047 Educational Entrepreneurship with Dr. Oksana Malysheva, CEO and Managing Partner of Sputnik ATX

In this Episode Dr. Oksana Malysheva, an accidental venture capitalist with a background in physics, shared her journey from Ukraine to becoming a venture capitalist in Austin, Texas. She emphasized the importance of following passion and serendipity in entrepreneurship. Oksana highlighted the need for educational institutions to adapt to change, equip students with skills for uncertainty, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. She discussed the balance between profitability and social impact, using Rex K12 as an example of a successful education venture. Oksana also noted the global distribution of talent and the emergence of venture capital opportunities beyond traditional hubs like Silicon Valley.

Once part of the strategic teams of McKinsey and Motorola, Sputnik ATX Managing Partner and CEO, Dr. Oksana Malysheva used her skills and passions in leadership and education to shift focus to building strategies for positive social change and innovation. Malysheva is a trained PhD physicist originally from the Ukraine, and found Austin to be a location with great weather and beautiful sights, along with the structure and flexibility to host a new accelerator for local business growth.

Although she has an educational background in physics (Dr. Malysheva holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in physics as well as a B.S. and M.S. in physics from the Moscow Institute of Technology), Dr. Malysheva’s professional interests are driven by her passion for leadership, mentorship, innovation and education. As a venture capitalist, her interest in elevating the trajectory of the people she associates with to reach their fullest potential is central to her mission and her vision in all of her professional endeavours.