Brock Settlemier

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business

“Super-connector who never met a stranger.”

Hometown: San Francisco, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: Founded a kiteboarding school teaching everyone from F-16 pilots to Fortune 500 executives.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Colorado Boulder, B.S. in Finance, Minor in Music

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: RIAZ Capital, Acquisitions & Investor Relations Associate

What makes Los Angeles such a great place to earn an MBA? In LA, you’re never more than one handshake away from an alumni or industry leader. Finance, technology, and entertainment share the same coffee shops. It’s a city where you can surf at sunrise, pitch a deal before lunch, and network at a rooftop event by night.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of USC Marshall’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The MBA Career Launchpad immediately stood out as a differentiator with a week of speakers, including industry alumni and local companies. Before recruitment even begins, Marshall helps students refine their personal pitch and build a focused network. For someone intent on making meaningful connections, that early momentum is invaluable.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at USC Marshall? The USC vs. UCLA Real Estate Challenge is the perfect stage to apply teamwork and deal-making skills while shaping how we rebuild LA. We select a site, design a development, and structure the deal before presenting to top employers and investors. It’s a rare opportunity to combine analysis, relationships, and real impact in a public forum.

Looking at your recruitment, what was the moment when you realized that USC Marshall was the right program for you? Why? During the application process, I made a genuine connection with my interviewer, who personally called to share my acceptance. The staff’s welcome at Admitted Students Day was heartfelt, and the energy in the room made me feel instantly at home in the USC community. I committed on the spot, knowing I’d found my place.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Working alongside Nobel laureates Richard Thaler and Daniel Kahneman was a masterclass in behavioral finance. I met with multi-billion-dollar portfolio managers to show how investor psychology creates market inefficiencies and how to capitalize on them. That experience helped raise $20M in new assets, honed my ability to present investment strategies, and cemented my confidence as an investment professional.

What is your long-term career goal? Connect ideas to capital and eventually launch my own investment firm focused on California. I enjoy working with world-class executive teams, raising capital at scale, and transforming overlooked opportunities into long-term value. Through USC Marshall, I’m expanding my network of potential partners and refining the strategy to realize that vision. Fight On!

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