Karin O'Connor
Clinical Associate Professor of Strategy
Executive Director of the Heizer Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital
Karin O'Connor has been an active investor in early- and growth-stage companies for more than 25 years. She currently serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Strategy at Kellogg, where she leads the school's growth-stage entrepreneurship initiative and teaches its Growth Strategy Practicum course. She also recently developed and launched an experential course called Strategy Management Practicum in the school's new Master in Management (MiM) program. In addition, Karin is a Venture Partner at Serra Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, and leads the firm's activities in the Chicago market, including recent investments in Hypercell, Inc., Hazel Technologies, Built In, Tank Utility, Backstitch, The Cumin Club, and IMIO. She is also active as an advisor to growth-stage companies, including Aaron Equipment Company and Cedar Concepts, Inc.
From 2011 until 2014, Karin served as managing director of Hyde Park Angels, Chicago's largest angel investor network. She invested in 15 companies with the group and served as HPA's representative on the boards of portfolio companies FeeFighters, which was acquired by Groupon, Inc., in 2012; and Moxie Jean, which was acquired by Schoola in 2015.
Karin received her BA in Finance from the University of Illinois, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her MBA from Kellogg, where she was an F.C. Austin Scholar and was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma. Karin received a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter in 2007.
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Master of Business Administration, 1989, Finance and Management Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Bachelor of Arts, 1982, Finance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -
Clinical Assistant Professor of Innovation and Entreprenuership, Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2016-present
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Entrepreneur in Residence, Research Park at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 2014-present
Advisory Board Member, Aaron Equipment Company, 2011-present
President, Perimeter Advisors, 2004-present
Advisory Board Member, Cadent Resources, Inc, 2003-present
Director and Investor, Moxie Jean, Inc, 2014-2015
Member and Managing Director, Hyde Park Angels, 2009-2015
Board Member, Neighborhood Capital Institute, 2009-2014
Board Member, FeeFighters, 2010-2012
Director, Laurus Technologies, 2007-2009
Director, Trust Company of Illinois, 2004-2009
Board Member, Anixter Center, 1999-2004
Consultant, BMO Nesbitt Burns Equity Partners (US), 2000-2001
Principal and Co-Founder, SBC Equity Partners, 1997-1999
Vice President and Group Head, ABN AMRO Bank, 1996
Vice President, LINC Capital Management, 1991-1993
Senior Consultant, Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), 1989-1990
Second Vice President, Continental Bank, 1982-1989
Growth Strategy Practicum (STRT-615-0)
While much media hype continues to focus on "launching" new ventures, real value is created in actually "growing" them. The Growth Strategy Practicum course is targeted at students who wish to develop their business execution skills by working on a real-life project with a growth-stage enterprise, putting their knowledge and skills to work to benefit an existing business. The course will be especially beneficial to students who aspire to:
- Join a fast-growing enterprise in a senior management role
- Acquire an existing business with a view toward rapid enterprise value growth
- Execute growth initiatives in the context of a family-owned business
Field Study (STRT-498-5)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.
Field Study (STRT-498-0)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.
Strategy/Management Practicum (ENTRM-920-0)
The Strategy/Management Practicum is an experiential course designed to give students a realistic virtual immersion in leading and managing a business, along with a set of practical tools and frameworks applied in real business settings. Curriculum will revolve around team participation in an immersive learning platform called Capstone 2.0. Teams will compete by analyzing the market, crafting a strategy, and then executing via a series of key decisions across eight “years†in four functional areas: Research & Development, Production, Marketing/Sales, and Finance. Progress will be measured via a “balanced scorecard†consisting of financial, customer satisfaction, and business process metrics, and results from each round will be discussed and analyzed in class. The simulation will be supplemented with content, discussion, and practical exercises covering strategy, marketing, operations, and finance. Course session will also include early-stage and mid-market investors and business leaders who can speak to decision making and management issues in a very specific way. There will also be a field visit to a local company to lend ground-level perspective, along with senior management Q&A. Final assessment for the course will be a team presentation to a company “board of directors†outlining decision-making strategy and results of the simulation.
Field Study (ENTR-498-0)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.
