Adil Wali

Stay strong...

Wow! I knew that pursuing entrepreneurship wouldn't be easy, but I never expected to be challenged so much on a daily basis.  Maybe my assumption was that I would be challenged in big ways relatively infrequently.  That's not turning out to be the case. 

I am finding myself face-to-face with a new challenge every day as I work with my fellow co-founders to shape our product, get in touch with customers, and raise money.  Our company, Vintake Media, is developing a video distribution platform that will enable content hosts to cut costs dramatically while maintaining their quality of video. 

Online video is a hot space right now, and I have to admit that I feel a pang of fear every time I read another article about a start-up company that will potentially compete with us.  Sometimes I just want to keep my head buried in the sand and not have any idea what our competitors are doing.  I'd sleep better at night.. but I guess good CEOs aren't destined to sleep much. 

Why get a job when you can create one?

Sometime during the beginning of my first year of MBA school, I had a serious reality check.  I was pushed off balance by the flurry of first-year students searching for internships, creating resumes, and developing personal marketing plans.  The peer pressure was overwhelming, and as a result, I began to wonder if it would make sense to start thinking about a more traditional career for myself.  After all, an MBA salary isn't that bad.

I was walking by the office of a close mentor, Dr. Emerson, the Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Tepper.  I told him what was through my head and he said something that I will probably never forget.  First he laughed a little, and then he looked up at me and said, "The probability of you finding a job that is just right for you is significantly lower than the probability of you creating such a job for yourself."  That simple statement was only said informally in passing, but it made me seriously think.  It made me remember why I came to graduate school to begin with.

I came here to gain the toolset to have a more positive and significant impact on the world around me.  I've always wanted to realize that goal through entrepreneurship, and my visit with Dr. Emerson made it clear that there was no need to fade away from that ambition.  I am happy I had that conversation because I've since chosen to stick by entrepreneurship and I am part of a startup company with some of the smartest and most driven people I've ever known.  If this company fails, I doubt I'll have any regrets.

Thanks Dr. Emerson. 

About Me

My name is Adil Wali and I am a second-year MBA at Tepper.  I grew up in a small town outside of Chicago called Darien, IL.  There, at a young age, I become intensely drawn to entrepreneurship.  My parents, almost as soon as they came to this country 33 years ago, were entrepreneurs in the supermarket and video rental businesses.  My parents experienced mild success with their businesses because of their lack of business training, and that was a driving force for my pursuit of an undergraduate degree in Finance and graduate study in business.

During my undergraduate study at Truman State University, I began to push forward with a small web development studio I started in high school.  I overhauled the business model for the company to work more like a virtual development shop and subcontracting consultancy and immediately began hiring.  The company became significantly more profitable and had grown to six people before I realized I wanted to pursue an MBA.  The company wet my appetite for large scale venture-backed entrepreneurship, and I realized that I needed a more powerful toolset and network to make that happen.  As a result, I decided to pursue an MBA at a young age (20), directly after I graduated from undergraduate study.   

I spend my time at Tepper being involved with a great deal of extra-curricular entrepreneurial activity.  I have been fortunate enough to compete in a number of the large business plan competitions, where our team did very well.  We won the popular Moot Corp business plan competition near the end of the year, and as a result, we were honored with the opportunity to open the Nasdaq Stock Market in mid August.  It was an incredible opportunity, and served to wet my appetite even more.  I want to open the Nasdaq again, but next time, I want it to be when I am able to lead a company to IPO.  I am currently working on a startup with a fellow 2nd year MBA as well as a colleague from my first startup, and I am having a great time with that.

I also spend a good deal of time extra-curricularly being involved in Net Impact, a professional organization that promotes positive social impact.  I try to be as physically active as possible, which includes occasional workouts, games of ultimate Frisbee, and flag football.