Carter Cast
Clinical Professor of Strategy
Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Clinical Endowed Professor
Carter Cast is the Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management.
Carter started his career in marketing management at PepsiCo, working for the company's international food service division. He then moved to the Frito-Lay division, where he and his team worked on developing Tostitos Scoops! and developed and launched the Tostitos salsas and dips product line. Upon leaving PepsiCo, Carter joined Electronic Arts, where he served as vice president of product marketing and marketing communications, launching The Sims as well as products in the EA Sports franchise. He left Electronic Arts to become the founding chief marketing officer of Blue Nile, which became the leading seller of diamonds and fine jewelry on the internet. Carter later went to Walmart, where he became the CEO of Walmart.com, leading the division to become the third-highest volume retailer behind Amazon and eBay.
In 2011, Carter joined the faculty of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches entrepreneurship and leadership. Carter has received the Impact Award from his students six times, the Sidney J. Levy award for teaching excellence in 2018, 2020 and 2023, and has been nominated for Professor of the Year seven times. Carter also co-founded The Good Life student program in 2015. In 2019, Carter was awarded an endowed chair, becoming the Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship.
Carter is also an operating partner for Pritzker Private Capital, where he assesses potential investments and advises portfolio companies. Carter sits on the boards of Kellanova (NYSE: K), Heartland Company, Monogram Foods, and PLZ Corp. Carter is also the author of an award-winning book, The Right (and Wrong) Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made - and Unmade, which was released by PublicAffairs, a division of Hachette Book Group. Upon its release, Forbes named it as one of the six best self-help books of the year.
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M.B.A., 1992, Strategy, Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
B.A., 1985, Political Science, Stanford University -
Clinical Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2016-present
Clinical Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Northwestern University, 2014-2016
Clinical Associate Professor of Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Universtiy, 2013-2014
Clinical Assistant Professor of Management, General Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2011-2013 -
Venture Partner, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, 2012-present
CEO, Hayneedle, Inc., 2007-2011
President and Chief Executive Officer, WAL-MART STORES, INC., 2005-2007
Senior Vice President, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, WAL-MART STORES, INC., 2000-2005
Senior Vice President, BLUE NILE, INC., 2000
Vice President, BLUE NILE, INC., 2000-1999 -
My endowed chair was renewed by the Shannon family in 2024. I was very pleased by that.
Nominated for Professor of the Year for the 2023-24 school year.
Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award for an elective course, Kellogg School of Management for 2022-23, 2022-2023
Awarded an endowed chair in 2019. (The Michael S. And Mary Sue Shannon Professor of Entrepreneurship)
Sidney J. Levy Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2018
Faculty Impact Award for MBA Teaching, 2012-17
Kellogg Nota Bene Speaker for MBA Programs (2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Nominated for the L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Chief Diversity Officer Summit
Discuss the latest academic research, practitioner insights and best practices in the area of diversity and inclusion with a select group of cross-sector peers.
Chief Marketing Officer Program
Master the insights needed to navigate significant challenges faced by CMOs today, by engaging in meaningful discussions with Kellogg's top faculty and industry executives. This program is specifically designed to increase the odds of success for enterprise marketing leaders.
Kellogg Corporate Governance Conference
Exclusive, by-invitation-only annual conference that brings together more than 200 corporate directors and CEOs to discuss critical issues in corporate governance.
Launching and Scaling Startups (ENTR-470-0)
Launching and Scaling Startups is a broad, case-driven survey course that examines what it's like to be in the shoes of an entrepreneurial CEO, launching and scaling a startup in its early stages. It is a highly collaborative course (active student participation is critical!) that explores some of the biggest and most challenging topics facing entrepreneurial CEOs, such as: reducing the risks that are inherent in starting a new business, determining go-to-market and operational strategies to gain customer adoption and deliver a great customer experience, and managing and leading a new venture as it goes through its early growth stages. The course targets not only entrepreneurs who want to start or buy their own businesses, but also entrepreneurially minded students who, in short order, will be seeking to work within scaling startups. The course is also beneficial for "intrepreneurs" who will be innovating inside larger firms. In terms of course deliverables, Launching and Scaling Startups requires students to answer questions on nine cases, six of which are pass-fail and three of which are graded.
