Humanities in Business
Humanities: What Are They?
The study of humanities is known as the study of classical languages and classical literature, but the root of the word is what we are going to focus on. Humanity is defined as all human beings collectively or the quality or condition of being human. We find this human aspect across the business world, and particularly in VC. Let’s take the course of a deal, from beginning to end; each step of the deal is encompassed by human interactions, analysis of human ability, or assessment of human behavior. Founders, teams, colleagues: they all play key roles in the way we analyze key drivers of growth.
What I’ve Received:
As an International Studies and Sociology double major, I was pretty intimidated when I first joined A-Level. The task seemed daunting; how was I supposed to know how to understand valuations or deal breakdowns when I had no prior experience? While I did (eventually) learn those concepts, I also learned something that I found to be, dare I say, much more valuable. I learned how to tease the quantitative out of the qualitative, and vice versa. Upon joining my first due diligence team, I came to understand that neither words nor numbers alone paint the full picture. There tend to be broader trends at play (whether in markets, industries, or even within a team) that require analysts to scale their thinking. Of course, this isn’t to say that having a background in the Humanities is better than a background in a STEM-related field. It’s a combination of both experiences that contributes to well-rounded ways of thought.
An A-Level Perspective:
Ali Delen is an A-Level Capital alum and 2018 graduate of the SAIS (School of Advanced International Studies) BA/MA program. During his undergraduate career, Delen double-majored in Applied Math & Statistics and International Studies. I recently had the opportunity to speak with him about his time at A-Level and how his background and interests influenced his work as an investor.
Much like me, Delen had no experience in VC prior to joining A-Level. On the topic of his background, he noted that it “gave him better appreciation for taking in amorphous, vague qualitative problems in competitive markets” and allowed him to “break that down into key pieces.” He went on to say that “numbers take a back seat to qualitative understanding when you’re trying to understand how a market is split up because everything is about interactions and relationships.” Understanding these relationships is key, whether between two ventures, a venture and its market, a venture and its portfolio companies, or even a founder and their team. Honing in on this as a VC is key — as one of the original members of A-Level’s student team, Delen noted that through refining the firm’s diligence process, “we began to realize that there are certain elements of a startup that matter more than others,” and those elements are the players involved. In fact, to Delen, “being able to structure a problem is one of the most important” skills he gained. Think about those moments during post-pitch team conversations — how exactly do you structure your understanding of a company’s investment risks? How do you weigh the risks and rewards? Delen believes that “this synthesis requires qualitative muscles,” and I wholeheartedly agree.
Here’s where the connection between words and numbers comes in: in order to accurately evaluate an investment opportunity, VCs need to synthesize words and numbers.
A Hopkins Perspective:
Juan Andrade is a graduate of the SAIS Master’s program, where he received a degree in International Economics and Latin American Studies. Andrade currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Chubb Group, as well as the President of the General Overseas Insurance Arm. I also had the pleasure of speaking with Andrade about how he has incorporated his Humanities background into his everyday work at Chubb.
When asked if he ever thought he would go into business as a Journalism and Political Science double major at the University of Florida, Andrade admitted that he did not, but went on to say that “along the way, [he] realized that there were other things that would really interest me.” Andrade attributed his time at SAIS to his interest, and eventual pursuit, of business, stating that his time there “taught [him] how to think broadly about the world.” Even more importantly though, Andrade emphasized the fact that he uses those skills every day because they apply directly to “the world [he] lives in today.”
So, for those of you looking to go into any sort of business-related career who also want to find a way to tie in your academic background, there are clearly plenty of opportunities. Andrade noted that while “yes, [he] runs a global insurance business, [he] is part of a macro-economy.” This idea is incredibly important, especially in the investing world. Understanding the relationship between broader level economic or financial trends and their more granular counterparts is key when determining key drivers of growth.
So, What’s the Real Value-Add Here?
It’s pretty clear that entering the world of business with a background in the Humanities can provide you with the tools and resources to achieve success. But, how exactly do we Humanities students actually find success? In other words, what’s the real value-add here? The value-add is the ability to think. So much of what we, the student team at A-Level Capital, do both within and outside of the firm is about thinking. It’s about taking sweeping concepts and breaking them down into digestible pieces, and then taking those pieces and relating them to words, numbers, images, and trends. This is where having a background in the Humanities is key. Entering into an often-technical sphere while already possessing the aptitude for understanding technicalities on a range of analytical levels allows for deeper, layered understandings.
