When Dan Pallotta, owner and CEO of Pallotta Teamworks, spoke at the Wharton School in 1998, 15 angry AIDS activists protested throughout his speech.
But Pallotta came back to Penn Tuesday night to promote his new book, When Your Moment Comes. Only this time, the event went a lot more smoothly.
About 50 people, primarily Wharton graduate students, gathered in the Vance Hall basement to hear Pallotta discuss his theories on business and charity.
Since Pallotta Teamworks was created in 1992, it has raised $150 million for AIDS and breast cancer charities.
Pallotta has been criticized by members of the media and AIDS activists for only donating 60 percent of proceeds from his events to charity.
Pallotta responded to this criticism by saying that big business necessitates such action, regardless of whether a charity is involved and added that there is "so much cynicism in the world."
To combat negative press and prepare for a "future call from Oprah or Mike Wallace," Pallotta Teamworks has hired former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart and built an in-house public relations team.
"Our society expects charity to be perfect all the time," Pallota said. "Therefore, you have boards that are very risk-averse and nothing ever changes."
During his speech, Pallotta explained his three-step process for business success -- vision, marketing and structure.
"Leadership is not about taking people where they've never been," Pallotta said. "It's about taking people to places they haven't even thought they could go."
Pallotta spoke for 30 minutes before opening the floor to questions. General audience response was positive.
"It is interesting to hear his take on the controversy surrounding his events," said Holly Ramer, a second-year MBA student. "I'd been thinking about doing the AIDS Ride beforehand, and now, I am less skeptical about getting involved."
Others said Pallotta offered advice that will come in handy for business students.
"The skills [Pallotta] has developed are directly relevant for business school students," said Rohit Menezes, a second-year MBA student. "The ability to raise money from either internal or external sources is a critical ingredient to success."
Based in Los Angeles, with 300 full-time employees, Pallotta's company has raised its millions through cross-country bike rides and walkathons, an idea Pallotta had as an undergraduate at Harvard University.
"I firmly believe that the great charitable causes of our time need and deserve the best and brightest minds coming out of universities today," Pallotta said. "Doing well and doing good should not be mutually exclusive."
Yesterday's event was sponsored by Net Impact, a new club at the University.
