Reflecting On MyMBA's Summer 2021 Cohort
Thoughts and a thank you to everyone who made it possible
Last week was the final week of MyMBA's Summer 2021 cohort. It was our best cohort yet, and I want to thank everyone who made it possible.
First and foremost, a thank you to each and every MyMBA Member who put in the work to take the next step in their business career over the past three months. I'd be lying if I said the learning and writing was easy. But, it was worth it. Over the time of the cohort, we created over 60 published essays.
I've highlighted some of my favorite writing from each Member.
Ben Inglese (No Dumb Ideas), Tess Perese (The Future of VC), Jae Lee (Bringing emotions into the business process), Jack Markusen (Charter Schools), Ari Faust (Brave | A Sustainable Edge), Chris Shadek (A Snapshot of the Competitive Landscape of Augmented Reality), Ryan Gavin (Decarbonizing Concrete), Lena Madison (Normalizing Zero-Waste Business Model), Alex Godziela (Make Your Own Winners), Annina Ruggirello (Survival of the Fittest), and Doug King (Globus Medical: Little Fish in a Big Pond? A Competitive Analysis).
Also, a special shoutout to our competition winners for the cohort: MyMBA MVP (Ryan Gavin, Ben Inglese) and Outreach Champion (Jack Markusen, Jae Lee).
Writing is a cornerstone of the MyMBA experience, but it's just the beginning.
Next, a big thank you to each of our Industry Partners who spent time with us during the cohort.
Thank you to Steve Radanovic, Javier Verdura, Sarah Kolansky, Muyambi (Dickson) Muyambi, Gene Venuto, and Joe Quintilian for taking the time to speak with our group and provide their unique perspective on business and navigating a business career.
Also, thank you to our workshop leaders Katy Culver and Gaia Ines Fassò for spending time with us and leading our interactive career workshops.
Finally, I'm thankful for all of the support I've received in making the cohort possible. I've received invaluable feedback from countless people that directly improved MyMBA. I couldn't name them all here. A special thanks to Austin Nissly, John Fazzolari, and Ted Mottola for their support.
During the cohort, we learned business fundamentals from top professors. We wrote in public to share our learning and explore topics we were passionate about. Most importantly, we built lasting connections within and outside of the MyMBA community.
Reflecting on some learnings from the cohort:
A major takeaway from this cohort was the importance of a bias toward action. Starting with writing at MyMBA's core and extending to working on starting businesses, connecting, and applying to new roles, I've learned how important action is to learning.
Our Member Jae Lee says it best, "It's one thing to say I have an idea. It's another story to do it or write it down to create something. Anyone can have any type of idea, but what differentiates you is when you actually start operating from that idea. What I learned the most from MyMBA was - what you say you are is not what defines who you are. Rather, it's what you actually create and make. It's what you show."
The power of the professional environment to openly explore business interests and what's next. During this cohort we spent structured time working through tough, important questions about our next steps and applied it quickly to the real world. I write more about this in Learning Through Discovery.
The power of connecting online. During this cohort, we put an emphasis on connecting online through outreach and through posting our writing on social media. Emphasizing this contributed to breakthroughs including a new job opportunity, an internal promotion, investor connections for a Member's startup, interview opportunities, and more.
Jack notes: "MyMBA helped me take time and think about my career. It opened my eyes to the power of connecting online, which is important for any career or industry."
While the cohort was a success, there are always areas to improve and iterate on. I made mistakes and some experiments failed. With the help from a few talented individuals, we’re planning to use these learnings to make an even better experience for the next cohort. I write more about this in Innovation in Online Education.
Stay on the lookout for an announcement of the launch of MyMBA's next cohort starting Tuesday, September 21st at 7:30pm ET. Interested in joining? Apply on our website.