Football, Air Force Academy, and business; hear how they come together in this Stanford MBA's journey [Show Summary]

Captain David Harris has been a leader since childhood. Growing up and in college, he played football. After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy, he served as an officer in the U.S. Space Force, and now he’s preparing for an MBA at Stanford GSB. In this episode, he shares his story. 

Interview with David Harris, US Air Force veteran, Stanford GSB MBA candidate [Show Notes]

Thanks for joining me for the 471st episode of Admissions Straight Talk. You've seen the stats that most people have a great return on their MBA investment, but what about you? Are you going to see that return? We've created a tool that will help you assess whether the MBA is likely to be a good investment for you individually. Go to accepted.com/mbaroicalc, complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but also the opportunity to calculate different scenarios. And it's all free.

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I'd like to welcome to Admissions Straight Talk, Captain David Harris of the U.S. Space Force. I first met David when he won a free consultation after attending an Accepted webinar. I was very impressed with him and here's why: In addition to being a delightful person to speak with, David graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2017. While there, he was a football team captain for the Academy's Division I team. Upon graduating, he worked first as a Nuclear Cruise Missile Manufacturing and Production Program Manager for the U.S. Air Force and is currently serving in the United States Space Force's National Reconnaissance Office. Parallel to his service in the military, David has pursued internships in private equity and venture capital, participated in Management Leadership for Tomorrow's Professional Development Fellows’ program, and co-founded his own investment management company, Ikon Capital Group. 

Can you tell us a little bit about your background? [2:38]

No problem. I'm David Harris. Originally from Dallas, Texas so a Cowboys fan by law. I was actually born during a Cowboys game and that kind of laid the framework for my early pursuits. I played football growing up and that ultimately opened the door for football scholarships at the Air Force Academy, which I chose for the leadership and academic challenge. I majored in management and played football, as you mentioned, and then graduated. That's where I caught the bug for finance. I was really interested once I got into my major, specifically the finance course to dive a little deeper into private equity. So I got an internship at Pharos Capital down in Dallas before I went into active duty at the Nuclear Cruise Missile Program Office, where I was working for three years. It was a great opportunity to lead with decent size team of up to 30. I got the real challenge when I went to the National Reconnaissance Office leading a team of about 125 and managing $250 million worth of software development satellites. It was definitely an amazing experience.