My thesis is a creative project in which I designed, developed, marketed, and sold a mobile application on the iOS (iPhone) platform. In addition to developing a mobile application, I also formed a Limited Liability Company, Flem LLC, which I will own, manage, and operate for the duration of this project and beyond the thesis project. Flem LLC allows me to create a unique brand for my company, separate from myself, as well as providing legal protection for my personal assets. My initial application is titled "Derpy Calc". It is a basic calculator for iPhone capable of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and taking the square root of positive, negative, and decimal numbers. Derpy Calc is unique because before it will output an answer, Derpy, the calculator's personality, will make a remark or ask a question that is factual, random, or silly. This application is targeted at teenagers and young adults and the outputs Derpy gives will be targeted those demographic. The purpose of this application is to provide humor and spontaneity to the process of doing math and is currently the only iOS application with that focus. Derpy debuted on the Apple App store on March 1st 2013. As of March 27th, it is on Version 1.2, has had 457 advertisement views on 328 downloads. It has earned Flem LLC a total of $0.75 in advertising revenues.

This thesis seeks to explore the contrast between the performance of mergers and acquisitions and the propensity of CEOs to enter into these deals. M&A are common means by which firms achieve inorganic growth, but they often perform poorly and fail to accrue expected returns. This apparent contrast between deal popularity and performance prompts further examination and an application of theoretical concepts from the field of strategic management. Following a review of M&A theory, this thesis explores agency theory and managerial hubris and applies these concepts to executive decision-making in M&A. Four hypotheses are presented, evaluating the effects of compensation structure and overconfidence on the M&A decision-making behavior of executives.