Family Dinner: Jennifer Fried

Jennifer Fried’s (NU, '10) journey, like many entrepreneurs, was a winding one. After recently receiving her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, she started her career as a venture capitalist and most recently served as the Vice President of a healthcare venture capital fund. Unsure if her own big idea would ever gain any traction, she continued to nurture it part time before making the plunge into being the CEO of her company, ExplOrer Surgical. ExplOrer Surgical offers the operating room a revolutionary platform reducing disruptions and improving communications among staff, resulting in optimal teamwork, high performance, and increased efficiency. Jennifer shared some tidbits of wisdom with The Garage Residents when she stopped by for our weekly family dinner. She described the hardships of potential clients turning her down when trying to make a sale and the process of moving on to the next one. She also recounted the struggles of assembling the perfect team after discovering she couldn’t do it all herself. Sometimes, you have to seek someone who is better at something than you are to get your idea off the ground. Jennifer also challenged students to take advantage of the many resources available in a university setting. See a snippet of Jennifer’s talk below.