Where are they now?
Jeremy Wu
Grant Coultrup After Mercyhurst, Grant Coultrup worked for a year at a private accounting frm before venturing forth to build his own portfolio. Foremost among those projects is Netrendity Networks, a startup he leads as operations coordinator. The software company hosts The Rowing Channel, through which it provides a live video broadcast of top races in the world of collegiate rowing. As a former Mercyhurst rower and assistant rowing coach at Orange Coast College, he said this enterprise brings his passion full circle. Rounding out his portfolio is Coultrup Designs, where he consults with small businesses to help them design and implement a pivot to a digital future. Coultrup Designs spans many industries from fashion to music to infuencer marketing. “Working with LAM taught me responsibility, due diligence, how to build an entity, and some of my frst experiences managing people,” he said. “I believe that this program is very important to the development of young fnanciers and money managers at Mercyhurst.” Coultrup also beneftted from enlightened leadership. “Having Mark Simpson on our side was a huge bonus,” he said. “Here was a guy who had been in the feld for years, racked up numerous professional certifcations, and believed in us enough to advocate for our new club. Perhaps our best move was befriending President Victor. As former dean of the Walker School of Business, Victor took a genuine interest in us and helped push our case to the top where we would pitch our idea to the endowment committee and get legitimacy.”
Bernardo Ramirez After graduating from Mercyhurst in December of 2017, Ramirez became a full-time investment analyst at JPMorgan’s Latin America Private Bank based in Miami, Florida, where he supports three senior investors and helps manage the portfolios of ultrahigh net worth clients, endowments, and foundations. “I can confdently say I would not be in this position if it wasn’t for LAM,” he said. “LAM helped me develop habits that will make me a lifetime learner and gave me the opportunity to start developing two key skills: technical skills and soft skills.” Among the technical skills are economics, business strategy, capital markets, diferent types of investment vehicles, statistics, tax considerations, and more. “In LAM, we wanted to create a culture that demands habitual, day-to-day technical development, with the ultimate goal of improving LAM’s human capital,” Ramirez said. “We preached for something as simple as reading business, fnancial and political news every single day and letting your curiosity force you to Google absolutely any word or concept that you did not understand. If you do this every single day, you will be surprised by how much you can learn over time.” In terms of soft skills, Ramirez cited numerous Mercyhurst people for motivating him, including President Victor, Carl Anderson, David Myron, and Mark Simpson. “I pushed myself to the limit just to try to keep up with this group of individuals,” he said. “Each one of them has a level of technical and soft skills that I hope to match in the future. If I can sum it up in one phrase, I would say they helped me be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Today, Jeremy Wu is business development manager for a cannabis startup called RedWhite&Bloom in the heart of Toronto’s fnancial district. His responsibilities range from corporate development to forecasting revenues for new operations. “The challenges a startup faces are unique, but the whole experience and process of starting LAM prepared me for my current day-to-day better than any classroom lecture ever could,” Wu said. “It’s shocking how many similarities I see between a billion-dollar business and our little university club. One thing that really stands out is how important strong leadership and management are, and I think LAM has benefted from all of the various leaders it has had during its brief existence.” Wu helped start the student club because of his passion for trading and investing, but he claims the most rewarding aspect had nothing to do with the actual investments, rather the opportunity to build and lead. “We literally started with nothing but an idea, and a few months later we were pitching the endowment committee for $100K,” he said. Apart from the many skills Wu acquired through LAM, he said the most meaningful takeaway was the network of passionate, intelligent, and hard-working students that kept him motivated. “I still keep in touch with past members like Bernie (Ramirez), and current members like Adrian, and I hope to continue doing so as we all fnd our own distinct paths toward success,” he said.
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