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Venture Capital Investment Competition

Organizing Committee


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2011 VCIC Organizing Committee

Justin Coulombe (Chair), FTMBA 2013
Eric Desai (Teams/Workshops), FTMBA 2013
Steve Vargas (Entrepreneurs), EWMBA 2012
Brian Feth (Judges), FTMBA 2013

Justin Coulombe is a 2013 FTMBA candidate. Prior to Haas, he spent five years in investment banking at Needham & Company, LLC’s New York, NY office. In his time at Needham, Justin focused on technology growth companies, executing more than 35 M&A, advisory, and capital raising assignments. Justin is a CFA Charterholder and graduated from the University of Maryland’s R.H. Smith School of business with a dual Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Finance with honors. Post Haas, Justin’s goal is to pursue a corporate development and/or venture capital role within a large technology company.

Eric Desai is a 2013 FTMBA candidate. Prior to Haas, he spent four years in PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Transaction Services practice in the Netherlands consulting European and multi-national clients on M&A buy and sell-side due diligence and valuations projects across multiple industries. He spent the summer of 2011 as a Manager at Philips Corporate Strategy focusing on new business creation. Eric started his career in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Assurance practice in Chicago performing audits for two years on financial services and insurance clients. He is a CPA, Level 1 CFA and graduated from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management with a dual Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Accounting Summa Cum Laude. After Haas, Eric would like to pursue a strategy and business development role in a growth stage cleantech – energy efficiency company or join a growth equity investment team.

Steve Vargas is a 2012 EWMBA candidate.  He is originally from Boston, and graduated from Trinity College (Hartford, CT) with a BSEE.  Steve moved out here in 1999 and has been working as an engineer at a GPS startup ever since. He is working with a classmate to launch a new venture in movie financing.  After Haas, he would like to continue to grow the business, and one day pursue a career in venture capital or angel investing.  Steve also competed in the 2011 VCIC.

Brian Feth is a 2013 FTMBA candidate and a Haas Venture Fellow. Prior to Haas Brian was an Associate at Strategyn Equity Partners and a Regional Program Manager for Techno Serve in the start-up phase. He spent four years of his early career as a Senior Associate consultant at L.E.K Consulting. Brian graduated from Purdue University with a dual Bachelor of Science Degree in Molecular Biology and Chemistry. Post Haas, Brian’s goal is to pursue a career in venture capital.

Kirsten Berzon is the Program Manager at the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and works closely with the 2012 VCIC team in implementing all aspects of the Competition. She joined the Lester Center in 2008 and brings over 15 years of event management experience to her role.


2011 VCIC Organizing Committee

Sarah Friedman (Chair), FTMBA 2012
Ajit Deshpande (Teams/Workshops), FTMBA 2011
Sriram Subramanian (Entrepreneurs), EWMBA 2012
Colbjorn Foss (Judges), FTMBA 2012


Sarah is a 2012 FTMBA candidate. Before attending Haas, Sarah worked as a consultant at Bain & Company in the San Francisco office, as well as 6 months in the New Delhi office. Her worked focused on technology clients, ranging from enterprise software to IT services to consumer internet products. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ajit is a 2011 MBA candidate. Prior to joining Haas, he worked in engineering roles in solar energy at Solyndra Inc and in semiconductor equipment at Novellus Systems. He also currently works as a part-time associate at California Clean Energy (CalCEF) Angel Fund in San Francisco. He holds a Masters' from Stanford University and a Bachelors' from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India, both in Mechanical Engineering.

Sriram is a 2012 EWMBA candidate. He currently works for PayPal as a Product Manager. Prior to PayPal, Sriram worked at an 8-person software startup that was acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2006. He has held a variety of roles spanning product management, R&D, and tech consulting. His goal after business school is to move back to India and pursue a career in high tech entrepreneurship. Sriram holds an M.S. degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.E. in Electronics & Telecom from the University of Pune, India.

Colbjorn is a 2012 FTMBA candidate. Before attending Haas, Colbjorn worked within venture capital for Kistefos, a privately owned investment company based in Norway. Here he managed investments in portfolio companies and sourced new deals. Colbjorn holds a Master of Science in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.


2010 VCIC Organizing Committee


Desmond Chan

Mehul Gandhi

Robbie Horwitz

David Olsen

Tamar Tashjian

Kirsten Berzon


2009 VCIC Organizing Committee

Fiona Miller
Jeff Olson
Aaron Schwartz
Annie Welch
An Yan
Kirsten Berzon



The Berkeley VCIC is hosted by the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley and administered by MBA students from the Haas School of Business.  VCIC ® is a trademark of the University of North Carolina.


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