Wednesday, July 18, 2018

100 MBAs To Watch In The Class of 2018 - Poets&Quants

Everyone loves a good comeback. The story is hardwired into our psyches: After a fall from grace, a hero will wander the wilderness until fate offers a shot at redemption. From Abraham Lincoln to Steve Jobs, the comeback reminds us that setbacks are temporary and possibilities are infinite.

Just ask Dan Stern.

Three years ago, this gifted entrepreneur was riding high. Stern had built, he says, a “growing company with ten employees and a robust portfolio of clients.” Just one problem: his forecasting couldn’t divine the bankruptcy that was bearing down on him. After wrestling with regret and self-doubt, Stern joined MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Here, he was picked for the deltaV acceleration program, a collection of MIT’s 20 most promising scientists and business leaders. In the process, he co-founded Alba, a matchmaking platform that connects families and babysitters – a venture that already boasts 1,000 paying customers. He also gave back by mentoring 85 of his peers, making Stern “one of the students most admired by faculty and students” according to senior lecturer Donna Levin.

BUSINESS IS NO JOKE IN IMPROV CLASS

Phoebe Luk, University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management)

How was Stern able to overcome such a jarring blow? Simple: He understood that success was ultimately rooted in his reaction. “It took me a while to overpass this situation and understand that what defines a person is how it reacts to adverse situations and not necessarily its achievements,” he writes.

Coming to terms wasn’t the only way that the Class of 2018 dealt with failure. Phoebe Luk, for one, would simply laugh it off. At the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, she originated a four-week improv-driven program to enhance student leadership skills. How does the art of tossing the script to bring out spontaneous reactions prepare students for business situations? The stage and the suite actually require many of the same skills, says Luk.

“I had seen personally how transformational improv training is in changing attitudes and approaches to communication, teamwork, and collaboration,” she explains. “However, much of improv comedy training is centered around stage performance readiness. By combining my background in improv comedy, design thinking, and leadership, I created a 4-week program to empower students with the skills and mindsets necessary for effective leadership.”

A CLASS OF CATALYSTS

Stern and Luk personify the spirit of this year’s MBAs To Watch. It isn’t hard to find words to describe these uber-achievers– inventors, starters, builders, and catalysts. They are the sparks who forge new ideas and rally their peers around them. They are the free thinkers who embrace ideas and people very different from themselves. They are the strivers who observe and question – and whose optimism, energy, and talent bring new enterprises to life.

You’ll find the 2018 MBAs to Watch come from nearly every corner of life. Before enrolling at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business, Brant Faulkner spent a decade as a professional online poker player. As an undergrad, Ivey’s Carlos González Meyer was an aspiring filmmaker who waited tables and snuck into off limits sites to pursue his art. Columbia Business School’s Nathaniel Franks even made the Olympics – twice – as a coach for the U.S. Olympic Women’s Field Hockey team.

Indeed, you won’t find the traditional consulting and banking credentials on many of their resumes. After studying English at an Ivy, Emory Goizueta’s Katie Hoppenjans started out as a writer, authoring horoscopes for a teen magazine before moving onto the fashion and beauty beat for Bridal Guide. Before moving to Austin to study at McCombs, Laura Richards launched an NGO, Business Innovations for Good, which trained Eastern African women on startup fundamentals like budgeting, marketing, and management.  Although Courtney Wenneborg’s resume boasts both Amazon and Nike, her first love was conservation ecology, where she conducted research everywhere from the shadow of Mount Rainier to penguin colonies in Argentina. Turns out, it was perfect preparation for business school – and beyond.

Chris Monti, University of Michigan (Ross School of Business)

TOP PERFORMERS INCLUDE MILITARY VETS AND ENTREPRENEURS

“It may not seem like experience in penguin research would be a great precursor for a successful business career – but as it turns out, understanding how a species differentiates itself in an ecosystem isn’t that different from identifying a company’s unique competitive advantage,” notes the University of Washington Foster MBA. “The key is in being able to take what you’ve learned, strip away the context, and apply the meat of a framework in a completely different environment.”

