The Harbus - February 2022

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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

HBS Tech Conference 2022

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Startup Corner: A Centuries-Old w Winery Startup

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From the Editor’s Desk The Power of Perspective - page 02

THE HARBUS

Winter Semester, 2022 Bringing news to Harvard Business School since 1937

February Edition

Are You Living the Life You Are Meant To? The Spiritual Lives of Leaders takes you on a transcendental journey of self-reflection and humility. Daniel Tong, Contributor

Quarantine Is Not That Bad Felipe Cerón (MBA ’22) reports on his holiday encounter with Covid-19. Felipe Cerón, Entertainment Editor I thought I was immune. I liked to believe so. I had had several close encounters from which I emerged unscathed, and each one gave me more confidence. Well destiny (I believe we can now call it Covid-19) has a funny way of smacking your privates when you least expect it. It happened when I arrived home for Christmas and New Years. I had plans to reunite with my family, see friends I hadn’t seen in years, and go to the beach to celebrate NYE. I wonder what is the average number of times a person checks and re-checks a positive result. Ten hours after the fact, I was still doing it, and in an attempt to stop this mania I did some research (as if that would change anything). In simple words, PCR tests extract RNA, turn it into DNA, and then tiny segments are amplified. With fluorescent

dye, the determination of positivity comes based on the brightness of the fluorescence of these segments. There are a number of reasons for having a false positive, ranging from cross-reactions (dye turning bright with something other than SARS) to incompetence (grabbing another sample). At the end, my positivity was determined by someone gauging how bright a vial looked. What if they had cataracts? Or turned a bit colorblind? See, I did have a lot of time. Nevertheless, the odds were not in my favor, and there was nothing I could do about the test, except squirm and complain. I had stayed over with a Colombian friend for three days, and he had tested positive. A quick aerobic workout showed that I was a bit out of shape, when just a few days ago I had been ok. Way below my capacity, I got the feeling you get when you run really fast on a really cold day. Maybe all the drinking and junk food? This would not be my first rodeo in quarantine-

land, but it was going to be my longest (240 hours) and the first time I dragged people along with me (my parents were contact traced). My initial reaction was to be positive and be thankful for the small things—not really, my first impulse was to break my computer and scream. My reaction was to think about all the things I would miss and about what ten days in the same place might feel like. When would I start to lose my sanity? I had never wanted time to pass by quicker than then, but I hate to waste time. I realized that it was not really the worst possible moment. The worst possible moment would have been just before boarding, left stranded in Colombia, alone. Maybe there were a ton of other worst possible moments. I guess I will never know for sure. Ironically, I had my health. I didn’t feel any worse than usual. I had Covid-19 but no symptoms. Actually, I felt great. This Continued on page 06

The Spiritual Lives of Leaders, SLL, is a masterpiece of a course brought by a collective effort between Harvard Business School, Harvard Divinity School, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It approaches a conversation that seldom happens at HBS on the fundamental beliefs and practices that drive the

world’s leaders. What gives leaders purpose and guides them in making their most challenging decisions? What are the commitments that rest in the very heart of their moral, ethical, or religious identity? In a rare and rich multidisciplinary combination of faculty and students from different schools, and world-class leaders that include Harvard University President Larry Bacow, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan, and Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, this short intensive program Continued on page 03

IN THIS ISSUE

The MBA Fund page - page 05

Startup Corner: Carbon Storage - page 09

Startup Corner: Fall Funding Update - page 07

Deep Purpose - page 11

What Would Art Should Frederick Be a Habit Bastiat Say? - page 14

W W W. H A R B U S . O RG / I n s t a g r a m : @ t h e h a r b u s h b s

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