Category Archives: Alumni Spotlights

William Stringer

Topics of Interest: FinTech, Finance, Startups, Entrepreneurship

Canfield BHP Alum, William Stringer, is the co-founder and CEO of Chisos. A Dallas/Fort Worth native who transferred as a sophomore to Canfield in the fall of 2011, Will later graduated with a dual-degree in business honors and finance in 2014. After graduating, Will moved to Houston to start a career at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the oil and gas investment banking division. After banking, Will built his chops as an analyst on the investment team at the Cockrell family office in Houston where he spent four years working under the CEO gaining valuable experience he would use in his near-future endeavors. 

According to Will, “I worked all types of deals, it was an excellent experience. I got to meet a lot of people and build my network. I then left there to go work at one of the [Cockrell] family’s portfolio companies called Emergent Technology Holdings out in California, where I spent a little under a year working as a product manager for a supply chain tracking system in the precious metal space.”

It was in California where Will met his future co-founder and CTO at Chisos, Stephen Grinalds, a colleague he met while working on the supply chain tracking system project at Emergent Technology Holdings.

So what is Chisos? Chisos is a FinTech firm that provides early-stage entrepreneurs with the funding they need to succeed. Their main goal is to “democratize entrepreneurship”. As their website reads, “We look for companies that don’t fit the “grow at all costs” venture capital funding model or the predictable 5-year growth with hard asset collateral model usually required for bank business loans. Instead, we look for ideas, founders, and companies with potential and an actionable plan. When we find them, we connect them with the capital and community they need to succeed.”

We caught up with Will to hear more about his experience at Chisos and his vision for the company. Read on. Continue reading

Shan Singh

There’s no better way to pursue the American dream than by harnessing your inner entrepreneurial spirit and just going for it. If you have an idea that you want to turn into reality, have a plan and be bold. Sometimes the best time is now, especially in turbulent times such as these when you’re least likely to face competition.

Canfield BHP alum, Shan Singh, is the Co-founder and CEO at GAINZ, a software-oriented company that provides gyms and fitness centers with technology solutions that help them win a greater share of business from new and inexperienced users while keeping them competitive in a highly fragmented market. We checked in with Shan to hear about his experience building a startup during a turbulent year for the economy and how GAINZ has weathered the storm thus far.

Shan was born in India, the second of two children, but soon immigrated with his family to the U.S, where he would eventually call Dallas, Texas home for most of his childhood. Shan wasn’t immediately interested in becoming an entrepreneur. During his first year at UT, Shan’s initial interest in journalism and passion for sports placed him on a path toward sports broadcasting. However, he later realized that he wanted to find an alternative career plan.

“I always had an interest in the markets, reading the news, and about politics. (I had) a general interest in the financial sector. I read more about (Canfield) BHP and the opportunities available in the different career paths and I got really interested in it. I applied to be a sophomore transfer and I got in. It changed my professional career from that point onwards and I ended up working in investment banking for Morgan Stanley. I did that for two years from 2014 to 2016 in New York City and it was a really great experience. I enjoyed my time there and being around really smart people. I learned a lot.” Continue reading

Written by Celesia Smith.

Amy Bell

One of the hardest things to learn in life is how to create your own path– Canfield BHP alumnae Amy Bell is a perfect example of someone who did just that. After graduating from UT in 2003 with a degree in Canfield BHP, a minor in Spanish, and a Masters in Public Accounting (MPA), Amy went on to become a trailblazer in the field of environmental, social, governance (ESG) finance. 

As a student, Amy was always interested in social impact as a career path, but the opportunities and terminology surrounding impact-based careers at UT were not as developed when she attended college as they are today. 

“The lexicon was different when I was at UT from 1998 through 2003. People weren’t yet talking about social entrepreneurship or those types of things, but there were definitely phrases like economic development and community finance,” Amy said. “The microfinance space was starting to be a little bit more present in the popular vernacular although it honestly didn’t start to take off until the mid to late 2000s. I was just really interested in this idea of capitalism as a force for good, thinking about stakeholders in a way that we’re not only driving profits but also longer-term sustainability and societal impact.”  Continue reading