually be able to serve in this way.

You should come to Acton if you’re serious about truly wanting something entrepreneurial and you want to take your own path (not the corporate or “American Dream” paths). Acton is not a quick fix; it’s the beginning of a transformational journey. Take it only if you’re prepared to commit to something different.

When I came to Acton, I was looking for a career pivot, and wanted to lay a strong foundation of business practices before embarking on my new journey.

Since Acton, I’ve recreated my career and have the tools to be set up for success as the journey continues. Specifically, working in hotel acquisitions now, I can confidently say the Opportunity class at Acton really helped me frame how to approach the funnel of deals we look at every day. To have a seat at the table with long-term hoteliers, and present them with decisive analysis of which projects to pursue has been a highlight of my early entrance into this new career path.

You should consider Acton if you want an intense, non-traditional approach to learning the art of business.

One year into my professional career, I started wanting to learn more about what made the design firm where I worked tick. I was learning my craft, but not how we acquired work, performed financially, or operated well. I needed a better teacher and I only wanted to learn from successful entrepreneurs with a key characteristic – humility. When I heard about Acton, I was relieved – a program at ramming speed, taught by entrepreneurs, and that I could afford.

At Acton, I learned dozens of lessons, each of which will generate or save what I paid in tuition. I now have a sense of confidence that I can change the world and, better yet, a reminder that it is my responsibility to do so. I have self-awareness to hold first my values and make decisions that will give me fulfillment at the end of my life. I have a sense of relief that I do not have to be the smartest person in the room – instead, I must know the right questions to ask at the right time. Finally, I have validation that the people part of business is the hardest part and the most important.

I now have the ability to reinvent myself so that I can shift industries and follow one of my passions. Acton gave me step by step tools to do so.

As the Director of Operations for a non-profit, I used every lesson I learned from the People class to get a team of new employees to operate cohesively (myself included). My first child was born one year after beginning my job and, while I had planned to return to work, I decided to depart my job to take care of my child. Thanks to Acton, I had the confidence to make that decision. Acton also taught me what I can be doing during my job as a parent when I am out of the work force – use my opportunity funnel, build a strong network, and use parenting as on the job training for my passion in child development.

You should come to Acton if you are hungry to learn what you need to know to run your own business and save decades of time by gleaning lessons from entrepreneurs.

I attended Acton to hone my skills as an entrepreneur and take my journey to the next level.

I got a lot from Acton: super valuable business tools, an expanded perspective on cash flow management and operations, the ability to recognize certain patterns across different types of opportunities in several industries, new great friends and even a business partner.

When I finished my time at Acton, I ended up selling my previous business to my former business partners and starting a new business in Austin with one of my classmates. In the beginning, we explored different options and were able to “fail fast and cheap” until we found an opportunity that was attractive enough to focus all our efforts on.

We’ve been able to bootstrap the company and grow a team of 30 plus people serving over 3 thousand healthcare providers in 22 states. At this point I feel a calling to transform healthcare delivery leveraging on technology. Of all the lessons I learned at Acton, some of the most important have been: “you can’t build a cage for snakes”, “understand who your customer really is and the intensity of their need”, “use small cheap experiments”, and “make sure you understand your customer acquisition cost and the life time value of your customer when designing your sales funnel”.

You should consider Acton if you care about learning entrepreneurship more than getting an MBA title.

I was looking for an MBA program that was different. One that was not using a formulaic approach to admitting students who wanted to check boxes. I wanted to learn with a peer group that was hungry for some real world learning. I wanted to be guided by teachers who had stood in the shoes of an entrepreneur and made hard decisions.

Acton provided me frameworks for evaluating opportunities, executing well, and continually solving problems. I learned how to prioritize and think strategically while tackling day to day challenges. Acton taught me to how to work with my strengths and weaknesses.

I’m really proud of co-founding Factom Inc with Peter Kirby, my Acton classmate, along with some other members of the Austin tech community. In the past two years, Factom has grown to 35+ people, attracted investment from leading investors in this space and is a globally recognized Blockchain company.

One of my favorite Acton lessons – “when you walk into a room, realize that everyone in the room can be your teacher.” – serves me on a daily basis. It’s an apt reminder about actively listening and holding the space for everyone to contribute.

You should consider Acton if you want to find your true self and really know if you’ve got what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

I wasn’t interested in grad school, and I didn’t care about an MBA. Entrepreneurs don’t care much about resumes. But I did want real-life training from the best so that I could jump into business with the right instincts. I see the world differently now; everything is an opportunity and I can spot bad ideas right away.

Acton gave me 300 opportunities to step into the shoes of real entrepreneurs. It gave me a framework to launch, grow, and harvest a business. Acton also addressed the fears related to taking risk and failure. It gave me the right perspective.

You can’t lose if you don’t quit.  It’s the best lesson I’ve learned; never give up. We’ve had so many failures big and small, but the key is to just keep trying. Keep testing and trying and betting. You really do fail about 9 times before you win big. Apex Fun Run (2011-present) has been a great success for me, but what people don’t know is all the little failures to get there. We launched a barter company, a chiropractic clinic, biotech contracts, event planning business, tax liens, and many others. Some did fine, some didn’t work, but I failed quick and cheap and moved on. That all led to Apex, which is where my skills and passions meet a huge need in the world. And it has returned 100x more than all the other investments combined. And we have had more failures since then. That’s why you don’t give up.