That’s not to say the MBAs to Watch didn’t feature the usual staples of business school communities. Take the military. Vanderbilt Owen’s Jon Cobb, trained Kurdish forces to fight ISIS – all while parenting three daughters who were five years or younger. “If you can manage little kids, you can manage anybody,” he quips. At the same time, the University of Michigan’s Chris Monti turned himself from worst-to-first in his Air Force class, eventually becoming an AC-130 Gunship Pilot who has witnessed both the Aurora Borealis and St. Elmo’s Fire during flights.

Similarly, the 2018 class featured a wealth of accomplished entrepreneurs. Notably, Patrick Murray co-founded one of Australia’s largest renewable energy retailers and wholesalers before signing on at the University of Melbourne. While INSEAD’s Paul Warren may consider his first venture to be a failure, he managed to bring an app to market that generated millions of downloads and ranked #1 on the app store during the height of the Pokemon Go craze.

DELOITTE RECRUITS MOST STUDENTS FROM MBAs TO WATCH LIST

The 2018 MBAs To Watch were culled from the 239 nominations submitted for the 2018 Best & Brightest MBAs released in May. It consists of graduates from 57 MBA programs, including Stanford GSB, Northwestern Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, INSEAD, and Columbia Business School. By the numbers, the ‘Watch’ list features 51 men and 49 women – nearly the opposite of the 52-to-48 ratio in the 2018 Best & Brightest that favored women.

Graduates from international MBA programs account for 24 spots on this list, up from the 19 who made Best & Brightest. By the same token, the MBAs To Watch boast 44 students who were born outside the United States, also up from the 35 in Best & Brightest. Five military veterans are also found among the MBAs To Watch.

Anna Babinets, Georgia Tech (Scheller College of Business)

Overall, 85 members of the class had landed jobs by spring (though six of those were still in school through the fall). Deloitte was the largest consumer of MBAs to Watch talent, landing five members of the class. Bain, Microsoft, and PwC reeled in three graduates each, with two each going to Amazon, AT&T, BCG, CitiGroup, Deloitte, Ecolab, ExxonMobil, KPMG, and McKinsey.

FROM PRODIGIES TO LATE BLOOMERS

The MBAs To Watch may be builders and drivers – but those qualities stem from something deeper. At their heart, the Class of 2018 are risk-takers…to an extent. Outside the classroom, Northwestern Kellogg’s Nishant Rastogi has bungee jumped off New Zealand’s famed Auckland Harbor Bridge, while Notre Dame Mendoza’s Sarah Shoemaker has gone body sledding in Antarctica. Georgia Tech Scheller’s Anna Babinets has taken deep dives to explore shipwrecks and hand-glided at 3,000 feet. Despite this, she still closes her eyes and plugs her ears when movies get scary. In contrast, Warwick’s Mayank Kapoor tackled his fear of heights by riding the 2nd and 4th highest thrill rides. He survived…but not before screaming for help the whole time!

Cool hobbies? Well, Sara Axelrod competed as a synchronized swimmer before her MBA days at Texas McCombs. Her classmate, Laura Richards, spent a decade as a drummer, while Columbia Business School’s Conor Leary still believes playing the French Horn makes him “cool.” Before Ivey, Beckie Thain-Blonk’s dance prowess earned her a spot in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Closing Ceremony. Not to be outdone, Purdue Krannert’s Steven Sanders is a self-taught composer whose song based on Indiana’s state poem has been performed at the U.S. Capitol. Speaking of notoriety, the University of Pittsburgh’s Jake Sondergard enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame by appearing with his wife on an episode of DIYNetwork’s First Time Flippers.

NEXT PAGE: The class’ biggest achievements (Go to pages 3-4 for student profiles)

Zehra Ali, IMD Business School

That said, many MBAs To Watch were wonders long before they returned to campus. IMD’s Schuyler Weiss made VP at Morgan Stanley when he was just 26. At Phillips 66, Chicago Booth’s Jingjia Zang worked as the company’s youngest trader – a distinction also enjoyed by Georgia Tech’s Reemon Silverman, the youngest attorney at Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co, one of Israel’s largest and most respected law firms. That’s not to say you won’t find a few late bloomers among this class. “I learnt how to drive at the age 30, became a mother at 31 and learnt what it’s like to take exams again at 32,” says IMD’s Zehra Ali.

