Dan Rosensweig, who has served as head of CNET, COO of Yahoo, vice president of PC Magazine, and president of Ziff Davis Media, can now add executive in residence at the Columbia Business School to his resume.
And Rosensweig, currently Guitar Hero’s CEO, thinks “it’s pretty exciting.”
The executives-in-residence program was launched at the business school three decades ago to introduce business leaders to students. The program aims to provide students the opportunity to receive advice, hear anecdotes, and perhaps most importantly, gain a mentor in the increasingly competitive business world.
“Accessible to students year-round, these retired or semiretired leaders lecture and teach classes in the MBA and Executive MBA Programs, advise student-run clubs, participate in annual club conferences and organize informal lunches for groups of students with common interests, among many other activities,” according to the business school’s Web site. “While the School hosts hundreds of business practitioners as visiting lecturers and conference participants each year, executives in residence maintain long-term relationships with the School.”
Rosensweig has been taking part in the residence program for approximately a month now. He holds office hours to meet with students one-on-one and also joins several classes in group discussions.
Unlike previous executives in residence who mainly dealt with finance, Rosensweig said he sees his role in the program as a “chance to work with the school and the students in the tumultuous time in media.”
Despite his current role as CEO of Guitar Hero, Rosensweig sees himself as being more involved in media and publishing. Notably, he oversaw the merger of ZDNet and CNET, both extremely popular technology sites. He sees his role at Activision, Guitar Hero’s publisher, as a way to use the social gaming space and develop what he calls “new media.”
The students who have come to see Rosensweig say they have certainly benefited from his perspective.
“Dan came to my Strategic Management of Media class with professor [Jonathan] Knee,” Christian DiCarlo, Business ’12, said. “We were discussing a case on Google and professor Knee invited Dan to share his perspective as the COO of Yahoo at the time. As someone living and working in the Bay Area, he was clearly surprised how disconnected our class is from the tech scene.”
Besides learning from Rosensweig in lectures, DiCarlo has followed up with Rosensweig and received tips on working in various fields in Silicon Valley.
“He’s funny and ... commands respect. He’s also extremely grounded. He starts his sessions by asking, ‘What do you want to get out of this session today?’ In this way, he focuses each session to ensure that the individual gets his questions answered,” Yelena Gerskovich, Business ’11, said.
The executives in residence are appointed by the dean of the business school, R. Glenn Hubbard, for renewable one-year terms. When asked about his interest in participating next year, Rosensweig responded “definitely.”
“My expectation is that we’d love to continue to do it as long as it’s a valuable experience,” Rosensweig said.
The students who have interacted with Rosensweig agree. “Dan is one of the few execs in residence that have experience that appeals to me. If Columbia hopes to shed the I-banking, consulting stereotype and attract and bring in people who are interested in technology, we need to have more execs in residence like Dan,” DiCarlo said.
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