Why am I taking this class?

My career up to this point has primarily been focused on working with startups/technology companies. Working in this space, I was exposed to some brilliant strategists who meaningfully impacted the path of the businesses they worked with. Seeing this, I sensed a gap in my ability to break down a company's complex problems and draw up compelling strategies that I have confidence in going forward. I'm hoping this class teaches me the language and frameworks of strategy, while focusing on an industry that has inherent complexities beyond many of the markets I've spent time in prior. Ultimately, I'm hoping to deepen my strategic intuition and take lessons and insights from this class to the companies I work with.

As a Midwesterner, I'm also excited by the opportunity to work with a professor + alum who is from and dedicated to the region (something that appears to be very hard to come by). As I make decisions at Stanford regarding entrepreneurship, and thinking through where and how I spend my life, I could use as much wisdom and guidance as possible!