Frankel Commercialization Fund - Student Participation

Overview | Student Participation | Submit a Business Plan | Current Portfolio | Advisors

Students participating in the Frankel Fund join one of four teams with an industry-focused investment: Health Care Fund, Consumer Fund, CleanTech Fund and the Technology Fund. The teams are managed like small venture capital funds with responsibilities assigned to each of the team members who serve as partners.

The Frankel Fund experience is designed to teach students about the commercialization and venture investing process and about developing an efficient process for assessing the promise of early stage commercialization opportunities. Students need to work quickly and effectively to perform due diligence on an opportunity and then recommend a strategy to a Board of Advisors about potential investments. Additionally, students will create long-lasting working relationships with inventors and other team members, without which commercialization success may not be possible. Mandatory weekly meetings are held on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Students are selected for the program by existing student members of the Fund and the managing director. The application process consists of the submission of a personal written statement and resume. The Fund encourages students with diverse backgrounds to apply, including those with technical, finance, legal, and/or start-up experience. Individuals who are selected attend regularly scheduled weekly meetings in addition to the time spent evaluating opportunities outside of class and receive course credit for their work with the Fund.

Fall Application Process
Each fall, the Frankel Fund seeks 6 to 10 first-year MBA students and 2 to 4 second-year or evening MBA students to become members of the Frankel Funds: the Technology Fund, Consumer Fund, Cleantech fund, and the Health Care Fund. Applicants should demonstrate a strong interest in entrepreneurshipand or commercialization and have the relevant academic or work experience for the team for which student is applying. Students should have excellent interpersonal and analytical skills. If an invitation to join the Fund is extended, students should understand that they will be committing the level of effort required for a very rigorous course. Because of the time commitment required, a strong desire to participate and to see the Fund be successful is necessary.

2011-12 information sessions will be held on Thursday, September 8 and will be offered at two times: 7:30 a.m. (in R1220) and 4:30 p.m. (in R1240). Applicants are not required to attend an information session but may find it helpful.

2011 applications are found here. Applications should be submitted by 8 a.m. on September 12.

Spring Application Process
In the Spring of each year, the Fund has a spring recruiting process to augment its teams with with additional MBA1 team members for the beginning of the next school year in September. The spring recruiting period ensures that the Frankel Fund teams will be fully staffed for the next year and is appealing to MBAs who were not able to participate in their first year.

If you have a strong interest in one of the Frankel Fund focus areas, venture capital, new product development, or commercializing technology, consider applying to the Frankel Fund.

An announcement of the recruiting period and related timing will be announced in the spring of each year.

Bios for Frankel Fellows

Clean Tech Team

Wes Allred
Wes is a first year MBA/MS student in the Erb Institute's program in Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment. Wes is interested in the commercialization of new technologies that can be used to solve the world’s energy challenges. Prior to starting at Ross, Wes worked as a consultant at Deloitte, developing business strategies and technology solutions to improve efficiency and provide access to meaningful data in client organizations. Most recently, Wes spent three years working in China, where he developed communication and data management systems for a wind turbine developer. Wes received his BS in Computer Engineering at Northwestern University. In his free time, Wes enjoys traveling, hiking, cooking, studying Chinese, and watching basketball.

Jake Bielecki, Team Leader
Jake is pursuing a career in Business Development and Strategy in the alternative energy space with a focus on technology commercialization. Prior to enrolling at the University of Michigan, Jake worked at Sunoco's Philadelphia Refinery as a project manager, where he led matrix teams in development, design and implementation of multi-million dollar capital projects. Additionally, Jake worked for DTE Energy in the Renewable Energy group participating in both the early-stage and commercial aspects of renewable energy development, and most recently for Booz & Co. in their Engineered Products and Services practice. Jake earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring and photographing the world, ideally in tandem with either hiking or snowboarding.

JD Brannock
JD is a first-year MBA student focusing his studies on entrepreneurship and finance.  He hopes to move on to a career in venture capital or some other form of early-stage investment, and has a special interest in renewable energy.  Prior to coming to Ross JD earned his BS in Physics from the University of North Carolina.  He helped start a company that produces cutting-edge optics for large telescopes, and later worked for a small startup solar company.  There he was involved in research and development, prototyping, testing, data analysis, software development, production, maintenance, and virtually every other function that exists within a high-tech company.  Moving forward he will leverage his technical expertise and sharply honed analytical skills to help overcome the business challenges facing fledgling clean tech companies.

