“Because of When We Graduated, We Were Made for This Moment”: Thoughts From The GSB Class of ’09
“A guy in my leadership group was waiting for an offer from Lehman and the date he was told he’d receive an answer was the day the company imploded,” recalled GSB ’09 alumnus Laura Jones when discussing the Global Financial Crisis’s realtime impact on her class.
The illustrious leader and Director of Product Marketing at Uber is one of many alum of this GSB era to have weathered the economic downturn that awaited graduates beyond Palm Drive.
But fortunately for her and her classmates, this cohort not only survived post-graduation, but also gained invaluable lessons that are now especially aiding them as they manage their own teams through the coronavirus.
I learned as much from connecting with them in order to process my own grief about the pandemic’s abrupt upheaval of life for current GSB students. The stoicism we are taught in classes like Ed Batista’s Art of Self Coaching challenges us to look our fears in the face to make sense of and find peace with hardship that is out of our control. As such I found myself, like many others, obsessed with looking towards the past to find meaning in what appeared to be chaos.
As I created a crazy string wall in my mind, one obvious parallel emerged: we are not the only GSB students who will graduate into a world that looks far worse than when we entered. Rather this moment connects us to the experiences that the Class of ’09 navigated amid the Global Financial Crisis.
Although this moment is primarily concerned health and theirs was solely financial, these tragic events are characterized by similar hardships: they involved economic downturns, a severe change of sentiment on campus and occasionally unfortunate disruptions to the best laid professional plans of ambitious students.
While initially this comparison was upsetting, these alums cite this difficult moment as a source of resiliency and sought to rather share advice and messages of kinship and optimism to current students.
I am inspired by their tenacity and hope that my classmates can find solace in their insights as I have:
Career Pivots: “Having One Idea Of Perfect Is Limiting”
Laura Jones, Director of Product Marketing at Uber, has had an innovative career as one of the first breakout GSBers to embody Stanford’s famed design thinking throughout her journey. However it took the GFC for her to realize that the d.school principles she had dabbled in had a place in shaping her worldview.
Laura shared that after focusing on her studies at the d.school, her dream company was IDEO but unfortunately she was not able to get hired there. However she views this misfortune as a blessing in retrospect:
“I learned principle-based decision making provides me structure for evaluating opportunities, and the types of environments I like,” she explained. “I stopped romanticizing one specific path which is now a gift.”
She also vividly remembers the heartbreaking end to her summer internship, where she watched as 25% of staff was laid off, including her manager who was also a GSB alum. “At the end of my internship they told me you’re great but we simply don’t have the money,” she added.
“I remember vividly when the stock market tanked and a share of GM was cheaper than a spark plug. The extreme environment that awaited past the GSB was hard to ignore even from within the GSB bubble.”
Laura is quick to point out she is grateful that she was forced out of her rigid path for she considered tech, which she proudly works in today. Even amid the difficulties she is facing more recently, she feels the GFC equipped her with the perspectives to lead those who are experiencing the impact of their first, and hopefully only, economic downturn.
Bringing Reality To The Classroom
Emily Bailard, CEO of EveryDay Labs, vividly remembers how the GFC seemed to make its way into every class on campus.
“The crisis was a huge topic in a lot of our classes. I was in three to four finance classes that went from learning normal topics to pivoting to focus on downturns and recessions,” she remembers.
Much like classes led by faculty like Keith Hennessey that have pivoted to focus on coronavirus, Emily similarly appreciated the ability of GSB professors to teach students in realtime in order to empower them for the climate they were about to join.
“Research was being shared as it happened, and was being used to inform us of the crisis,” she added. “In MGE, our speakers would talk about their layoffs versus the scheduled topic. Even in the GSB bubble, it changed a lot of what the second year looked like for me.” This is certainly the case in this quarter’s MGE classes, too.
She shared how one of her best friends had three offers signed and rescinded following the summer, but that she thankfully was able to find an offer quickly after graduation.
Curiously enough, she noted that the consultants in her class similarly had start dates pushed back to January. But she advises that our classmates should view this as an opportunity to explore riskier endeavors and entrepreneurship in the meantime, rather than a setback.
