Walter Rosenkranz always had the entrepreneurial spirit of a California native.
Walter Rosenkranz, ’09, grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, but he always had the spirit of a California native.
The San Diego transplant describes his adopted city as “innovative, forward-thinking and open to new ideas.” Much like Rosenkranz himself.
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After completing a master’s degree in business with an entrepreneurship focus, Rosenkranz interviewed for the position of business development manager for a car-sharing venture called car2go.
Daimler AG, the German automotive giant, had recently introduced car2go in two North American markets—Austin, Texas and Vancouver, Canada—and was eager to go even greener in San Diego with an all-electric fleet.
Rosenkranz wanted in. He remembered a class at SDSU led by Alex DeNoble, Ph.D., in which the students had analyzed cases of large, established companies branching out into new ventures.
Rosenkranz hired a team of like-minded managers, including fellow SDSU alumni Michael Cully and William Berry. Within the first 100 days, car2go had more than 6,000 members booking 4,000 rentals weekly, and Aztec entrepreneurial prowess has been the driving force behind its success.
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