Meet The Texas McCombs MBA Class Of 2024 by: Jeff Schmitt on May 17, 2023 | 4,010 Views May 17, 2023 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Texas McCombs Consortium Students in front of the UT Austin Tower P&Q: McCombs is increasingly being associated with entrepreneurship. What types of programming does McCombs offer to support MBA student entrepreneurs? How does McCombs tap into Austin’s startup ecosystem? TM: “I love the way that second year MBA, Kevin Long has stacked opportunities at McCombs and in the Austin entrepreneur ecosystem to incubate his idea, Outmore Living. He used courses, competitions, incubators, mentors, and the vast McCombs network to bring an idea to fruition. I asked Kevin to share the resources and opportunities that defined his McCombs experience: “What differentiates McCombs from other top MBA programs are the amazing resources and high-caliber entrepreneurial thinkers that surround students incubating great ideas. In my case, I co-founded Outmore Living, a technology-enhanced outdoor furniture company, with another McCombs student during my first year. Taking experiential courses such as New Venture Creation and New Venture Finance, pitching in Texas Venture Labs’ Investment Competition and graduating from UT Launchpad’s SEAL accelerator have all helped fine tune our business model and prepare Outmore for a successful launch. Beyond the resources McCombs provides, I have also met some of my closest friends while building an entrepreneurial network in joining Venture Fellows and the Graduate Entrepreneurship Society. Lastly, I have been able to develop very strong mentorships with so many of McCombs’ amazing entrepreneurship professors that have willingly offered feedback and advice.” P&Q: Where are some of your students’ favorite hang-outs? What do they do and why do they gravitate there? TM: “In the warmer months, you can typically find our students paddleboarding on Lady Bird Lake or heading to Barton Springs, a spring-fed pool that feeds into Lady Bird Lake. The water at Barton Springs averages a chilly 68-70°F all-year-round, so be prepared! McCombs MBAs also tend to gather at the intramural fields on Sunday mornings for sand volleyball. Each February, our MBA Soccer Club hosts the Winter Classic Soccer Tournament, hosting 15-20 MBA programs from around the country for this annual competition. Austin has an incredible food scene, too. To be sure I was fully representing our students here, I asked them for a quick list of their favorites. They mentioned Suerte for sit-down tacos and authentic food, Loro, which is a fusion of Asian and BBQ cuisine, and the Salty Sow.” P&Q: Who is a standout in your faculty or administration – the kind of person who graduates talk about a decade after they leave? How does he or she personify your school culture and the best of your MBA program? TM: “Clemens Sialm has had several roles with our MBA program. He currently serves as the Director of the AIM Investment Center and the CEO of the Texas McCombs Investment Advisers (TMIA), an investment company managed by MBA students at the University of Texas at Austin and is a Professor of Finance and Economics. For many years, Professor Sialm was the professor for the core Financial Management course so every student who came through our Full-Time MBA for the better part of a decade gleaned their foundational finance skills from his tutelage. Students and alumni celebrate Professor Sialm for his unique brand of brilliant academic combined with passionate educator, with a special skill for delivering finance one-liner dad-jokes. Through his leadership roles with the AIM Investment Center and TMIA, Professor Sialm, along with a slate of world-class McCombs faculty, have guided students through a variety of investment exercises, ranging from learning how wealth is created to reviewing portfolios and analyzing market conditions.” Editor’s Note: Clemens Sialm is a Professor of Finance and Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds the Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Regents Chair in Finance and is the Director of the AIM Investment Center. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). He received an M.A. in Economics from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University. The University of St. Gallen recently awarded him an honorary doctorate. Prior to joining the University of Texas, he taught at Stanford University and at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Previously, he taught classes on Investments, Derivatives and Risk Management, and International Economics. Texas McCombs School of Business WHY McCOMBS 1) McCombs+: “I’m very excited about all the experiential learning opportunities the school provides. One is the McCombs+ project, where students get real hands-on experience of working in teams on micro-consulting projects for various businesses. Just imagine, you get to work on real issues that companies face, all while receiving guidance from the company employees themselves!” Tuiana Omurbekova (’24) “McCombs+ is a micro-consulting project that allows a team of students to tackle an actual business problem at a real company during the semester. Since I planned on pivoting to a new function, the McCombs+ project seemed like the perfect way to get some hands-on experience and tangible skills in the industry and role