Since Acton, I’m most proud of serving our millionth customer, hiring our hundredth employee, and marrying my wife.

You should consider Acton if you’re the guy/girl who always finds yourself wondering about the business of the restaurant you’re eating at, or how much profit the car wash makes, or how cool it would be to make that idea into a business.  Acton makes those dreams a reality for you.

I came to Acton to take control of my life and learn from the best entrepreneurs in the world.

I got more value than I could have imagined out of my time at Acton. Most of all, the confidence that I am capable of succeeding in business. I’m also proud of the way Acton helped me shape a stronger relationship with my fiance.

Just a few weeks after graduating, I had opportunities coming from all angles, and my biggest issue was sorting them all out.

You should consider Acton if you want to be successful at any cost.

I wanted to learn how to think and act so that I could become a world-class entrepreneur. While at Acton, I built relationships that will last a lifetime, learned how to think well, and my eyes were opened to what was possible if I was willing to work hard enough and long enough.

Since Acton, I’ve been a part of two start-ups, purchased and then shut down one business, led four construction companies through turnaround, negotiated bank financing on several multi-million dollar loan packages, and have become the adviser to Arkansas’s fastest growing weight loss concept, Arkansas’s largest fitness chain, and one of the nation’s top home & garden personalities.

On some steps of the journey I failed and on others I was successful. However, at every step, I found that Acton had equipped me with a toolbox to navigate every situation, learn from it, and keep moving forward. Because I’m willing to fail and learn, the more steps I take, the better I get and the more fun things become. That’s been the most beautiful part.

You should consider Acton if you are willing to work hard and you want to run companies.

I came to Acton because I was told I could save myself 10 years of learning from my own mistakes in building a business. I figured even if it was 5, it would be the best use of my time.

Acton re-shaped my brain. By filtering so many cases and challenges through frameworks, I changed in the way I see problems, obstacles, and solutions. I also learned the importance of asking questions to uncover what I can about a challenge before moving forward with a decision.

While at Acton, I started CatSpring Yaupon. What’s Yaupon? Well we like to say It’s Texan, for Tea. Simply, it’s the only caffeinated plant native to North America. We’re sustainably wild harvesting this forgotten crop in Cat Spring, TX and using it as a platform for dignified employment opportunities for those underserved in our community. It’s been the best thing I’ve ever done but also the hardest. I know I’m making mistakes as I build a business and product category but I know they’re very different than if I had not gone to Acton.

I’m incredibly proud of being a recipient of WeWork’s Creator Awards and being named Southern Living’s Entrepreneur of The Year for Food or Beverage.

You should consider Acton if you think there’s a different way to live. If the norm seems like settling. And if you want to create a life of impact.

I was transitioning from the non-profit world into for-profit armed with a liberal arts degree, and knew I needed some kind of business education. While the traditional MBA programs I explored touted the percentage of students that get high paying jobs at big consulting firms, Acton celebrated their alumni who were charting their own paths as entrepreneurs, creating things and changing the world. I chose the latter.

From Acton I got a road map built upon hundreds, if not thousands, of lessons learned. This map is guiding me towards what I’ve set out to accomplish in life. The thing about Acton is that everything is actionable. There’s no fluff. Everything you learn gives you another clear actionable step to take throughout your journey to get to where you want to go.

Another important lesson learned at Acton is that business is not a game. The Life of Meaning part of the program puts you in different scenarios to try on different perspectives on business and life. When I arrived at Acton, I believed that business actually was like a game. You had competitors, there were winners and there were losers. And in the Life of Meaning scenarios, I tried on actions that reflected that perspective. Why not poach employees from your competitor? Why not hike the price of your product if people need it to survive and you’re the only in the city with the supply? I kept exploring that further and further until I truly could feel the implications of those kinds of actions. How it impacts real people and their families. I began to remember that I wanted to learn about business because of the positive impacts it can have on communities. I believed in helping people and in doing the right thing. This was a very personal exploratory process and transformation that has driven me to commit to myself and to others to always act with a high level of integrity in any business transaction.

Since Acton, I’ve started my own business. The Acton network connected me with a serial entrepreneur named Mellie Price, which led to many exciting opportunities in the startup tech world. Mellie and I decided to partner together and co-found SoftMatch, which is connecting market leading enterprises to the innovation found in the startup ecosystem. I’m proud that we’ve already built a cash-flowing and growing business together, and I’m grateful that Acton gave me the tools to help build it.

You should consider Acton if you have traveled abroad alone. Acton is for adventure seekers. People who can chart their own paths. Those that can take on a challenge on their own with confidence and the ability to build a community and positive experience out of it.

I came to Acton to learn how to run my own business as best as I can, and Acton delivered on everything I wanted to learn and more. After graduating, I started my business, which I now run. Acton is what you make of it.

You should consider Acton if you don’t want to work for someone else.

I was 20 when I came to Acton.  I had just completed a BA from Texas in two years, and many business schools would not consider me due to lack of work experience.  Jeff Sandefer, one of Acton’s founding teachers, saw my perspective as valuable, and invited me to join the first Acton class.  I was originally drawn to the program for its focus on practical skills and its entrepreneur teachers.  Both of these were huge drivers of my success since leaving the program.

