Advisors
Spring 2026 Visiting ETA Advisors
Alex Hodgkin, MBA ’14
Alex Hodgkin, MBA ’14
Senior Advisor for ETA; Polsky Center Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Alex Hodgkin has spent his career in the shoes of the entrepreneur, strategist, and capital markets specialist, having developed his finance acumen as an investment banker serving companies large and small, and his entrepreneurial skills as the cofounder of a multi-service financial advisory firm.
During the first part of his career as an investment banker with Salomon Smith Barney and later Headwaters MB, he completed engagements involving strategic alternative reviews for multinational corporations, liquidity strategies for middle market entrepreneurs, sell side advisory assignments, equity and subordinated debt offerings in the public and private capital markets, and fairness opinions.
As an entrepreneur, Hodgkin cofounded Intrinsic, a financial advisory firm that he has helped grow from a kitchen table concept to one of the largest firms of its kind in the Rocky Mountains, servicing some of the most well-known and well-respected institutional investment firms and privately-held companies in the region.
As a steadfast supporter of entrepreneurship through acquisition, he has been instrumental in the creation of Chicago Booth’s ETA program, where he currently serves as entrepreneur-in-residence and senior advisor for ETA.
Hodgkin earned undergraduate degrees in economics and electrical engineering from Claremont McKenna College and the University of Colorado, respectively, and an MBA from Chicago Booth. He is also a CFA charterholder.
Dan Phelps, MBA ’99
Dan Phelps, MBA ’99
Managing Partner, Salt Creek Capital
Dan founded Salt Creek Capital in 2009. He leads new investments and serves as chairman or a director on the boards of several Salt Creek portfolio companies. Salt Creek has completed 60+ lower middle market platform acquisitions and specializes in transactions requiring a change in leadership.
Prior to Salt Creek, Dan was a General Partner at Opus Capital, a $280M Menlo Park, CA based fund where he led growth equity and buyout efforts focusing on the middle market. Previously, Dan was a General Partner and founding member of Duchossois Technology Partners, a $100M Chicago-based venture capital firm. Earlier in his career, Dan was an investment professional at the Pritzker Family office and began his career at Ernst & Young. Dan earned a BS from The Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Darrin Shillair, MBA ’16
Darrin Shillair, MBA ’16
President, Specialty Sales LLC
Darrin Shillair is President at Specialty Sales, acquired through a self-funded search in 2018. Specialty Sales is a stocking distributor of hoses, tubing, fittings and other components serving the water treatment, agriculture, food & beverage & car wash industries. Darrin has an MBA from Chicago-Booth and a BSE from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Santiago Villalobos, MBA ’16
Santiago Villalobos, MBA ’16
Nexxus Capital
Santiago is part of Nexxus Capital, a Mexico and Spain PE fund specializing in private debt and private equity. Prior to rejoining Nexxus in 2019, Santiago co-founded Tera Capital, a Mexico-based search fund. Previously, he was an Equity Research Analyst at UBS in the Latin American group based in Mexico City. Santiago has an M.B.A. from Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana, where he served as a professor. He has continued to be involved in the search fund community, and serves on several boards in Mexican companies.