Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures
MIT Logo Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures MIT Course 15.393
Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures - 2024
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Session 1 - Tuesday 1/23/2024
Session 2 - Wed 1/24/2024
Session 3 - Thurs 1/25/2024
Session 4 - Tues 1/30/2024
Session 5 - Wed 1/31/2024
Session 6 - Thurs 2/1/2024
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Former TAs
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FORMER TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Nuts and Bolts has had great Teaching Assistants over the years. Here is who they are and what they are doing.

2024 Sam Oppenheimer and Aaron Thornton
2023 Ping King and Stefan Sayre
2022 Ezgi Emiroglu, Graz Gallito and Jimmy Teng
2021 Claire Victoria Beskin, Samuel Charles Lambert and Thierno Sylla
2020 Akhilesh Koppineni, Christian Mirabile and Jennifer Shin
2019 Riana Shah, Harry Kainen and Cy Schroeder
2018 Jake Guglin and Sloane Phillips
2017 Bar Kafri
2016 Monique Guimond and Michael K. Mckean
2015 Marc Chalifoux and Jay Sherman
2014 Gino Korolev
2013 Haya Al Ghanim and Alison Lynne Yost
2012 Hannah Clark Steiman
2011 Kourosh Kaghazian
2010 Whitney Braunstein
2009 Sombit Mishra
2008 Diego Panama
2007 Ovidiu Bujorean
2005 Mark Roberge
2004 Liesbet Peeters
2002 Timo Somervuo
2001 Victor K. Mallet
1999 Harrison Roberts

2024 Teaching Assistants: Sam Oppenheimer and Aaron Thornton

Sam Oppenheimer

Sam Oppenheimer is a 2025 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan.   Prior to Sloan he was a co-founder of Dooka, an African B2B marketplace.   This marketplace connected Africa's largest bank and telco with their suppliers in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.   Sam received a Masters in Physics from Oxford University LinkedIn Page


Aaron Thornton

Aaron Thornton is a 2025 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan.   Prior to Sloan he was Deputy Cybersecurity Department Head at the U.S. Navy, Hopper Information Services Center in Washington DC.  Aaron received a B.S. (Bachelor of Science) in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Systems Engineering from Penn State. LinkedIn Page

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2023 Teaching Assistants: Ping King and Stefan Sayre

Ping King

Ping King is a 2024 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan.   Prior to Sloan she was VP of Marketing at Treehouse Technology Group a technology strategy and custom solutions development firm.  She previously was Director of Business Development for InvestReal in Los Angeles where she executed their go-to-market strategy for both the flagship SaaS and marketplace platforms.  She was co-founder of Blend to Mend, a medical nutrition company specializing in ready-to-drink smoothies for individuals diagnosed with cancer, actively undergoing therapy, and facing nutritional challenges.  Ping received a BA from Cornell University. LinkedIn Page

Stefan Sayre

Stefan Sayre is an MBA '24 at the MIT Sloan School of Management with interests in the life sciences, entrepreneurial finance, and management spaces.   Before business school, Stefan worked as a mutual fund investment analyst at Morningstar and Fisher Investments.   Stefan holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.A. in Biology, specializing in Microbiology, from the University of Chicago and is a CFA and CAIA Charterholder. LinkedIn Page

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2022 Teaching Assistants: Ezgi Emiroglu, Graz Gallito and Jimmy Teng

Ezgi Emiroghu

Ezgi Emiroglu is a 2023 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan as a Dean's Fellow and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Competition.   Prior to Sloan, Ezgi was at TEALEAVES, a luxury food & beverage company, where she developed a social impact-focused brand strategy in partnership with United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Microsoft Design, and Ellen MacArthur Foundation.   Between 2016 and 2020, she executive-produced four documentaries which premiered at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian, SXSW, New York Design Festival, and San Francisco Design Week, and received recognition from Fast Company World Changing Ideas.   Ezgi earned a Bachelor of Commerce from University of British Columbia with a double major in Finance and Marketing with a minor in Sociology. Ezgi's interests are in leveraging venture capital to create ESG-driven market-based solutions.   LinkedIn Page

