Think Like a Consultant, Present Like a Storyteller

Harvard Crimson Speaker Session

HOSTED BY

Harvard Crimson

Founded in 1873, The Harvard Crimson is the official student newspaper of Harvard University.

Alumni include Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Steve Ballmer.

Crimson Programs runs workshops, simulations, and competitions for middle and high school students in journalism, business, and college admissions.

The oldest continuously published daily college newspaper in the US

• Vishwum Kapadia, Harvard College, concentrating in Neuroscience
• Programs associate on the Crimson Business board, building partnerships that support the Crimson’s educational mission
• Co-founder of Intersect STEM, a nonprofit that has run 100+ free STEM workshops for 2,000+ students
• Member of Harvard Undergraduate Consulting Group (HUCG)

About Me

Vishwum Kapadia

Harvard College | Neuroscience

• Think like a consultant → break a messy problem into pieces
• My experience → Intersect STEM, HUCG, Crimson Business

Two Parts

Today –

Approaching a Problem

​

Personal Example

Part 1: Consultant

A biotech startup in Madrid with strong science needed to know where it stood against its competitors.

​

How does one go about that?

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Identify the competitors

Comprehensive research (what even is there to compare?)

Develop a framework for comparison – technical, business

Put forth analysis

Request feedback

My Experience

Part 2 –

Science research, science teaching non-profit, music 🡪 consulting and business work

• Research:
• Nonprofit:
• Music:
• Sports:
• Leadership:

Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, published

Co-founded Intersect STEM, refugee non-profit

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, piano

Tennis

Student-body president

Before Harvard

How I Got Here

Started in Cleveland, offering free hands-on STEM workshops to schools.

We contacted about 5 schools over 6 months. None replied.

Then one person at a small refugee organization in Cleveland wrote back and wanted to help. That was our way in.

Since then we have funded equipment and received a grant for a STEM field trip.

6 months

before the first reply

100+

workshops since

2,000+

students taught

Intersect STEM

Experience –

At first, no school would respond to us. We had no leverage and nothing to point to.

It took about 6 months. Then one person at a small refugee organization in Cleveland answered, and that was our way in.

You only need one person to get in. After that you are set, but you have to keep trying until you find them.

Persistence

Lesson –

Started in a lab the summer after 9th grade, studying how cells handle faulty genetic messages.

​

Moved to cardiovascular research at the Cleveland Clinic and kept going through high school.

​

We studied patients getting a minimally invasive heart valve repair and found a measure linked to better outcomes.

​

I published the work in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national cardiology conferences.

Cardiology Research

Experience –

3

Presentations at national conferences

3

Publications in journals

Lots

Learned

My research was something I was extremely interested in and could find myself working on at all times.

It always felt like something I wanted to do rather than had to, which allowed me to do well at it and get recognized.

Find a Niche of Interest

Lesson –

Consulting and business added to my research and non-profit

• Consulting:
• Business:
• The Old:

Harvard Undergraduate Consulting Group

Harvard Crimson Business Board

IntersectSTEM to Boston, new cardiology research

At Harvard

What I do here

Client: a healthcare robotics company.

Question: what should it prioritize for expansion, and how could it scale deployment across hospitals?

What we did: industry research and expert interviews on adoption, the competitive landscape, and operational barriers.

HUCG: A Real Client

Experience –

I learned practical things at HUCG, like how to build a slide.

The most important lesson: how to synthesize research into a formal thought process.

You do not notice it, but that is how you make an argument. Practicing it with that framework in mind is critical.

Research Into an Argument

Lesson –

This summer I did competitor research at a biotech startup in Madrid.

I used the same framework from HUCG. It let me go about the research more clearly.

The report opened with the answer, then one section per competitor, then the comparison and what it meant for the startup.

Madrid: Same Thinking

Experience –

Crimson Business

Experience

I am a programs associate on the Crimson Business board. My work is finding new ways to generate revenue, mainly through partnerships, to support the Crimson and its educational mission.

• Role:
• Focus:
• Scale:
• Pipeline:
• Example:

Programs associate, Crimson Business board

New revenue through partnerships

About 10 competitions a year

Many current associates competed in them first

This webinar, with Global Competitions

• Think like a consultant -> evidence = analysis
• Persistence -> if you want it, go get it
• Be interesting -> find something of interest
• Apply your interests / be open -> science + business

The Takeaways

Recap –

Q & A

Thank You For Joining Us