Will Abel, UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA ’22, dug through various interests–medicine, finance, healthcare–until he finally arrived at the core: entrepreneurship. In this Real Humans: Alumni, Will recounts his stepping stones, how an MBA from UNC smoothed out some rough edges, and some lessons from his journey to launching his own company.
Will Abel, UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA ’22, Co-Founder & CEO of Grantease
Age: 26
Hometown: Philadelphia
Undergraduate Institution and Major: University of Michigan, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Pharmacology Research, University of Michigan
Post-MBA Work Experience: Finance Partner, GSK, 2 years, Pharma. Stealth Biotech, 2 Years, Founder.
Why did you choose to attend business school?
Prior to business school I had focused purely on analytical skills and my then-plan to attend med school. When I got cold feet with regard to attending med school, I wanted to do something that broadened my skill set. Business school seemed like the best way to round myself out. I did a business minor at Ross in undergrad, but thought there was still a lot I could learn, particularly from peers who had already had industry jobs and experience. More importantly, I had an itch to become an entrepreneur and felt I needed to work on the soft skills.
Why UNC Kenan-Flagler? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I wanted to attend a school that I knew would round out my skill set, but also foster my interest in healthcare. After numerous discussions with some of the faculty, I felt the healthcare program was top notch. More importantly, I connected well with other potential students that I spoke to, and I approached my MBA as a place where I’d best learn from peers with different experiences from my own.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
I am now a co-founder of Grantease, which is an application for scientific grant writing and academic fundraising. At Kenan-Flagler, I gained a ton of knowledge and skills around communicating, organization management, understanding job acquisition and how to maneuver through any organization, etc. This prepared me very well for my job at GSK. It has also helped me tremendously in my ability to lead/grow a team as well as fundraise and strategically communicate.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I was a finance intern at GSK during business school. I had a great experience and a great mentor, who dramatically accelerated my learning curve in finance. It gave me the confidence to know I could succeed and enjoy a corporate finance job. From this, I also learned that a corporate finance job could be highly strategic.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
I chose to leave my job at GSK and build Grantease because in my previous startup experience I saw that academics spend a massive amount of time writing grants. I had an itch to try to solve this problem, and I felt from undergrad, MBA, and work experience, I had amassed the ability to give it a go.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
I pestered every company I was interested in until they gave in.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
I’d probably be more open to other areas – I recruited only in pharma.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
I wish I was told going in, that the most important way to learn in an MBA is through the friends you make in the program.
