Chapter Leader Spotlight: Maria Tangarova, BBA ’20

Maria Tangarova, BBA ’20, is co-leader for the McCombs LA Alumni Chapter.

Maria Tangarova grew up in a family of professional musicians. But a penchant for numbers and a curious mind led her into the world of business. She started out in the entertainment industry with a mission to be the “backbone of everyone else’s wishbone” and now applies that same mindset as a venture capitalist investing in and supporting best-in-class founders building generational companies. After moving to Los Angeles at the start of 2020, the city felt initially isolating due to the pandemic. That is one of the reasons why she chose to join fellow alums Peter Hill, MBA ’15, and Ryan Yanney, BBA ’17 and MBA ’18, as co-chapter leader for the McCombs LA Alumni Chapter, providing a community for fellow Longhorns.

Tell us about yourself. Where are you from, and why did you come to McCombs?

I am originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, but grew up in Austin, Texas, with a stint in Monterrey, Mexico, from age 1-7. I came to McCombs because the business program is best-in-class and I was very fortunate to be selected as a Terry Scholar, which was an immense honor and privilege.

What organizations were you part of while at McCombs, and what leadership roles did you hold?

I was part of several organizations during my time there, however, I spent the majority of my time between two in particular.

I was a member of the Undergraduate Business Council my freshman through senior years, where I was faculty relations chair. I was the liaison between students and faculty by organizing talks, networking events, and creating learning opportunities.

I am also the Founder of UTalent Records, the only student-run record label at UT Austin, and served as president of the label my sophomore through senior years. I am very proud of the students who have kept the label flourishing, and it is a legacy that I hold near and dear to my heart. If I had to look back to identify my way of contributing to campus and making it a better place, it would have to be the work I did through founding UTalent.

Do you have a McCombs memory you’d like to share?

To pick one would be impossible. However, the best ones always had something to do with building or doing something I love with the people I love.

Tell us about your professional career and how you got here. 

I grew up in a family of fourth-generation professional classical musicians, a household of constant creativity, movement, eb and flow — of real life magic! And, I grew up playing piano and focusing on vocal performance. However, I was also quite good at math and at solving problems.

I decided to study business, finance, in particular, with a concentration in investment management. While I was at McCombs as an undergrad, I went out of my way to seek out opportunities that resonated. For example, I interned at the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), and also got to work with and support a dear mentor in the scaling of Gold Rush Vinyl, the fastest vinyl record pressing company in the world, scratching my entrepreneurial itch yet again along the way. I then spent a summer at a Big Four accounting firm in consulting, after which I officially decided that I was going to fully pursue the music business. After graduation and strategic recruiting I got an offer to move to Hollywood, California, to work for music’s most legendary record label giant, Capitol Music Group.

I spent around two years at Capitol, and it was a very fruitful first experience out of college in an industry I loved. But I had hit a realization in my professional journey that allowed me to realize that I wanted to be around entrepreneurs, and I wanted to learn how to invest in early stage companies.

So, that’s what I did. I met my wonderful teammates at Chapter One Ventures and fell in love with the fast-paced, high-growth learning curve of investing. Now, I have the opportunity of working with and learning from some of the best technical talent in the entire world. And with that, comes the opportunity to change the trajectory of the future. What a privilege!

What induced you to become a chapter leader?  

I wanted to create a home away from home when I moved out to Los Angeles during the summer of 2020 – right at the beginning of what we came to experience as COVID.  LA is huge! And I wanted to create for others what was a struggle for me to initially find, which was community and a sense of belonging. And what better organization to belong to than your own alma mater? Hook em!

Can you please share your goals and objectives you have for your chapter while you are at the helm?  

Our goal is consistency. We would like to naturally grow the presence of our chapter by consistently striving to bring people together in whichever ways make sense. Whether it’s a coffee chat, a small get together at a local tavern, or football game watch parties, we would like to establish a drum beat and let everyone know: “Hey, there are other McCombs longhorns here! Come join us.”

Is there anything you’d like to share with future chapter leaders?

Be creative! There are lots of fun events and gatherings to be planned. Don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to the classics.