Among many lessons learned, a few of my favorites include:  always understand and run the unit economics; if you make more than you spend, you’ll always be wealthy; you may not always be the smartest, but you can always outwork your competition to differentiate yourself; and finally, prioritize what is important to you and treat it as such.

I also learned to effectively model financials, to put myself in the shoes of the customer, to always understand the unit economics of any business problem, and to outwork everyone else.

Since Acton, I’m most proud of the jobs I helped to create in building HomeAway and the careers/lives I have helped develop within the talented people I have had the privilege of managing/working with.

You should consider Acton if you are trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up, or if you want a full-time MBA with as little time out of the workforce as possible.

Acton appealed to me because it was different. It valued my time by compressing a two-year education into nine months, it focused intently on developing practical skills for the entrepreneur, and it pushed its applicants to consider a search for a calling above wealth and prestige.

At Acton, I learned that my career won’t be the most important thing to define my success in life. We are all more than a track record of corporate success. Our integrity, our ability to empathize with those different from ourselves and our unending desire to live a life of meaning, will leave a significantly brighter mark on our communities and families and their scorecard of our success.

Beyond a great set of tools to analyze business opportunities, I got admission to a tribe of concerned citizens hellbent on changing the world.

Since Acton, I’m most proud of raising three kids with a supportive and loving partner, engaging in meaningful philanthropic activities, and helping start and build a business that recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary.

You should consider Acton if you don’t care about brand or image – you care about results.

I came to Acton for all of the reasons it differs from “traditional” MBA programs: the three main deliverables (learn how to learn, make money, and live a life of meaning); the mutual put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is agreement between students and teachers to do the work, come prepared, and hold everyone accountable to their promises; the short time frame that minimizes the opportunity cost of going to school; and the challenge of taking on the extreme workload of an accelerated program.

I came away from Acton with the tools, skills, and pattern recognition to help me make informed investment decisions. The Acton frameworks have overtly influenced our due diligence process, and I have no doubt that we have avoided some very costly mistakes as a result.

One of my favorite investing lessons I learned at Acton is Sahlman’s Rules of Cash, which invariably enters the discussion whenever we are considering holding or selling an asset. Our controller even has them posted on the bulletin board in her office.

You should come to Acton if you’re more concerned with an education than a pedigree.

I was looking for an applied learning, highly immersive experience.  I came from a technical background but needed real life business knowledge, teachings, and learning experiences, all of which Acton provided.

I wanted to build something.  An enterprise of my own.  From the ground up.  And build it smartly (i.e. with the end in mind).  I had a very solid technical background in oil and gas/geosciences, but knew nothing about the mechanics of starting or running a business.  Acton really gave me the tools and know-how, but also taught pit-falls, and most importantly, really imparted the experiences, life and business lessons, and philosophies of the teachers based on their entrepreneurial paths.  Because of all this, I have built a successful permanent company that is well run, efficient, and has clear direction.  One of the best lessons/philosophies I learned was “begin with the end in mind”.  It is so clear to me that very few companies/managers do this – and they suffer down the line because of it.

You should consider Acton if you want an applied learning experience that will give you the tools to build a successful business and/or analyze a business.

When I came to Acton I was an engineer from Michigan who wanted to be more than an engineer. Nine months prior I had left my job at a Whirlpool Corporation with an idea for a product…only to discover I knew how to create products, but not how to build a company. While completing my graduate degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan I took several courses through the business school and realized that a traditional MBA would be a 2yr, $100K+ investment to give me the skills to rejoin a large corporation. So instead I sought out an education where I would gain skills to start my own company, and I found Acton.

Acton gave me the opportunity for personal discovery that led me to find a business opportunity that leverages my greatest skill. Acton gave me the confidence to be a business leader, both in the ability to make analytical and strategic decisions and lead others. And finally Acton gave me the business skills I needed to build a successful company.

Since Acton I have put all of the skills that I learned into practice and have helped launch Freeosk, a marketing service product that profitably serves the world’s largest brands and which over a 1.5MM consumers interact with each week.

You should consider Acton if you want the skills to start and build your own business.

I came to Acton for its focus on entrepreneurship and the fact that the program has consistently won Princeton Review’s #1 position for Most Competitive Students.

While at Acton, I learned discipline, developed a comfort with statistics and numbers, and formed relationships. I also came to believe that most things in business and life are quantifiable and thus measurable. If it can be measured, it can be tracked and thus objectively assessed.

After Acton, I volunteered for the Ebola global health emergency when the outbreak hit West Africa. Once there the value of my training in medicine, the military, and business proved very useful. I was soon responsible for coordination of all World Health Organization (WHO) staff in the field. In addition, I was tapped to head the first nationwide program for Ebola survivors, which broke new ground in scientific research.

As field coordinator, I led the field team in WHO’s Liberia Country Office, and ensured the smooth functioning of the team, overseeing assigned staff and their performance, and preparing & monitoring work plans/budgets. I facilitated the systematic collection of information pertaining to joint operations plans from relevant field offices and key operational partners, to generate a consolidated overview of needs and requirements. I assisted in resource mobilization for Ebola survivors and worked with the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to oversee the establishment of critical infrastructure for a network of emergency operations centers (EOC).

