I didn't claim that. Please re-read my comments and point out where I claimed that. I said "every HBS grad isn't a terrible CEO". It does not imply "every Harvard grad is a great CEO".

On SC specifically, I do believe that a company that has had issues with financial management and business model will benefit from someone with business training and experience operating a media business with similar characteristics. Kerry seems like a solid hire for the role. He may still fail.

> The new CEO is a Harvard Business School grad with experience as CEO of Vimeo, a similar media business.

If you didn't intend to express a bias then what is half of that sentence, other than unnecessary filler?

Everything is situational. Given the set of problems that SC has in terms of business model and financial discipline, the ideal job spec would ideally have academic and work experience in the relevant area.

HBS is probably as good choice as any if you are going to get a general business background. And CEO of Vimeo seems like a great work experience with substantial ability to pattern match.

That is very different than saying that “all Harvard grads make great CEOs” If the biggest challenges were legal, I would probably want a CEO with both theoretical and practical legal background. If the biggest challenges were related to security, I would look for someone with background in security, etc.

My bias is finding a CEO with relevant prior experience. Especially in a turnaround situation, I would not want a CEO who is learning on the job.

>My bias is finding a CEO with relevant prior experience.

Should've stuck to just 'CEO of Vimeo' then. In most tech companies an MBA exec is seen as a negative (at least by the engineers). What you did matters more than whether you have a degree or not.

First, you are arguing that I should hold an opinion, because most other people hold that opinion. I prefer to think independently.

Second, you are presenting this as an “Or” between education and experience. If I had to choose, I agree with you and I would also choose experience over education. However, it is a false trade-off since this CEO has both which I would choose over just having one.

Nonsense. And even if true, that's irrelevant to whether they're well suited for the job. Engineers aren't oracles, they have stupid ideas and weird biases too.

You conveniently left out that he mentioned the CEO also had experience at Vimeo, a media company with a somewhat similar business model.

I chuckled at that one as well. [1]

You'd be surprised at the number of graduates doing simply ordinary or mediocre things. Not that there is anything wrong with that - not my point. Just that the halo is often the best thing that someone is left with years after graduating.

Now if someone were to say that a Harvard Business School grad came back home to try and help their small family business I might think the statement is more appropriate. But at the level where you get a job like this not as much so.

[1] And I went to one of those 'good schools' (Not that one but in the same category let's say).

>>Just that the halo is often the best thing that someone is left with years after graduating.

I do not exactly get what you are trying to say here. I'm not being snarky but rather genuinely curious. Could you explain?

The halo 'the branding' of the school is very often more powerful than what you actually learn there.

Maybe similar to getting an academy award is better than whatever money you might make from getting an academy award (or a nomination).

The branding and the halo of that degree opens up doors and generally tends to lead to positive acceptance in a wide variety of situations.

The idea that success or failure has much to do with the CEO is I think mistaken. For sure the CEO can do plenty to screw things up, but not so much to make things better. So for the most part the best you can aim for is to get someone who isn't going to screw up big time.