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Visit Our Northwestern today!Zell Fellows
Our Zell Fellows Venture Further
Zell Fellows are known not only for their intellect, drive and entrepreneurial passion, but also for their humility, collegiality and desire to support other aspiring entrepreneurs. The program provides mentorship, leadership coaching, resources, and guidance that will help each Fellow attain personal as well as professional goals. Whether you’re looking to launch a startup or acquire an existing venture, the Zell Fellows Program offers the tools, resources and community you need to chart your entrepreneurial career. Kellogg Zell Fellows are a part of the larger Zell Global Entrepreneur Network, a network of entrepreneurs throughout the world who were also selected to be part of the program.
Program Highlights
All Fellows participating in the program, both the Venture tracks 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
See below for more information on the application process.
Venture Track
Students in one of the venture tracks of the program will start their entrepreneurial journey as the founder of a new venture. The program’s three venture tracks provide resources specific to each founder’s industry and needs:- The Consumer & Enterprise track is designed for students aspiring to launch a business in the B2B or B2C space.
- Students in the Healthcare track have access to specific resources to address the unique regulatory, research and development, intellectual property, strategic partnerships, and other challenges that these startups face.
- The Emerging Markets & Social Impact track of the program focuses on helping students starting ventures located in developing economies or ventures with social impact, both of which require specialized support.
78 Zell Fellows venture track alumni since 2014
Consumer & Enterprise Track Zell Fellows
2019-20 Cohort
Connor Crown ‘20 / METEOR MCCK
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 / Moda Zeta
2018-19 Cohort
Sam Abidi '19 / Phelps2020
Kimmie Carey '19 / The Dose Co.
David Costello '19 / Scoots
Alex Eng '19 / SLATE
Daniel Kolb '19 / Commit
Cara Morphew '19 / BeenThere
Adam Motley '19 / Movo Chair
2017-18 Cohort
Nick Anastasiades ’18 / 2ndKitchen
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
2016-17 Cohort
Saumya ’17 / Kheyti
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
2015-16 Cohort
Tushar Garg ’16 / FlyHomes
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
Lorena Arathoon ’15 / Snackerie
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
Ty Benefiel ’14 / MeterGenius
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
Healthcare Track Zell Fellows
2019-20 Cohort
Olivia Cameron '20 / UnifiHealth
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 / The Caring Medicine
2018-19 Cohort
Jonathan Bateman '19 / Red + Blue
Kyle Metz '19 / Jabiru Medical LLC
Tim Taxter '19
2017-18 Cohort
Ben Beidler ’18 / Novosight
Andrew Cabodi ’18 / BackWave Technologies
Dianna He ’18 / Sit the Moon Health
David Nguyen ’18 / okam health
Kyle Wildnauer Haigney ’18 / ScriptPass
2016-17 Cohort
Barath Anandakumar ’17 / ActiWit
Gal Ben Dor ’17 / Getoo
Todd Cruikshank ’17 / Surgical Innovation Associates
Smit Naik ’17 / Actualize Therapy
Eloy Vinuales ’17 / PrediCare
Emerging Markets & Social Impact Track Zell Fellows
2019-20 Cohort
Fernanda Colaco ’20 / Recigases
Rafael Leite ’20 / Beniccio
Sinthuja Nagalingam ’20 / Tilt
Brunna Seabra ’20 / Dindin
2018-19 Cohort
Layon Costa '19 / GetNuts
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
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
33 Zell Fellows ETA track alumni since 2016
ETA Track Zell Fellows
Alex Biegler ‘20
Caroline Haid ‘20
Erica Hauser ‘20
Jason Luo ‘20
Monte Malhotra ’20
Matthew O'Neill ‘20
Jessica Palfrey ‘20
Juan Reyes ‘20
Spencer Springer ‘20
Dan Violi ‘20
Ian Goldberg '19
Dan Kish '19
Isauro Reyna Valenciana '19
Fernando Ribeiro '19
Andro Rodriguez '19
Nick Seger '19
Robbie Sutkay '19
Blake Toll '19
Mayank Vijayvergia '19
Jose Anguis Horno ’18
Nate Barajas ’18
Anthony Cardona ’18
Lauren Davis ’18
Russell Johnston ’18
Carr Lanphier ’18
Marcella Lobo ’18
Timothy Novick ’18
Charlie Pratt ’18
Richard Roman ’18
Ayu Djaputra ’17
Blair Kessler ’17
Matthew Dellen ’17
Matthew McGarry ’17
Stanley Rodos ’17
Ashish Rohil ’17
Jay Shah ’17
Shaun Currie ’16
Ray Fan ’16
John Griffin ’16
Tommy Jackson ’16
Elise Krieger ’16
Will Wright ’16
Margaret Yeager ’17
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 his/her commitment to entrepreneurship, whether the eventual goal is starting a new venture or acquiring an existing one. For the venture tracks, students should have performed research into a need/problem and be able to show traction with a proposed solution. Ideally, students will have taken a minimum if New Venture Discovery or an equivalent. For the ETA track, an understanding of and commitment to this path to entrepreneurship should be evident.
All Zell Fellows are required to be available all Wednesdays during the academic year beginning October 30. In addition, Zell Fellows are required to be available for the following activities.
2020-2021 program dates are TBD. View the 2019-20 application.
Application Dates |
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September 27, 2019
12:15 – 1:15 PM |
Program Information Session
Applications Open |
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October 6, 2019
11:59 PM |
Program Application Deadline
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Weeks of :
October 14, 2019 October 21, 2019 |
Zell Fellows Interviews
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October 25, 2019
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2019-2020 Invitations Issued
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Program Dates |
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November 16-17, 2019
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Fall Trek
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December 8-11, 2019
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Individual Track Treks
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Spring Break
March 20-28, 2020 |
Israel and Individual Track Treks
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Visit from IDC Zell Program
June 14-16, 2020 |
ZGEN Gathering at Kellogg
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Faculty Leadership
David Schonthal
Executive 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.
Consumer & Enterprise TrackAdjunct Lecturer of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Track Co-Lead Track Co-Lead |
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Emerging Markets & Social Impact TrackAdjunct Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Track Co-Lead Adjunct Professor of Social Impact, Track Co-Lead |
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition TrackAdjunct Lecturer of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Track Co-Lead Track Co-Lead |
Program Staff
| Jennifer Herold
Senior Program Manager |
Tyler Seybold
Program Assistant |
Sam Zell
Founder and Chairman of Equity Group InvestmentsSam Zell is a global, opportunistic, often contrarian, investor. He specializes in identifying market anomalies and emerging trends, and has a long track record in turning around troubled companies and assets, leading industry consolidations, and bringing companies to the public markets. Much of his investment portfolio is in energy, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, communications and healthcare, but he is often best known for his pioneering role and stewardship in creating the modern commercial real estate industry.
Sam is the Chairman of Equity Group Investments, his private investment firm. He chairs five companies listed on the NYSE: Equity Residential; Equity LifeStyle Properties; Equity Commonwealth; Covanta Holding Corporation; and Anixter International Inc. He also chairs Equity International, a private equity firm he founded to focus on opportunities outside of the U.S.
Sam is recognized for his advocacy of corporate governance, particularly in real estate and in the emerging markets. He is an active philanthropist with a focus on entrepreneurial education. He holds a JD degree and a BA from the University of Michigan.