Graz Gallito

Graz Gallito is a Sloan Fellow MBA 2022 and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Competition.   Before coming to Sloan, Graziano was an entrepreneur in the international education industry, specialized in the use of new technologies and innovative teaching methods designed to develop soft skills among participants and aimed at a wide range of users: from high school to university students; from managers of the public and private sectors to the armed forces' officers.  Graziano earned a Master's Degree in Political Sciences, summa cum laude, from LUISS University in Rome.    LinkedIn Page

Jimmy Teng

Jimmy Teng is a 2023 MFin Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Competition.   He is currently a Venture Fellow at the E14 Fund, a MIT affiliated VC investing in deep-tech startups across campus.   Prior to Sloan, Jimmy worked at Fusion Fund in Palo Alto where he invested in healthcare ventures, focusing on the digital mental health space.   Jimmy earned a Bachelor of Science from NYU Stern with a double major in Finance and Statistics and a minor in Public Policy.    LinkedIn Page

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2021 Teaching Assistants: Claire Victoria Beskin, Samuel Charles Lambert and Thierno Sylla

Claire Victoria Beskin

Claire Victoria Beskin is a 2022 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Competition.   In the summer of 2020, Claire did a UX & Product Management internship at an MIT start-up called Alpaca.   Prior to that, Claire worked in Management Consulting at Boston Consulting Group (2018-2020; Boston office) and in Fixed Income Securities at Goldman Sachs (2016-2018; Hong Kong office).   Claire earned a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College with a double major in Economics and Chinese.   LinkedIn Page

Sam Lambert

Sam Lambert is a 2022 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and MPP Candidate at Harvard Kennedy School and is Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Competition.   Sam has been very involved in the venture capital space, completing internships at funds such as Health Velocity Capital, Altos Ventures, and Supernode Ventures.   Prior to graduate school, Sam was a Management Consultant at Accenture in Los Angeles, focusing on optimizing operations for health insurance companies.   Sam earned a Bachelor of Science from University of Southern California with a major in Biomedical Engineering.   LinkedIn Page

Thierno Sylla

Thierno Sylla is a 2022 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K competition.   Prior to Sloan, Thierno was an investment specialist in the asset management division at J.P. Morgan.   Thierno was an integral part of the go-to-market efforts for J.P. Morgan's fastest growing and largest Exchange-Traded Fund.    He also contributed to building the firm's first digital investment platform, helping over 40 million active users of Chase.com and the Chase mobile app gain access to financial literacy content and simple investment tools.   Thierno earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College with a major in economics and a minor in art.   LinkedIn Page

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2020 Teaching Assistants: Akhilesh Koppineni, Christian Mirabile and Jennifer Shin

Akhilesh Koppineni

Akhilesh Koppineni "AK" is a 2021 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K competition. Prior to Sloan, Akhilesh co-founded an urban mobility startup that was acquired by Ola (India's largest ride share platform).  Post acquisition, he joined Ola where he most recently led the company's first international expansion into Australia.  He graduated in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.   LinkedIn Page

Christian Mirabile

Christian Mirabile is a 2021 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.   Christian is passionate about the intersection of tech and sustainability.  Prior to Sloan, Christian spent 5 years at Accenture delivering digital transformations and AI applications for tech and telecom companies.  He holds a degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.    LinkedIn Page

Jennifer Shin

Jennifer Shin is a 2021 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.  Before coming to Sloan, Jennifer worked at an augmented reality startup in Paris, France, and a 3D printer manufacturer in Brooklyn, NY.  She first started her career working at science and technology non-profits in NYC.  In addition to the $100K, Jennifer serves on the leadership team of the Sloan Tech Club.   LinkedIn Page

