“I never got a single job through a resume drop. There is tremendous value in the grit and perseverance of finding and creating your own pathways. You don’t have control over who says ‘yes’ to your meetings… But, there’s a huge difference in potential opportunity when you are proactive and intentional in your choices versus waiting for stuff passively to come to you.”

Tony Ngo, Harvard Business School ’08, shares how he used the MBA to pivot to Vietnam, first in finance, and then as an edtech entrepreneur with Everest Education.

Questions

• Introducing Tony (0:00)
• Tony’s Pre-MBA Career & MBA Application Journey (5:00)
• Tony Pivots Towards Asia – Post-MBA Careers & Relationships (7:15)
• Networking Your Way to Jobs vs. Resume Drops (13:10)
• Having a Focus / One Question in Mind During Your MBA (21:00)
• Succeeding in Private Equity & Hedge Funds (24:40)
• Sponsors for Educational Opportunity – Vietnam (32:00)
• Tony’s Pivot from Finance to EdTech (36:30)
• What MBAs Need to Know About Working in EdTech (47:10)

About Tony

Tony Ngo is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Everest Education (E2), which offers live small classes online and operates a network of premium learning centers offering a variety of subjects, including math, English Language Arts, college admissions consulting, test prep, and tutoring. Since 2014, he also has been a board member at Nam Long, a publicly-traded real estate developer. In 2009, he founded Sponsors for Educational Opportunity – Vietnam, a non-profit developing leadership capacity among young professionals who will make a difference in Vietnam.

Tony graduated from Harvard Business School in 2008 and received his Bachelors (Economics) and Masters (Industrial Engineering) from Stanford University. After getting his MBA, Tony was an investor for Bridger Capital, a long-short equities hedge fund, where he covered Asian and Technology, Media and Telecom investments from 2008-2015.

Tony frequently speaks and writes about leadership, community building, parenting, and career development. Tony lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and two children.

Show Notes

• Connect with Tony online
• Everest Education
• Sponsors of Educational Opportunity – Vietnam (SEO-V)
• Bridger Capital
• Harvard Business School
• TPG

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