My undergraduate major was in astronomy and physics, and I spent my early career doing risk management analytics at J.P. Morgan & Co. where I was exposed to a fair amount of quantitative finance. About two and a half years in, I was approached by a former colleague from my Morgan training class. He had left the firm and started a “fund-of-hedge-funds” called Reliance. I had very little idea what a hedge fund was at the time, but I am always up for a challenge and was excited at the prospect of helping to start a new company. I also appreciated the opportunity to work for a trusted colleague in an entrepreneurial environment. After about two years of working at Reliance, it became clear that the day-to-day management of our company was coming in my direction. Suddenly I began to feel under-prepared. I had no academic business background, and my big-firm experience had been devoid of any management responsibilities. I knew I would benefit from a formal business education, but I didn't want to give up my role in our startup company to get one. In retrospect, the executive MBA was an obvious choice for someone in my position.
Our company grew dramatically during the hedge fund boom, and it has shrunk even faster as the wind has fallen out of the industry's sails. In the five years since starting the Wharton program, I was responsible for building a large international team and all of the systems and processes that support it. Then towards the end of that period, I had to disassemble the structure piece by piece – without letting it collapse. It was a very difficult experience. On the positive side, we now have an opportunity to rebuild and rethink the organization within the new investment paradigm that is emerging from the ashes of 2008's financial collapse.
Students are here for the right reasons
I looked at a number of schools, but it soon became clear that Wharton was the right place for me. For one, I like the idea that the students spend the weekend on campus; there's a real sense of community that develops here. Wharton students, by virtue of their commitment to spend this time together in Philadelphia, tend to be here for the right reasons.
Immediate relevance
What you learn in the program is immediately relevant. On a concrete level, I tripled my accounting knowledge in the first year. And I had never before had a systematic intellectual framework for analyzing the management of people; that has already helped me both within our firm and with our clients. The class that had perhaps the most impact on my job performance was my very first class: Managing People at Work. During the program, my organization grew from three people to eight people, the bulk of whom now report to me. As someone with little previous management experience, I was very interested in learning how to better align my employees' interests with the firm's. How can I motivate my new team members? How do I understand what they're looking for in their job, and how can I help them achieve their goals? How does one assemble a team that works well together? Few managers spend enough time thinking about these critical questions, especially in small organizations. The Wharton program gave me a comprehensive view of the academic work that has been done in this field, as well as its practical implications; this knowledge proved invaluable during the two years that we have built up our team.
Engaged learning
Because of the everyday impact of the material, I was much more engaged in these classes than I ever anticipated. I found the longer class periods to be very constructive. In three hours, you can really delve into the subject matter. Some classes are lecture-based and some are more interactive, but in each class the method is well suited to the material. The varied work experience and real-world examples students bring to class are also very helpful. Students don't talk just to hear themselves talk. There is a feeling of mutual respect in the classroom you just don't find in other situations.
International Seminar in China
Our class traveled to Beijing and Shanghai at the beginning of our second year in the program. China is truly an amazing place. Aside from the cultural and historical traditions that are unique to any society, the infrastructure and the human landscape are not all that different from what one finds in the West. What I noticed most acutely was that the unwritten rules which organize society and shape interactions between people are not necessarily universal. Concepts such as property rights, personal space, wealth creation, and distribution of resources — which have common interpretations in much of the Western world — do not necessarily have the same meaning elsewhere. This is a phenomenon which can only be truly appreciated first-hand. To participate in a completely different economic system, even if for only a week, serves to remind us that every problem has many solutions, and that the familiar ones are not necessarily superior.
Diverse skills and perspectives
Several years into my career, I began to realize that most of the knowledge I had been building was general in nature and did not represent a specific, marketable skill set. I saw the MBA as an opportunity to strengthen my business background and improve my resume. Being exposed to so many people at various stages in their careers can really impact your thinking about your own career. Just talking to my classmates, I discovered that having this community of different people with different perspectives is incredibly valuable.