“People with McKinsey offers that started in January suddenly had time to gain traction and funding for their companies before they truly decided to go back,” she explained. “A lot of companies were founded in my class that otherwise would not have been.”
“The Entrepreneurs Came To Start Businesses, And We Did”
Mighty COO Dana Mauriello didn’t mince words about our current world when we started our call.
“Only one aspect of the world hurt for us, while the world is collapsing now. Our class feels so bad for you all, and it sucks.”
However she feels optimistic that this downturn will not stop the GSB’s strong willed entrepreneurs.
“The recession didn’t change anything at all for me, which I almost feel bad or selfish saying but it’s the honest truth,” she explained. “I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur and nothing would sway me and I feel so lucky that I wasn’t impacted like those in consulting or finance in my class.”
She cited a study conducted by the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, where she once took a sabbatical, that stated that her graduating class had far more entrepreneurs than neighboring classes. She believes that this is perhaps because her classmates were able to capitalize on the opportunities that arose as the world was changing.
“For classmates who are losing opportunities: there are opportunities elsewhere that are growing,” she advised. “I can’t imagine GSBers not being able to find something, and remembering that a plan B can also be great.”
She recommends that current GSB entrepreneurs avoid starting businesses that are reliant on disposable income — like SaaS products. Conversely she thinks that it is a prime time to enter online learning and fintech.
If her story isn’t inspirational enough, she was able to fundraise both around when she graduated, as well as last week when she closed her latest round.
International Perspective: “A Common Knowledge Of Vulnerability”
Patricia Spiller, Senior Director of Growth Marketing at Livongo, recalls the difficulty of graduating in 2009 as an international student.
Prior to studying at the GSB, she had worked at smaller companies. To gain more corporate experience in the summer after her first year, she opted to intern at medical device and healthcare company Abbott Laboratories.
While she had enjoyed her summer, it was not necessarily her plan to move to a large company after graduation. However the declining employment prospects after graduation made her reconsider her return offer: “It became pretty clear that I needed to go back there because they were offering me a visa and the world was collapsing.”
While this felt like a short term setback, Patricia looks back positively at the years that followed. Rather than depart the company within a couple years of graduation once the economy had recovered, she opted to stay a few years longer as she enjoyed the stability while raising her children:
“Self empathy is important. Some of your big plans are going to change and it’s not your fault. It’s okay that what you will do in the next one to two years is not your ideal. We are competitors and want to achieve fast after graduation, but in an economy like this it might be a bit slower.”
On the topic of self compassion, Patty reflected on an important realization she had while catching up with her Touchy Feely professor at her five year reunion. After explaining that she had felt behind in her career because of the GFC coupled with having children, her professor reminded her that life is long and it’s okay to slow down a few years every now and then.
Patricia also recounted how her class’s WhatsApp group has been capable of discussing hardships like being laid off and seeking attorneys because their difficult graduation year forced them to rely on one another from the onset.
She predicts our classes will experience the same: “You will have a common knowledge of vulnerability because you’re living through a crisis together.”
Learning How To Lead Teams Through Crises
Ann Bordetsky, Chief Operations Office at Rival, has had a jaw-dropping career, including roles as an investor and advisor at Jane VC, senior roles at Uber and Twitter and an impressive tenure at the Natural Resources Defense Council prior to enrolling at the GSB.
However this illustrious journey did not make her immune to the long term effects of graduating in a recession, and warns current graduates to be mindful of their market rates in years to come:
“Especially for women two to five years out of the GSB, you will be paid less if you graduate in a down economy versus graduating in a hot economy. What I realized much later on after graduating from the GSB during a downturn was that I was being paid much less, which further compounded with being a woman.”
Ann encourages current students to reevaluate their compensation in a few years to make sure that they are being paid market competitive wages.
With this retrospective vision in mind, Ann also believes her classmates are now empowered to lead others through this difficult moment from the other side of the table. She recently brought together classmates of hers to share learnings as they collectively needed to make tough choices about the companies they lead.
“Because of when we graduated, we were made for this moment. The only difference is now we’re the ones in charge.”
