Meet Washington Olin’s MBA Class Of 2023

Washington Olin MBA Students entering the main building

THE BEST MBA PROGRAM FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By the numbers, the Class of 2023 features 86 students, who average 4.1 years of work experience. Their average GMAT comes in at 686, which is reinforced by a 3.3 undergraduate GPA. Women account for 43% of the class, with international students (40%) and underrepresented minorities (25%) also making up sizable chunks of the class. Academically, 37% of the class majored in Business and Economics as undergraduates. Another 36% earned degrees in STEM-related fields, while the rest studied Social Sciences.

When Olin MBAs arrive in St. Louis, regardless of what they studied as undergrads, they quickly gravitate to entrepreneurship. According to P&Q survey data, 100% of students are involved with a startup when they are students. Another 75% take an entrepreneurship-themed course as students, along with 45% joining the school’s entrepreneurship club. From 2017-2020, Olin reported the highest percentage of MBAs launching companies of any business school, hardly a surprise considering the school boasts more incubator space than all but one school (and 5th for startup money per student at $2,774). The program also ranked 4th for the number of school-facilitated entrepreneurship-focused mentorship hours (8.2). While 18% of faculty teach courses centered around entrepreneurship and innovation, 59% are involved in working with startups.

In fact, entrepreneurship is so central to Olin’s mission that is part of the school’s four pillars, which also encompass global mindset, experiential learning, and data-driven programming. The school’s startup roots trace back to 1999, when Olin opened its Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship to nurture student startups. A decade later, Olin launched The Hatchery, its legendary startup course where students turn ideas into ventures. Thus far, Hatchery startups have resulted in 17 patents and $68.8 million dollars in funding. In fact, nearly three-fourths of startups launched out of The Hatchery are still in operation (and employ nearly 500 people).

“It’s a class where students come in on the first day and pitch a business, form teams, and work to launch that business by the end of the semester, explains Lloyd Yates, a spring grad who has been scaling up his startup during his time as an Olin MBA. “I pitched Tylmen, the brand that makes custom suits from an electric van and left the class with Tylmen Tech, a marketplace for online shoppers to discover clothes and brands through common sizing. This transition is evidence to how WashU places tremendous value on the fundamentals of business, supply and demand, and how demand starts with a problem. Before, we were not clear on the problem we were solving. Now, the problem we’re solving is evident and is something retailers and shoppers are actively looking for solutions. There’s no surprise that we’re the number one business school for entrepreneurship.”

In the end, Olin entrepreneurship involves more than just starting a venture, adds Lungile Tshuma, a ’21 grad whose startup connects international students with the right educational fits. “WashU really opened my eyes to the possibilities of building a business. It’s not only financial, it’s not only theory, it’s not only mentorship, but it’s also teams and a well-rounded environment that is built around entrepreneurship. And it’s intentional….To be an entrepreneur doesn’t just mean building a business. It’s about building this entrepreneurial mind in the way you see problems and the way you can solve them. That was instilled in me — that I can be an entrepreneur in any setting.”

Students unwinding in Knight Hall

THE GLOBAL IMMERSION

Olin also carries a reputation for being an MBA program that never stops innovating. Three years ago, Olin revolutionized business school education with its vaunted Global Immersion. Think of the traditional international trek – only required, four weeks longer, and held before the core curriculum. The 38-day trek opens in Washington DC’s Brookings Institution, where students are immersed in international business practices. From there, MBAs head overseas to locations as different at Paris, Lima, and Shanghai. There, students visit sites, meet business and government leaders, and complete projects.

“I couldn’t believe that I would have the opportunity to spend weeks traveling around the world while working on client projects and exploring various industries,” explains Kendra Kelly, a ’21 grad and P&Q Best & Brightest MBA. “Thanks to the emphasis WashU Olin placed on having a global MBA, before my first year in business school ended, I traveled for a total of 7 weeks and conducted business in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. No other school provided me with those options—especially at no additional cost. As a result of my experience, I am confident that I can successfully conduct business anywhere and with anyone.”

Due to COVID, the Global Immersion for the Class of 2023 was pushed back to this coming fall. As you might expect, they are raring to go overseas. “I think there’s something special about a boots-on-ground approach to learning about international business considerations,” says Derek W. Hawkes. “There’s something obviously irreplicable about learning about other-than-domestic business issues away from home. I’m most looking forward to working with wineries in Spain, because of the nature of that onsite work: being able to taste the product, witness their processes, meet stakeholders, and everything else that comes with the territory of being there in person will yield an incomparably more holistic and fruitful experience than if we were to do that work from Missouri.”