BALANCING THE NEEDS OF THE UN, NGOs…AND MILITIAS

Because the MBAs to Watch were builders and go-getters, they were often innovators in their companies, industries, and even countries. Look no further than Babson College’s Burcu Aydin. Together with her sister, she founded Turkey’s first women’s health clinic that acted as a “one-stop-shop” that and opened a path and set a standard for others to follow – even hosting a show on Turkish national television to spotlight health needs. “Through our initiatives, we built a strong patient base and expanded our approach to multiple clinics,” she explains. “Most importantly, we became a catalyst for innovation and brought better quality care to more patients.”

The Class of 2018 didn’t just make their proverbial dent in the universe through starting companies. At the Nielsen Company, Ivey’s Carlos González Meyer developed a strategic plan for Coca-Cola on managing the Mexican’s government taxation of food and beverage that was sent to governments worldwide as a benchmark. Similarly, the University of Melbourne’s Stuart Saare created a pipeline analysis model that has been turned into an award-winning software package. How is this for pressure? When Indonesia’s President, Finance Minister, and Central Bank Governor paid a state visit to the United States, Adhika Kartolekso compiled the presentation materials for them. “I was initially star struck,” admits the University of Cambridge Judge grad, “but then had to quickly learn to create a data-driven and balanced narrative for Indonesia’s bond and equity investors.”

Impressive, no doubt, but this year’s class rarely notched such achievements alone. Exhibit A: the University of Toronto’s Daphne Hemily. On a Doctors Without Borders project, she managed the handover of a hospital project in the South Sudan. The only catch? She had to negotiate with “4 United Nations Organizations, 9 NGOs, national, state and municipal government officials, community leaders and militia” – and keep them all on board! Then there’s Chicago Booth’s Anjana Angarwal, a Harvard-trained attorney. Her claim to fame? She designed and spearheaded an energy efficiency and conservation project in Bengaluru, India, brokering a partnership between a technical partner and a local utility in the process. The result? The project produced a 17% increase in efficiency, a boon Angarwal says for communities like Bengaluru, whose swelling populations often result in energy shortages. Angarwal’s efforts also generated notice, with the project now scaled to another Indian metro.

STUDENTS SIGN UP AS TEACHERS AND RESEARCHERS TOO

These MBAs weren’t just fun to watch at work. Many also blurred the line between student and teacher once they entered the classroom. At the Wisconsin School of Business, Benjamin St John lectured on biomimicry and design thinking. Reemon Silverman, who practiced commercial law, co-taught a Startups and Entrepreneurship course in Georgia Tech’s undergraduate program. Some even partnered with faculty on breakthrough research. While Anna Babinets served as a graduate research assistant to Professor Charles Mulford at Scheller, they published a research paper that was spotlighted on CFO.com. Purdue Krannert’s Desiree Shannon even published a research article of her own on Hurricane Harvey in the Purdue Journal of Service Learning and International Engagement. It stemmed from a volunteer effort she organized last fall in Houston, where nine graduate students delivered 265 hours of direct community services to flood victims in need.

Olamide Alli, University of Virginia (Darden School of Business)

Shannon wasn’t the only MBA To Watch who was marshalling school resources for maximum impact. At McCombs, Laura Richards organized an event on technology and gentrification, with a panel that included former HUD Secretary Julian Castro. As a first year, Greg Baesa teamed up with two classmates to organize a record-setting Consulting Day at Georgetown McDonough, a nine month effort that attracted 25 firms and 100 professional consultants. How successful was Sameer Zafar’s tenure as chief investment officer for Rice’s $1.8 billion dollar student-managed investment fund? His team’s portfolio beat the S&P 500 index.

