Hult MBA Brochure 2019/20 19Hult_MBA_Brochure_joomag | Page 52

CAREER IMPACT
Where entrepreneurs f lourish
Entrepreneurialism is an ethos and attitude that runs throughout
our teaching and career support. If you have ambitions to start
your own business, Hult is the ideal environment in which to
make those dreams a reality.
8% 70+
of Hult graduates start
their own business. founders in the Hult Founders
Lab, our in-house incubator.
Michael came to Hult with bold ambitions. He
knew he wanted to start his own business, he knew
what that business was, and he knew it had the
potential to change the world.
Why did you do an MBA if you knew you wanted to start your own business?
My reasons for getting an MBA were driven by my entrepreneurial ambitions. I wanted to
get the right skills and the team to take my business idea forward. I needed a team of high
achievers and people who were really driven and passionate to make a difference in the world.
The team-building process was organic—at Hult I naturally found people who would benefit
my team.
Michael Ballard
American
Founder
Attis AgTech
MBA with a Dual Degree in
Masters in Finance
Class of 2018
Boston campus
Tell us about the business and your objectives.
Water scarcity is a big problem on a global scale, and we believe we have a solution to it.
70% of the world’s water is consumed by agriculture—and 50% of that goes to growing feed
for livestock. Attis AgTech leverages robotics, AI, IoT, and blockchain to bring growing that
feed into a controlled environment that uses 100x less water on a pound-for-pound basis. It’s
healthier for the animals, it’s cleaner for the environment, and it reduces our carbon footprint.
There’s even evidence that it reduces methane output, which is huge for climate change. Our
overall objective is to create water security. But it’s also about economic security. The drought
in California, for example, cost the agricultural industry an estimated $2.7 billion USD.
How did your business develop while you were at Hult?
The fact that I could tie in developing the business with my capstone MBA challenge had a
major impact. Not only did I build a dream team in a matter of weeks from within my cohort
with the expertise it would’ve taken me years to find otherwise—a mechanical engineer, a
pharmaceutical biological chemist, a finance and trading specialist, a marketer—we made
connections with experts, entrepreneurs, innovation consultants, and venture capitalists. We
won the challenge on the Boston campus and the business model is ready to go to market.
We’re now raising the seed capital we need to launch.
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