2020 MBAs To Watch: Mark Vaisberg Hirschhaut, IE Business School

Mark Vaisberg Hirschhaut

IE Business School

A curious engineer that enjoys solving problems and driving efficiency.”

Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela

Fun fact about yourself: When I was 17, I played on the team that went on to win Venezuela’s National Basketball Championship and trained with one of the professional teams in Caracas.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Georgia Institute of Technology, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Lisis Capital (M&A Advisory firm in Spain).

Where did you intern during the summer of 2018? Not applicable

Where will you be working after graduation? Undecided

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Recipient of the IE Latin America Future Leaders Scholarship.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I have been part of some interesting competitions including the Deliveroo Challenge Case Competition to reduce plastic waste in Madrid and the IE M&A Competition. However, I must say that being part of the organizing committee of the IE Global Case Competition has been among the most interesting experiences thus far. Being on the “other side” of the competition and creating an event where others are benefitting and dedicating a lot of their time to compete was quite special.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? A few years ago, while starting a new role at Goldman Sachs, I was able to identify an improvement that would optimize our funding strategy and take advantage of new changes in the market that were affecting the way the firm was borrowing more than $300M. These changes were translated into significant savings for the firm. I am very proud that even though there were other people on the team that had more experience and access to information, I was the one who was able to pinpoint and implement these improvements. By being alert, detailed, and willing to challenge the status quo, I was able to make a big impact. It gave me a lot of confidence in a role that I was just starting.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? During our first week of orientation, our whole section did a Maori Haka ceremonial dance in front of the whole school. The school brought coaches to teach us the moves and chants for different Hakas and then each section had to perform their version. It was a fun way of expressing our emotions and creativity while bonding us together as a group. I would never have guessed in a million years that I would learn how to do a Haka during business school, but there you have it!

Why did you choose this business school? Aside from being one of the top programs, I was drawn to the emphasis that IE Business School places on creating a diverse environment and putting students in situations in which we need to cooperate. By diversity, I mean every aspect of it, not only country of origin but the background, education, job experience, way of thinking, etc. I envision the world will become ever more globalized and being able to work with diverse teams will be a vital skill.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? Do as much research as you can and be authentic. When I consider my own MBA class, it is very difficult to define a particular trait that will get someone admitted to the school. Everyone here, apart from being extremely friendly and coming from interesting backgrounds, is unique.

What is the biggest myth about your school? IE’s MBA is known as a program for entrepreneurs. After going through the process of starting a company myself in the fintech space, and making some of the strategical mistakes that many new entrepreneurs make, this entrepreneurial focus is one of the reasons I was attracted to the school. However, I have since learned that this MBA program has a lot more to offer than just entrepreneurship (and the diversity on campus.). There are clubs for any possible interest imaginable. Not to mention, there is always a talk, event, or workshop happening every day on topics like big data, blockchain and technology to M&A, social impact, consulting boot camps, and crack the case. It has been a great opportunity to learn more about new industries or trends.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? From day one, we must make a lot of decisions about how and where we will spend our time and energy. It’s impossible to do everything, even if we want to, and thus there are trade-offs to be made. Since IE’s MBA is a one-year program, the experience goes by quickly. Right now, it’s too early in the program for me to determine exactly what I would have done differently. However, I am keenly aware that it’s important to identify which activities provide value, which ones are just for fun, and which ones do neither. I try to balance the first two and avoid the last one.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? So many. However, if I must choose just one of my classmates, I would say it is Jenefa Justin. Before deciding to do her MBA, Jenefa had a very attractive offer to switch to another company for a significant raise in pay. But she took the “riskier” option of saying no to the job and the money and came to IE to get her degree instead. She bet on herself and that confidence and desire for self-understanding are inspiring to me and to our entire class.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? My dad. He has always inspired and pushed me to achieve greater accomplishments. Since I was a kid, I have seen him manage his own business with patience and skill (he has a chain of sports apparel stores in Venezuela) through many turbulent periods and difficult conditions. I have seen him change his approach and reinvent his business several times. Although he doesn’t have a master’s degree, his influence led me here because he has taught me that it is always better to be as prepared as possible.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Easy: I want to be a leader in an organization, and I want to have at least one large positive impact in the world.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I want to be remembered as someone who gave back as much as what he gained from the school.

Hobbies? I still love playing basketball and now running. I’m currently training for my fourth marathon.

What made Mark such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2020?

“Mark represents the type of student who makes an MBA classroom a unique learning environment. He is able to critically analyze each case, building on it with his prior experience, and often providing provoking but insightful ideas. He contributes substantially to the learning of the class, listens receptively, and challenges politely when he thinks it appropriately, assumptions held by other students. For example, in class, we were recently discussing how holacracies and new structural forms towards self-managed teams are being adopted by firms to enhance adaptability to a growing turbulent environment. Mark challenged this idea: since self-management needs consensus, reaching this consensus may end up slowing down the process even more than traditional hierarchies, which then questions the widespread belief that self-management may increase speed and adaptability. This is actually a very good observation and not an obvious one. It’s a pleasure to have Mark in class.”

Rocio Bonet
Professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior

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