Veni Elizabeth Peter

Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business

“Three-time CEO looking for opportunities to learn how to lead with purpose, responsibility and fun.”

Hometown: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (among others, including Houston and Kerala, India)

Fun Fact About Yourself: I was raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, born to Indian immigrant parents who eventually moved to the United States. I moved to India for undergraduate school and started my career at Amazon, eventually resigning and founding three startups. I’ve spent the last 10 years traveling between India, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. – three drastically different countries with one thing in common: me!

P.S I also grow carnivorous plants as a hobby.

Undergraduate School and Major: Saintgits College of Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Doc and Chef, CEO and Co-Founder

What has been your favorite part of Houston so far? Why? I am an obsessive foodie and the dining options in Houston really reflect the melting put this city is. From fried chicken to fufu, H-Town is popping with options to amaze. My favorite hobby is picking out a new place to go every week, and I am floored every time.

It also helps that Rice Village is filled with such cool restaurants, just a hop away from campus.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the one key part of the Rice Jones MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I’m an entrepreneur specializing in the healthcare space. It only made sense for me to come to Rice Business, a school known for its excellence in entrepreneurship education. The presence of Lilie Lab and all its activities designed to support innovators played a massive role in my choice. Rice also has a very close relationship with Texas Medical Center (TMC), the biggest medical center in the world. I was just 24 years old when I became a CEO in healthcare, which was an extremely rewarding, albeit intimidating, experience. Having someone to show you the ropes is rarely an option in this space when you are the founder. TMC and Rice Business have so many fearless and seasoned founders and CEOs, and I still remember the excitement that set in when I initially realized I’d have the opportunity to learn from them all.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Rice Jones? Spending time in the Lilie Lab has been one of the best experiences of my MBA so far. The culture at the lab is incredibly supportive and cheerful. Any idea has potential at the Lilie Lab and everybody is willing to help you realize the dream you have. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or just toying with the idea of starting a venture, Lilie Lab is the place you need.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I’ve founded three startups, two of which are functional in the healthcare space in India to this day. I remember starting my journey with a laptop, a dream, and a paper napkin on which I had a skeleton of my idea. I had resigned my day job at Amazon and decided to go through with the startup dream. Very few people thought I was doing the right thing. I never imagined that I would eventually launch two more startups, grow them into large teams, make an impact, and be able to talk about them with such pride — let alone end up here at Rice and share my story. I was just a girl with a laptop and a dream, trying to get to the next day without panicking.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? I was elected as a Rice Business Board Fellow for the Houston Angel Network, which is truly a dream come true. The Board Fellows program allows students to serve as non-voting board members at local nonprofits. Having served on the board of my own company before, it is a wonderful and extremely rewarding experience.

To be allowed to participate in the Houston Angel Network, a nonprofit that focuses on investing in early-stage startups across the country, has been a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about investment decisions and complexities involving such a decision.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? At Rice we have a lot of social events, including the Thursday Partios, socials, and happy hours.

But my favorite memory is from Launch. Launch is what we call the first two weeks of the MBA program — a lot of orientation and a lot of doubts. No one really knew each other, and everyone was at least slightly nervous. I like to think back to those days when we entered this program not knowing what to expect. I can see how far we have come already as better leaders, better teammates and better careerists. It is nice to think back to the time when we were sitting on the cusp of so much potential, not knowing how many lifelong connections we would soon make.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE RICE JONES MBA CLASS OF 2026

 

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