Vet Ventures Into Finance

Smith Veteran MBA Students Build Value in University System of Maryland Venture Fellowship

For business students interested in venture capital (VC), the University System of Maryland’s Venture Fellowship provides opportunities for training, internships and mentoring to successfully prepare for a career in startup financing.

The Venture Fellowship is open to current and full-time enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. Competitive applicants are selected to interview with the Managing Director of the Maryland Momentum Fund, Mike Ravenscroft, MBA ʼ21. From there, candidates enter an applicant pool to prepare and interview for a summer internship with partner funds and angel groups.

German Salazar, MBA ʼ25, said the program has not only solidified his desire to work in VC someday but has also helped him understand how companies raise capital and use it to meet their goals. He said it was a learning curve coming from the military, where he served as an infantry officer in the United States Army, but the fellowship really helped to prepare him for a future in VC, especially learning alongside like-minded students.

Salazar completed his internship just as a fellow Army veteran, Charles Castelly, MBA ʼ26, followed his lead into his own fellowship.  As a second-generation member of the armed forces, Castelly felt the importance of service instilled in him. “That led me to the MBA program and to venture, where you are serving the community,” he said. He was interested in finance but also wanted to learn the foundations involved in venture capital. Like Salazar, he became interested in the fellowship after hearing Ravenscroft on a panel at an accepted students event.

Salazar and Castelly met through a number of events at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and once Salazar learned Castelly was applying for the fellowship, he recommended Castelly to the team at the Abell Foundation, Inc., where Salazar had been working during his time in the fellowship. “I let them know that Charles was a good candidate,” Salazar said. 

The choice to pursue an MBA at Smith for Salazar and Castelly was not only because of the school’s top-ranked programs but also because of Smith’s close-knit alumni and veteran community.

“I think that [it’s important] if you are a veteran trying to go into a business school that [the school] has others that were in the same shoes as you. There is definitely that sense of community at the University of Maryland (UMD). There’s a big military presence here,” Salazar said.

Castelly echoed Salazar’s sentiment regarding Smith’s veteran community but also had high praise for Frank Goertner, Smith’s director of Federal and Veteran Affairs and director of the Graduate Program in Technology Management. “Frank has been a great mentor, sounding board, advice giver, leader and just overall advocate for vets here,” Castelly said.

As Salazar prepares to graduate this spring and Castelly continues his first year in the MBA program, they have already identified some key skills that will prepare them for their next chapter. “Something I’ve been able to get better at these last two years is storytelling. You need to be able to tell a story whether it's pitching an idea or talking with someone you want to build a relationship with,” Salazar said, adding that the connections he’s made through the program and the fellowship have also been a factor in his success so far.

Castelly agreed, “Venture is all about relationships, especially with an entrepreneur—you want to build mutual trust,” he said. “You trust the founders, and the founders are trusting you.”