Birk Mitau didn’t come to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management expecting to own multiple companies before graduation. But midway through his first year, he decided not to wait.
“I knew I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial,” Mitau tells Poets&Quants. “Business school affords you a little bit more flexibility. I had excess capacity. Why not use that toward what I believe my future should be?”
For Mitau, that decision turned Kellogg from a classroom into a launchpad. By the time he graduated in 2025, he and a longtime friend had already acquired two businesses, adding a third shortly after. Today, their Chicagoland portfolio of trade-services companies – Todco Roofing, C3 Construction, and Conserve Irrigation – employs roughly 50 people.
FROM EXPLORATION TO EXECUTION – FAST
Kellogg 2025 MBA and business owner Birk Mitau: “I was able to take a very practical hands-on experience and map it back to what my peers were doing, and that all in tandem really produced a better outcome”
What began as exploration quickly became execution. And for a growing number of MBA students, waiting until after graduation is starting to feel like time lost.
“The answer to the buy-a-business question is an absolute yes,” says David Schonthal, clinical professor of entrepreneurship and faculty director of the Zell Fellows Program, Kellogg’s flagship, yearlong experiential entrepreneurship program with a dedicated track for entrepreneurship through acquisition.
Interest in ETA, Schonthal tells P&Q, is rising across Kellogg’s full-time, evening, and executive MBA programs, and that shift is changing how some students use their time in school. Instead of treating ETA as a post-MBA option, they are using the program to get as close to transaction-ready as possible – and in many cases like Mitau’s, taking the plunge even before donning the mortarboard.
BUILDING ‘DAY ONE’ READINESS
At Kellogg, that is by design.
“Our goal is to shorten that time, shorten the learning-on-the-job portion,” says Alex Schneider, who leads ETA within the Zell program, “so that if they find that one perfect business the day after graduation – or before – they’re prepared to act on it.”
For Schneider, readiness comes down to two qualities. “That combination of conviction and credibility is how transactions get done,” he tells P&Q.
Students must believe in the deal – and convince sellers, investors, and themselves that they can execute it.
To build that capability, Kellogg has layered practical experience onto the traditional MBA curriculum – company visits, diligence exercises, legal walkthroughs, and operating simulations.
One simulation places students in a real operational environment at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, forcing them to manage workflows and people far removed from the white-collar environments many MBA students know.
“A lot of the workforce is not motivated by ambition like MBA students,” Schneider says. “That’s not most of the world.”
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CLOSE
Kellogg professor David Schonthal: “You’ve now taken over this company that may be the livelihood and fabric of a community. That’s an entirely different job”
For all the attention on sourcing and financing acquisitions, both Schneider and Schonthal emphasize that students often misunderstand where the real challenge lies.
“Once you raise the search fund, the hard work begins,” Schonthal says. “And once you buy the business, the even harder work begins.”
That reality becomes clear only with experience. Schneider says one of the most consistent blind spots is people management.
“In ETA, the first day you might meet them is the first day that you bought the business,” he says. “There’s a whole level of people management that’s difficult to teach.”
LEARNING BY DOING – IN REAL TIME
Mitau encountered that shift firsthand. While the mechanics of sourcing and diligence felt familiar given his background, stepping into ownership was different.
“Truly being an owner, truly being a CEO, was new,” he says.
He credits Kellogg with allowing him to bridge that gap while still in school, leaning on professors, classmates, and the Zell Fellows network.
“I was able to take a very practical hands-on experience and map it back to what my peers were doing, and that all in tandem really produced a better outcome,” he says.
That acceleration comes at a cost. While many MBA students secure internships that convert into full-time roles, Mitau took a different route.
ACCELERATION WITH TRADE-OFFS
Kellogg’s Alex Schneider: “A lot of the workforce is not motivated by ambition like MBA students. That’s not most of the world”
“I was working on my business when I woke up, and I was working on my business until I went to bed,” he says. “There was a totally different dimension to my life.”
There were also financial risks. Because he used SBA financing, Mitau had to collateralize his personal assets against the loans – a level of exposure that underscores just how real the stakes can be for would-be operators.
That reality is one reason Kellogg emphasizes realism alongside opportunity. Schneider says the program deliberately exposes students to failure cases and encourages extensive networking with operators before committing to the path.
EYES WIDE OPEN
“We almost negative sell ETA to our students,” he says, “to make sure that students have their eyes wide open.”
Schonthal echoes that perspective, arguing that the biggest misconception about ETA is where the focus lies. Students often fixate on raising a search fund. But that is just the beginning.
“You’ve now taken over this company that may be the livelihood and fabric of a community,” he says. “That’s an entirely different job.”
The rise of ETA at Kellogg is about more than a new career path. It reflects a broader shift in how some MBA students think about the degree itself – not just as a bridge to the next job, but as a window to compress years of experience into two (or fewer). But for those who move early, the upside comes with real exposure – financial, operational, and deeply personal.
Call it the ultimate learning experience.
“If I fail,” Mitau says, “I lose everything that I have.”
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