Now, I’m incredibly excited to be settling down to finally live with my family after nearly a decade away from them.

You should come to Acton if you feel like you have never pushed your limits/comfort zone, and you believe that overcoming great challenges is a necessary step to fulfilling your latent potential.

I felt strongly that getting an MBA shouldn’t be about checking a box. I wanted to really learn, from those who had already done what I wanted to do, how to launch, grow and exit a successful business. Acton is the only place I could find that met that requirement.

What I got from Acton is immeasurable. Every minute spent and lesson learned was worth the price of admission. It truly taught me how to think differently about business, to recognize patterns, and to determine what was important to me in life.

Thus far, I am most proud of the contribution I have made to the start-up I am working for. The understanding that Acton gave me allowed me to take on a role and succeed that otherwise would have taken years to prepare for.

In short, Acton was the greatest educational experience of my life. What I learned there and the friendships forged changed my life forever.

You should consider Acton if you don’t want an MBA just to check the box but rather desire to desire to change the world in a profound way.

I came to Acton originally to fill in gaps in my skill set. I wanted to understand finance on a deep level and to learn from those that had actually successfully run businesses – unlike my undergrad experience.

I got what I came for, and a great deal more. A couple of my favorite lessons were unexpected. Through repetition and deep dives into each case, I gained an intuition of what matters and what doesn’t in a given business situation. This has proven extremely valuable and has provided a confidence that is hard to find any other way. It also helped me learn that I was underestimating where my actual limits were.

We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for, and Acton is one of those rare experiences that gives you the opportunity to push through those imaginary boundaries.

My journey since Acton has led me down the path to where I am currently, closer than ever to my goal – to change the model for affordable housing. I have always loved real estate, and I’ve realized this is what I want to do with my life. I am Head of Sales for Kasita, a startup here in Austin creating a new platform for housing that could change everything.

You should consider Acton if you want to learn from the best and are willing to do the work necessary to find out where your real limits are.

I started out looking for an MBA to “round out” my professional skills, and while I looked at a number of programs, Acton and especially the faculty stood out for two reasons: first, upon meeting the instructors, I was struck by their personal generosity and openness at every step of the way. Second, their real-world success made me take notice – they all had incredible backgrounds, but they had all built successful businesses and organizations from the ground up.

My critical thinking skills were honed at Acton; I can better synthesize the numbers and the people in a situation and ultimately make my best decisions. This has given me the confidence to lead teams to market successfully.

While I’ve had a few multi-million dollar deals I am proud of in the healthcare space, I’d have to say that I am most proud of a small fundraising round in 2007 that launched a pre-ACA health insurance plan in Austin, TX.  Over nine months, I worked with an actuary to build out an operating model, developed a strategy for more intensive management of the population and educated multiple C-suite healthcare leaders on the product to win support. I had to leverage technical and policy knowledge, negotiate with a variety of players, including overcoming objections from providers and potential competitors and use a heavy amount of consultative selling to win support.  We were able to receive an investment from the local hospital district, launch the program and successfully bring a product to market, positively impacting people’s lives and helping support small business and startups.

Since leaving Acton, I have steadily built upon my early experience and values with the tools that Acton gave me to be an evangelist for good!

You should consider Acton if you burn to bring ideas to life!

I came to Acton to fill in the gaps of understanding with valuation and business operations. The ability to face a group of peers and be cross-examined and build a case provides tremendous insight into the attitude necessary to make a company successful.

Since Acton, I’ve started my first company and am about to launch my second. Working on bootstrapping the first one has led me to other incredible opportunities.

You should consider Acton if you want to start, run, and grow a successful business and you are ready to risk it all.

Though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do long-term, I knew entrepreneurship was more exciting to me than traditional corporate ladder-climbing. Several Acton alumni said that I could gain 5-7 years worth of business experience in nine months.

Though Acton was a tough experience for me, I came out of the program with an incredible amount of experience, confidence, and courage to take entrepreneurial risks that I’d never imagined were within my capabilities prior to Acton. I’d built up a powerful pattern recognition for judging business opportunities and established a helpful tool belt of frameworks and financial/excel skills.

Bottom line: Acton equipped me to start a business much sooner and with much more confidence than I could have otherwise.

Fifteen months after graduating from Acton, I jumped off the deep-end to start my own business – a healthy fast casual restaurant. While the jury is still out on whether this venture will be a success from a profit standpoint, I’m extremely proud of the way I’ve principally approached the launch. In many ways, it’s already been a success.

I believe my story can encourage those who long to be an entrepreneur, but feel a little ‘lost’ as to what that looks like in their own life.  I went to Acton because the idea of creating and running a company really excited me. However, I had little clue as to what industry or role I could see myself in long-term. I was confident Acton would deliver on the ‘how’ to run a business, but the ‘what’ was a still mystery. I didn’t know how I’d funnel my entrepreneurial energy when I got out of school.    This feeling lasted while I was at Acton. There was a nagging pressure to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Ultimately, I decided to get a sales job out of school. While this was great experience, and I learned a lot and made some money, it was clear that a sales role (or even becoming a sales director) wasn’t my sweet spot. I needed to start something.

