Business School Question - HBS vs. Columbia Value Investing Program

[Palantir]

^Carnegie Mellon?

[txitxo]

 

I find it interesting how many "great" investors don't have a conventional background.  I haven't seen many interviews where a guru says "I graduated top of my class, then I went to HBS, then I worked as a sell-side analyst for two years, then buyside and worked my way up."  Sure there might be some, but usually the story is more along the lines of "I don't have a typical story.."

 

 

  You have to be careful with making any conclusions about the careers of outstanding investors, because you are just looking at the surviving outliers. The important thing when you are beginning is: what career path  offers more a priori chances of success in the investing world? Going to Harvard? Or working for a phone  company?

 

My experience in science is that, unless you have very strong reasons to work or study at a particular institution (some project, person or even family reasons) it pays off to go to the place with the highest possible "prestige". It will not do anything special to you, it won't make you smarter or more competent, it is just more convenient from a practical point of view.

 

 

 

 

 

[oddballstocks]

 

I find it interesting how many "great" investors don't have a conventional background.  I haven't seen many interviews where a guru says "I graduated top of my class, then I went to HBS, then I worked as a sell-side analyst for two years, then buyside and worked my way up."  Sure there might be some, but usually the story is more along the lines of "I don't have a typical story.."

 

 

  You have to be careful with making any conclusions about the careers of outstanding investors, because you are just looking at the surviving outliers. The important thing when you are beginning is: what career path  offers more a priori chances of success in the investing world? Going to Harvard? Or working for a phone  company?

 

My experience in science is that, unless you have very strong reasons to work or study at a particular institution (some project, person or even family reasons) it pays off to go to the place with the highest possible "prestige". It will not do anything special to you, it won't make you smarter or more competent, it is just more convenient from a practical point of view.

 

 

Good points.  I agree if someone knows they want to invest they should go to the best school that gives them that chance.  I'm saying that going to the best school doesn't mean one will become a good/great investor.  If one only wants a job in finance the best school will do it.  Becoming a great investor doesn't require a degree from HBS or Columbia.

 

I don't put too much value in how people acheived success, it varies for each person and has such a large element of luck involved it's not usually replicated.  I prefer to look at failure, failure is common and can be avoided by avoiding certain patterns.  So as west said above, if you go to Columbia and then try to get a job as a VP of Sales you won't have much luck, whereas if you go to HBS, work in finance then decide to go VP of Sales route you'll still get the calls. 

[SharperDingaan]

The signal is an actual admission letter; hair splitting between schools is just noise. Either school is a good choice, but look past the glitz.

 

7 years out; what you have done since graduation will overshadow where you graduated from. You are just 1 of X students, all in the same testosterone cloud, & all with same pedigree; superficial hair splits will determine your ‘ranking’ within the alumni & 75% of the benefit will flow to the top 25%. If you are not one of the 25%, you will have an intangible asset experiencing double declining depreciation at maybe 25%/year (to approx. the value of the ‘connections’); without one or two sizeable bonuses early on, you may well have a financial loss at the end of Year 7.

 

If every graduate from school Y got what they wanted, the financial sector would be flooded with alumni from just school Y - but it is not; so where did they all go? The reality is that for most if they have not made it by year 7, they are not going to; and there is not much call for such a narrow study field outside of Wall Street, London, Hong Kong, etc. Every fund manager swears they are in the top quartile, but we all know that at least 75% of them have to be wrong. Those thousands of I-Bankers hitting the streets are telling you something.

 

You don’t have to work in finance to practice value investing; for many it is actually a hobby that gets incorporated into their day-to-job, whatever that may be. As they move through life, they accumulate the benefits and if they are lucky, get to do something useful with it; managing OPM, venture financing, running businesses, import/export etc. The humble backgrounds of many on this board are a subtle message.     

 

If you’re young & unencumbered, grab the bull by the cohunes & squeeze. Enjoy the ride, but recognize that it doesn’t last forever, and have an exit plan.

 

Good luck to you.