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MBA Voices
MBA Voices
Bastian Purrer (MBA 2020), a native German, spent most of his career before HBS launching international offices for Groupon and Rocket Internet. After a few years in Europe and Asia, Bastian enrolled at HBS hoping to continue his entrepreneurial journey. Rather than completing two years straight, Bastian took a gap between RC and EC to launch an e-commerce startup in Indonesia. Upon selling the startup, he plunged himself in the world of fighting against disinformation and started humanID. Shuyao Kong (MBA 2020), a native Chinese, spent most of her career in the tech world across Middle East and Africa. She’s particularly passionate about blockchain, cryptoeconomics, and privacy. humanID is an anonymous Single-Sign-On replacing “Login with Facebook” while also blocking bot-armies and trolls, with the goal to stop fake news and cyber-bullying. [...]
Paxton Maeder-York is a proud member of the MBA class of 2019, Section G. He deferred between his RC and EC years to complete an additional master’s degree in Computational Science. Having studied Biomedical Engineering as an undergraduate and working as a Product Manager at Auris Health building surgical robotics to treat lung cancer, the intersection of medicine and technology was a deep interest of his prior to HBS. He is now the Founder and CEO of Alife Health, which uses machine learning to help assess the healthiest embryo to transfer during IVF. [...]
I knew I needed to work in industry in order to develop my competence as an engineer, but I also knew that I wanted to transition out of big business after achieving that competency and found a company. The HBS 2+2 process gave me that roadmap to get trained up as an engineer, get exposure to the oil and gas business, but then the ability to step out of big business at an identified point to make my transition. [...]
Nina Mullen and Hilary Quartner are both from the HBS MBA Class of 2017. Nina has deep strategy and consumer products experience, notably at Bain & Company and Harry’s (where she focused on launching Harry’s at Target). Most recently, Nina led launch and operations for new business lines at Dia&Co as well as their private label business. At Hilma, Nina leverages her expertise launching innovative products in the DTC and retail space, her Harvard MBA, and personal experiences of being raised by two doctors. Nina collaborates with the scientific advisory board on leading Hilma’s unique research and development process, manufacturing and clinical research strategy as well as offline retail. Hilary has a finance, consumer products and retail background, notably as brand manager of FIJI Water. Most recently, Hilary led strategy and finance for Jetblack, a Walmart-incubated start-up that pioneered conversational commerce. At Hilma, Hilary leverages her personal passion for consumer products and integrative health with her Harvard MBA, and impressive professional history of launching new consumer brands, to build and operate Hilma's online retail channels, growth marketing and finance. Hilary is focused on ensuring the customer experience is executed flawlessly – from first click to product delivery. [...]
- 26 Aug 2020
Two sides, same coin: How I left the Bay Area as an operator and returned as an investor
Janelle Teng is from the Class of 2020 and a proud member of Section C. From completing her undergraduate studies at Stanford University to working as a product manager at SalesforceIQ, Janelle has spent most of her academic and professional career in the Bay Area. While at HBS, Janelle was on the leadership team for the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club and the Women in Investing Club. She will be returning to San Francisco after graduation to join Bessemer Venture Partners as a growth-stage investor. She hopes that sharing her story will encourage everyone (regardless of background or prior experience) to make full use of the resources at HBS, such as the Rock Venture Partners Program and the Rock Accelerator, to explore and develop their interest in venture capital and entrepreneurship, as she would love to see more diverse voices in the industry and change the perception of what an “ideal VC” is. [...]
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The views and opinions expressed in the MBA Voices blog are those of the authors.
Any political views shared by students are their own; HBS does not endorse a particular party or candidate.