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2019 Teaching Assistants: Riana Shah, Harry Kainen and Cy Schroeder

Riana Shah

Riana Shah is a first year student at MIT Sloan and is passionate about entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation.   She is a Legatum Fellow and the Co-Founder/CEO of Independent Thought and Social Action International (ITSA), an education technology venture that redesigns schools to prepare students for the 21st century.   ITSA has worked across 19 cities and 11 countries.   Prior to MIT, Riana served as an Innovation Strategy Consultant for Brightidea where she works with Fortune 500 companies to formulate and implement innovation strategy.   Riana's entrepreneurship work has been featured in the Huffington Post, the Women of Influence Magazine and Google's Generation In Project.   She has spoken at the United Nations, the U.S. State Department and at the International Forum on Child Welfare.   Riana is the host of Venture Vignettes, a podcast series that features trailblazers in entrepreneurship, innovation and investment.   LinkedIn Page

Harry Kainen

Harry Kainen is a 2020 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and co-managing director of MIT's $100K competition.   Prior to Sloan, Harry worked at a healthcare consulting startup in Kendall Square.   In addition to the $100K competition, Harry serves on the leadership team of the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, the Breaking The Mold hackathon, and works with an agricultural technology startup founded at MIT.    LinkedIn Page

Cy Schroeder

Cy Schroeder is a 2020 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and Co-Managing Director of MIT's $100K Competition.   Prior to Sloan, Cy spent four years in debt and equity investing for an asset management firm in London and in Charlotte, NC.   In addition to the $100K, Cy serves on the leadership teams for Sloan's Venture Capital & Private Equity and Entrepreneurship & Innovation clubs and works with a renewable energy startup focused on vertically integrating wind energy and high-density computing.   LinkedIn Page

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2018 Teaching Assistants: Jake Guglin and Sloane Phillips

Jake Guglin

Jake Guglin is a 2019 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and co-Managing Director of the MIT $100K Competition. Before Sloan, Jake was a reformed commodities trader-turned-startup enthusiast. Most recently he worked with Fortune 1000 companies to implement startup technology, and as a Venture Partner at Outbound Ventures in NYC. LinkedIn Page

Sloane Phillips

Sloane Phillips is a 2019 MBA Candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-Managing Director of the MIT $100K Competition. She has a B.S. in Public Health. Prior to attending MIT, she worked at Planned Parenthood and was a Community Health Extension Volunteer in the Peace Corps. Passionate about extending access to care, she is a member of two student led healthcare startups based out of MIT and Harvard. LinkedIn Page

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2017 Teaching Assistant: Bar Kafri

Bar Kafri

Bar Kafri a 2018 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and the Managing Director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.   Prior to arriving at Sloan he served at the IDF as a project manager and an officer.   He has a wide experience in leading cross-functional teams under stressful conditions and high technological uncertainties.   Specializing in development of innovative and creative solutions for complex problems.   In addition, he holds a MS from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Chemical engineering with specialization in Renewable Energy and Computer Simulations. LinkedIn Page

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2016 Teaching Assistants: Monique Guimond and Michael K. Mckean

Monique Guimond

Monique Guimond is a 2017 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan and the Managing Director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Prior to arriving at Sloan she was one of the first employees at a healthcare design social-enterprise, MASS Design Group, which is located in Boston, MA and Kigali, Rwanda. She spent five years at MASS building out operations and expanding their business model abroad. In addition she holds a BS from Georgetown University in International Health and has spent time conducting infectious disease research in South America and Sub-Saharan Africa. LinkedIn Page

