STUDENT News for Alumni: Spring 2023, Wharton PE/VC Student Club Update
Our PE & VC Alumni Association is committed to supporting student relations and the engagement of our future members and leaders. To that end, we'd like to share the student-led Wharton PE/VC Club newsletter created to keep the alumni community apprised of campus news. See what's happening and get involved where you can! In the back-to-school Fall issue, the students will announce their full leadership team.
For your convenience, download the PDF file.
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WELCOME We are delighted to share this student update to the alumni (click here for prior newsletters)! Each newsletter will provide you with the latest news from Huntsman Hall and across the Wharton alumni community. In this edition you will find:
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PE & VC EDUCATION (continued) Kaushik Ravi, CEO of Elevate, led a VC Dealmaking session for Club members. Participants learned about VC recruiting, the day-to-day life of a VC investor and how to get early-stage deals done. Additional speakers included Olivier Babin (Former Investor, Softbank) and Shruti Gandhi (General Partner, Array VC).
Dr. Meghan Sharp (Global Head, Decarbonization Partners) led a virtual fireside chat in which she shared her career journey as well as decarbonization-related investment opportunities. Given the large number of Club members interested in environmental sustainability roles, this was a well-attended session with 60 members present.
In February, Alan Patricof (Founder of Apax Partners and Greycroft) participated in a fireside chat in which he shared his experience pioneering venture capital on the east coast and his insights about the current state of the technology market. He also spoke about his new book "No Red Lights: Reflections on Life, 50 Years in Venture Capital, and Never Driving Alone".
During February, a group of 10+ Wharton students travelled to London to engage with and visit several leading firms in the region including Advent, Accel, Warburg Pincus, and Carlyle. It was a fantastic learning experience with students gaining several insights from industry leaders and Wharton alumni working in investing across Europe. In addition to firm visits, students also had an opportunity to bond with Wharton alumni at happy hour. This is the first time since the pandemic that this trip has been organized, with many more to follow hopefully! SOCIAL The PE/VC Club collaborated with the Wharton Social Impact Club and the Sustainable Business Coalition to host our inaugural Club mixer! First and second year students got together at Other Half Brewing, a local Philly brewery, for an afternoon of debriefing Planet Week at Wharton over drinks and snacks.
This semester the PE/VC Club organized a team of students to participate in the annual Rebuilding Together Philadelphia Block Build. Every spring Wharton’s Rebuilding Together Philadelphia club organizes a two-day event during which students from across the University of Pennsylvania provide repairs to up to ten homes in West Philadelphia. Interested in being featured in the Club’s regional treks where students have the opportunity to visit your offices and speak to investment professionals? Interested in sponsoring Wharton’s PE/VC Club? Please reach out our new Co-Presidents Faye Teng, Rainbow Yeung and Darrell Hanks. Interested in hiring Wharton students for an internship or full-time position? Please reach out to Courtney Johnson for access to the PE/VC Resume book. |
took place on March 22nd. We are delighted that 72 MBA students across 22 teams with 15 MBA programs participated in the competition. Students pitched to 13 judges across 10 top tier firms with Wharton students Edi Rumano, Wendy Ni and Adam Ferrari taking 1st prize. The 2nd and 3rd place winners were from Said Business School (Oxford University). This year’s competition was sponsored by Kirkland & Ellis and hosted at their office in New York City.
Katie Wu (Penn '09), Director, KKR Global Impact, joined 30 members of the Club for an intimate lunch where students learned about her journey as an investor focused on using capital as a force for good. Katie shared insights from her extensive direct investing experience at Blackstone, Apollo Global Management and HRS Management, and how she uses her financial toolkit to align profit with intentionality around measurable sustainability focused practices.