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Entrepreneurship Program

Adjunct Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Program Lead for the Kellogg Immersion Quarter

Portrait of Michael Xenakis, Faculty at the Kellogg School of Management

Mike Xenakis currently works as an Adjunct Lecturer in Entrepreneurship for the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Prior to his teaching job, he served as Managing Director of Europe at OpenTable, Inc. He was responsible for operations in the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland. Before running the European business Mike also served as Senior Vice President of Product Management at Opentable, Inc. He spent over 16 years with Opentable and was part of the executive team that took the company public in 2009 and ultimately sold to the Priceline Group in 2014. Mike joined Opentable from The Clorox Company, where as an associate marketing manager he managed the P&L and directed marketing efforts for 10 product lines in the Armor All division. Before Clorox he served for six years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and held the position of captain. During his military career, he served as a flight commander at the 6931 Electronic Security Squadron in Crete, Greece and as an intelligence staff officer at the National Security Agency in Washington DC. While stationed in Washington DC, he was selected to represent the Air Force as a White House military social aide. He served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of BCA Marketplace PLC from September 2014 until March 2015. He currently serves as an advisor to Knock Rentals in Seattle and M Restaurants in London. Mike holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

  • B.S., 1990, Aerospace Engineering, Pennsylvania State Univeristy
    M.B.A., 1998, Marketing, Finance and Decision Science, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • Adjunct Lecturer of Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2017-present
  • Managing Director, OpenTable Europe, OpenTable, Inc / The Priceline Group
    Associate Marketing Manager, Armor All Division, Clorox Company, 1998-1999
    Senior Vice President, Product Management, OpenTable, Inc., 2000-2012

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.