NSU Horizons Winter 2008 - 2009

39 horizons themes (such as Thanksgiving pilgrims interacting with a goofy- looking octopus wearing a pilgrim hat); and “really dumb, though amusing,” short cartoon videos. Beavis and Butt-Head, please take note. While Cavalieri isn’t too interested in talking about this work, which he describes as “not lifetime characters and stories to remember,” he notes that it is providing entree to more adventurous projects as technology improvements allow. Most particularly, he is excited about the coming explosion of videos viewable by phone. You can watch 90-second Cilantro videos on such sites as www.mywaves.com and www .myxertrones.com , among other product outlets, with more than 5 million subscribers downloading content. Cavalieri expects that next year, videos will be longer. “We got in early. Our foot was in the door in year one,” he said. Whatever the future holds, Cavalieri credits NSU for enabling him and his partners to “build the business on a firm foundation and not a house of cards.” He and native Mexican Francisco “Paco” Sinta, Cilantro vice president, were classmates, earning their M.B.A.s in 2001. Katty Arzola, Cilantro’s vice president for mar- keting and sales, is Cavalieri’s wife and a 2000 Huizenga School graduate from Peru. Tim McCartney, Ph.D., an NSU professor of management who last year became the first Huizenga School professor named to an endowed chair, remembers all three and continues to stay in contact. “They were all excellent students, willing to learn, with a sense of balance. They were inquisitive, not afraid to challenge their professor, took risks, and had wonderful work ethics,” recalled McCartney. “They brought the class alive.” Kicking into professorial overdrive, McCartney turned an interview into a teaching moment by articulating three ideas he tries to drive into the head of every would-be entrepreneur. “First, I try to stimulate them to think outside the box in applying what they learn in the classroom in a real way. Second, I try to teach them an important lesson of life—that failure and disap- pointment are par for the course. And third, I try to instill a sense of integrity and honesty consisting of values that will earn other people’s respect.” What he recalls of the Cilantro leadership team is that “they responded to it. I have dinner with them from time to time and follow their progress.” Cavalieri tosses a few bouquets of his own. “NSU’s master’s program was taught by professors who had had their own busi- nesses. I was learning about real-life situations from people who have created companies from the ground up.” He remains involved with NSU, as Cilantro is one of the Huizenga School’s corporate partners. In five years, Cavalieri would like to see Cilantro as one of the world’s top five animation companies with a feature film in the theaters. Ever on the prowl for a business edge, he invites “experts in the industry of film, TV, and animation to contact us and become part of this goal.” Cavalieri considers himself a “realistic dreamer.” Yet, only time will tell if his dreams for Cilantro will come true. n