Chris Hicks
Chris is in his final year of the Erb Institute MBA/MS program and is concentrating on renewable energy production technologies, environmental policy, and business development. Prior to grad school Chris worked as a management consultant for CRA International in Boston. In this role Chris spent a significant amount of time in the Middle East where he worked on strategies for industrial diversification in Saudi Arabia and natural resource development in Jordan. His first summer at ERB, Chris worked with The Dow Chemical Company’s MBA Sustainability Leadership Program, where he developed a market entry strategy for several novel biochemical products and conducted a strategic analysis of biochemical feedstock options. For his second summer, Chris worked for the Boston Consulting Group, based out of Washington, DC. Chris received a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College in Vermont. He is an avid skier, traveler and outdoor enthusiast, and speaks Spanish and Italian.

Emilia Sibley
Emilia is a first-year student with the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise and a candidate for an MBA and MS in natural resources. Prior to joining the Erb Institute, Emilia worked as a project manager for Portland Energy Conservation, Inc. (PECI) where she developed in-field research and toolkits to advance commercial energy efficiency. At PECI, she also managed Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E)) large commercial efficiency program, delivering $1 million in cost savings from 33 buildings. Earlier in her career, Emilia co-founded an LLC to develop and build an experimental low-energy home, which sold for a profit at the peak of the 2008 housing market crisis, and worked as a socially responsible investment analyst for KLD Research & Analytics (now MSCI, Inc.) where she evaluated the social and environmental impacts of 100 public energy and utility companies. Emilia received a B.A. in International Politics from Middlebury College in Vermont.

Michael Wohl
Michael is interested in renewable energy technologies, environmental markets and corporate strategy. He has a particular interest in bringing new cleantech ideas to market and became a Frankel Fellow to work with entrepreneurs in this endeavor.  Prior to joining the Erb dual degree MBA/MS program at the University of Michigan, Michael was an independent consultant within the geothermal industry. He also spent five years at JPMorgan Chase, with a focus on energy and alternative energy companies in its Proprietary Equities group and its Credit Portfolio group. Last summer, Michael interned with The Dow Chemical Company’s Ventures and Business Development Group, where he evaluated market entry opportunities in the solid state lighting markets.   He received a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia and is a CFA charter holder. In his free time, Michael is an avid skier, aspiring poker champion, sports fan, and enjoys traveling.

Consumer Team

Brett Bergman, Team Leader
Brett Bergmann is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business, focusing on Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Brett spent his summer internship at General Mills Canada in Brand Management developing marketing strategies and launching several new innovative products into the Canadian market.  Brett is originally from Toronto, Canada and has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from Queen’s University. While an undergrad, Brett founded Travel Hangar Ltd, a student-focused travel company focused on the high-school and university market. The company is now in its tenth year of operations. At the same time, Brett worked for McCain Foods Ltd., a multi-national frozen foods company. Brett worked for four years in the Global Manufacturing & Engineering department, developing and implementing large scale, global plant efficiency projects. After that he worked in the sales department, managing the account of the largest grocery retailer in Canada.

Ben Blackmer
Ben is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on entrepreneurship and venture capital.  Prior to Ross, Ben worked in the digital advertising industry for five years, focusing on media strategy and investment for clients including Macy’s, Kellogg’s, Washington Mutual, and Hewlett-Packard.  Part of his responsibility was writing a corporate newsletter to keep H-P up to date on the latest digital trends.  In addition to being a Frankel Fellow, Ben is a member of the Entrepreneurial Consultants.  During his tenure at Ross, Ben was part of the founding team of Are You a Human, a Detroit based start-up company developing a new method to verify that users online are human.  The Company placed second at the 2011 Rice Business Plan Competition, and subsequently closed a series A round of financing from Detroit Venture Partners, the Frankel Commercialization Fund, and the First Step Fund in June of 2011.  Ben is currently CMO at Are You a Human and is responsible for business development and product development of the user interface. Ben holds a bachelor of music from New York University, where he triple majored in jazz piano performance, economics, and French language and literature.  He also holds a master of arts in French Studies from New York University.  Ben has been awarded a Zell Lurie Institute scholarship.

Kwesi Buabeng
Kwesi is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business, focusing on Finance and Entrepreneurship. He comes to the Frankel Fund with seven years experience in Finance and Banking - specifically in corporate, commercial and retail banking - in Africa.  Prior to enrolling at Ross, Kwesi held various positions at Ecobank, a Pan African Banking Group in Ghana where he worked as an investment manager for fixed income investments and also lead a team to implement the bank’s cards and electronic banking strategies. Over the years he has developed his experience and skills in treasury management, international banking, payments and commerce.  At Ross, Kwesi has been involved in numerous social and professional clubs including the Finance Club, Investment Management Association, Black Business Student Association, soccer club and he currently serves as the VP of the African Business Club. Over the past year, Kwesi has also had the opportunity to work with both JPMorgan Treasury during MAP and Google Treasury for a summer internship.  After his MBA, Kwesi would like to pursue his interests in entrepreneurship and commercialization of startup ideas and innovation, especially in the high tech and consumer internet space, as well as his interest in Venture Capital Financing.  On a personal level, Kwesi started a musical group in Ghana that managed five artists - two of whom received nominations for industry awards.

