Marketing research
I continue to conduct some marketing research projects with clients I have worked with over the years.
I caught the data analysis bug while working for the Bureau of Business Research at The University of Texas at Austin, during my MBA program.
After a few years with the Management Information Consulting Division of Arthur Andersen, I joined the marketing PhD program at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Since then I have spent 15+ years working with universities and 15+ years working with marketing research / consulting firms.
Angel investing
As an alternative investment strategy, I have been involved in angel investing. Entrepreneurs present their ideas to a group of accredited investors who may decide to buy into the companies with the hope of a pay out later. There are no guarantees at all - the wild west of capitalism.
I consider myself a "hobby" investor, not an expert.
academic marketing research
The major goal for professors at research universities is to publish articles in “A” level academic journals. And, yes, they do teach, but that was always secondary.
My academic research covered two broad areas while serving on the marketing faculty at Penn State - consumer decision making and corporate decision making - and resulted in publications in a variety of journals from Psychometrika to the Journal of Marketing Research and from Industrial Marketing Management to the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
I taught marketing research in the full-time MBA program at Penn State and brand management in the Executive Education MBA program at The University of Texas at Dallas.
previous angel investing
Out of pure luck, I have broken even on my previous angel investments. Each one has been a learning experience - some completely flop and never get off the ground, some start but never go anywhere, and a few do take off.
With my first angel group in Dallas, I was not very involved in due diligence. I did not understand the process. I did not get to know the entrepreneurs well enough. I was not focused on industries that I understood.
applied marketing research
I switched from academia to working for marketing research firms, serving as director of marketing science for Opinion Research Corporation and M/A/R/C Research, then as an account executive with Burke, Inc.
Applied marketing research has a much faster feedback loop. Instead of 3 years from the start of an academic project until it is published (ideally), the time from start to finish for a corporate marketing research project is closer to 3 months.
Both worlds are demanding; neither one is perfect, with surprisingly little synergy between the two. Corporate users of marketing research often do appreciate a "conceptual" framework for understanding research. Unfortunately universities do not often value “applied” research.
Angel investing 2.0
Now in my Angel Investing 2.0 phase, I am more involved with the screening process, hearing pitches for new companies, and conducting extensive due diligence on any new company we are considering.
A few years ago, I joined an Austin based angel funding group that focuses on impact investing, the Southwest Angel Network. And I am a member of the Angel Capital Association.