Hall of Fame Award Recipient: Arteen Arabshahi, Game Changer

In 1998, the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship (then, the H.N. & Frances C. Berger Entrepreneurship Program at the Karl Eller Center, College of Business of Public Administration) established the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. Established to formally recognize the significant achievements and contributions of alumni and associates of the Karl Eller Center and Berger Entrepreneurship Program, past inductees have included CEO's, founders, presidents and educators encompassing a wide variety of private enterprise, public service and learning initiatives. Seven years later, the Hall of Fame is being reintroduced, kicking off with a reception on April 24th, 2019. 

In preparation for the Awards Reception, we will be highlighting our 2019 inductees. The second award we will recognize is the Game Changer Award. The Game Changer Award recognizes an individual who has graduated from the McGuire Center within the past 10 years and has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to developing entrepreneurial success in industry as well as promoting entrepreneurial education. 

Game Changer Award: Arteen Arabshahi

Arteen's career path has been untraditional. The son of Iranian immigrants, he grew up planning to be a surgeon and bounced through medicine and finance before finding his passion in entrepreneurship and technology. He got his first job in this industry by cold emailing 150 people and spent 5 years in traditional venture capital (Fika Ventures, Karlin Ventures) before joining WndrCo to pursue a unique hybrid of entrepreneurship and investment. Prior to investing, Arteen helped launch BuiltinLA.com and worked at Techstars Chicago. Arteen has been selected for Forbes 30 Under 30, Business Insider 30 and Under, and CSQ’s NextGen 10. He holds a BSBA from the University of Arizona and contributes to TechCrunch, Forbes, and Business Insider. On nights and weekends, he’ll either be enjoying the outdoors, at a concert, or at an open mic poetry slam. He cares deeply about mental health awareness, equal access to opportunity, and performing arts. You can find him at @arteeninLA.