The Great Pumpkin. Just when you thought the Harbus couldn’t get any spookier…we’re coming to you on October 31! This edition is jam-packed: inside you’ll find more hard-hitting articles than HBS students on the Amtrak to NYC for Halloweekend. Or at least, more than you’ll find on any one Amtrak car.
Read on for a call to reform student dues at HBS, and a call to reform the US education system. For the founders tired of pitching VCs, let them pitch you for a change. Hear from our contributors on Fall vibes, Fall dress codes, Fall travel destinations, and Fall holidays. On mythical quests to overcome FOMO, or to learn finance through the case method. On Polaroid photography, the modern consumer journey, quick commerce, or stellar female founders. On money!
October seems like a weird time to publish the November edition of a newspaper – one might have thought a date in November would be a better fit. We wanted to reach you before the election on Tuesday, November 5, and for logistical reasons we can only print on Thursdays, #supplychainmanagement #somebodykaizenthisprocess.
We wanted to reach you to say: please vote, pretty please, pretty please with a cherry on top and hot fudge and rainbow sprinkles, if you’re really feeling crazy.
Some argue that one vote won’t make a difference.
Saying your vote doesn’t matter is like saying, “Why should I wear deodorant? They’re just two armpits in a nation of 690 million of them.” Sure, don’t wear it – but don’t look at me when things start to stink.
I grant you; one vote can feel like a raised hand preparing to make a very “mid” comment when the conversation dries up halfway through a low-energy Monday case. Who cares if that hand stays down? Well, if enough hands stay down, the triple-dipper won’t hesitate to fill up that airtime – and nobody wants that.
Linus (of the Peanuts) spent every Halloween alone in a pumpkin patch, waiting to greet the Great Pumpkin. To state the obvious, the Great Pumpkin is a mythical being who rises from the pumpkin patch to bring presents to children around the world. Linus probably mixed up Halloween and Christmas, and that’s funny. But I admire Linus’ unwavering faith in what he believes and in the goodness of the world, and the responsibility he felt to do something regardless of what anyone else did. Sally might have only gone with Linus because she had a crush on him, and she did storm off in anger when the Great Pumpkin never arrived, but I admire the fact that she went.
If you’re feeling stressed in the leadup to Election Day and don’t want to hear from another armchair campaign strategist, here are a few ideas. Master the noncommittal nod – that free Monday coffee won’t savor itself, so smile, nod, and completely tune out your friend who’s now an “expert” on the Nebraska 1st. When you’re completely lost, just lean in and observe, “This is the most important election of our lifetime” – works every time. Or just moonwalk yourself out of the room.
If you want to be another armchair campaign strategist, I’m here for it – the more people talking the better. Play to your strengths. Where does my last-minute donation have the highest ROI? How can candidates leverage multi-channel stakeholder engagement and a data-driven marketing strategy to persuade undecided voters? What’s the NPV of each candidates’ ten-year budget deficit? EBITDA, synergy, Porter’s Five Forces, value creation!
Whatever you do in the run-up to the election, I sincerely hope you vote. I hope you talk to lots of people about it. We may not know the results for a few days, but I hope you’ll be there for your friends and classmates on Election Day and after, no matter what happens.
So go ahead, get yourself an “I Voted” sticker. You deserve it. And if you vote early, vote by mail, or you vote in person day-of but they run out of stickers (sad!), the Harbus will make sure you get one. Seriously, ask us – just ordered some funny stickers on Amazon and not sure what we’ll do with them if no one asks.
Tim Ford (MBA ’25) is originally from New Jersey. He graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees in Commerce and Spanish, and completed an M.Phil. in Latin American Studies at the University of Cambridge. Prior to the HBS MBA, Tim worked in growth equity at TPG in San Francisco.
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