Washington University Olin Business School Dean Mark P. Taylor

Washington University Olin Business School Dean Mark P. Taylor

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DEAN

The Global Immersion certainly won’t be the last change at Olin, which was named P&Q’s MBA Program of the Year in 2020. This year, the school is launching an online MBA degree focused on digital transformation – with the intent of adding online graduate degrees in accounting, business analytics, and finance in the finance. However, the biggest shift was announced in May: Dean Mark P. Taylor – architect of the Global Immersion Program – will be stepping down on July 1st as dean. After taking a year-long academic leave, he will return to the faculty. In the interim, he will be replaced by Anjan V. Thakor.

Taylor’s departure comes amid the school’s strong momentum, which has placed Olin in the conversation as a Top 20 MBA program with all the tools for long-term success: stellar faculty, global approach, and data-driven programing. This spring, before the announcement, P&Q reached out to Taylor to get a deeper look at both Olin’s offerings, present and future. Here are his thoughts on the state of the MBA program.

P&Q: What are the two most exciting developments at your program and how will they enrich the MBA experience for current and future MBAs?

“Taylor: We’re very committed to our core value of diversity, which we’ve demonstrated through our student recruiting. Over the past year, we’ve doubled down on that commitment by developing a strategic plan around inclusion, diversity, equity and access. An important part of that plan includes creating a specialized course focused on diversity, equity and inclusion that will be a required part of the MBA curriculum. Indeed, this course originated from our students, who said they needed it to operate effectively in their careers.

We’re also not resting on our laurels as a world-leading entrepreneurship program. Our curricula for students seeking to spark their entrepreneurial spirit now includes electives such as Acquisition Entrepreneurship, Innovating for Defense, Innovating for Healthcare and a new accelerator for tech and digital business ideas that we fondly refer to as “The League.” In a sense, it’s a next-step partner to Olin’s longtime—and very successful—Hatchery business plan course. The League focuses on launching and scaling new enterprises.”

MBAs in Class

P&Q: What are two biggest differentiating features of your MBA program? How do each of these enrich the learning of your MBA students?

Taylor: “We take seriously our commitment to WashU Olin’s pillars of excellence: values-based, data-driven decision-making; a global perspective on business; instilling the entrepreneurial spirit; and experiential learning. All four are carefully woven into the curriculum across all our programs and classes, and as a result, it is difficult to tease them apart. But I’ll focus here on two.

We’re proud that Poets & Quants has ranked us #1 three years in a row for our MBA entrepreneurship program. We have a long-standing practice of innovating as a school in terms of inculcating an entrepreneurial mindset. We give students the tools to “fall in love” with a customer’s problem—then figure out how to solve it. That’s not limited to students destined for startups. Our curriculum fosters a mindset of innovation and growth through our experiential learning programs and hands-on projects.

Meanwhile, the pandemic notwithstanding, we have pioneered an innovative approach to global business education: a six-week, three continent global immersion that puts students to work on real-world business problems—while positioned squarely in the midst of a different culture and a new global context. Clearly, that’s been a challenge of late, but our commitment to fulfilling that piece of the program remains strong. Our students came to Olin for that experience, and they are champing at the bit to have it.”

P&Q: In recent years, there have been several areas that have gained increased prominence in business school programming, including STEM, analytics, artificial intelligence and digital disruption. How does your full-time MBA program integrate these concepts across its curriculum? 

Taylor: “As I mentioned earlier, values-based, data-driven decision-making is a core pillar of our program. The amount of data available today is vast. We have been at the forefront of ensuring our program is rigorous—richly entrenched in analyzing and applying data—while understanding how to make values-based decisions that can change the world, for good. That includes giving our students an understanding of the technologies that both create and analyze the data such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.

At WashU Olin, we also make it easy for students to earn a STEM designation with their MBA. Indeed, students need only take five additional credit hours beyond their core—an easy prospect, given that we offer 79 STEM-designated electives. Our program prepares students to tackle change through cases and hands-on learning.”

MBAs leaving the graduate lounge

P&Q: One of Olin’s strengths is experiential learning? How does the MBA program integrate this throughout its curriculum? 

Taylor: “As you’ve noted, experiential is a strength here at WashU Olin and again, it’s highlighted among our four pillars of excellence. The previously-mentioned global immersion is steeped in experiential learning, on the ground, in an international context. Our students spend time learning real-world issues in a week-long residency at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Olin’s Center for Experiential Learning regularly engages firms in St. Louis and around the world to bring their business problems to our students—and work with them to find solutions.

Beyond the practicums, however, the CEL also operates classes such as CELect (semester-long engagements with startups); the Board Fellows program (serving on nonprofit boards and managing consulting projects for the agency); and the Taylor Community Consulting Program (pairing student groups with nonprofits on semester-long engagements to solve agency problems).

Olin students are driven to participate regularly in case competitions both on and off-campus, while connecting with our research centers on projects—including the Boeing Center for Supply Chain Innovation, the Koch Center for Family Business, and the Bauer Leadership Center.”

Next Page: Profiles of 10 Olin MBA Students

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