Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore '93 and Jordy Leiser '06 Talk Vision, Risk & Success at Bucknell Forum

There are a lot of qualities that define an entrepreneur: grit. Determination. A good idea, or even a great one. A clear vision. A flawless pitch. However, these qualities are not innate. They are learned and honed through experience and relationships, successes and failures.

"You're not born a winner," said 14-time MLB All-Star and 2009 World Series champion Alex Rodriguez, known as A-Rod. "You have to learn how to win. And I believe you can teach young people how to win."

During a roundtable discussion with Kenneth W. Freeman Professor & Dean of the College of ManagementMichelle Roehm, Rodriguez, Marc Lore '93 and Jordy Leiser '06 offered their perspectives on how entrepreneurs can succeed as the fifth and final speakers in the 2024-25 Forum series, which is focused on the theme "World in Transition."

Rodriguez, who is best known for his skills on the baseball diamond, is also the chairman and CEO of A-Rod Corp. This investment firm backs startups and partners with leading global companies across the real estate, sports and entertainment sectors. In 2021, he, Lore and Leiser joined to launch Jump Platforms, the first end-to-end fan experience and ticketing platform for live sports and entertainment, of which Bucknell basketball is an early adopter.

"Alex knows [the sports] world really well, and Marc is a consumer scale entrepreneur who has done it all, and I come from the enterprise side," said Leiser, Jump Platforms CEO, whose relationship with Lore extends back to when he was just a 25-year-old working for Lore's e-commerce website Diapers.com. Since then, Lore has served as former president and CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce and is currently the founder and CEO of Wonder Group and, along with Rodriguez, co-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. "It was a really nice marriage of those three different things: enterprise technology, consumer technology, and sports and entertainment."

Kenneth W. Freeman Professor & Dean of the College of Management Michelle Roehm, Jordy Leiser ’06, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore ’93 (L-R) were the final speakers in the 2024-2025 Forum series, which focused on the theme "World in Transition." Photo by Emily Paine, Marketing & Communications

When asked how he identifies and cultivates successful opportunities across industries, whether in sports entertainment or "Fast Fine" dining, which is the focus of Wonder Group, Lore shared that he's guided by a framework he has dubbed VSP: vision, capital, people. "It's only when the entire leadership team understands the nuances of the vision and strategy, as well as the founder or the CEO does, that the magic really starts to happen," he said, adding that capital encompasses not only first-round seed funding but also a multiyear financing plan.

The people aspect of any venture, he said, is probably the most important. "How do you build a culture that attracts, retains, and gets the best out of the very best people in the world," he asked. "Once you get that in place, and you have the right people, the right organizational structure and they understand strategy and vision, and you have a clear path to raising capital, then you can kind of just sit back and let the team execute."

While entrepreneurs might commonly be perceived as exceptional individuals, Rodriguez echoed Lore's sentiment that success is a team effort. "You can't do great things without the best people in the world," said Rodriguez, pointing to his time as a Yankees world champion. "Always surround yourself with people that are smarter."

However, more than following a particular formula, Lore reiterated that being an entrepreneur hinges on how a person approaches and embraces risk. "Entrepreneurs, for whatever reason, have the ability to view risk differently," he said, adding that risk is an unavoidable component of any startup venture. In fact, one of the hallmarks of being an entrepreneur is the willingness to take on low-probability, high-reward risks. "Can you work 100 hours a week on something that has a 10% probability of working?" he asked. "That's what entrepreneurs do. You kill yourself [working], and the high likelihood is that it will fail."

A-Rod's Halftime Heroics

Owen Garwood '27 won $10,000, thanks to Alex Rodriguez's skillful half-court shot. Photo by Lianne Garrahan '25

After the conclusion of the roundtable, the trio attended the Bucknell-Army basketball game where Rodriguez had the chance to put the low-probability, high-reward approach to the test. The three-time American League MVP took a halftime, half-court shot that, if made, would earn one lucky Bucknell student selected at random — Owen Garwood '27 — $10,000. The chances of making such a shot are roughly one in 100. Rodriguez tossed the ball several times into the air, set his sights on his target and banked it right into the hoop.

"I am in shock. It still does not feel real," said Garwood, an economics major and football player from Montgomery County, Pa., who decided to attend the game when he heard A-Rod would be there. But he never expected to win $10,000. "I've already decided to take out some of the money for charity, and the rest will be going to help pay for tuition."

After Rodriguez made the shot, Garwood celebrated with the MLB All-Star and members of the Bison football team. "When I called my dad about five minutes later he was in the middle of a golf round and had the most shocked face I've ever seen in my life," said Garwood, a lifelong Phillies fan. "This will be one of the most memorable moments of my life, hands down."

A-Rod's Unbelievable Half-Court Shot

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bucknell University (@bucknellu)