Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (650 Words)
Background Information: The applicant - a German engineer, shares his affinity for automobiles. His restless energy was no match for Paris’ sterile academic orientation. The transfer to the US set in motion a quest to find his true calling. Even though he was in his dream automobile job, Tesla had yet to break out into the mainstream. The developmental technologies were all iterative. Lost, the applicant’s trip to Namibia opened an opportunity to help the country’s secondary education.
Theme: Entrepreneurship
Theme (Explained): The path to entrepreneurship is deliberate or accidental. The applicant’s accidental entry into EdTech product development and the acquisition although a career high set a vacuum that the applicant is filling with autonomous driving technology.
Profile: Entrepreneur
Industry: Education, Technology, Automobile
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to start the essay with the applicant’s passion for automobiles before introducing the meeting that led him to EdTech. The essay is captured with influences (father), a snippet of history on Halle – an east-central German city, and the motivating event that led him to the US.
The entrepreneurial spirit of ‘America’ pushed the applicant to explore ideas and opportunities that finally led to the EdTech startup. For the essay, I wanted to also capture the applicant’s strategic understanding of the market. In a crowded technology application pool, sharing perspectives atypical in the vocabulary of a technologist or a technology entrepreneur is a way to stand out.
Opener: The essay starts with the applicant’s conversation with his father to demonstrate the applicant’s affinity for automobiles.
Sample Stanford GSB MBA Essay A: What matters most to you, and why? (Power of Restlessness – Serial Entrepreneur) (632 Words)
I began my daily trivia talk on the mechanics of the engine, then switched to horsepower, and with dread, I asked, “Shall I take the car for a spin.” Confused and secretly proud of the question, my father sat with me. As a 11- year old, I barely reached the accelerator.
I was always restless. To avoid trouble in class, my parents found ways to drain my energy with sports, drama, and cars. As the son of an Engineer, I emulated my father’s disregard for the flashy new gadget and appreciated ..
