A significant 17% of the Class of 2025 joined startups, defined as private companies ten years old or younger, earning a median base salary of $175,000. This is consistent with Harvard’s rising startup participation over the past decade, but the Class of 2025 is shaped by the specific market forces of Q3 2024 to Q2 2025, which saw AI deployment reach an inflection point. It is no surprise, therefore, that 70% of these startup hires entered Technology.
Demand for MBAs Capable of Commercializing AI Models
Startups racing to commercialize AI models and infrastructure required MBAs who could lead business development (32% of startup roles), build early marketing engines (25%), and establish general management frameworks (19%) for scaling operations.
Healthcare and Manufacturing
Healthcare and Manufacturing each claimed 11%, reflecting the digitization and automation underway in both sectors during this period.
Two niches sought leaders who could integrate clinical workflows or redesign supply-chain operations.
The functional mix demonstrates that startups prioritized commercial and operational leadership rather than technical hires from the MBA pool, a trend that mirrors startup-funded priorities across early 2025.
Download F1GMAT's Harvard MBA Essay Guide
• Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your choices have influenced your career path and aspirations. (up to 300 words)
• Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)
• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (up to 250 words)
Harvard’s entrepreneurship ecosystem – The Rock Center for Entrepreneurship
Harvard’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, particularly the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, Harvard Innovation Labs (I-Lab), and the Startup Bootcamp and FIELD courses, supports this pathway by giving students structured opportunities to test ideas, build teams, and engage with investors while still in the program.
While these resources do not determine outcomes, they create opportunities through which MBAs gain the commercial skills that early-stage companies increasingly demand.
New Ventures Emerging From Harvard MBA
155 founders
The Class of 2025 produced 155 founders, a number that underscores Harvard’s deeply entrenched entrepreneurial culture.
62 Social IMPACT Firms
Of these founders, 61% launched companies with a co-founder, and 37% connected with that co-founder at HBS, demonstrating how peer networks serve as one of the school’s most active entrepreneurial engines.
Among the ventures created, 62 businesses explicitly identified as social-impact oriented, reflecting the increasing alignment between entrepreneurship and societal problem-solving, particularly in Healthcare access, financial inclusion, climate solutions, and governance Technology.
Financial Services – The New IT
The sector distribution of newly founded companies shows an interesting shift compared with earlier years: 37% in Technology, 35% in financial services, and 7% each in Healthcare and Manufacturing.
The high representation in tech and financial services mirrors the broader 2024 trends, where AI-enabled fintech, infrastructure software, digital health triage tools, and supply-chain analytics platforms saw surging investor interest.
Manufacturing Startup – Emerging Trend
Manufacturing-related startups, often overlooked in previous cohorts, increased in relevance as industrial automation and nearshoring reshaped cost structures and created new opportunities for software-enabled operational tools.
Essay Editing - Consult with Atul Jose (Essay Specialist, F1GMAT)
The skills that a writer/editor brings to the table are different from what a former admissions officer or a consultant who has limited writing skills brings
Review Skills # Writing Skills
Movie Critics # Movie Directors
For any questions about the service, email me, Atul Jose, at editor@f1gmat.com
As F1GMAT’s Lead Consultant and Essay Specialist, I will help you structure the essay by:
1) Incorporating your Personal Brand
I will help you find unique life experiences that would differentiate you from the highly competitive Harvard application pool.
2) Including Storytelling elements
I have developed a keen sense of storytelling from over a decade and a half of editing essays and writing essay examples for F1GMAT’s Essay Guides.
The skills that a writer/editor brings to the table are different from what a former admissions officer or a consultant who has limited writing skills brings
Review Skills # Writing Skills
Movie Critics # Movie Directors
It is easy to comment, but it is tough to structure the essay from the perspective of the applicant and turn the essay into a winning application essay.
3) Aligning with the Culture of the School
A big part of editing and guiding applicants is in educating them about the culture of the school
Some schools have very ‘specific’ traits that they are looking for in an applicant.
If you don’t highlight them and lean towards general leadership or cultural narratives, the essay won’t work.
I will guide you through the writing process.
I will also iteratively edit the essays without losing your original voice.
Harvard’s Curriculum & Ecosystem - IMPACT
Harvard’s curriculum and community played a role in equipping these founders with early momentum.
Courses such as The Entrepreneurial Manager, Launching Technology Ventures, and Financial Management of Smaller Firms, along with access to the Rock Accelerator and I-Lab Venture Program, created structured pathways for students to prototype, test, and refine ideas in live markets. These resources form part of the reason why Harvard repeatedly produces founder-heavy classes: not because entrepreneurship is encouraged over traditional paths, but because the school’s orientation makes company-building a practical and integrated part of the MBA experience.
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