I began experimenting with roasting coffee in my garage in my free time. Since I’ve always loved coffee, I explored starting a coffee shop, or even doing a coffee delivery service for business. Looking back, it all felt a bit forced, but thinking through these ideas kept my entrepreneurial juices flowing, and kept my Acton learnings from getting rusty.  Then, six months after leaving Acton, I read an article about a healthy fast food restaurant opening in California. The idea of bringing healthy food to Austin in a quick-serve environment captivated me. I almost immediately knew this was what I wanted to do, but intentionally pumped the breaks to keep from making any brash moves until I’d thoroughly researched the idea and spoken with folks in the restaurant industry.  After eight months of conversations with restaurateurs, trips around the country to research various fast casual concepts, and building out the bones of a pitch deck, I finally made the jump. I quit my job so I could devote to raising money and looking for a location.

The combination of my initial desire to be an entrepreneur, learning ‘how’ to be one at Acton, and then patience and experimentation after Acton, all led to me finally having an ‘ah-ha’. Now, I’m on an extremely exciting adventure that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

You should consider Acton if you have the desire and drive to build a business.

I came to Acton because I fundamentally wanted to change my life by deepening my knowledge of principled entrepreneurship, gaining the tactical skills necessary to accomplish my goals and live a life of meaning. I gained an intense appreciation for the need for intentionality in everything that I do.

Since leaving Acton I chose a significant career pivot away from security in an effort to pursue a more meaningful cause, focused on taking the Socratic method of learning to young learners in K-12.

One of the most valuable lessons learned at Acton is that the role of the leader is not to create harmony but instead to usher dissatisfaction with the status quo. Leading can come from the bottom or the top, but it requires disrupting the status quo and then helping others to see a better way.

You should come to Acton if you want to learn how to use business as a tool to live a principled life.

After seeing one class at Acton, I simply couldn’t imagine not going. The curriculum, the teachers, the three promises…all of it fit into who I wanted to be.

During my time at Acton, I built the confidence and knowledge needed to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

After graduating from Acton, I re-joined my previous company in various leadership and strategic roles. This was a great steppingstone to put my knew found knowledge from Acton into real life practice. About 1 year later, and while still at Keller Williams, a friend and I took on a  relatively small real estate development project. One project turned into several, and before we knew it, we had built a real estate development company. It was bittersweet to leave Keller Williams, as I had learned so much working there, but I eventually left to work full time on our business. Our business continues to grow, and we now have a multitude of projects, including a large mixed use development project.

I think about the lessons learned from Acton on a daily basis, and I am certain would not be who I am today without Acton.

You should consider Acton if you want to be an entrepreneur.

I felt I wasn’t reaching my full potential. When I graduated from Acton, I was a much more confident, grateful and capable husband, father, and professional.

I’d always assumed my calling would be as an operator committed to one product or service and customer group. But post-Acton I prioritized deal flow and have been working in finance, speaking with 200 founders a year and helping a subgroup of those relationships in my current role. I’m realizing how good I am at managing a variety of deals all at different stages and all the relationship management work that comes with that. So for the past six months, I’ve been reflecting on what this means and how I might have made some assumptions about how I view myself, my strengths and my calling.

Right now, I’m proud of punching above my weight at work while also building a family and family culture with my wife (one young child and a second on the way). My wife will tell you that I’m a better husband and father as a result of Acton.

You should consider Acton if you’re driven, restless and committed to taking ownership of your life and career. Acton is like the red pill from The Matrix….do you want to wake up?

I came to Acton because I was at a point in my life where I was confused on what career path to take and what my mission in life was.

During my time at Acton, I was able to get a better understanding of my strengths, interests, and business acumen. Through various exercises, I was able to envision a career I wanted and also found my business partner for my most lucrative venture yet.

Before Acton, I was a single unhappy guy who was not driven to get out of bed to go to work. After Acton, I was able to build a sense of purpose that lead me to a happy marriage, successful acquisition of several businesses and the ability to give time and money back to my community. I am most proud to have acquired a company called cardsforcauses.com, an ecommerce custom cards company that has donated over $1m in the last 3 years to various charities in the USA.

You should consider Acton if you are looking for a purpose in life that will allow you to live a meaningful journey.

When I found out Acton existed, I knew it was something I had to do. I wanted a practical approach to learning the areas of business and entrepreneurship that I didn’t understand, and Acton was perfect for that.  I knew that I wanted to start a company but I also knew that the gaps in my knowledge about the different stages of the process significantly increased my risk of failure.  So, I went to Acton to decrease that risk by narrowing my knowledge gap as much as I could.

I learned the nuts and bolts of starting, growing, and harvesting a business.  And I learned how to ask the right questions and use the right frameworks to analyze issues and make decisions when faced with real-life business scenarios.

One of my favorite lessons learned at Acton was that the people component was the hardest part of starting, growing, and running a company.  In the People course, Jeff Sandefer repeatedly reminded us that our success as entrepreneurs would be much more dependent on how we handled the people issues we faced than how good we were with a spreadsheet. In my own entrepreneurial journey, that lesson and perspective has helped me immensely.  And by paying more attention to the people side of business, I also found that, for me, it is the most rewarding.

Since Acton, I’m most proud of co-founding and selling AcademicWorks.

You should consider Acton if you’re much more passionate about entrepreneurship and starting your own business one day than you are about getting your MBA.

