Zell Fellows
Our Zell Fellows Venture Further
Over the years, we have found that the most successful Fellows have had a few things in common. Zell Fellows are consistently known to possess the following traits:
- Drive and Urgency: Zell Fellows do not wait for things to come to them, they go out and make them happen. Rather than pushing things off or saying “I’ll get to that next week/month,” our Fellows push forward to achieve their goals.
- Humility and Collegiality: Zell Fellows are knowledgeable in their given domain, but more importantly, they know what they don’t know and understand that there is always more to learn. Being coachable and flexible is not only important for success in the program, but also for overall success as an entrepreneur
- Community-Oriented: Zell Fellows understand that what they can give is usually much more important than what they can get. They are generous with their knowledge and expertise and by doing so they receive the same generosity from their fellow students.
Program Highlights
All Fellows participating in the program, both the New Venture track as well as the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition track, will benefit from the following:- Mentorship from track faculty, outside advisors and practitioners, sharing their experience as well as providing guidance on the practical aspects of launching or acquiring a business
- Experiences, including visits with Chicago-area entrepreneurs; leadership and executive presence workshops and private coaching; and both domestic and international treks to visit successful entrepreneurs, Zell Fellows alumni, and the other schools that are part of the Zell Global Entrepreneur Network
- Resources, both financial and from vetted service providers, to put towards their businesses and entrepreneurial journey
- Community, within their own Kellogg cohort, with other Kellogg Zell alumni, and with participants and alumni of the programs at other schools that are part of the Zell Global Entrepreneur Network
New Venture Track
Students in the new venture track of the program will start their entrepreneurial journey as the founder of a new venture. The program provides resources specific to each founder’s industry and needs, whether that is a student aspiring to launch a business in the B2B or B2C space, a student needing help navigating the unique regulatory, research and development, intellectual property, and other challenges that healthcare startups face, a student needing support with starting a venture located in a developing economy or one with social impact, or a student needing any other type of specialized help.
Businesses that students are working on will be as market-ready and as fundable as possible by graduation, but ultimately, the program aims to provide entrepreneurs with the experiences, tools and frameworks that they can use to continue to grow as entrepreneurs throughout their careers.
2021-22 Cohort
Justin Allen '22 / Vet Equity is a real estate company that will own and operate single-family homes in military communities that gives service members the ability to build equity without the need to buy and sell a home every time they move.
Nicole Cuervo '22 / Springrose designs adaptive, attractive bras specifically for women with upper mobility challenges, such as arthritis, stroke paralysis, nerve damage and shoulder injuries.
Jamie Curran '22 / Jaes is a women’s footwear brand with the first shoe truly made for all day wear with the style, custom comfort, and functionality that you need to take on their day, no matter the agenda.
Catherine Lamb '22 / Liquid Confidence is creating an entirely new ready-to-drink beverage by combining the functional benefits of kombucha with a spirits-based canned cocktail.
Sarah Pinner '22 / Beni is a browser extension that surfaces curated alternatives from secondhand marketplaces.
Jonathan Schroeder '22 / Datum is a B2C Consumer Data Management SaaS company. Our mission is to build a smart data economy by offering digital services to help everyday consumers control, manage, and monetize their data assets.
Siddharth Sharma '22 / GreenGrahi is on a mission to save our planet by making landfills a thing of the past through its proprietary technology solutions and scientific know-how on closed loop recycling. Its first product is a smart food waste composter that helps businesses treat their food waste onsite in a cleaner, faster & cost effective manner.
Shanna Traphoner-Liu '22 / bekome is a tech-enabled mental health company channeling the power of the gut-brain connection in supporting mental health through a three-pronged approach: bite-sized mental health nutrition education, personalized suite of vitamins and supplements, and effective progress tracking through expert consults and a digital platform.
