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Experience Darden

Experience Darden #288: Student Spotlight | Matt Rafferty

·42 min·4 clips
Matt Rafferty turned down dental school with only four days to decide, betting everything on his drone business.
The episode begins with host Brett Twitty introducing Matt Rafferty, a second-year MBA student at UVA Darden and a student founder. Matt talks about his summer in Charlottesville, where he participated in the iLab program and enjoyed outdoor activities like biking. He then details his background, starting with a biology major and acceptance to dental school. Matt explains how he deferred dental school to start a drone-based marketing company for farmland sales, eventually turning down dental school to focus on entrepreneurship. He describes his college entrepreneurial attempts, including a failed iPhone app called 'Scream Booth,' which taught him about user testing and co-creation. Matt discusses his decision to pursue an MBA at Darden, influenced by the case method observed in a finance class on hedging fuel prices. He shares his adjustment to business school, emphasizing time management and prioritizing key points in cases. Matt explores career interests in venture capital and entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), taking classes with professors like Les Alexander. He highlights his involvement in the iLab program, where he developed a software MVP and presented in the Rotunda. Matt talks about his second-year activities, including leading the Aerospace and Defense Club and organizing a glider event. He explains how his drone business, Flight Spool, operates with freelancers and his new software, ViewGroo, designed for videographers. Matt advises prospective students to explore diverse opportunities at Darden and engage with the entrepreneurial community. The episode concludes with Brett thanking Matt for the conversation.

As heard by us

A student founder connects Darden's case method with the long view of entrepreneurship.

Matt Rafferty's Darden story works best when it stays close to the tension between building something and learning how to think differently. As a second-year student in the full-time MBA class of 2025, he reflects on a summer in Charlottesville through iLab, the business he had…

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Why you'd press play

You can hear Matt Rafferty connect a sticky Darden finance case with the long-term pull of entrepreneurship.

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