I chose Acton because I was interested in business and knew I had the intelligence and drive to succeed, but was missing key skills and experience. What set Acton apart was the intensity, the high standards, and fact that the school was so focused and purposeful – as opposed to a school that had settled into just being a school and churning out graduates.

My favorite results from Acton are my sweet problem solving skills and the habit of being decisive. Those two elements combined make me a much more effective force both when I am just doing grunt work and when I’m leading.

I also learned how to analyze myself better. What I want, what I need, what’s really behind the way I’m feeling. I was already trying to do that, and the Life of Meaning course at Acton gave me the tools to do it more effectively.

Acton is the single most relevant and useful academic experience I’ve ever had. It’s the only place where I really feel like I got my money’s worth, and more.

What I love about my entrepreneurial journey since Acton is that I’ve learned to really enjoy the fact that I don’t need to make a straight line to anything in terms of a career or job. My entrepreneurial journey – and maybe my calling as well – is me taking an interest in the world around me, and stepping into positions where I see that I can make a difference, especially when something is just getting going. I love the process of start-up. I like the energy. I like digging in to really understand a problem, and then coming up with solutions. So I see myself doing that for the rest of my life. Even if I stay with my family’s business long term, I’ll continue to be involved with start-up projects both inside and outside the company, because that’s where I find a lot of satisfaction.

I’m also really proud of serving a founding board member for an education-focused organization in my hometown that focused on bringing job and skill-based educational courses and resources for adults into our remote area. We had trouble filling the director’s position because of a lack of financial stability. I stepped in as interim director and established stable funding streams so that even as I stepped back, the organization had a foundation on which to survive and build.

You should come to Acton if you’re done with “having potential” and you want to actually do something.

I came to Acton because I was looking for a challenge and I wanted to round out my skill set. Working in film and television, I saw that many people had the creative side down but lacked the business acumen to really take their firms to the next level. I wanted to break that mold.

Acton gives you so many gifts, but the most important is that it gives you a different perspective on the world. It changes not just how you view business, but how you view your life, your family, and your place in society.

Acton also turns you into a much better listener. By listening intently to others in the classroom and responding directly to their point, not just saying the pre-planned thought you’ve been mulling, you’re able to be much more direct and concise. Listening intently also makes you much more emphatic in both your professional and personal lives.

I spend my time so much better after Acton. Acton forces you to become much more efficient and allows you to see how much time you have in the day and how much more you can accomplish.

You should consider Acton if you’re lost or stuck in your life and want to make a change.

At the time I decided to apply to Acton, I was nearing the end of my undergraduate education in Social Work. I had my heart set on entrepreneurship, but felt that I was lacking all of the practical knowledge I needed to start and run a business. I had no interest in grad school until I saw Acton; the calling of a no B.S. business “bootcamp” taught by some of the most successful entrepreneurs in Austin sounded like exactly what I needed. It was not only a challenge, but it was a way to immediately surround myself by like-minded entrepreneurs where we could work through real business problems day in day out to set ourselves on a path to success.

More than anything else, Acton was a personal journey for me, and on the other side the biggest thing I took away was confidence and a deep understanding of business that I didn’t know could be felt without having built a business before. I left with the confidence that I could add value in any business, dealing with any problem, because I had “seen it before”. It’s all pattern recognition, and leaving Acton you have seen 200+ different businesses with different problems that you could take into the real world, saying “I’ve seen this before, I know exactly what to ask and what to look at to find a solution.”

Since graduating from Acton, my journey has been a continuous process of taking risks, failing often, learning, and moving forward. Immediately after Acton I joined a startup as the first sales employee and grew revenue 300% in 8 months. Prior to this I had never held a true sales job, but I knew I had an inclination for sales. Acton gave me a proving grounds to literally sell products, fail doing so, and learn from the experience. I took the many lessons I learned at Acton and jumped in headfirst to a business with only a handful of enterprise customers, in a very new industry, with no salespeople other than the founders. I was able to help build a sales playbook that led us to increase sales drastically in less than a year and helped us to better understand our value proposition as a business.

The second sales role I held was at a middle-market hardware company. The two experiences were polar opposites, but at both I learned incredibly valuable lessons on what to do, and what not to do when I start my own company.

One of my Acton teachers shared with me that the learning would truly begin after graduation – he was right. Not only have I recognized the value I can bring businesses, but I have also had exposure to different businesses and have better developed my understanding of what I want my entrepreneurial path to look like. After being approached by a fellow Acton alumnus on a business opportunity, we have begun the launch process with an opportunity we’ve been able to validate through interactions with our end customers.  From the day I left Acton through to working on my new venture, my journey has consisted of the same patterns I was fortunate enough to face in the “pit” at Acton, where the learning was as cheap as it will ever be.

Today I am dealing with real customers, investors, and a business parter, solving a real problem. There is no clear path, but I know that if I continue to wake up and am true to myself and my star, and never stop asking questions, the value I provide the world will only grow.

You should consider Acton if you want to be an entrepreneur and are determined to learn what success truly means to you and how to attain it.

I first considered coming to Acton because doing so was recommended to me as a “must” for entrepreneurs. I had been running my own business for a year and it was profitable from the start, but I was 24 and didn’t really know what I was doing. Ultimately, I decided that going to Acton would prevent at least some of the mistakes-by-experience I was likely to make moving forward––and it did––but in the end, I gained so much more from Acton than I could ever have envisioned.