Michael K. Mckean

Michael K. Mckean is a member of the Sloan Fellows class of 2016 at MIT Sloan. A software engineer and entrepreneur, his most recent venture, www.Knowland.com, is the leading provider of data and analytics to the global meetings & events industry. Michael stepped down as CEO in July of 2015 to attend MIT. He remains on the board of directors and is the majority shareholder of the firm. In addition to attending MIT Sloan, Michael is a venture partner at Converge Venture Partners (www.convergevp.com) and the chairman of MF Holdings LLC where he invests in real estate, multi-unit franchising and risk capital (venture, private equity and hedge funds). He is a member of the Young President's Organization (YPO) and the Entrepreneur's Organization (EO). He and his wife Jennifer have two children, Melanie and Thomas, and split their time between Rehoboth Beach, DE and Washington, DC. LinkedIn Page

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2015 Teaching Assistants: Marc Chalifoux and Jay Sherman

Marc Chalifoux

Marc Chalifoux is candidate for MBA in 2016 at MIT Sloan School of Management. He was recently named co-Managing Director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Marc has held leadership positions in the private, public and nonprofits sectors in Canada. Most recently, he oversaw internal communications at TD Bank at their head office in Toronto. LinkedIn Page

Jay Sherman

Jay Sherman is a first year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management and is the incoming Associate Director of the MIT $100K Competition. Prior to Sloan, Jay founded and managed three companies. His first company was a third party logistics provider, serving as a reseller of DHL International. He then formed a sales and marketing company that launched a card-based customer loyalty rewards program across the U.S. Most recently, Jay owned and operated a BlueGrace Logistics franchise, providing transportation management services to small and medium sized companies in the U.S. and Canada.

At Sloan, Jay also serves as the co-President of the Sales and Business Development Club and is enrolled in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track. After graduating, Jay hopes to secure a business development role in a technology company focused on sales and marketing solutions. LinkedIn Page

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2014 Teaching Assistant: Gino Korolev

Gino Korolev

Gino Korolev is a 2015 MIT Sloan MBA student. He completed his B.S. in Computer Science at Northeastern University.

Before coming to MIT, as a Director of Technology at Medullan, he oversaw development of innovative web and mobile solutions for UnitedHealth, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and Foundation Medicine.   Prior to that Gino founded a data analytics startup, AppsMeter, that focused on tracking the mobile app space.

Gino currently holds 4 technology patents in the United States, with several more pending.   In his spare time, Gino loves skiing, playing soccer, and on a bad weather day, learning about the early medieval history. Linkedin Page

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2013 Teaching Assistants: Haya Al Ghanim and Alison Lynne Yost

Haya Al Ghanim

Haya Al Ghanim is a 2014 MIT Sloan MBA graduate and the first Qatari graduate.   She earned her B.A. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado - Boulder.   Before coming to MIT, she operated under multiple hats at a non-profit organization, Qatar Foundation for Science, Education and Community Development as well as its subsidiary centers.   Her main focus was "Capacity Building" as a means to diversify the local economy.   One of the programs she ran in Qatar was the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program.   Haya's interests span over the complexity spectrum from behavioral neuroscience and management to frozen yogurt. She is still searching for her favorite sport, but the latest sport of interest seems to be squash, skiing, playing soccer, and on a bad weather day, learning about the early medieval history. LinkedIn Page

Alison Lynne Yost

Alison Lynne Yost is a PhD Candidate in Mechanical Engineering studying the incorporation of nonporous elements in microfluidics for bioparticle separation applications. She completed her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at MIT in 2012, and earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. While at UNH, Allison was also a member of the NCAA Division 1 Women's Soccer Team. Allison is interested in the intersection of engineering and medicine, hoping to pursue biomedical endeavors to affect those in need. Recently a member of the H@acking Medicine Initiative at MIT, she has become passionate about entrepreneurial endeavors for disruptive healthcare. In her spare time, Allison loves to be outdoors, skiing, running, hiking, and cooking.  LinkedIn Page

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2012 Teaching Assistant: Hannah Clark Steiman

Hannah Clark Steiman

Hannah Clark Steiman graduated from MIT Sloan with a MBA student in 2013.