I was interested in. It is also a great way to apply what you are learning in class directly to real-world situations.” Caleb Makonnen (’24) 2) Austin: “Having grown up in the Houston area and spent the past 10+ years in North Texas, I am a Texan through and through. When I moved to Austin two years ago, I realized that this city has a different feel to it than many other big cities I have lived in or around. In Austin we have the surrounding natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country, plenty of opportunities for outdoor adventures, a diverse culinary scene, and friendly people. With multiple major tech companies in the “Silicon Hills” and the rapid growth of Austin over the past few years, there are many career opportunities that can be sought out locally for our MBA students.” Christopher Blanton (’24) “Austin is a great place to earn an MBA because of the immense growth underway and subsequent professional opportunities across a wide range of industries. Whether you’re looking to get into industries like tech, healthcare, energy, or anything in between, Austin has something for you. Also, companies starting here and moving here brings a mix of startup and more mature companies. Whether you are a career switcher, career explorer, or just trying to accelerate your current path, there will be organizations and professionals here to support you. Outside of school, Austin is a wildly fun place to live in regard to entertainment, outdoor exploring, dining and sports. It has a unique southern hospitality feel with big city opportunities.” David Dossett (’24) 3) Career Services: “As a career switcher, it was crucial for me to know that I would have a wealth of support from a star career team. This ranges from coaching sessions and customized webinars on soft skills, to mock interviews, case prep sessions, and so much more. Every McCombs career consultant I talk to is a professional with impeccable industry knowledge who helps me organize and prioritize my own thoughts. Besides the official McCombs career team, you also have access to a group of industry career consultants! And as if that wasn’t enough, you also have Career Fellows, second year students specifically there to review your resume, answer any questions, or just grab a quick catch-up coffee.” Tuiana Omurbekova (’24) McCombs hybrid class room with Professor David Harrison ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE APPLICANTS “In the vein of Austin’s unofficial slogan “Keep Austin Weird,” you should embrace your “weirdness” — however you define that — in your application. McCombs is a collaborative, not cutthroat, program that rewards students’ authentic expressions of their conscientious character and lived experiences. The program will provide you the space to explore and the platform to grow, and everyone here wants to see you succeed — and will do anything they can to help you achieve your professional and personal goals. That’s the “Texas friendly” way.” Colby Bermel (’24) “This is probably said over and over, but it bears repeating: do your research. Learn about every aspect of the McCombs MBA experience and don’t be afraid to ask current students about intricacies of the program that you can later refer to in your admissions essay and interview. It’s great to have an idea of what clubs or organizations you want to join while here, but mentioning your enthusiasm about the 5–6-person study team you’ll get assigned to during your core classes – or the Cohort Olympics you’ll compete in – shows to the admissions team you’ve taken the extra step to fully vet the program and visualize yourself here. Best of luck!” Eric Martinez (’24) “I stayed engaged throughout the entire process and took advantage of all the opportunities to learn about and connect with the school. It’s more than just an exercise of checking the boxes or signing up for every info session. Researching the school, attending admissions chats and application workshops, reaching out to the Admissions Committee to ask questions, contacting current students, educating your recommenders on why McCombs specifically, preparing for the interview – all these steps were important. The Admissions Committee does a fantastic job of providing the applicants a real feeling of what being a student here is like, so take advantage of it!” Greg Labanowski (’23) MBA Student Hometown Undergraduate Alma Mater Last Employer Colby Bermel Chestnut Hill, MA Principia College Politico Christopher Blanton Katy, TX Texas Christian University Texas Health Resources David Dossett Cleveland, MS University of Mississippi United States Marine Corps Izzi Gonzalez Alpharetta, GA Texas A&M University Citi Gloria Isabel Gutierrez Ramon Del Rio, TX Southern Methodist University Trinity Industries Steven (Hongyi) Huang Dalian, China Colgate University Higher Ground Education China Connor Hunerfauth Calgary, Alberta Royal Military College of Canada Canadian Army Caleb Makonnen Dallas, TX Texas A&M University Americas at Agilent Technologies Eric Martinez Houston, TX College of William & Mary Society for Neuroscience Tuiana Omurbekova Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Academy of Management Insense, Inc. Gabby Stone San Diego, CA Stanford University Blue Tech, Inc. Lauren Vague Wilmington, DE Eastern University West Catholic Preparatory High School Previous PagePage 3 of 3 1 2 3