105 Zell Fellows venture track alumni since 2014
Zell Fellows Alumni - New Venture Track
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2020-21 Cohort Anastasia Evanich ’21 / The Adrenal DrinkSam Jactel ’21 / Agora Health Sara Jandeska ’22 / Blue Comet Medical Solutions Alyssa Marazzo ’21 /Ciclo Emily Mohr ’21 / Nine Times Bakery Sarita Patankar ’21 / HuddleMD Ben Preston ’21 / Gearflow Adam Turville ’21 / FinLit Oliver Yiu ’21 / mySkin |
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2019-20 Cohort Jennifer Daily ’20 / Lana Kila Phil O’Brien ’20 / Limelight Chris Rochester ’20 / Primary Colors Marcus Schneider ’20 / again&again Will Zheng ’20 / Serionix, Inc. Michelle Zighelboim ’20 / Zéta |
Adam Cohen ’20 / Stemloop Hanna Colin ’20 / B-Vitals Amit Gupta ’20 / Cardiosense Ana Kakkar ’20 / Every Clinic Kartik Kesavabhotla ’21 / airmid Health Xiao Zhang ’20 / Amasu |
Rafael Leite ’20 / Beniccio Sinthuja Nagalingam ’20 / Tilt Brunna Seabra ’20 / Dindin |
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2018-19 Cohort Kimmie Carey '19 / The Dose Co. David Costello '19 / Kengos Alex Eng '19 / SLATE Daniel Kolb '19 / Commit Cara Morphew '19 / BeenThere Adam Motley '19 / Movo Chair |
Kyle Metz '19 / Jabiru Medical LLC Tim Taxter '19 |
Enrique Evoli '19 / KIN Industries Sahar Jamal '19 / Maziwa Stephane Manuel '19 / TrueFiktion Don Meier '19 / LineShift Sam Schiller '19 / Carbon Yield Julian Sheinbaum '19 / Teachability |
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2017-18 Cohort Jennifer Barron ’18 / Outfox Kathryn Bernell ’18 / reBLEND Allison Brown ’18 / Cariset Rei Kawano ’18 / Heed Foods Chase Michalek ’18 / Hilltop Health Brittany Phillips ’18 / Carewaye Milan Raj ’18 / Shaadi Destinations Adam Swick ’18 / Swick Capital |
Andrew Cabodi ’18 / BackWave Technologies Dianna He ’18 / Sit the Moon Health David Nguyen ’18 / okam health Kyle Wildnauer Haigney ’18 / ScriptPass |
Nakul Khanna ’18 / Instago Alejandro Orvananos Obregon ’18 /Qualtrium Zain Shahzad ’18 / Allif Patrick Tagny Diesse ’18 / Afiri |
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2016-17 Cohort Nathan Cooper ’17 / Wise Apple Rachael Feuerborn ’17 / Finch Roshni Khurana ’17 / The Right Hook Jared Scharen ’17 / eRetirements Tiffany Smith ’17 / Tiltas Carolyn Snider ’17 / Welltended Eduardo Uriarte Ruiz ’17 / Kairos Rachel Xanttopoulos ’17 / Daybreak |
Healthcare Track Barath Anandakumar ’17 / ActiWit Gal Ben Dor ’17 / Getoo Todd Cruikshank ’17 / Surgical Innovation Associates Smit Naik ’17 / Actualize Therapy Eloy Vinuales ’17 / PrediCare |
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2015-16 Cohort Jordan Hollander ’16 / Citykey Nidheesh Patel ’16 / Carvnient Blair Pircon ’16 / The Graide Network Bobby Powers ’16 / SharEd Justin Saeheng ’16 / IFM Technologies Beth Santos ’16 / Wanderful Asaf Segev ’16 / Syteful Rebecca Sholiton ’16 / Wise Apple |
2014-15 Cohort Jeremy Bolian ’15 /Acentive Jesse Chang ’16 / MDAR Technologies, Inc. Michael Jung ’15 / UroProx Stephen Lane ’16 / FlyHomes Priya Mathew ’15 / Practico Luciana Silva De Oliveira ’15 / New Hope Ecotech Kieren Patel ’16 / Opticent Health Gaurav Shenai ’15 / Touchtrail Tyler Wanke ’15 / Innoblative |
2013-14 Cohort Christopher Chon ’14 / Leonard & Church Mathew Elenjickal ’14 / Four Kites Vaibhov Goel ’14 / Tuplee Travis Granger ’14 / Arbyl April (Yong Kyung) Kim ’14 /Chatting Cat Daniel Klein ’15 / REPP Jeremy O’Briant ’14 / License Buddy Jason Sandler ’15 / Innoblative |
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) Track
- a traditional search, in which the entrepreneur raises capital from investors to find, acquire and run an existing company
- a self-funded search, where the search itself is self-funded and the acquisition is identified before the financing is determined
- an incubated or funded search, in which the entrepreneur works with an investment firm experienced in acquisitions and succession.
