Hello good looking people!  If you’re interested in reading my ‘spiel,’ you’ve come to the right place.  I’m looking forward to giving you, the reader, a backstage pass into my MBA journey.

At this point, you might be asking yourself, “Self, why do I care about what Josh has to say?”  The answer is simple: I’m interesting.

Four years ago, as a newly minted college graduate from Emory University, I was cooped up in a suffocatingly small cubicle on the 43rd floor of an office building in New York City.  I was an Equity Research Analyst, covering the Metals & Mining sector.  Not nine months after my start date, the firm I was with closed its doors, forcing me to reconsider my career path.  Looking inward, I decided that I had been creatively stifled in my job and that I had been given a proverbial ‘new lease on life.’  While pondering my next move, another opportunity presented itself – what I used as a money-making venture in college to pay for my living expenses, poker, had become a booming industry.  I began traveling the globe to compete in high buy-in poker events, all the while perfecting my craft and experiencing the world (using my hometown of Chicago as a hub).

Now you may asking yourself, “Why would a professional poker player come to business school?”  The answer is once again simple: I’d prefer not to devote my life to a zero-sum game.

Poker is not my career ambition, rather what gets me juiced is anything related to entrepreneurship and value creation.  Innovation, startups and venture capital are three things that I love to talk about and UNC Kenan-Flagler gives me the perfect opportunity to refocus my efforts on my passion.

Outside of the classroom, I love rooting for Chicago-based sports teams, a round of golf or a game of basketball and a good movie.

Finally, you may be wondering, “Josh, what do you want to do after school?”  Great question!

The answer is that I’d like to work in an entrepreneurial-minded environment – ideally as a venture capitalist or at a start-up.   The school’s relationship and proximity to the Research Triangle gives me an opportunity to get out of classroom and learn from local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Let me close by stating that I am extremely approachable, so if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  Good luck and enjoy our blog!