Andy Higgins
Andy Higgins is a first year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on corporate strategy and marketing. After graduating from Indiana University in 2004, Andy received his commission as an Armor Officer in the United States Army. During his 14-month deployment to Iraq in 2006, Andy directed the planning, preparation, and execution of over 300 tank platoon combat missions ranging from improvised explosive device (IED) route clearances to quick-reaction force contingencies. His most difficult, useful, and rewarding leadership challenge during this time; managing the varied and complex personalities of 15 battle-tested soldiers while serving in combat. Andy hopes to continue putting these skills to use in the Frankel Fund and beyond. Following the Army and prior to business school, Andy managed a team of six digital advertising specialists for the Louisville Courier-Journal. In this role he developed digital marketing strategies for a wide variety of clients and hosted seminars for local businesses; topics included social media and e-mail marketing, mobile and internet display advertising, and website and search engine optimization. After business school, Andy would like to go into consulting, followed by a transition into general management and has long-term venture capital career aspirations.

SoYoung Kim
SoYoung is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on entrepreneurship and finance.   Prior to Ross, she was an equity research analyst at UBS Hong Kong and published reports on several Asian banks as a lead analyst.  She also worked at McKinsey as a business consultant.  At McKinsey, she was engaged in diversified projects which include operation process improvements, cost saving initiatives, consumer market researches and new business strategies.  She is particularly interested in new business development and general management of start-up companies due to her family business background.  She hopes to apply her experience at Ross to her family business, which is a medium size chemical company in South Korea.  She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Seoul National University.

Vineet Kshirsagar
Vineet is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with a focus on strategy, finance and business development. Before attending Ross, Vineet was responsible for one of the biggest bottling operations in India for Coca Cola. During his stint with Coke, he designed and launched new “base of pyramid” SKU’s and developed a new distribution structure for targeting low income rural population in India. Vineet did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering with honors at the University of Jodhpur and also holds a Master in Marketing Management from S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research in Mumbai. This summer Vineet interned with Boston Consulting group developing a procurement strategy and optimizing indirect procurement costs for a consumer client. He enjoys practicing Indian classical music, watching cricket and playing golf during his free time.

Matt Newman
Matt Newman is a first-year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on Finance, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship.  Matt worked in corporate finance at Steamboat Ventures, the venture capital arm of Disney, for three years before attending Ross. At Steamboat, Matt was primarily responsible for reporting and analyzing the firm’s portfolio companies’ financial results, analyzing term-sheets for upcoming investments, reviewing legal agreements, and creating exit models for the firm’s current portfolio. Matt was also responsible for the management of Steamboat’s financial statements. Prior to joining Steamboat, Matt earned his CPA license while serving as an auditor at Porter & Company. Matt holds a B.S. in Business, with an emphasis in finance, from Liberty University.In his spare time Matt enjoys golf and basketball, as well as big game fishing. Matt’s most memorable catch was an 8’2”, 120lb sailfish that he caught off of the coast of Acapulco, Mexico. Matt is most passionate about the e-commerce and media and entertainment spaces.

Justin Vincent 
Justin Vincent is a first-year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Prior to business school, Justin worked in management consulting for The Hackett Group (formerly Archstone Consulting) and was engaged on diversified projects for global Fortune 500 clients within Consumer Products, Media & Entertainment, Retail, and Packaging. His project experience included organizational design, process standardization, divestiture project management, and strategic alignment. Justin is also an aspiring entrepreneur working within the university’s student business incubator.  He previously earned a BBA with High Distinction from The Ross School of Business.

Health Care Team

Dustin Byington
Dustin Byington is a first year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Product Development.  Prior to coming to Ross he received his undergraduate education at Columbia University where he played football and majored in Economics.  He then joined Goldman Sachs’ Crisis Management Center where he worked alongside senior management to mitigate a wide range of operational shocks including the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Earthquake.  Dustin is the Ann Arbor Co-Founder of the location based social media startup, SpotNote.  His responsibilities include idea generation, marketing, research, product development, and management of the 50-person Ann Arbor product launch team.  He also has experience working as an external consultant for LifeConnect, an early stage medical device company that is developing a mobile personal emergency response system ("mPERS") with health/telemedicine data aggregation and dispersion capabilities; in this role he worked closely with top management to develop a growth model that resulted in new device functionality.  Dustin hopes to combine his experience in entrepreneurship and product development to create and market innovative medical devices that are disruptive to current methods of chronic disease management. 

