Holden Gibbons is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who returned home with a commitment to social change. He enrolled in CORe to realize his entrepreneurial ambitions and gain a strong foundation in business.
In the Q&A and video below, learn more about Gibbons, why he chose to enroll in CORe, and the impact the program has had on his career.
HBS Online: What Prompted You to Sign Up for CORe?
Holden Gibbons: I'm the quintessential entrepreneur whose creativity and ambition is boundless. Yet, I lacked some of the competencies to bring my ideas to fruition. My first tech startup failed in 2008 due to a lack of financial and managerial discipline, and I joined the Army to be able to afford to go back to school and realign myself.
I told myself that before I would try to start another non-traditional business, I would do myself a favor and seek an educational foundation to allow me to understand, and converse, with the more corporate and fundamental side of the business world. When I heard about CORe, I knew I found the right program.
What Was Your Favorite Part of CORe?
My favorite aspect, by far, was the truly astounding variety of students. My cohort included peers from India, many African countries, Eastern Europe, and other areas where I had limited professional contact before CORe. I've met dozens of them in person, often resulting in significant gains for me intellectually and personally.
I really can't underscore the ability of HBS to use the power of the Harvard brand to bring together a truly impressive mix of individuals, who are motivated to impact the world around them in a myriad of ways. I'm still meeting people, or deepening my connection with them, via social media and personal interactions.
Another advantage of CORe was the ability to access such high quality curated and distilled content at a price point that was very fair and worked around my unforgiving schedule.
How Are You Applying the Skills You Gained in CORe?
CORe helped me make a business case for my nonprofit, Veterans Combating Child Hunger, which utilizes volunteer labor to sustainably farm vacant and delinquent land in Cuyahoga County in Ohio. I needed to engage stakeholders in the community to encourage them to reduce government budget waste; society's carbon footprint as it relates to the food supply; and government food subsidy reliance by replacing it, slowly, with locally scaled, owned, operated, and sourced food.
I've utilized all three courses taught in CORe to make the case—from opportunity cost taught in Economics for Managers, to the concept of a “going concern” in Financial Accounting, to identifying and quantifying hidden and significant variables via regression analysis, covered in Business Analytics.
CORe has been my Rosetta Stone in helping me translate my ideas and visions for the world around me into empirical reality.
With my employee recruitment startup, KarmaBoard, CORe helped me to not only have an amazing concept but make the business case for it to potential venture capital and early-stage investors.
I won’t pretend to be a perfect student, but since taking CORe, I have found myself continuously referencing my notes to reaffirm my understanding of a concept, such that I can properly utilize it for my real-world activities.
Any Advice for Other Learners Who Are Considering CORe?
I have two suggestions: First, look at the course syllabus beforehand and try your best to set aside the appropriate time to digest the material, interact with others in the discussion tabs, and complete the modules and weekly assignments thoughtfully.
Second, reach out to as many people, from as many different backgrounds, as possible. Often times, “Birds of a feather flock together,” holds true, but that would strip CORe of one of its primary features: the diversity of your peers. I shamelessly "added" everyone in my cohort on social media, and don’t regret it at all. I've been challenged, supported, and enriched by all of them, and I know this will only continue as I maintain and grow these personal relationships.
Finally, in the Army, as a member of the Infantry, we had a saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none.” With the help of CORe, you can be a “jack-of-all-trades,” and the master of your own trajectory.
Are you interested in learning more about CORe? Explore the CORe program page and other participant stories to discover the impact the program could have on your career.
This post was updated on November 19, 2019, for relevance and accuracy. It was originally published on October 6, 2015.