Acton taught me the ability to communicate with other business owners and ask the right questions, to understand the minute and complex financial aspects of my business, to project my financials and to come close to doing the same for other businesses of interest. I can now distinguish between (and implement!) funnels and systems that are important for my business. I also feel confident in knowing how to fire, hire and manage my employees.

This confidence is also present in my ability to state my opinion clearly, stand behind it in an argumentative environment, and to find the crucial questions I’ll need to ask myself as a founder and entrepreneur. I also left Acton with a new network of amazing people and the clear focus I have regarding my future.

Since Acton, I’ve really turned my current business around, have volunteered to help teach recent immigrants how to start and run a business (couldn’t have taught anyone before!), and I have also started my dream business. I’ve finally begun selling some dresses I designed in college, too, which is exciting. And all of this still takes less time than Acton did. But I can’t get enough of anything entrepreneurial now that I understand my own potential and feel more confident in my ability to start and manage a business.

You should consider Acton if you want to be a serious entrepreneur.

I didn’t just want to get a MBA to get a job. I wanted to learn how to start and grow a great company. What really sold me was the in class experience  – it was competitive, lively, and honestly looked like alot of fun.

The biggest thing Acton gave me was almost a business ‘sixth sense’ — the ability to look at a business problem or situation and quickly dive into the critical issues. The way Acton focuses on unit economics as a foundation for business analysis is invaluable in the real business world, I am surprised how many business execs and MBAs have no concept of this.

I’m most proud of founding my latest startup – Broomly – and the new direction the company is going.

You should consider Acton if you are serious about Entrepreneurship.

I went to Acton for three reasons. First, I was eager to learn from teachers who had walked the walk and knew what it was like to build a business from the ground up. Secondly, I wanted to challenge myself and see if I had what it takes to complete the Acton program. Finally, I wanted discover my true talents and passions and create a life long vision for my life.

The case method really honed my decision making acumen by teaching me how to thoroughly assess an opportunity and how each decision can and will affect various aspects of a company. However, more than anything I came out of Acton with a greater understanding of who I am, what I want out of life, and the confidence to go out and pursue it.

Since graduating I launched a new venture, declared a mission and vision for the company, created a formal business plan and secured seed funding from investors. While this is just the beginning of what will be a long journey, it’s a good first step and I am confident that I am on the right path.

My entrepreneurial journey since Acton has been very much like what I experienced going through the program. I am the lone founder of my new venture and thus I have no one to help keep me motivated, accountable, or tell me how I’m doing. All of that has to come from within and from the belief that the vision I have cast is one worth pursuing. I have also seen a lot of highs and lows. Times where I know exactly where I’m headed and what needs to be done to get there and times where it feels like nothing is coming together and I’m lost. Times where I had a lot of people telling me that I’m on to something special, and times where people told me I was foolish.

Throughout all of this, what keeps me centered is knowing that I was trained by seasoned entrepreneurs on how to think and build a company from the ground up. The teachers at Acton taught me how to get company off on the right foot by going through and validating the opportunity and, probably most importantly, validating that it is something I am personally passionate about. Once I was sure that there was a demand for my product and that I was 100% committed to seeing it through, I was able to freely declare what the company does, what the mission and vision are, and what it wants to be when it grows up. From here, showing up and putting in the effort is half the battle. Each day I commit to showing up and chipping away at things because I know I’m on to something, I know where I’m going and just need to keep moving forward no matter what obstacles come my way.

A major theme of this journey and probably the biggest lesson I learned at Acton is to always maintain a desire and willingness to learn. So often pride lures people into trying to act like the smartest person in the room rather than humbling themselves, admitting they don’t know the answer, and committing to learning what they need to make the best decision they can. There are so many things that I don’t know, but the one thing I do know is that I’m not afraid to admit it and I’m not afraid to learn.

You should come to Acton if you have a desire and intention of starting a business, are passionate about learning and are eager to be challenged on a daily basis

I came to Acton to follow my calling and make an impact in the world. The journey after Acton has been very exciting and super challenging at the same time. My biggest challenge has been to see the things I do wrong. At Acton I learned to surround myself with people who are ahead of me in the journey, people who have helped me see my blind spots and hold me accountable. After personally experiencing several illnesses originating from my poor relationship with food, I found my calling — working every day to leave this world better than how I found it — by providing fresh and clean food to communities. I remember Jeff Sandefer once said “a successful entrepreneur is the one that shows up every morning, day after day, at 8AM, in the same industry”… and that´s what I’ve done at Tia Ofilia. Almost five years later, Tia Ofilia is an example that proves that showing up at 8AM, every day, in the same industry pays off.

The Acton MBA has changed my life and the life of many others since Tia Ofilia´s products have made it not only to each and every state in Mexico, but now also to Spain, Denmark and Portugal.

Since Acton, I’m most proud of having built Tia Ofilia, a 25 employee organic food company.

You should come to Acton if…you want to take responsibility for your life.

I came Acton to learn to equip myself with the tools to be a successful entrepreneur.

I learned how to be a principled entrepreneur and live a life of meaning.  Acton gave me friends, mentors, and a network of people who care about me and my success.  Acton taught me how to make money and be successful, but also gave me the confidence in my abilities to do those things.

