The 2 Most Rewarding Experiences in Business School

Learning about entrepreneurship

During my first year, we had a class called “The Entrepreneurial Manager.” Everyday we had a new case about a different start-up. Some of the start-ups we read about are today no longer start-ups. For example, we read about Zipcar, which is now a pretty established business.

For me, the course was extremely rewarding because I have always been a pretty risk-averse person. I hadn’t really ever thought about entrepreneurship or starting up a company.

The course taught me about a lot of things I hadn’t really known about. I learned about things like how a start-up goes about fundraising. We learned things like the different conflicts that can arise between the different founders. There’s an interesting evolution of the founder’s role from when a company is first founded and when the company is more established.

In the case of Zipcar, the founder was eventually fired by the company. I learned that there’s a huge difference between what is needed for founding a company and what is needed for operating it properly as it grows.

The entrepreneurship course was especially powerful when you view it in the context of the business school environment. There were a lot of business plan competitions at both Harvard and MIT, and a lot of my section mates would talk about founding a company after business school. It was amazing to see the beginnings of tomorrow’s businesses firsthand.

Right now I’m not actively trying to found a company, but that’s a possibilities I’ll have in the back of my mind. In the future, I know I’ll be less intimidated about the thought of founding a company because I know so much more about the entrepreneurial process.

Pushing my social boundaries

Interacting socially with the section was an extremely interesting experience. After college, when you enter into the professional work force, you don’t have many opportunities to interact with a group as big as your section, which has over 90 students.

In that social environment, you learn a lot about yourself. How do you judge people? What do people think about you? How do you persuade others? How do you communicate? What are your limits in terms of your willingness to go out and meet new people? These are all things you encounter when you’re frequently interacting with a big group.

For me personally, one of my regrets after graduating from business school was not spending more time with my section. Looking back, I don’t believe I brought myself out of my comfort zone enough. That’s a lesson I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.

Regardless, that whole experience of seeing and interacting with this big group every day and confronting your weaknesses is an experience that will make you stronger.