Founders Day Panel: Success from the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Featuring a panel from CSULB’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Elias Babaalian-Morales ‘21
Co-Founder, BookBound
“I recently graduated from the Accelerated MBA program at CSULB in May 2023. Shortly after graduating, I have been pursuing my dream of starting a business with my friends and cofounders, Nathen and Jaelyn. Winning the Sunstone Innovation Challenge at CSULB helped us make our business idea become a reality, and I can’t emphasize how happy I am to be doing this journey with my team. Aside from business, I enjoy reading and going on hikes.”
Jaelyn Gutierrez ‘23
Co-Founder, BookBound
“I am a co-founder of BookBound and recent graduate from California State University, Long Beach’s MBA program. My background is in marketing and I’ve enjoyed working in the public sector and non-profits in the past. Entrepreneurship is a new challenge for me!”
Nathen Deo ‘23
Co-Founder, BookBound
“I’m 24 years old and I graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2017 with a bachelors in sociology and graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a masters in business administration. It was during my masters program I was able to meet my team and help form the startup company BookBound.”
Emanuel Tafese (current student)
Founder, Class Chat
“I run a startup called Class Chat, which is a school communication software that connects stakeholders around their classes. Think of Slack but built for the campus and classroom. We are revenue generating, profitable, and growing fast!”
Ekene Abana ‘21
Founder, PPLEApp
“I am Ekene Abana, founder of PPLE, Inc. I started this company to solve the problems encountered when planning group activities. Entrepreneurship is like professional sports, try your best to achieve your goals, but make you enjoy the process and win.”
Moderator:
Wade Martin
Director, Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Dr. Wade Martin is a professor of Economics and the Director of the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at California State University, Long Beach. His research focuses on risk analysis in natural resources, environmental policy, and local economic development. He has worked on projects for organizations like the World Bank, USDA Forest Service, and Government of Indonesia, and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard Institute for International Development. Dr. Martin is a commentator on NPR's Market Place, an editor-in-chief of Contemporary Economic Policy, and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of New Mexico.
