Harris Stolzenberg
We’re thrilled to welcome our newest class of Venture Associates at Pillar VC. From a competitive pool of over 350 applicants, we’ve selected 12 talented Undergraduates, MBAs, and PhDs from MIT, Harvard, McGill, and Cambridge. Throughout this academic year, our associates will immerse themselves in all aspects of venture capital – from deal sourcing and investment diligence to portfolio company support. As Pillar VC’s ambassadors on campus, they’ll help us deepen our connections with founders across the academic ecosystem, from students and postdocs to professors and faculty members.
MBA Venture Associates
Sean Klein
Sean is a 1st year MBA at MIT Sloan. He has a background in computer science and mechanical engineering, and prior work experience as a PM at Walmart and Uber. He is passionate about AI/ML, especially in SaaS, consumer apps, defense tech, and ecommerce. In his free time, he enjoys exercising, going to concerts, watching Formula 1, and playing board games.
Rebecca Sostek
Rebecca is a 1st year MBA at MIT Sloan. She studied neuroscience, psychology and rhetoric for her undergrad at the University of Texas. She worked at McKinsey for over 5 years in their healthcare practice before starting her MBA. In her free time, she likes trying new restaurants, seeing live music, hiking, running, watching the Longhorns win, and hanging with her dog Brie.
Jack Murren
Jack is a 1st year MBA at MIT Sloan. His career has been predominantly in the federal government, including 3+ years in the Pentagon as Chief of Staff of the Office of Strategic Capital. He is passionate about national security and integrating technology but also enjoys discussing sports betting as a native of Las Vegas.
Vidhan Bhaiya
Vidhan is a 1st year MBA at HBS. He previously studied chemical engineering at Northeastern and was an Investment Associate at Pillar VC in 2018, which inspired him to start a social enterprise. In his free time, he loves playing squash, following Manchester United, and helping Northeastern expand its entrepreneurship program.
Sanchie Shroff
Sanchie is a 2nd year MBA at HBS. She was previously an investor at SoftBank and WestBridge Capital, focused on Consumer and SaaS. She started her career at McKinsey. Originally from India, Sanchie moved to the U.S. just last year and enjoys watching movies, listening to music, playing pool and squash, and traveling the world.
Molly Shapiro
Molly is a 1st year in Harvard’s MS/MBA Life Sciences Biotechnology program. She studied engineering and biology at Dartmouth, where she was on the track team. Prior to HBS, she was Chief of Staff for the Biosecurity team at Ginkgo Bioworks and did life sciences consulting at Trinity. Molly is from Schenectady, NY and in her free time likes walking/running along the Charles and Bluebiking.
Ryan Peer
Ryan is a 1st year in Harvard’s MS/MBA Life Sciences Biotechnology program. She studied neuroscience and global health at Middlebury College. Prior to HBS, she worked in corporate development at Fulcrum Therapeutics, corporate strategy at Satellite Bio, and life sciences strategy consulting at ClearView Healthcare Partners. In her free time, Ryan enjoys distance running, backcountry skiing, and baking.
PhD Venture Associates
Blake Hanan
Blake is a 3rd year PhD student in Bioengineering at Harvard. His research focuses on improving the delivery of peptide therapeutics. Outside of the lab, he works with Nucleate, a nonprofit supporting biotech entrepreneurs. For fun, he likes to cook, try new food/restaurants, foster dogs, ski, and read/write sci-fi/fantasy.
Nathan Samuel
Nathan is a Medical Doctor and researcher based in Oxford University Hospitals. He is pursuing a PhD in Population Health at the University of Oxford, with a focus on big data and cardiovascular medicine. Outside of work, he is usually on park walks listening to podcasts, golfing, and playing board games like chess and poker.
Undergraduate Venture Associates
Emily Zhou
Emily is a junior at MIT, double majoring in Computer Science and Business Analytics. At MIT, she is a research assistant at the Broad Institute, working on the intersection of AI and healthcare. She was previously a competitive tennis player for 10 years but hasn’t picked up her racket since arriving in Boston.
Erik Wang
Erik is a senior at Harvard studying physics and computer science. He has done research in ML and biophysics, and is interested in the connections between AI, sustainability, and energy. Outside of class, he spends most of his time doing research, playing squash with the Harvard team, and occasionally trying to get LLMs to say interesting things.
Dan Voicu
Dan is a student at McGill University in Montreal, studying bioengineering. He has been involved in synthetic biology research teams and establishing the Nucleate program across Canada. Outside of school, Dan enjoys playing a variety of sports like soccer, running, cycling, swimming, and tennis, as well as hobbies like playing piano, writing, and learning new languages.