- the apprenticeship model, which pairs an aspiring entrepreneur with existing company leadership
- a CEO-in-training program that provides development and operating experience
- supporting a family business with the goal of encouraging expansion
2021-22 Cohort
Matt Brugner ‘22
Nick Buege ‘22
Marcus Castro ‘22
Daniel Herrera Kheneyzir ‘22
Hereford Johnson ‘22
Bijeet Mukherjee ‘22
Alex Nay ‘22
Joshua Zhang ‘22
50 Zell Fellows ETA track alumni since 2016
Zell Fellows Alumni - ETA Track
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Zell Fellow Highlights
FourKites
FourKites has completely transformed expectations for the shipping industry with their real-time tracking solutions. FourKites was named to Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startups 2019.
Surgical Innovation Associates
Surgical Innovation Associates is developing innovative medical devices. They have received FDA clearance and have begun clinical use of their first product.
Carbon Yield
Carbon Yield won the 2019 Kellogg Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge and has received funding from an agricultural foundation which will help farmers become more resilient to climate change while returning carbon to healthy soil.
Saumya ‘17
Kheyti / Emerging Markets & Social Impact trackSaumya, founder of Kheyti, which helps small farmers in India with their “Greenhouse in a box”, was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs of 2019.
Will Wright ‘16
Peerless Events & Tents / Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition TrackWill Wright formed a search fund after Kellogg graduation and acquired Peerless Events & Tents for the purpose of building it into a major regional event rental business
Application Process
Application to the program is in the fall of the year that you would participate. The program will officially begin in October, after all Fellows selected have been invited to join the program. As you prepare, there will be opportunities the previous spring to engage with the program.
To be a competitive applicant for the program, a student should be able to demonstrate a commitment to entrepreneurship, whether the eventual goal is starting a new venture or acquiring an existing one.
If you have a venture idea…
- Start by taking the New Venture Launch-Pad classes: The New Venture Launch-Pad series (Discovery, Development, Launch) through KIEI will not only allow you to develop and test your idea, but they will introduce you to a set of entrepreneurial tools and frameworks that will serve you well when building any venture. The Zell program builds on the language and frameworks of these courses, so having taken one or more will definitely set you off on the right foot.
- Do as much in-market testing as possible: The most competitive New Venture applications for Zell are the ones that provide early evidence of product-market fit. And while Kellogg’s Launch-Pad classes will teach you some important tools for venture building, they must be deployed in the wild to be useful. Said another way: get out and test your idea! We look at the research you’ve done and the data you collect along the way as early indications of your entrepreneurial passion and acumen. The more evidence that you can gather that your chosen problem is worth solving with a new business, and that people (outside of the Kellogg “bubble”) want to pay for what you’re offering, the better!
- Reach out to the Zell Fellows team and alumni: The program faculty and staff would be happy to meet with you early in your Kellogg journey. We enjoy hearing from students as early as possible so that we can point you in the right direction to make you a competitive applicant when it comes time for you to apply to the program. Furthermore, there are over 140 alumni who have been through the program and can share the ins-and-outs of their experience with you. They are listed above. Feel free to reach out to them.
