Dave Rochlin

As a lecturer, he co-developed and teaches the MBA-level applied innovation project course (Haas@Work), the core Fundamentals of Design Thinking Course, “Designing Tech for Good”, and a cohort-wide foresight and exponential change design sprint. He is also the faculty director for the UC Berkeley summer abroad program in Geneva, Switzerland—focused on business innovation for sustainability, social responsibility and positive impact—and teaches a related undergraduate course in Berkeley.

Outside of Haas, he is a consultant social entrepreneur, focused on market-based approaches to social/environmental issues including deforestation, climate change, corporate social responsibility, sustainable business, and ethical globalization.

Prior to coming to Berkeley in 2010, he founded a hybrid social venture called ClimatePath, and was COO of the NGO FairTrade USA, a four-time winner of Fast Company/Monitor’s social capital award. He was also professional faculty member in the Executive MBA program at St Mary’s, where he developed and taught the inaugural technology and e-business strategy course, and taught advanced marketing and strategy courses in Europe and the Middle East. He is a frequent writer and speaker, and author of multiple Haas cases, as well as the textbook “Hunter or Hunted: Technology, Innovation, and Competitive Strategy” (Thomson/Cengage 2006).

Rochlin has held key executive VP and C-level positions with several fast-growing internet pioneers, including helping to build, grow, and eventually sell businesses to Hollywood Video and Earthlink, and placing companies on both the Deloitte 50 and INC 500 lists. He also has turned around smaller software and e-commerce firms where profitability took precedence over growth. He started his career in brand management and consulting.

He earned his MBA (with distinction) at the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern, and his BS from the Berkeley Haas, where he played football and rugby, and also met his future wife. He is currently pursuing a late-career PhD at Clemson University, with an emphasis on post-humanism and information design.

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