Home Region
Indianapolis, IN
Undergrad Education
DePauw University
Previous Experience
Eli Lilly & Company
HBS Activities
Health Care Club, VCPE Club, CPD Student Advisors, Activate Program
“Once I spent time with the students here, I realized they were regular people with ambitions similar to my own.”
Initially, being in business “was not the plan” for Hunter Goble. In high school, Hunter was an avid debater, and thought his calling would be in “law, government, and politics.” Hunter began a pre-law track at DePauw, and successfully interned with Senator Lugar, then the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“It was an incredible experience,” says Hunter. “Being in DC is like being in Hollywood, but with people doing important work shaping the daily life of the American people.”
Yet Hunter grew frustrated with his inability to wield influence. “When you’re at the bottom of the totem pole, it’s hard to make a significant impact; there’s a long slog to accumulate influence. Meanwhile, you’re not getting paid, and future compensation is not very attractive. That’s when I started thinking about business. The private sector would mean an opportunity to learn more transferable skills, gain more upward mobility, and have more organizational impact.”
After an internship with Eli Lilly, Hunter joined the company upon graduation. “I got hired into the marketing rotational program: two six-month rotations, one for a U.S. function, the other for a global function. I loved the company – they’re a mission-driven organization with work that’s easy for me to be passionate about.”
“Activating” entrepreneurial ambitions
With a liberal arts degree under his belt, Hunter turned to the MBA “because I needed technical business skills to move forward.” Drawn by HBS’ reputation, he visited three times. “Once I spent time with the students here, I realized that they weren’t as different from me as I thought; they were regular people with ambitions similar to my own. I was also attracted to a bigger school. I had never lived outside Indiana before, and I was ready for a more diverse set of experiences and influences.”
With a long-term goal to become an executive in a life sciences company, Hunter is already beginning to realize his ambitions on campus through his involvement in Activate, a joint Harvard/MIT life sciences incubator that connects MBA students with scientists in Harvard and MIT’s ecosystem.
Through a self-matching process that Hunter describes as “speed dating,” he found two scientists from Boston’s Children’s Hospital developing “a novel drug delivery platform that increases the absorption of biologic therapies. They liked my commercial experience at Eli Lilly, and I liked that I could understand what they were doing! I know there will be a market for what they’re trying to do.”
Hunter will intern at Huron, a life sciences strategy practice based in New York City. But he plans on continuing what he started with his Activate colleagues. “I am in the process of founding a company, including building the business strategy, articulating a development plan and courting investors,” Hunter says. “I’ll continue this work part time (as all of us are) over the summer, answering questions that require funding and a strong business foundation.”
Home Region
Indianapolis, IN
Undergrad Education
DePauw University
Previous Experience
Eli Lilly & Company
HBS Activities
Health Care Club, VCPE Club, CPD Student Advisors, Activate Program