If you want to pursue Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA)…
- Reach out to the current class of ETA Zell Fellows: The ETA community at Kellogg is growing, and one of the best resources is the current group of ETA Zell Fellows. They will be able to give you some great insights from the student perspective on the work that they’ve done to prepare to take this path.
- Reach out to other entrepreneurs in the ETA space: Look for current or past search fund entrepreneurs on Searchfunder or LinkedIn and reach out to them to learn more about their experience. The more perspectives you can get from people who have experience in ETA, the better!
- Take the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition class: Kellogg’s half-credit ETA class is a great way to learn about the various paths to ETA as well as meet others interested in the field.
View an information session on the program.
Application Dates |
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September 15, 2022
12:15 - 1:15pm |
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September 25, 2022
11:59 PM |
Program Application Deadline
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Weeks of :
October 3, 2022 (Round 1) October 10, 2022 (Round 2) |
Zell Fellows Interviews
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October 14, 2022
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2022-2023 Invitations Issued
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Program Dates |
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October 19, 2022
12:00pm-8:00pm |
Zell Fellows Programming Begins
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November 5-6, 2022
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Fall Trek
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December 4-7, 2022
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Individual Track Treks
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Spring Break 2023
Exact dates TBD |
Israel Trek
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Israeli Zell Program Visit
June 2023, exact dates TBD |
ZGEN Gathering at Kellogg
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Faculty Leadership
David Schonthal
Faculty Director, Zell Fellows ProgramDavid founded the program in 2013 and has led the expansion of the program over the past several years as additional tracks, focus areas, resources, and experiences have been added to meet the specific needs of the students in the program.
New Venture TrackAdjunct Professor of Social Impact, Track Co-Lead Track Co-Lead Adjunct Lecturer of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Development and Alumni Engagement |
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition TrackAdjunct Lecturer of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Track Co-Lead Adjunct Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Track Co-Lead |
Experts-in-ResidenceClinical Professor of Strategy and Expert-in-Residence, Leadership and Venture Creation Expert-in-Residence, Emerging Markets Expert-in-Residence, Digital Product Design |
Mentors-in-ResidenceMentor-in-Residence Mentor-in-Residence Mentor-in-Residence Mentor-in-Residence |
Program Staff
| Sarah Stein
Program Manager |
Carrie Kiryakakis
Program Assistant |
Sam Zell
Founder, ChairmanSam Zell is a global, industry-agnostic entrepreneur and investor. He has a long track record of turning around troubled companies and assets, leading industry consolidations, and bringing companies to the public markets. His current investments are in logistics, healthcare, manufacturing, energy and real estate
Sam is the Chairman of Equity Group Investments, the private investment firm he founded more than 50 years ago. He also chairs five companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange: Equity Residential, an apartment REIT; Equity LifeStyle Properties, a manufactured home community and resort REIT; Equity Commonwealth, an office REIT; Covanta Holding Corporation, an international owner/operator of energy-from-waste and power generation facilities; and Equity Distribution Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) targeting opportunities to apply technological advancement within the industrial industry.
Sam also founded and chaired Equity Office Properties Trust, the largest office REIT until its 2007 sale for $39 billion in the largest leveraged buyout at the time. In addition, he introduced the first Brazilian and Mexican real estate companies, respectively, to the New York Stock Exchange through Equity International, a second private investment firm he founded to focus on real estate-related businesses in emerging markets.
Sam is an active philanthropist with a focus on entrepreneurial education. Through the Zell Family Foundation, he has led the sponsorship of several leading entrepreneurship programs, including: the Zell/Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business; the Zell Fellows Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; and the Zell Entrepreneurship Center at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC). The Zell Global Entrepreneur Network (ZGEN) unites the students and alumni of these programs and actively provides them with connections, opportunities, mentorship and support. Sam also sponsors the Samuel Zell/Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Real Estate Center. He holds a JD degree and a BA from the University of Michigan.
Sam was recognized in 2017 by Forbes as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds. That same year, Sam debuted his book, Am I Being Too Subtle? (Penguin RandomHouse), in which he shares fundamentals and philosophies that made him a self-made billionaire.
