David Schonthal
David Schonthal

FINANCE; ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION
Adjunct Lecturer of Entrepreneurship & Innovation

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David is Co‐Founder and Partner at Fusion Ventures - an investment and advisory firm focused on growing startups in the early stages of development. Fusion’s portfolio includes companies in healthcare, services, technology and social enterprise located in the US, Europe and Latin America.

Prior to joining Fusion, David served as the Director of Strategy and Venture Development at Tavistock Life Sciences in San Diego, part of the Tavistock Group – a private equity firm with broad holdings in 15 countries. While at Tavistock, David served in senior management roles for a number of the firm’s young portfolio companies in both the healthcare and consumer packaged goods industries.

David’s experience also includes roles as Manager in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ consulting practice in London and Senior Consultant for both Andersen and Deloitte in Chicago -- specializing in global strategy, e‐commerce, and business process improvement.

In addition to his position at Kellogg David teaches Entrepreneurship and New Ventures at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and serves as a Venture Catalyst at IDEO - an award-winning innovation and design firm.

David is a member of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s technology, innovation and entrepreneurship council (ChicagoNext), and is an investment advisor to the State of Illinois’s Invest Illinois Venture Capital Fund. He serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at CONNECT, a Southern California-based startup incubator for technology and life sciences companies, and is a Mentor with the Chicago Innovation Mentors program – an organization focused on commercializing cutting edge technologies from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois Chicago and Argonne National Lab. David is a former member of the San Diego Zoo’s Innovation Council as well as a former Entrepreneur-in-Residence for San Diego Sports Innovators – an entrepreneurship and development organization focused on growing the business of sport in Southern California.

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Education
Bachelors of Art, International Relations, Boston University, Boston University, Magna Cum Laude
MBA, General Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Academic Positions
Adjunct Professor, Entrepreneurship, Northwestern University, 2011-present

Other Professional Experience
Partner, Fusion Ventures
Director, Strategy and Venture Development, The Tavistock Group
Chief Operating Officer, Iapyx Medical
Manager, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Senior Consultant, Deloitte, LLP
Senior Consultant, Arthur Anderson, LLP
Product Manager, Arthur Anderson, LLP

 
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Print Teaching
Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Entrepreneurship & New Venture Formation (ENTR-462-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Management & Strategy

This new version of 462 will focus on the initial stages of idea generation, team formation and testing key assumptions of a business idea. Through this ‘launchpad’ course students will determine if their ideas are unique, relevant, profitable, and sustainable. At the end of the course, If students have a credible business concept they will be encouraged to enroll in the NUvention courses or Kellogg mentorship programs in subsequent quarters. Students enrolling in 462 do not need a team or a fully developed business idea. Grading will be on an individual basis. Content of the course will focus on the ‘discovery’ process, often referred to as Stage Zero in the innovation process. This is perhaps the most important moment in the life of a business. Get the idea right and your primary challenge will be how to scale your business. Get the idea wrong and scaling your business will be the least of your worries. This course is designed to help you identify opportunities and then improve the quality of your ideas. You will learn how to identify problems worth solving, test your assumptions about possible solutions, adjust your initial hypothesis based on market feedback, and ultimately accelerate the time between inspiration, execution, operations, and growth.