When they saw a need, the class also wasn’t afraid to start their own organizations. With gaming technology becoming an increasingly vital niche in the Los Angeles ecosystem, Vicken Bekarian founded the Marshall Interactive Gaming Association at USC, forming a partnership between the business and engineering schools that drew over two dozen students. In the process, they built networks with leading experts in computer science, design, and project management along with garnering the expertise needed to compete for jobs in the market. At Darden, Olamide Alli took a page from Stanford’s acclaimed TALK events to help foster deeper communication and connections between classmates through Darden Stories.

“During my first year at Darden, Carlos Escalante Trevino [a classmate] and I realized that students were only building surface level connections for the purposes of building their business network rather than building authentic long-lasting relationships,” she points out. “In order to make memorable experiences with other people you need to understand where they’re coming from and relate to them on a personal level, because authentic relationships take you the farthest… Innovation begins with empathy, so we get to know awesome members of our community more intimately as they share with us the moments that made them who they are today. Darden Stories has transformed the dialogue between students. So instead of asking “What’s your name and what are you recruiting for,” students now ask “What’s your name and how are you feeling today?”.

GHOSTBUSTERS: A CASE STUDY OF A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP

Like classes before, business school served as a transformational experience for the MBAs To Watch. It re-shaped how they viewed their own potential, values, and career path, not to mention their peers and their world. For better or worse, it even changed how they interpreted long-time favorites like movies. Carl Biggers, for one, will never look at Ghostbusters the same way again. “The team not only was the first to move into the market and identify and capitalize on the ghost problem,” argues the Wisconsin grad, “but they built their business on what appears to be a combination of expertise, hustle, and a fair amount of luck. In my mind these are all important elements for a successful start-up.”

That wasn’t the only surprise. For many, business school wasn’t necessarily what they expected. Often, it was far better than they hoped. “The biggest myth about business school is that the most important lessons you’ll learn are how to “do” accounting, or finance, or marketing, explains Foster’s Courtney Wenneborg. “Yes, these are skills you learn, but the bigger lessons come in understanding how to think strategically, see the big picture, and work with others to prioritize the pieces that will yield the greatest impact.”

Andrew Sims, IESE Business School

It was a large investment of time and money for sure, but it was hardly a two year sabbatical from work. In fact, Matt Hillman found it to be exactly the opposite. “Since enrolling at the University of Michigan, I have gained two years of real world experience to compliment what I’ve learned in the classroom,” he emphasizes. “I’ve done this by consulting a number of organizations with a variety of business challenges, helping to create two startups and working in early-stage investments.”

BEST ADVICE: TAKE TIME TO ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE

That’s not to say they didn’t leave with regrets. What advice would the Class of 2018 give to future MBAs to help them make the most of their time? Perhaps the most popular response was to slow down and (in the words of Toronto Rotman’s Phoebe Luk) “soak in the freedom and savor the opportunities rather than just going from one thing to the next.” Benjamin St John puts it another way.

“Going back I would tell myself, “It’s not a question of IF you can handle that amount of work but instead its a question of SHOULD you handle that much work,” says the Wisconsin grad.

Part of that SHOULD, adds IESE’s Andrew Sims, involves knowing what you want to accomplish and prepare for it ahead of time. “Life moves fast, and the MBA moves faster—there are so many opportunities that everyone must make tough choices on which academic, professional, and extracurricular activities they want to pursue. You don’t have to have everything figured out by the time you get to campus, but the earlier you start thinking and preparing for the experience the better chance you give yourself of getting everything you want out of your two years.”

NEXT PAGE: Student profiles from Chicago Booth, Columbia Business School, Dartmouth Tuck, Duke Fuqua, Michigan Ross, and many more.

