{"id":15021,"date":"2024-08-01T00:50:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T07:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=15021"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:00:40","slug":"john-howerton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2024\/08\/01\/john-howerton\/","title":{"rendered":"John Howerton Utilizes MBA to Launch Stock Valuation Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Hands<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

John Howerton<\/a> (\u201822 MBA) is no stranger to the busy schedule of an entrepreneur. When he started his MBA, he had just begun dating his wife while working 80 hours and shouldering up to 30 hours of startup obligations per week. He says he chose WSU\u2019s online MBA program<\/a> largely for its flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Howerton\u2019s schedule has evened out a bit as he works 12-hour days to prepare for the launch of Cord Analytics, an investing platform created to simplify stock analysis for the everyday user. The platform uses AI technology to run formulas and complex equations so the user can evaluate stocks using Wall Street-grade models without any coding or advanced financial skills. Compared to working two jobs while earning an MBA, he says this new schedule seems like \u201ca breeze.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Howerton, those hectic days were worth it as his MBA helped him significantly in founding his own business. The functional knowledge he gained from WSU was different from his colleagues who participated in other MBA programs. Not only could he apply what he was learning immediately, Howerton says he still refers to his coursework to aid him as a cross-functional leader in his business today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting his MBA to work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Howerton was shocked at how much he used his MBA when starting his own company. His capstone course provided a comprehensive playbook on launching a business, covering subjects like raising capital, cost structure, and other administrative duties. Howerton followed this playbook week by week as he created his own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me very successful,\u201d he says. \u201cThe administrative side of creating a business was automatic for me. It wasn\u2019t something I had to learn; it was something I knew from that capstone course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howerton credits much of his success in the beginning to the skills and techniques he gained from the MBA program, noting the advice one might find on the internet would not cut it in the real world. Specifically, he says it helped with his preparedness in venture capital meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would not have been able to raise the capital that I was able to raise if it weren\u2019t for the MBA program,\u201d Howerton says. \u201cI received feedback that partners were very impressed with the level of detail I was able to provide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solving a problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cord Analytics was born out of necessity. Howerton is an avid investor and chose to earn his MBA in finance. For each investment opportunity he considered, he took the time to complete a fundamental analysis before making decisions. Fundamental analysis is a way of evaluating a company\u2019s stock by analyzing their financial statements including their balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. It involves calculating ratios and using financial equations to inform the decision-making process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After more than 10 years as an individual investor, he saw a problem\u2014fundamental analysis is extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is technical, takes significant time, and requires coding skills or purchasing expensive software. Ultimately, Howerton determined it was not accessible to the average user. In true entrepreneurial fashion, Howerton set out to solve this problem with a software product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was lamenting with my cofounder about spending 10 hours building fundamental analysis models because there wasn\u2019t a product that provided the quality and confidence I needed to make an investment decision,\u201d he says. \u201cWe said, \u2018Let\u2019s see if we can fix that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They started working on a product, and their first issue to solve was automating data acquisition. Then they relied on Howerton\u2019s MBA finance skills to build simplified models. The models use AI and data aggregation to create financial forecasts and values in an efficient way for the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur easy-to-use platform brings the Wall Street-grade financial models’ complexity down to the level that anyone can understand,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact of WSU<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Howerton has always had an entrepreneurial mindset. While participating in the MBA program, he learned how to merge that with strategic thinking, innovation, and identifying and creating profitable opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Howerton prepares for the launch of Cord Analytics, he says he often taps into leadership skills gained from the MBA program. His experience at WSU stands out to him as a highlight of his professional career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest thing I learned was how to use my unique skills and resources to create something new,\u201d he says. \u201cThe program taught me to use my tech and engineering background, and my entrepreneurial spirit. Once I leveraged those skills, I became much more successful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Howerton<\/a> (\u201822 MBA) is no stranger to the busy schedule of an entrepreneur. When he started his MBA, he had just begun dating his now-wife while working 80 hours and shouldering up to 30 hours of startup obligations per week. He says he chose WSU\u2019s online MBA program<\/a> largely for its flexibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[635],"featured_media":16490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[429,619,425,625],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15021"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15021"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18517,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15021\/revisions\/18517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15021"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=15021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}