Elon Musk & Sheryl Sandberg Top List Of Leaders Most Admired By MBAs

Randy Komisar

INSPIRING THE NEXT WAVE OF BUSINESS LEADERS

“One of the most inspirational speakers I ever heard was Randy Komisar, general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Myself and 20 other IESE classmates had gone on the IESE Meets the Valley Trek in April 2015, where we spent a full week touring the Silicon Valley area meeting startups and venture capitalists. The highlight for me, though, was certainly our sit-down with Mr. Komisar. It felt pretty surreal being in a boardroom in KPCB’s Sand Hill Road offices with just us students and one of the most influential venture capitalists in the valley. He told us a ton of very interesting stories, and passed on a lot of wisdom and advice. What I remember the most though were two main takeaways. First, that integrity is vital to being successful in the business world. Part and parcel of this is being someone your customers, employees, suppliers, investors, and other stakeholders can trust. It’s also closely linked to humility. Second was his insistence that people are the most important component of a business, and thus one of the most important cogs he looks at when investing in a startup. This is something that has been a core lesson at IESE and driven home by our professors many times. In the meeting with Mr. Komisar, it really, really stuck.” — Sean Porta, IESE Business School

“I most admire Dalya Al Muthanna, the CEO of General Electric Gulf. I met Dalya on my program’s Global Immersion in Dubai, and was incredibly inspired by her success as both an executive and an entrepreneur in the region — as well as the challenges she has overcome to reach the position she is in today. I look up to her as a model female executive, and hope to emulate her poise and success one day!” — Lexie Cegelski, University of Florida, Warrington College of Business

Josh Wolfe

“I was really inspired by Josh Wolfe from Lux Capital. He is incredibly knowledgeable and soaks in information like a sponge. He is able to assess business opportunities with a lot of context due to his vast knowledge base. In addition to being successful, he finds a way to be very personable and relatable.”  — Ian Folau, Cornell Tech

“Darrin Disley, a British entrepreneur, would without a doubt hold that title. Many people have successfully launched companies, but the character of the person who did it is what matters most to me. Darrin didn’t have an easy, nor linear, path to his success. In spite of that, or because of it, his accomplishments launching Horizon Discovery and winning the Entrepreneur of the Year at the Quoted Company Awards in 2015 haven’t changed his values. More than anyone, Darrin gives back to the communities around him and sees it as a personal obligation to help foster the growth of more inspirational, entrepreneurial people. There is no shortage of demands on his time, but the personal generosity he maintains is a quality I can only hope to emulate along my path.” — Sean Heisler, Cambridge Judge Business School

“During my internship, I had the privilege to meet John Fenwick, co-founder of Skybox Imaging (recently purchased by Google). John’s background is similar to mine: he was an Air Force satellite developer, received his master’s in engineering, and could have had a successful and reliable career in the military. However, he left for business school and eventually started his own company, combining his love of space and the efficiencies of the private sector. His story reaffirms my decision to follow my dreams and that my skill set and work history is sufficient to get me there.” — Paul Jacobs, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

“It might not be surprising given my career choices, but I most admire Matt Flannery. He co-founded and was CEO of Kiva for 10 years prior to co-founding the company I will join after graduation, Branch International. Matt has an impressive ability to balance confidence with humility, one of the four Haas defining principles (Confidence Without Attitude). He combines technical abilities and strong interpersonal skills — coding when needed, carrying the company vision, and demonstrating consistent dedication to his team.” — Sarah Tait, UC-Berkeley, Haas School of Business