The Entrepreneur’s Journey

Andrew Karolyi is the Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. He is a Professor of Finance and International Business as well as holder of the Harold Bierman Jr. Distinguished Professorship in the Johnson Graduate School of Management. Dr. Karolyi is also a Professor of Economics in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences.

A scholar in the area of investment management, with a specialization in the study of international financial markets, Dr. Karolyi has published extensively in journals in finance and economics, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. He has also published several books and monographs, and his research is featured in print and electronic media such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Time, New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and CNBC. Dr. Karolyi recently completed a four-year term as executive editor of the Review of Financial Studies, one of the top-tier journals in finance. He has also served as an associate editor for a variety of journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Review of Finance, and the Pacific Basin Finance Journal.

Dr. Karolyi is a recipient of the Michael Jensen Prize for Corporate Finance and Organizations (2017), the Fama/DFA Prize for Capital Markets and Asset Pricing (2005), the William F. Sharpe Award for Scholarship in Finance (2001), the Journal of Empirical Finance’s Biennial Best Paper Prize (2006), and Johnson School’s Prize for Excellence in Research (2010). Dr. Karolyi leads various executive education programs in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia, and he is actively involved in consulting with corporations, banks, investment firms, stock exchanges, and law firms. He is president-elect/program chair of the Western Finance Association, has served as a director of the American Finance Association, and is past chairperson of the board of trustees and past president of the Financial Management Association International. Dr. Karolyi received his B.A. (Honors) in Economics from McGill University and worked at the Bank of Canada for several years in its research department. He subsequently earned his MBA and Ph.D. degrees in Finance at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago.

Steve Conine is the co-founder and co-chairman of Wayfair, one of the world’s largest destinations for home furnishings, housewares, home improvement goods, and more. Steve leads the many innovations that give Wayfair a technological edge in the online retail business, from the development of architecting software systems to leveraging next-generation technologies such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence.

Prior to co-founding Wayfair, Steve co-founded Spinners Incorporated, an IT services firm. Spinners provided custom application development services to Fortune 500 companies including AOL Time Warner, The New York Times, JPMorganChase, and Merrill Lynch. Steve was integral to the development of all technology solutions that Spinners created. He led Spinners to revenue and net income growth of 300% per year while maintaining a 30% net income margin. In 1998, Spinners was sold to iXL, a publicly traded global technology consulting firm.

Steve is a member of the Board of Directors at CarGurus, a leading global online automotive marketplace. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

Niraj Shah is the CEO and co-chairman of Wayfair. Niraj co-founded Wayfair with Steve Conine in 2002 and the pair rapidly grew the business to become the largest online retailer of home furnishings, housewares, and home improvement goods in the U.S., generating $12.5 billion in net revenue for full year 2025. Wayfair has extensive operations in North America and Europe and employs approximately 12,000 people. Wayfair’s family of brands include Wayfair, Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane, Perigold, and Wayfair Professional.

Before founding Wayfair, Niraj served as CEO and co-founder of Simplify Mobile, entrepreneur-in-residence at Greylock Partners, COO and a member of the board of iXL, and CEO and co-founder of Spinners, which was sold to iXL in 1998. Niraj has been included in Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 and has won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Niraj is on the board of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, the Cornell Tech Council, the MIT Presidential CEO Advisory Board, and the MGH President’s Council. He is a former board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Niraj holds a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University.