Five Chicago Booth Students Honored with Entrepreneurship Awards
(Image: Duncan McGillivary, Andrew Lee, Tanvi Mago, and Greg Caraway at the celebration luncheon. Maya Shaposhnik joined the luncheon via Zoom)
Chicago Booth School of Business recently recognized five outstanding MBA students who demonstrated leadership in entrepreneurship, venture capital, or private equity during their time at school.
The annual Student Entrepreneurship Awards have varying eligibility requirements and monetary prizes. For most awards, Booth entrepreneurship faculty and staff members from the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation nominate students and vote for the winners.
The 2023 Student Entrepreneurship Award winners are:
Duncan McGillivary // Hyde Park Angels Venture Capital Award // $2,000
This award recognizes a graduating student who has demonstrated leadership in venture capital through the courses he or she has taken by participating in VC programming.
Initially from Bethesda, MD, Duncan spent his time as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, studying economics with a minor in history. He then stayed in Chicago to work at William Blair in their technology investment banking group, primarily advising on M&A transactions. After his time in investment banking, Duncan went to work at Silversmith Capital Partners in Boston, where he sourced and invested in B2B software companies like Appfire and Microblink before deciding to pursue his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
At Booth, Duncan pursued two interests simultaneously – a passion for investing and an interest in the gaming industry and used the time to intern for a variety of funds and companies throughout his Booth experience. These included working for the crypto arm of Alumni Ventures Group, interning at Anthos Capital, and spending his summer at PlayStation before interning at Ansa throughout his second year and agreeing to join their team after graduation focusing on series A – C software and gaming investing.
Outside of work, Duncan was a co-chair of both the Booth Racquets Club and the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (EVC) Group. He helped lead Booth’s team to win the Venture Capital Investment Competition (the world’s largest VC competition) as a first-year student and organized many of EVC’s key annual events, including presentations on recruiting and training, trips to NYC and SF, and EVC’s social activities. Duncan is excited to be continuing his work in venture capital after graduation and is incredibly thankful for the leadership opportunities and guidance he received while getting his MBA.
Greg Caraway // Madison Dearborn Partners Private Equity Award // $2,000
This award is given to graduating students who have demonstrated leadership in the PE programming at Chicago Booth.
Greg grew up in Fort Worth, TX and graduated from the University of Texas with a BBA. Prior to Booth, he was a Senior Associate at Stellus Capital, a middle market private credit fund. Previously, he worked as an investment banking associate at Chiron Financial and in corporate finance with ExxonMobil.
While at Booth, Greg served as a Private Equity Group co-chair and was primarily responsible for the annual BPOC Private Equity Conference. He also was on the winning team of the Oxford Global PE Challenge, pitching the take-private of ABM Industries.
After graduation, Greg will be joining The Sterling Group, where he interned last summer, as a Vice President.
Maya Shaposhnik Cadena // Moulder Student Entrepreneur Award // $2,000
This award recognizes a graduating student who has successfully launched or grown a venture while completing his or her coursework.
Maya is the cofounder and CEO of Vetted Pet Health, an annual membership that solves preventative healthcare for pets. Pet parents start their healthcare journey by booking 30 min of uninterrupted time with our veterinarians at the Vetted Wellness Centers, located within dog daycare and grooming facilities. Once they complete their annual visit they are empowered with Vetted’s at-home digital solution for their day-to-day healthcare needs.
Maya is an American-Israeli with a background in fundraising and sales. As a three-time entrepreneur, she founded companies in Israel and the United States. She attended Israel’s prestigious Reichman University for her BA and later attended the world-renowned University of Chicago Booth School of Business for her MBA.
Although she moves around for work, she is based out of Miami with her husband, Alejandro, and their French Bulldog, Shor. She loves listening to music, telling funny stories, and hosting Shabbat dinners at their home.
Tanvi Mago // 17th Annual Vijay, ’77, and Sita Vashee Promising Entrepreneur Award // $2,500
This award recognizes a graduating student who has demonstrated considerable leadership in the entrepreneurship program.
Tanvi Mago is a 2Y that has focused on entrepreneurship during her time at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tanvi attended the University of Chicago for undergrad and started her career in strategy consulting at Accenture and Treacy & Company. She then worked in North America Strategy at Beam Suntory, an alcohol beverage company.
Prior to starting at Booth, she worked at a food startup, BaKIT Box. She then spent time as a venture associate at Consumer Ventures, sourcing and performing diligence on investments focused on the consumer space.
Currently, she is competing in the New Venture Challenge and working at a South Asian beverage startup called One Stripe Chai. While at Booth, she served as a co-chair of the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group and co-chaired the annual conference, SeedCon. Tanvi grew up between the Chicagoland area and Delhi, India and plans to stay in Chicago after graduation.
Andrew Lee // Rattan L. Khosa, ’79, “Against All Odds” Student Entrepreneur Award // $2,500
This annual award is presented to a graduating student who has overcome significant hurdles and demonstrated a spirit of entrepreneurship in launching his or her business.
Andrew is a lifelong builder and innovator. He holds a BE in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt and is a self-taught full-stack web developer. He is driven by creating new products, from preventative cancer radiation devices to search engine algorithms & suites of development tools for McMaster-Carr, a $500 million eCommerce site.
While pursuing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth, he connected with his classmate Lily Wang over their shared challenges composting in apartments. Andrew’s family is from South Korea, where 95% of food waste is composted, serving as inspiration for making composting mainstream in the United States.