DON’T MISS: BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS: CLASS OF 2018

2018 MBAs To Watch

Student School Hometown Employer
Jenny Tang Arizona State University (W. P. Carey) Chandler, AZ E. & J. Gallo Winery
Burcu Aydin Babson College (F.W. Olin) Istanbul, Turkey Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Carola Leiva Babson College (F.W. Olin) Santiago, Chile Sensata Technologies
Jimmy Stevenson Boston College (Carroll) Massapequa, NY PwC
Parul Kashyap Boston University (Questrom) San Jose, CA Edenbridge Health
Dalia Rinaldi Boston University (Questrom) San Francisco, CA CVS Health
Adhika Kartoleksono Cambridge University (Judge) Jakarta, Indonesia Traveloka
Sergio Cabello Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) Lima, Peru L’Oréal Luxe
Mo (Charlotte) Li CEIBS Beijing, China Microsoft
Víctor Tobío Torrejón CEIBS Vigo, Spain Strategy&
Anjana Agarwal University of Chicago (Booth) New Delhi, India Undecided
Ngozika Uzoma University of Chicago (Booth) Medfield, MA Box
Jingjia Zang University of Chicago (Booth) Zhengzhou, China Chevron
Ashia S. Johnson Columbia Business School Detroit, MI Undecided
Nathaniel Franks Columbia Business School Washington, DC KPMG
Conor Leary Columbia Business School Rochester, NY Adobe
Bright Botchway Cornell University (Johnson) Accra, Ghana Bain & Company
Chelsea Turner Cornell University (Johnson) San Francisco, CA Citigroup
Martina Ravelli Dartmouth College (Tuck) Trento, Italy Microsoft
Mariela Berrocal Duke University (Fuqua) San José, Costa Rica BCG Digital Ventures
Mike Galanis Emory University (Goizueta) Alpharetta, GA Bain & Company
Katie Hoppenjans Emory University (Goizueta) Columbus, OH UPS
Karol Kalejta ESADE Toronto, Canada Heinemann Americas
Sudharsan Lakshmi Hayavathanan ESMT Berlin Srirangam, India Undecided
Marissa Almeida University of Florida (Hough) East Providence, RI Dell
Greg Baesa Georgetown University (McDonough) Malolos, Philippines Deloittte
Anna Babinets Georgia Tech (Scheller) Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan Delta Airlines
Reemon Silverman Georgia Tech (Scheller) Calais, ME North Highland
Alex Walsh Georgia Tech (Scheller) Palm Coast, FL Home Depot
Ximena Monroy HEC Paris Bogotá, Colombia Kantar Consulting
Antonio Mont’Alverne HEC Paris Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi
Allison (Allie) Whitefleet IE Business School South Plainfield, NJ Undecided (In School)
Adelina Gerteis IESE Business School Munich, Germany Microsoft
Andrew Sims IESE Business School Chicago, IL Credit Suisse
Brant D. Faulkner University of Illinois (Gies) Belvidere, IL KPMG
Zehra Ali IMD Business School Lahore, Pakistan Borealis
Javier Rodrigo Mendivil Ramirez IMD Business School Lima, Peru Hach
Schuyler Weiss IMD Business School Barrington, RI REYL & Cie.
Novita Dwi Maharani Indiana University (Kelley) Kediri, Indonesia Deloitte Consulting
David Hanger Indiana University Carmel, IN Infosys
Paul Warren INSEAD New York, NY Unboxd
Carlos González Meyer University of Western Ontario (Ivey) Mexico City, Mexico General Mills
Beckie Thain-Blonk University of Western Ontario (Ivey) Vancouver, Canada Hello Prosper
Staci Bank University of Maryland (Smith) Plainview, NY Johnson & Johnson
Sean Gilson University of Maryland (Smith) Frederick, MD American Express
Patrick Murray Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Austrailia Undecided (In School)
Stuart Saare Melbourne Business School Perth, Australia Undecided (In School)
Matt Hillman University of Michigan (Ross) Orlando, FL Amazon
Chris Monti University of Michigan (Ross) Sacramento, CA Frito-Lay
Riyaj Gilani Michigan State (Broad) Nagpur, India McKinsey

NEXT PAGE: Student profiles from Stanford GSB, Northwestern Kellogg, Notre Dame Mendoza, Texas McCombs, UCLA Anderson, Virginia Darden, and many more.

