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Northwestern JD-MBA Profile #1

When I was applying to and choosing between programs, I ultimately wanted to know two pieces of information 1) who were the people in the program now and 2) what were they doing after they graduated? While many top MBA programs have students profiles on their sites, historically, JD-MBA programs have not been as transparent. My hope is that this series of profiles about the Class of 2012 will explicitly help people find the answer to the first question about the Kellogg JD-MBA program.

For reference, I will not be posting the students in any particular order or based on any previous employment or future career goals. Rather I hope to profile a variety of classmates to best display the diverse skills, backgrounds, and interests of the JD-MBA students at Northwestern. Up first, is entrepreneur, Divya Narendra.

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Name: Divya Narendra
Home: New York, NY
College: Harvard College ‘04
Major: Applied Mathematics

Previous employment:
• SumZero LLC, Founder and CEO
• Sowood Capital, Hedge Fund Associate
• Credit Suisse, M&A Analyst
• ConnectU, Founder

Plans After Northwestern:
• Entrepreneur

General
In his short career, Divya has worked both as a financier and as an entrepreneur. He has worked on transformational M&A deals as a banker at Credit Suisse, analyzed equity and credit investment opportunities at Sowood Capital (a multi-billion hedge fund), and created two internet companies in the social networking space. One of his start-ups played a role in the formation of one of the biggest companies in the world today.

Passion for Entrepreneurship
Divya started his first company while a senior at Harvard, named ConnectU, which was an online community for students and alumni of colleges and universities. The idea eventually turned into Facebook and plays a central role in the recently released book, “Accidental Billionaires,” not to mention an upcoming Hollywood movie.

When turmoil in the credit markets forced Sowood’s shutdown in August 2007, Divya passed on the opportunity to take another high paying hedge fund job and instead launched his second start-up, SumZero. Playing on the idiom “Zero Sum” game, SumZero is an exclusive social networking company focused on helping top tier analysts and investors share actionable ideas and grow their professional networks in the investment industry. Divya will continue to work on SumZero during school. For those of you who aspiring to be buy-side professionals, check out www.sumzero.com/guest.

Why a JD-MBA?
Divya notes that “exposure to legal theory and legal thinking are invaluable to any entrepreneur given the substantial overlap between business issues and the law. Because much of my work experience post college has been in finance, I wanted to fill in the intellectual holes that only a JD could provide, while still benefiting from networking and educational benefits of an MBA. Getting both degrees in three years at two top ranked schools was a no-brainer.”

JD-MBA Academic Interests
Finance, Investment Management, Entrepreneurship, Transaction Law, IP Law

Interests
Rock Guitar, Tennis, Value Investing, Art, Running, Formula 1

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* For more information about the Northwestern JD-MBA program, please see the JD-MBA Program website or the JD-MBA Association website.

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