Seth Goodman
Seth Goodman is an entrepreneur and investor passionate about bringing to market consumer-centric and prevention-based healthcare solutions.  Seth is a full-time MBA student at the Ross School of Business, pursuing career opportunities in entrepreneurship and business development.  Prior to Ross Seth was the founder of a health start-up company called MiScale.  As founder, Seth identified unmet market needs and untapped opportunities, raised two rounds of seed financing, managed end-to-end product development, and nurtured strategic partnerships with the product’s early adopters.  Before MiScale, Seth worked at a Big 4 accounting firm where he analyzed internal engagement metrics, and at a law firm where he reviewed medical education grants requests for a leading pharmaceutical company.  Seth earned his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Sangeetha Krishnan
Sangeetha is a Bio-Statistician at the University of Michigan Health Systems and also pursuing her MBA at Ross. Sangeetha has eight years of experience providing statistical and data management consultation to scientific researchers in a wide range of specialties like renal disease, organ transplantation, preventive cardiology and pulmonary hypertension. Sangeetha has worked with multi-disciplinary researchers to publish several reports on quality measures and outcomes in Dialysis and Transplantation Centers for Federal agencies. This past year Sangeetha worked with the Medical Innovation Center at the University of Michigan, where she assessed the commercial viability of UM technologies and assisted inventors by providing project management support to accelerate time to market for their ideas. She also has over 25 publications in leading International journals/conferences to her credit. She holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering from the University of Madras and a Masters in Quantitative Analysis from the University of Cincinnati.

Dan Nash, Team Leader
Dan Nash is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on Strategy and Entrepreneurship.  This past summer, Dan worked for Google with the YouTube Operations team where he performed a user segmentation study in order to better understand consumer behavior and improve the end user experience.  Prior to enrolling in Ross, Dan worked as an Implementation Manager for Epic Systems, where he led cross functional teams of up to 100 people in the design and implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems for major healthcare providers across the US.  In this role, Dan was responsible for integrating both the clinical and financial functions of all hospitals and clinics within the network of a given health system through the design of organizational best practices and standards of clinical care.  Dan has led implementations for some of the largest EHR projects in the world, that now support the patient care of more than 3% of the US population through the use of their systems.  Dan graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2003 with a BA in Economics.

Shany Rimon
Shany is a second-year MBA student focusing on Strategy, Business Development and Marketing. Prior to attending Ross, Shany served in the Israeli Army as a situation room supervisor and worked for an airline’s VIP department. She received her B.Sc in Biochemistry and Food Sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then worked as a professional sales representative at Pfizer. Shany’s responsibilities at Pfizer included conducting market research, sales analysis and business planning in the fields of neurology, gynecology, urology, and cardiology. She also co-led the implementation of a global PR campaign for one of Pfizer’s leading products, and developed a market entry strategy for a medical device start-up, which was later bought by a group of investors. Over the summer Shany interned at Google where she worked on strategic projects involving customer satisfaction and social media. Shany is very interested in healthcare and hopes to, one day, start her own company.

Sam Stevenson
Sam Stevenson is a first year dual degree student enrolled at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business as part of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. Sam is passionate about finding innovative business solutions that transition us towards sustainable development on a global scale. Prior to arriving in Ann Arbor, Sam was immersed in the seeds of this market transition through his work in carbon finance.   As a Consultant at DNV, Sam developed and implemented a new business segment in forest carbon (REDD), which led to projects in British Columbia, Kenya, and Guyana. As an Analyst at EcoSecurities (J.P. Morgan), Sam devised positioning strategies for large industry and utility clients by assessing the climate risks and financial exposures of capital investments.  Sam earned a B.A. in Political Science from Middlebury College in Vermont.

Carolyn Da Wang
Carolyn is a Ph.D. student in chemical biology at the University of Michigan passionate about healthcare investing.  In addition to her academic training in life sciences, she has built experience and skills in evaluating healthcare investments under various business settings.  She authored investment research reports on a biopharmaceutical company and a life sciences equipment company when she was a summer associate in the equity research department of a New York City based boutique investment bank in 2010.  Before that, she conducted due diligence in commercial opportunities in novel medical devices and coordinated the product development process when she was a Medical Entrepreneur Intern at the UM Medical Innovation Center.  She is also interested in exploring the opportunities in the emerging life sciences industry in China.  Before coming to the US, she interned at Monitor Group’s Beijing office and a Chinese pharmaceutical consulting firm.  Carolyn holds a B.S. in biotechnology from Peking University, where she was the student union president of the College of Life Sciences and co-founder of PKU Life Sciences Industry Association.  After graduation, Carolyn plans to embark on a career where she can leverage her training and expertise to identify investment opportunities in breakthrough healthcare technologies.   

