Vishal Sibal

Vishal Sibal (Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences ‘24—expected) has spent his career helping tech startups get off the ground, from the dot-com company that sponsored his US visa in 2000 to app software designed to boost employee engagement—but he felt that there was more he could be accomplishing. “I didn’t leave the world where I was born and grew up and come to this world of promise just to have average or even above average outcomes,” he declares. When COVID-19 slowed down the launch of his most recent venture, Vishal took time to reflect on his entrepreneurial career and envision a journey toward bigger ambitions. “I always wanted to continue to pursue studies,” says Vishal. “I had forgotten how to be that 19- or 20-year-old in an undergrad program who is excited and open to learning without all the biases we develop.” Penn’s Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences provided a space to reconnect with his inner student without interrupting his full-time career.

At Penn, Vishal has taken courses in leadership, professional writing, and virtual collaboration, with an eye toward pursuing the Leadership and Communication degree concentration. At work, Vishal’s role had been focused on cash flow, marketing, and sales for his ventures; in the classroom, he says, his focus has been on effective leadership and communication. “In a start-up or venture, if I can’t explain to you or to a venture fund or private equity fund what I’m doing, I don’t get too far,” he says. As he explains to his two daughters, who are of age to consider their educational options after high school: “If you have the fundamentals at one of the best colleges that you can get into, then you can jumpstart your career, any career that you pick,” he advises. “So I said, I’m going to be a role model for my daughters at this age.”

In the virtual classroom, Vishal finds that his peers vary widely in age and professional demographic; he’s learned alongside librarians, HR professionals, younger and older adults, and students logging on from all over the world. The latter can make virtual collaboration challenging, he notes; in one case, Vishal (who is on West Coast time) had to coordinate a project with students on in the East Coast and in China. But, he says, “globally, we have been pushed into this new era where IRL or in real life is not the only place where things can successfully happen.”

Vishal’s ambitions include pursuing an MBA—preferably from the Wharton School—and bringing a fresh and nuanced perspective to his future entrepreneurial projects. In the meantime, “I know this is the right thing,” he says. “I know exactly what I have missed in my life. I know that I’m improving in many ways that I need to be successful in the way that I desire, and to be a role model in an industry that looks up to me to create the next big thing.”

“And I know for sure that I’ve already positively impacted my daughters’ pursuit of education,” he adds. “Now my daughters only talk about Penn.”