Career Conversations

Frances Symes, a 2014 graduate of Yale SOM, is a manager in the Workforce Transformation group of Deloitte’s Human Capital practice. She has been with Deloitte for 5 years, and has served clients across multiple industries in leading large scale change efforts as well as conducting talent and learning initiatives. Frances has built expertise and a passion for a broad range of organizational and people topics—including upskilling and reskilling the workforce, change leadership, and the Future of Work. She is trained as a Greenhouse Lab manager and facilitator and loves designing and facilitating client workshops and “breakthrough” sessions.

We kick-off our third season with Seth Goldman ’95, one of SOM's most impactful alumni entrepreneurs whose ventures have explored the ways in which business can be a tool for creating social and environmental change. He is co-founder and former CEO of Honest Tea, Chair of the Board at Beyond Meat, and Chief Change Agent at Eat the Change. Seth is interviewed by Jenn Burka ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21.

Sam MacAvoy ’22 spent his summer as an intern at NASA and the Ames Research Center. He is also an active duty member of the U.S. Navy. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

Dan Ciporin ’86 is general partner at Canaan Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm. He is interviewed by Michelle Kwon ’20, a second-year MBA student at Yale School of Management. Show Notes.

Dan Ciporin ’86 is a general partner at Canaan, an early-stage venture capital firm. He partners with startups to deliver innovation particularly in the areas of financial technology, e-commerce, and marketplaces. Dan joined Canaan after serving as Chairman and CEO of Shopping.com, where he took the company public after leading it from zero to over $100 million in revenue in five years and then sold it to Ebay. Prior to that he was Senior VP of MasterCard International running their global debit program. Dan earned an A.B. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and an M.B.A. from Yale School of Management in 1986.

Michelle Kwon '20 is a second-year student in Yale SOM's full-time MBA program. Before enrolling at Yale SOM, she worked as a Business Affairs Project Manager supporting the launch of Airbnb Experiences in San Francisco. Before Airbnb, she worked at Soros Fund Management in New York City supporting equity capital markets, securitized products, and growth equity investments. Michelle graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Government and conducted research in South Korea as a Fulbright Scholar. She is from Orange County, CA by way of Cincinnati, OH.

A conversation with Tom Ascheim, a longtime media executive. Tom recently co-founded the consulting firm Pith & Pixie Dust with fellow executive Tricia Melton. Prior to launching the firm in 2023, he served as president of global kids, young adults, and classics at Warner Brothers, where he led the global strategy for prominent brands like Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and Boomerang, in addition to three animation studios and the Harry Potter franchise. Before Warner Brothers, Tom was president of the cable network ABC Family, now Freeform, which he led through its major transformation and rebranding in 2016.

Tom is interviewed by Patrick Cressler ’25 of Yale SOM’s Media, Entertainment & Sports Association.

Read an unedited transcript of this episode.