Get to Know Maria Isabel Aguayo, Class of 2024
Check out our recent Q&A with Maria as she discusses her MBA experience at Booth and involvement in the Latin American Business Group.
Get to Know Maria Isabel Aguayo, Class of 2024Utilizing resources like the Polsky Center, students gain experience in firms and earn credibility to enter a hard-to-access industry. Watch this video and see how Booth students’ internship experiences help set them up for success in PE and VC.
Scott Stern, ’17: 00:00
I don't think Chicago is a place that a lot of people immediately think of when they think of venture capital. But if you look at what's happened here over the last, say, five or 10 years, it's really grown dramatically. Booth has been at the heart of that.
Enrique Parra Arce, ’17: 00:19
To access the private equity world, which is a very hard world to access, I knew that Booth with their professors was the perfect place to do that.
Daniel Heck, ’17: 00:38
A lot of VC is trying to find those ideas that other people haven't necessarily realized or are just on the cusp of becoming big, and you need to take a bet on them or believe in those entrepreneurs before everybody else does.
Scott Stern, ’17: 00:50
When you're deciding to put millions of dollars into a company, you have to really believe in it, and no detail is too small.
Enrique Parra Arce, ’17: 00:57
I think companies in the private equity industry and finance industry really like Booth people. We are very structured when we analyze problems, and we are very data oriented. I help put together an investment thesis. I help on the due diligence of all the potential companies that they're buying.
Daniel Heck, ’17: 01:17
The day-in responsibilities can involve just looking through those business plans and seeing, is it something worth the partners' time?
Scott Stern, ’17: 01:23
It was just real exciting to be around entrepreneurs and to be able to share in their journey and to really create something from nothing.
Daniel Heck, ’17: 01:30
Venture's a very apprenticeship-based industry. You need kind of both the fundamentals in the classroom as well as just experience to really be able to operate effectively.
Scott Stern, ’17: 01:40
I'll be able to credibly go to VCs and say, like, "I've been working as an associate at a VC firm for a year."
Enrique Parra Arce, ’17: 01:49
There's been a couple times when we've been in a conference call with either a coinvestor or another private equity firm, and I would be thinking to myself, "Wow, this person is really impressive." And to later find out that they were actually Booth alumni. And it really made me very proud to be a Boothie.
Check out our recent Q&A with Maria as she discusses her MBA experience at Booth and involvement in the Latin American Business Group.
Get to Know Maria Isabel Aguayo, Class of 2024We’re dedicated to providing valuable MBA experiences for women in business. Check out professional development opportunities such as Booth Women Advance at Chicago Booth.
Empowering Women in the Workplace: Booth Women AdvanceHaving the flexibility to be intellectually curious taught Venkat to manage risk and tackle difficult business problems.
Student Stories: Meet Venkat Raman, ’18