High-Flying Entrepreneurship

Anu Goel (MSIA 1995) came to the Tepper School to fulfill an entrepreneurial dream. Upon graduating, he quickly attained that goal with his successful company, Jet Parts Engineering — and wanted to pay it forward. He recently established the Goel Family Endowed Fellowship, dedicated to helping disadvantaged Tepper School students achieve their own aspirations.

Essentially, I wanted to give back,” said Goel. “Tepper’s given me a lot. It truly did give me the confidence to do the things that I’ve done, and I’d love to see the fellowship help others.

A young Goel had followed his father into mechanical engineering, and after college, the Seattle native began work at Boeing. His entrepreneurial bent, however, remained strong. Five years in, an opportunity came his way that was too good to pass up — a potential backer eager to provide funding for him in his own venture.

Believing an MBA would augment his work experience and better prepare him to effectively run a business, he set off for business school, choosing the Tepper School because of its recognized strength in operations and analytics.

“I wanted a foundation and the tools to be able to go out and do my own things,” he explained. “Having that science background is great, but I didn’t have the self-assurance to be able to go out there and make business decisions.”

And true to his dream, immediately after graduation Goel founded Jet Parts Engineering, a company that designs proprietary original equipment manufacturer-alternative parts and provides repair services for the commercial aerospace sector.

Today, the company employs more than 150 people and services the largest airliners in the world, among others. In 2018, Goel agreed to partner with a private equity firm. He remains, however, CEO and founder of the company he loves. And he’s never forgotten his alma mater.

“Having gone straight into entrepreneurship, Tepper gave me both that confidence and the framework to make those decisions with the rigors involved,” he said.

Goel still remembers Jack Thorne’s class in entrepreneurship. “I was formulating some of the business ideas that we ended up pursuing after school — he was a great sounding board for me.”

Enjoying the closeness of the small class, he also gained valuable lifelong friendships that impacted him both personally and professionally.