Diego Ordoñez

Yale School of Management

“Real Estate Developer seeking to transform the industry through technology and sustainability.”

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico.

Fun Fact About Yourself: I opened an Argentinean empanada restaurant because the city where I lived didn’t have one.

Undergraduate School and Major: B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Tecnologico de Monterrey.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Director of Operations at Capitel Desarrollos (a leading Real Estate Developer/Fund in Mexico).

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: In my third year at Capitel Desarrollos, I was assigned the responsibility of the company’s first development in Cancun. The two main challenges I faced were: (1) raising the capital needed to do the development and (2) obtaining construction and environmental permits. For the first challenge, I was in a vicious circle. Without capital, I couldn’t do the project’s branding and marketing campaign – and without those, it was difficult to attract clients. Without clients, there was no income.

I, therefore, decided to implement a different fundraising approach: I would target specific local businesspeople for private loans payable until the construction was finished. The idea was non-conventional and some of my supervisors back in Capitel’s Monterrey headquarters raised eyebrows. However, within six months of intense networking and pitching within local business circles, the approach proved to work great. We secured the required capital and found an unexpected benefit: the local business community connected me with high-level government officials who guided me through the permit process (my second challenge as project leader), as well as with potential investors who ended up leasing spaces in the development.

Two years later, the development was finished. The ROI was outstanding and 85% of the building was sold or leased…with the norm being 40%.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? From my interactions with fellow classmates, their curiosity is what stands out as a common denominator. Every single person I have met so far has struck me as someone who wants to know the answers to questions such as why, how, and what if.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Yale SOM´s global approach to the MBA program is what made the difference for me. Being an international student, I was looking for a school that teaches business in a multicultural and boundary-less setup. Looking at Yale SOM´s class profile you can see that case discussions will have different perspectives because of the different professional and personal backgrounds of SOM´s students.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am looking forward to the Public Speaking Club. Ever since applying to business school, I had in my mind the idea of getting better at speaking in front of an audience. With continued practice, I know I can be great at it; right now I am mediocre at best.

The Yale School of Management is regarded as a purpose-driven program. What is your mission? How will your MBA at Yale help you fulfill that mission? My mission is to improve peoples’ lives through sustainable real estate development. Yale SOM will directly help me fulfill my mission with its approach of seeing academic material from the perspective of all parties involved, not only as a third party. Also, the network I am going to build and the ideas that classmates from other cultural and professional background are going to share will exponentially and positively increase the results of my personal mission.

While at Yale SOM, I also intend to bring something to the program. Having worked six years in all areas of the real estate industry, I will try to enrich class discussions from my own perspective.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? You can quickly come up with an answer, but if you think about it in-depth, personally and professionally, it becomes a difficult one.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I thought about applying to an MBA a couple of years ago. Upon reflection, I concluded that I needed more work experience. It isn´t about the years you have worked, but about the scenarios you are being exposed to on a day-to-day basis. This past couple of years have been heavy professional growth for me. This has led me to be in a position of more responsibility in the company where I worked. Ten months ago, I reconsidered applying to an MBA. I was thinking that because of the work I had done, now I would be able to think from past experiences and not hypothetically. At that moment, I decided to pursue an MBA.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Kellogg, Haas, and Tuck.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I first filtered schools by the global brand name recognition they had. Because I intend to go back to work in Mexico, that factor was very important to me. I also looked for a strong core curriculum with good real estate optative courses.

The best way to know if a school will be a good fit for you is to actually visit it and meet students, alumni, and faculty. I did all that and felt that I could make an informed decision.

As for the tools, online forums are a great one. There is a bunch of useful information online that can help you get to know a school.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? It was when I was assigned the responsibility of leading the construction, sales, and administration of a 15-story office building. I had worked for three years in the same real estate development company and I felt I had done a good job but still doubted my capabilities. With that assignment, and especially as the months passed and I was delivering results, I was convinced that I have what it takes to lead a company in terms of confidence, common sense, and knowledge of the business. That was my defining moment.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself married (I am getting married in January 2020) with 3 or 4 kids, living in Mexico. Professionally, I see myself managing a real estate fund, investing in cutting-edge developments.

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