2018 MBAs To Watch

Student School Hometown Employer
Priyanka Lamba Nadgiri University of Minnesota (Carlson) Mumbai, India Ecolab
Dan Stern MIT (Sloan) Santiago, Chile Alba
Greg Dougherty University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) Gillette, WY Schlumberger
Matthew Lyde-Cajuste University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) Mount Vernon, NY Wells Fargo
Leslie Morton University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) Charlotte, NC Pfizer
Nishant Rastogi Northwestern University (Kellogg) Easton, PA LEK Consulting
Sonakshi Bahety Notre Dame (Mendoza) Indore, India Ecolab
Sarah Shoemaker Notre Dame (Mendoza) Edwardsburg, MI Interlogic Outsourcing
Mireille Hartley Ohio State (Fisher) Woodbury, CT Nationwide Insurance
Paul Sobecki Ohio State (Fisher) Centerville, OH Deloitte
Sakina Mehenni University of Oxford (Said) Algiers, Algeria Undecided
Matt Furniss Penn State (Smeal) Bechtelsville, PA Kiewit
Jake Sondergard University of Pittsburgh (Katz) Kalamazoo, MI Eaton
Steven Sanders Purdue University (Krannert) Argos, IN Eli Lily
Desiree Shannon Purdue University (Krannert) Mount Vernon, OH Undecided
Elena Engles Colom Rice University (Jones) Oklahoma City, OK ExxonMobil
David Laborde Rice University (Jones) Katy, TX Kalypso Consulting
Sameer Zafar Rice University (Jones) Karachi, Pakistan Undecided
Veselina Angelova Rochester University (Simon) Sofia, Bulgaria Citigroup
Gilbert Bonsu Rochester University (Simon) Newark, NJ AT&T
Hashima Charles Rochester University (Simon) Brooklyn, NY AT&T
Sarah Caldwell Southern Methodist University (Cox) Midland, TX ExxonMobil
Bianca Marie Harris Southern Methodist University (Cox) Kansas City, MO Whirlpool
David Hurtado Southern Methodist University (Cox) Bogota, Columbia PwC
Charles Barrett Stanford GSB Keokuk, IA Harvard Kennedy School (Student)
Jack Marzulli Stanford GSB New York City, NY Bain & Company
Sara Axelrod University of Texas (McCombs) Denver, CO Land O’Lakes
Michael Massad University of Texas (McCombs) Dallas, TX Elsewhere Partners
Laura Richards University of Texas (McCombs) Santa Rosa, CA Deloitte
Willie Dennis Texas A&M (Mays) Killeen, TX Bank of the Ozarks
Thomas Dowlearn Texas A&M (Mays) Houston, TX Texas A&M (Medical Student)
Daphne Hemily University of Toronto (Rotman) Toronto, Canada McKinsey
Phoebe Luk University of Toronto (Rotman) Markham, Canada Myplanet
Vivek Kukkapalli U.C.-Irvine (Merage) Hyderabad, India Amazon
Niti Shukla U.C.-Irvine (Merage) Gujarat, India Undecided
Tazia Middleton UCLA (Anderson) Dublin, CA Boston Consulting Group
Dr. Harshita Mishra UCLA (Anderson) Bhubaneswar, India Roche
Gabriel Sinisgalli Reginato UCLA (Anderson) Sao Paulo, Brazil Undecided
David Sean Graydon Dallas-Orr U.C.-San Diego (Rady) San Diego, CA Undecided
Vicken (Vic) Bekarian USC (Marshall) Glendale, CA Jam City
Tanadcha (Ben) Therdwikrant USC (Marshall) Bangkok, Thailand Boston Consulting Group
Jon Cobb Vanderbilt University (Owen) San Diego, CA PwC
Olamide Alli University of Virginia (Darden) Lithonia, GA PwC
Antonia Instone Warwick Business School Oxford, UK Undecided (In School)
Mayank Kapoor Warwick Business School New Delhi, India Undecided (In School)
Andre Matos Warwick Business School Braga, Portugal Undecided (In School)
Courtney Wenneborg University of Washington (Foster) Sammamish, WA Nike
Joe Piganelli Washington University (Olin) Carmel, IN Accenture
Carl Biggers University of Wisconsin Verona, WI Intuit
Benjamin St John University of Wisconsin Norfolk, VA Protolabs

The post 100 MBAs To Watch In The Class of 2018 appeared first on Poets&Quants.



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