University at Buffalo School of Management

Spring 2022 Buffalo Business 29 Big changes As CEO, George Chamoun is at the helm of the inaugural 43North winner: ACV, a technology company whose flagship product, ACV Auctions, is upending the automotive indus- try with an online marketplace that offers unmatched trans- parency. ACV went public last year, raising $414 million and taking its market valuation north of $4.8 billion. "ACV proved you can build a tech company in Buffalo to massive, even bigger than unicorn scale," Chamoun says. "Aer establishing this new standard, more entrepreneurs locally will believe their idea can evolve similarly, with the right support." Aer graduating from UB in 1997 with his bachelor's in political science and a management minor, Chamoun co-founded Synacor, which eventually became a trusted tech partner for some of the world's top communications providers. Back then, Chamoun says Buffalo lacked the incubators or processes to help entrepreneurs catalyze their ideas. But today, thanks to the ecosystem built by UB and nonprofits like Launch NY—where Chamoun serves as chair—things have changed considerably. "Now, the startup ecosystem is more robust, with a clear pipeline—you just need to work extremely hard and partic- ipate in the process," says Chamoun, who received the School of Management's 2021 Entrepreneurship achievement award and serves on the Dean's Advisory Council. "I feel it's my duty to pay it forward aer the Buffalo community supported me when I was a young UB graduate with a business idea." Big impact On the other side of the planet, Ridzki Kramadibrata, MBA '99, serves as president of Grab Indonesia. Launched as a ride-hailing app in 2012, Grab has since exploded in popu- larity, amassing 214 million downloads across eight countries. It's now one of the continent's most dominant super apps, with services from package, food and grocery delivery to cashless payments, insurance and investment solutions. "In my role, I lead initiatives that help make everyday life easier for millions of people and empower entrepreneurs with technology to grow their business," says Kramadibrata, who was honored with the school's 2021 Industry Leadership award. "Every morning I wake up, I'm motivated and ener- gized thinking of the incredible impact we make—and what more we can do." For example, Kramadibrata says because of traditional approaches and technology, most Indonesian food merchants are limited to customers in their area. "Onboarding them to Grab enables them to tap into customers beyond their proximity," he says. "They gain access to promotional tools and digital reports, and through those reports, they can learn what works and what doesn't, and take necessary actions to make business improvements." Big opportunities Even in Silicon Valley—arguably the innovation capital of the world—School of Management alumni leave their mark. Jarrod Tran, BS '16, first moved west for a position over- seeing inbound operations at a 1.3 million-square-foot Amazon Robotics Fulfilment Center. Next, he went to Tesla, where he helped launch the company's 4680 battery cells. And today, Tran is at Apple, serving as strategic operations program manager for the iPhone. "It's such an exciting industry—challenging, for sure, but rewarding too," Tran says. "There's nowhere else in the world where you can be like, 'Today we launched a car that drives itself or a phone that does augmented reality.' It's inspiring." All of Tran's career moves started with connections he made—and, in return, he hopes to be that connection for other UB grads. He has mentored many students, both informally and through the UB Career Connector Network, and hosted site visits for the school's Silicon Valley Tech Trek program. Already, he's helped students find roles with Tesla, Amazon, Microso and other companies. "A lot of times, tech companies can seem daunting, like there's a pearly gate around them," Tran says. "But there are some crazy successful people who went to UB, and if you break the mold, stand out and leverage UB's alumni network, that'll take you further than anything." Chamoun, center, rings the bell at the Nasdaq stock exchange to celebrate ACV's IPO. Kramadibrata

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