University of Chicago GSB

NVC Judges

NVC judges are outstanding and experienced professionals who are venture capitalists, successful entrepreneurs, or services providers in the venture community who have volunteered their time and expertise to guide the competitors. Many of the judges travel to Chicago specifically to participate in the competition.

Distinguished Judges 2008

Along with NVC professors and coaches, this group of judges assesses feasibility summaries, business plans, and ultimately the winning team over several phases of the competition. These are the same judges to whom the final teams will pitch their plans and engage in a Q&A session.

Frank Ballantine Reed Smith
John Banta IllinoisVentures
Cynthia Bayley Elixir Pharmaceuticals
Steve Beitler Dunrath Capital
David Cruikshank ARCH Venture Partners
Rocky Daehler Motorola Ventures
James Dugan OCA Ventures
Warren Holtsberg Redbox Automated Retail, LLC
Gregg Kaplan Elixir Pharmaceuticals
Mark Koulogeorge MK Capital
John Larson Abbott Laboratories
Matt McCall Portage Venture Partners
Robert McCormack Trident Capital
Steven Miller Origin Ventures
William Mulligan Primus Venture Partners
Guy Nohra Alta Partners
Laura Pearl Ceres Venture Fund
John W. Rutledge Oxford Capital Group
Bob Shapiro Sandbox Industries
Robert Taylor Jr. Teleguam Holdings LLC
Immanuel Thangaraj Essex Woodlands Health Ventures
Howard Tullman Kendall College
John Van Dyke Dakota Water Systems and Pionetics
David Weinstein Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center
Garrett Van de Grift Vending Management Consultants

Classroom Judges 2008

Along with NVC professors and coaches, classroom judges attend one or more of the NVC Phase 2 sessions. Teams pitch their plans to these judges once at the beginning of the quarter and once at the end of the quarter. The purpose of this is for teams to implement judges' feedback to show progress in the viability of their plans.

judges
2005 judge William Miller (top) questions a 2005 finalist NVC team while judge John Oxaal (bottom) looks on.