Mischa Riedo

IMD Business School

“I love reading and learning so much that I built my startup around that.” 

Hometown: Berne, Switzerland

Fun Fact About Yourself: I met my fiancé during a client pitch for my startup.

Undergraduate School and Major: None

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: QuercusApp Technologies, Co-Founder

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Founding, building, and successfully selling my business to one of the major international consulting firms.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? There are numerous qualities, but if I had to pick one, it would be curiosity. They’re extraordinarily open-minded and engage with every problem the school throws at us with enormous curiosity and resourcefulness.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? IMD is globally renowned for its executive education. This strength is also profoundly ingrained into its MBA program. The amount of focus the school places on leadership, self-awareness, and personal development truly impressed me. As an example, its personal development stream offers 20 hours with a psychoanalyst throughout the year to assist you in your personal discovery and growth. 

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Aside from the leadership and personal development stream I described above, my favorite is the “International Consulting Project” where we will solve a real problem a client is facing. I’ve talked to several alumni – including some that now work at McKinsey – they told me it’s exactly like a real consulting engagement they do now.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I’ve just completed the successful sale of my company and wanted to use a year to reflect on my journey so far in life and set myself up for the next chapter. IMD was unique in that it offered the perfect platform to do so.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? IMD was my only choice

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I was looking at the schools’ unique value propositions, the average age, alumni network, electives, industry focus, etc. I mostly relied on the internet, campus visits, and alumni to form an opinion. The campus visit and alumni discussions were most important in assessing the culture and IMD scored exceptionally high on that criteria due to its intimate family atmosphere.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? The story is obviously much, much more nuanced but in short: My mother was diagnosed with a serious illness a few years ago when she was at a crossroad in her life. The event touched me deeply and thus led to many hours of self-reflection on my end. It became the deciding factor why I chose to quit my stable job in a bank to pursue my dream and found my own company. 

Where do you see yourself in five years? Leading a great group of people to have a positive impact.