Leveraging a family business into HSW

Tim needed to sell a resume consisting only of family business experience to some of the world’s top adcoms.

The Challenge

After a premature death in the family, Tim ended up in charge of a major real estate development company at a very young age. On one hand, he had leadership experience few 20-somethings could even dream of. On the other, he had almost no experience working for someone who wasn’t related to him. Tim had to convince the adcom that he had a chance of succeeding, even though he had gained his position through inheritance and could offer few objective evaluations of his merit.

Possible Approaches

It was hard to resist focusing on Tim’s headline accomplishments. He had executed an impressive turnaround of the family’s core business, in the face of brutal legal challenges and a complex probate proceeding. Tim’s ability to actually IMPROVE the company while coping with these challenges said a lot about his persistence and strategic perspicacity. However, this turnaround was inward-facing, revolving around Tim’s ability to efficiently lead his subordinates in the family business. To counteract the adcom’s fear of nepotism, we needed to see Tim interacting with outsiders and equals.

The Admissionado Approach

We helped Tim pick a set of stories that showcased his deep personal passion for the real estate industry. They weren’t necessarily the biggest things Tim had done, but they proved that he was deeply invested in the business and had his own ideas for how to take his business to the next level. The company may have been foisted on Tim in unfortunate circumstances, but we showed that he had done his level best to learn as much as he could about the industry. We also emphasized times that Tim had tasked himself with difficult work, or had to deal with a difficult counterparty. Our examples proved that Tim was not averse to challenge and perfectly capable of navigating around difficult or unmotivated people. He may not have had the traditional preparation for a budding real estate heir (a decade or so working on real estate projects at major finance firms), but he was working to replicate that experience while leading his company.

The Result

Tim was accepted to Stanford and HBS. Overachieve much?

Personal Shoutout

“I’m very fortunate to have chosen the right and the best admission consulting from so many options and met such amazing people like you and the rest of the team.”