Technology Team

Maya Ben Ari
Maya is a first year MBA student focusing on Strategy and Business Development. Prior to Ross, Maya served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in an elite information technology unit, leading time-sensitive projects.  She received her BSc and MSc in Computer Science from the Tel Aviv University, where she graduated with honors. During her studies, Maya served as Microsoft’s on-campus representative 
and helped design Microsoft’s strategy for the university. Maya is a technology enthusiast and was heavily involved in the Israeli startup community, co-founding two startups in the last two years: Audish, an online casting platform for TV and films; and Piniti, an innovative venture creating storage solutions for women to reduce their dressing time. Maya is also an avid salsa dancer and instructor; prior to Ross, she hosted salsa parties at hospitals for the Israeli Cancer Association, creating a tradition adopted by dozens of other dancers.

Dan Itsara
Dan is a first-year MBA student focusing on Entrepreneurship and Strategy.  Prior to attending Ross, Dan served in the U.S. Air Force as a Flight Test Engineer, where he developed a passion for the integration of engineering, user needs, and organizational management to mature and commercialize technology. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California, and is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School.  Dan’s responsibilities in the Air Force included the analysis of space and missile technology programs, development of an avionics prototype for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and flight test of control systems, sensors, and weapons for strategic bombers and unmanned aircraft.  After business school, Dan hopes to join a start-up in his interest areas of technology and human-computer interaction.  Dan is an avid distance runner and motorsports enthusiast.

Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson is a PhD candidate in the Aerospace Engineering department at the University of Michigan. He holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a B.S. in Maritime Systems Engineering from Texas A&M University. Justin collaborates with the Air Force Research Labs on research in the area of unmanned aircraft systems. He regularly publishes in technical conferences as part of this research effort. While at the University of Michigan, Justin started a company with several colleagues from the Aerospace Engineering department to provide inexpensive aerial photography. His professional interests are technology research, development, and commercialization, entrepreneurship, and investing. He also likes traveling and live music.

Satish Katpally
Satish Katpally is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship. He is interested in the High Technology and Cleantech sectors, especially in emerging markets. Most recently Satish was a summer intern in the Global Strategy team at Johnson Controls Power Solutions business group researching electric vehicle infrastructure in China. Before coming to Ross he was a software architect and strategist at Juniper Networks and several successful semiconductor startups: Sandburst (acquired by Broadcom in March 2006), Maker Communications (acquired by Conexant in December 2000) and Chipcom (acquired by 3Com in October 1995). As an environmentalist who grew up in the global south, Satish has a strong passion for creating environmentally sustainable economies by changing the interplay between cultures and economics. He held leadership positions at grass-roots organizations in Boston to drive behavioral changes in energy efficiency and sustainability through educational outreach. Satish holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India and a MS in Computer Science from University of Maine, Orono.

Steve Kawasumi, Team Leader
Steve is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business focusing on Entrepreneurship and General Management. After business school, Steve’s goal is to found his own start-up in the high-tech space. Steve spent his summer as the Manager of Business Development at Reveal Design Automation, an EDA software start-up in Ann Arbor.  Steve has eight years of experience in the semiconductor industry, where he held a wide range of job positions. Most recently, he was a Program Manager at NVIDIA Corporation, where he helped launch NVIDIA’s flagship graphics processor products. Earlier, he was the Senior Manager of the Silicon Analysis R&D Team as well as the Program Manager for the Technology Licensing Group at Transmeta Corporation, a microprocessor firm. Steve earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Evan Kracoff
Evan Kracoff is a first year MBA student at the Ross School of Business, focusing on Entrepreneurship and Strategy.  Evan graduated from Penn State with a degree in Management Science and Information Systems in 2002, and throughout that time participated in the development of a $2MM venture-backed college portal site.  Post-undergrad Evan joined a growing startup, FreshDirect, where he was a member of the original technology team responsible for development of the custom software needed to run a now successful online grocery business serving 600,000 plus customers in the New York City area.  Prior to business school, Evan worked as an Advisory Architect for IBM where he was responsible for translating client business requirements into specific system, application, and process designs for clients in the financial services, state and local government and retail industries.  As a technologist, consultant, and successful entrepreneur, Evan has applied his passion for technology across various roles in the industry and hopes to continue developing innovative ideas with young technology companies post-MBA.