Learning to accept failure and have a growth mindset is my most valuable lesson learned. I have had a couple opportunities since graduating that prior to Acton I would have had no idea how to understand, what questions to ask, and how to determine if the business is profitable.  It’s empowering to know that I am capable of doing all those things and in a minimal amount of time.

You should come to Acton if you want to make one of the best choices of your life!

I came to Acton to have a better understanding of how to start and run a business. Another big pull was the network of entrepreneurs that I wanted to be apart of.

I learned how to think about a business idea and master the steps necessary to take that idea from zero to one. My greatest learnings came in the cash and valuation course, because I had no experience looking at financial statements in that way.

Since Acton, I’m proud of having run my first marathon and having helped get a sales team off the ground.

You should consider Acton if you know without a doubt that one day you will start a business.

I attended Acton because it was the one school where I applied that I was terrified I would fail.  It was a challenge I just had to embark upon.

My time at Acton gave me the confidence and confirmation that I “have what it takes” to succeed in business and that I could compete with the best and brightest in the business world.

It also gave me a network of people that are in my corner and want to help me succeed.  The people are the best part of Acton.

My calling is to impact the lives of people by focusing on people over profit.  Businesses must be profitable, but impacting the lives of people is beyond the dollars and cents of business.  Jeff Serra’s words ring true more and more everyday “business is easy, people are difficult.”  Yet in the end I’ve realized that effecting the lives of people make business worth doing.

You should come to Acton if the “status quo” is not enough for you, and if you desire to embark upon a challenge to change the world.

I was stuck and needed help. I started my financial education business thinking I could put my head down and out work my competition and it would be a success. It took me about 5 years before I was humble enough to realize I didn’t know enough and needed help.

As someone who passionately disagreed with most traditional education, it was strange to be considering doing more. However, Acton wasn’t an MBA to me, it was an incubator for entrepreneurs created and taught by successful entrepreneurs. I believed they could help me learn what I needed to learn to be successful.

Yes, I got some good lessons I can rattle off that are of value (unit economics, free cash flow modeling, how to analyze a new business opportunity, how to create an opportunity funnel, throughput accounting, question based selling, etc). There are no shortage of tools I feel I now have available, especially when it comes to building businesses, but for some reason that doesn’t quite embody how I feel about my experience at Acton. It was deeper and far more life changing.

At Acton, I wasn’t just fed information, I was transformed by being asked difficult questions and being forced to make real life trade-offs. I was forced to take a stand for something I believed in, even if I was the only person in the room who felt that way. I was forced to work over 100 hours per week, and decide if I would spend the little extra time I had to get extra sleep, or spend time with my family. I was forced to look inward and decide what kind of entrepreneur I would be. These, and many more like them, were profound lessons that shaped how I viewed my entire life.

My family was strengthened by the experience, my fear of what others think was overcome, my fear of failure was put in perspective, how I described success was recreated. I felt I was coming to Acton to learn to make money (which is one of their promises), but I left realizing that the promises they made of learning to learn and learning to live a life of meaning were the ones that mattered most. Ultimately I feel very grateful for my experience at Acton, and it is one experience I feel extra fortunate to have been a part of. I would do it again.

In the first year after Acton I took over a struggling business, negotiated a zero down take-over, brought in two partners to run it long term, quadrupled sales in three months, and turned a profit in month three as well (much of the credit goes to my two great partners for their hustle). I simply wouldn’t have been able to craft the right deal with the right people before Acton, much less had the confidence to actually execute it. The icing on the cake here is that this deal was done while starting an elementary school set to launch fall 2017, which will have positive cash flow on day one.  None of this would have been possible without my experience at Acton.

You should consider Acton if you have a desire to do something meaningful, but are struggling to know how.

I came to Acton for the Life of Meaning course.  When I applied, I had been fortunate to have a successful early career in real estate, but wanted to know if that is what I was called to do, and explore the endless options for careers by focusing on my calling vs. the opportunities available to me.

Acton helped me to find my calling, which is no small feat!

I also learned how to ask questions – which is an easy thing to say or type but quite difficult to have the patience to ask questions and then wait for the full answer without interrupting or interjecting my own thoughts.

I guess technically I’m an “intrapraneur” – starting a new line of business for our company that now is active in multiple cities and states and generates over $200 million in revenue each year.

But my family is what I’m most proud of.  My first child was born right before my finals at Acton and we have had four other children since then.

You should come to Acton if you are looking for more than just a typical business school experience where you learn some fancy excel shortcuts and try to build your network.  There is more that you can get from business school and it can be much deeper and have a profound impact on you and your family’s life… and that, is Acton.

I wanted to learn from successful business people how to easily and predictably make money.  I also felt I had reached a plateau at my former company and I needed help to get to the next level.

I left Acton equipped with the questions to pursue a life of meaning, a fervent desire to learn, and a clear understanding of the components of a business and how they fit together.

After Acton I wanted to work on my ability to care for people as I worked providing in home care to a man with cerebral palsy.  I then went to work for an entrepreneurial branch of a tech company before working as a consultant and interim CEO for an e-commerce company.  I have since started Practice Real Estate Group, which is a real estate company who helps doctors.  We have 15-20 people on our team and are steadily growing.

Since Acton, I’m most proud of having met and married my wife Kim. We are living our own happy story.