10 Innovative Startups and Their MBA CEOs
Along with consulting and non-profit work, recent MBA graduates have shown a strong interest in entrepreneurial startups. It is no wonder why, as startup culture, with all of its limited resources, gives an MBA grad the chance to apply her entire skill set and gain hands-on experience in multiple facets of business.
To help ignite your inspiration and propel you into a feverish startup brainstorm, we’ve compiled a list of ten innovative startups and their MBA CEOs.
CEO Davis Smith
The Wharton School ’11
Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi is an outdoor apparel company devoted to a mission of combating global poverty. Listed as a public benefit corporation, Cotopaxi is dedicated to alleviating the struggle of the world’s least fortunate.
CEO Adam Nash
Harvard Business School ’01
Wealthfront
Wealthfront offers digital solutions to the costs and quandaries of investment banking. They offer software that allows for 24/7 portfolio management, as well as providing further consultation at significantly lower fees than traditional investment managers.
CEO Greg Schott
Stanford Graduate School of Business ‘1
Mulesoft
San Francisco tech company, Mulesoft, offers integration software for the myriad applications, data sources, and API’s that companies use with greater frequency every day. By allowing businesses to achieve increased technological integration, they contribute to their client’s growth of productivity and overall synergy.
CEO Sean Brecker
The Wharton School ’03
Headspace
Headspace is a mobile and desktop application whose mission is to allow its users to increase awareness and mindfulness in their everyday lives. With hundreds of meditation and training tutorials, ranging from two minutes to two hours, Headspace is a digital solution to the digital distractions we all face.
CEO Amanda Bradford
Stanford Graduate School of Business ’14
The League
The League is a dating app that posits itself as an “intelligent” alternative to Tinder. The app allows you to set your preferences and sit back while The League does your scouting for you. Another innovation is the ability to hide your profile from the people who know you (office mates, friends, family, etc.). Thanks to The League, dating can once again be a private affair.
CEO Curtis Lee
The Wharton School ’07
Luxe
San Francisco startup, Luxe, capitalizes on the annoyance most people feel when they are unable to find a parking spot. By means of a mobile app, Luxe will send a valet to your location and park your car for you. God bless the digital age.
CEO Tony Xu
Stanford Graduate School of Business ’13
Doordash
Doordash, available on mobile and desktop, is an on demand delivery service that middle-mans orders between you and your favorite merchants of chow. Doordash was conceived in the Stanford dorm room of, one imagines, a very hungry student without a car.
CEO Jason Kilar
Harvard Business School ’97
Vessel
Former Hulu CEO’s latest project, the online video subscription platform Vessel, offers its users the chance to pay a fee for early access to premium content. Vessel makes use of many innovative tactics such as paying content creators for every fan of their work that purchases a site subscription.
CEO Apu Gupta The Wharton School ’05
Curalate
Curalate is a visual commerce tool that allows companies to harness the power of pictures to increase sales. With clients such as Sephora, Buzzfeed, Nordstram, and Gap, Curalate has quickly become the go-to partner for companies looking to enhance their visual profile and revenue via image analytics.
CEO Matthew Prince
Harvard Business School ’09
Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a tech startup located in – you guessed it – San Francisco. By way of a DNS change, Cloudfare claims to enhance a site’s availability, speed, and security. Another benefit of their services is a resiliency to DDoS attacks (sorry Anonymous).
