Three People, Three Questions

John Guenveur

'12 BSB, Co-founder, WOODCHUCK USA

What are you reading?

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz. As I’ve experienced with WOODCHUCK USA, scaling a business never gets easier. The challenges you face are just different, and the stakes get higher. This book helps to level-set expectations about how painfully difficult the path to becoming a successful entrepreneur can be.

What's your favorite website?

GopherHole.com

What's your dream job?

I’m living it. We started WOODCHUCK USA right out of college and have built a rapidly growing, multi-million-dollar operation. We have a team of 40 remarkable employees, many of whom are recent University of Minnesota graduates. The University and Carlson School was a launching pad for us to build a “business as a force for good.”

James Pierce

'19 MBA, Senior Director, Cargill

What are you reading?

Big Potential and The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. I recently heard him speak about how small habits can impact our happiness and dramatically improve overall team performance and decision-making.

What's your favorite website?

This is an in-the-moment question. If you checked my web traffic over the past month, my most-visited website would have to be LoopDocs.org. My middle daughter is a T1 Diabetic and had been struggling with her current therapy.

What's your dream job?

I think your dream job evolves as you do. However, my ultimate dream job would be a band director for an inner-city school. I would love to be able to use my musical background to help these kids dream big and believe in themselves and their community

Gaoqing Zhang

Assistant Professor, Accounting

What are you reading?

I am currently reading The Silk Road by Peter Frankopan. It is a fascinating book that depicts how the Western world discovers, trades with, and has connected with the East over the past 3,000 years.

What's your favorite website?

My favorite website is always changing. Most recently it is The Wayback Machine [the Internet Archive]. It contains an extensive digital record of our past (books, videos, music, etc).

What is your dream job?

I like my current job, which allows me to study and research any problem or question that I’m curious about. But if I ever wanted to pick a different one, I would want to try to be an archaeologist. Discovering what’s happened in the past always intrigues me.