A master of illusion

The idea that “magic is business and business is magic” inspired Jared Molton (MBA ’15) a magician with a deck of cards hidden up his sleeve, to pursue his MBA at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

As a sophomore in high school, Molton was on a family trip to Las Vegas where they caught a performance by Lance Burton, one of the most successful magicians of all time. Burton swiftly and deftly pulled a white dove out of a handkerchief. Then, another and another.

Mesmerized, Molton wanted to be up on that stage and realized he wanted to pursue a career as an illusionist. He rushed to purchase the classic “Expert Card Technique” and began practicing as if he were preparing for the Olympics. Some of his first attempts were disastrous and today he keeps a deck nearby so he can keep practicing.

His persistence paid off. He founded Jared Molten Magic in 2003 and worked as a magician for 10 years, as well as general manager of Tannen’s Magic, the oldest operating magic shop in New York, for three of those years. It was a wonderful opening act for Molton, but it wasn’t enough.

“What I love about magic is how people light up when you do a trick,” he says. “They have this moment of wonder and mystery, and there’s something really beautiful about that. Then, when I looked at it through the lens of business, of product, of scaling, I realized that business and product ignite the same reaction as magic but at scale.”

With the idea that he wanted to do something bigger, Molton looked at MBA programs and UNC Kenan-Flagler soon stood out.

“What drew me to UNC, more than anything, was the alumni network,” he says. “There’s just an incredibly strong connection that UNC alumni have with the School. And it’s real and you find it wherever you go. When you find somebody who went there, it’s an instant connection.”

Even after beginning his MBA, Molton never left magic. One of the highlights of his time at UNC Kenan-Flagler was his study abroad experiences in India and the United Arab Emirates on Global Immersion Electives. There, his worlds collided in the very best way.

As he and his classmates toured a manufacturing company that made nuts, bolts and screws, he grabbed a few from buckets lying around and began doing slight-of-hand tricks with them. The workers were fascinated. Soon his classmates gathered around him, too.

“We had this group together and everyone was enjoying this moment of magic and the energy was palpable. It was just fun,” says Molton. “Electric is a good word to use. Part of what is special about magic is that when it comes to business and relationships – and when you’re thinking about it through the lens of travel and other cultures – it’s a shared language that allows humans to connect on a very real level that is otherwise hard to achieve.”

“For My Next Trick” covers Molton’s time at UNC Kenan-Flagler and his transition from magician to tech executive and entrepreneur. 

Molton sees three fundamental skills that overlap between magic and business. They were the motivation for writing a book about his non-traditional career path: “For My Next Trick: A Magician Transforms into a Tech Executive” (JM Musings LLC, June 2024).

First, magicians can tweak their performance based on feedback from their audience, while product managers are looking at data from customers to figure out what’s working and what isn’t.

Second, leaders must prepare either for the magic show or the problem statement. You don’t want to mess up a trick or a business decision.

Third, presentation is key in both fields.

“The stakes are always high,” says Molton. “The stakes in a business meeting are high in a different way. But you still don’t want to mess up. You want leaders to see you as competent and capable.”

Taking the stage

His MBA education continues to help Molton put on a good show. He frequently turns to lessons he learned about pricing and refers to conjoint analysis as one of his “favorite tools” to understand pricing, the willingness to pay for something and how potential customers rank benefits.

Molton applies consulting skills and frameworks in his day-to-day job. The questions he learned to ask as part of those frameworks are something he has his teams use at work. What is the hypothesis? What are the risks? How will one mitigate those risks? The list goes on.

For instance, when he worked at Amazon, the team used the company’s working backwards documents for initiatives. They began with a press release for the launch of the product they wanted to create. Molton used that list of questions from his classes to start the brainstorming.

Writing the book on magic and business

Molton devotes the entire second section of “For My Next Trick” to his experiences at UNC Kenan-Flagler – from courses to career support and the welcoming community – and how important they were to his career switch.

His thriving career has taken him from Amazon to Chewy to Udacity.

He worked at Amazon for more than six years after graduating from UNC Kenan-Flagler. He played a large role in giving users the ability to download video content on Amazon Kids devices and in launching Amazon Halo.

At Udacity, an online platform for professional skill development in tech, he is vice president of consumer and based in Seattle.

“What motivates me at Udacity is that we are helping people change their lives,” says Molton. “So, there’s this true, noble purpose behind the business and product that I find a lot of personal value in.”

Molton swallows steel needles during a magic act. 

Molton, who continues to perform as a magician, is also an entrepreneur who manufactures weighted backpacks for calorie burning in fitness.

Now he is entranced with something new: his young daughter. Under her spell, spending time with her is his top priority.

“I want to be present for every single moment,” he says. “Everybody keeps telling me how fast it goes by. When I’m done with work for the day, I’m present, I’m engaged and that’s it. She brings me joy every second that I’m with her.”

Whether at work or with family, Molton finds the magic in those around him.

“That’s what matters in life,” he says. “It is the people with whom you surround yourself. That is what will give you joy. That is what will give you motivation. All the rest is just noise.”