Before coming to Sloan, she spent seven years as a business journalist, mostly at Forbes and Inc., a magazine focused on entrepreneurs. At Inc., she edited sections focused on helping business owners manage their companies more effectively. She has also worked as Communications Manager at the Clinton Global Initiative. After graduating from MIT Sloan she joined Innosight as an Associate.

Hannah blogs about cooking, personal finance, and other topics at hannahsteiman.com, and you can follow her on Twitter at @hannahsteiman. LinkedIn Page

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2011 Teaching Assistant: Kourosh Kaghazian

Kourosh Kaghazian

Kourosh Kaghazian received his MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2012. Before coming to Sloan, he founded or was involved in several startups in the book and printing areas.

While at Sloan and in addition to TAing Nuts and Bolts, Kourosh was Managing Director of the MIT $100K Competition.

Since Sloan Kourosh has held several positions at Amazon. LinkedIn Page

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2010 Teaching Assistant: Whitney Braunstein

Whitney Braunstein

Whitney Braunstein received her MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2011 with a concentration in Marketing. Before coming to Sloan, she held various positions in project management and marketing.

Since Sloan Whitney has worked in New York as a Digital Strategist consultant for a number of leading companies. LinkedIn Page

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2009 Teaching Assistant: Sombit Mishra

Sombit Mishra

Sombit Mishra received his MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2010 with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Before attending Sloan, he held various positions in marketing and business development.

Following Sloan Sombit founded QMedic "the World's Smartest Medical Alert Service". LinkedIn Page

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2008 Teaching Assistant: Diego Panama

Diego Panama

Diego Panama received his MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2009. Before attending Sloan, he was Director of Programs at Endeavor.

Following Sloan Diego worked in various positions at Microsoft and then at LiveRamp in NYC. LinkedIn Page

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2007 Teaching Assistant: Ovidiu Bujorean

Ovidiu Bujorean

Ovidiu Bujorean received his MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2008. Before attending Sloan, Ovi founded and ran several young entrepreneur networks in Romania.

Following Sloan Ovi worked in private equity and most recently as Senior Program Manager of the GIST Initiative building entrepreneurial ecosystems across the Middle East, Turkey, Asia, and Africa. LinkedIn Page

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2005 Teaching Assistant: Mark Roberge

Mark Roberge

Mark Roberge received his MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2006. Before attending Sloan, Mark was a consultant at Accenture and an account executive at Vettro.

Following Sloan Mark founded a pet related internet company and then joined Hubspot as VP Sales. Currently he is the Chief Revenue Officer at Hubspot. LinkedIn Page

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2004 Teaching Assistant: Liesbet Peeters

Liesbet Peeters

Liesbet Peeters received her MBA from MIT Sloan School in 2005. Before attending Sloan, Liesbet was a financial analyst at an investment bank and an investment associate at a private equity firm.

Following Sloan Liesbet was an investment officer at the World Bank and is currently Managing Director of D. Capital Partners which seeks to facilitate capital flows to underserved countries, sectors, and beneficiaries, particularly those in developing countries. LinkedIn Page

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2002 Teaching Assistant: Timo Somervuo

Timo Somervuo

Timo Somervuo received his B.Sc in Management Science from MIT in 2005 and a B.Sc. in Computer Science in 2006 and a Master of Engineering in 2007.

Following Sloan Timo has held various positions in the fixed income area at Morgan Stanley and is currently a VP-Credit Index Trader. LinkedIn Page

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2001 Teaching Assistant: Victor K. Mallet

Victor K. Mallet

Victor K. Mallet received his B.Sc in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 2002.

Following Sloan Victor has held various positions in the energy area primarily in Africa and is currently Mozambique Business Development Manager for Aggeko, a supplier of interim, critical and backup power. LinkedIn Page

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1999 Teaching Assistant: Harrison Roberts

Harrison Roberts

Harrison Roberts received MBA from MIT Sloan in 1999.

Following Sloan Harrison has held various positions in the computer industry, currently at EMC Corporation. LinkedIn Page

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