Richard Freudenberg, Harvard Business School MBA Class of 2027
Age: 27
Hometown: Munich, Germany
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Business Administration
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Professional Basketball (Professional Athlete and Co-Captain, Sports & Entertainment, Frankfurt Skyliners, 2017 – 2022) and Private Equity (Senior Analyst, Private Equity, Findos Investor, 2024 – 2025)
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
I initially thought about applying right after I had to retire from professional sports due to an injury but then had the opportunity to join Findos to gain experience in private equity. However, I decided to apply to HBS a year later to fully complete my transition from being an athlete to entering the business world. Not only did I feel like I needed the credentials of having a master’s degree, but I wanted to close the knowledge gap to my peers in private equity. Additionally, I wanted to step out of private equity to reflect on what I want to achieve in my life outside of sports.
Why did you choose HBS? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
HBS has great faculty in the areas I am interested in. The business of sports, investing, and family business are all very prominent at HBS. However, what convinced me was that every person I met before applying that was affiliated with HBS was amazing, and when I visited campus the environment felt extremely electric compared to other B-schools I visited. The people were the main factor in that decision.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2027?
I belief that I bring a unique perspective of professional sports and leading teams in high stress environments. Additionally, as I was forced to transition out of sports with an injury, I have personal experience in dealing with dark moments in your life and life-changing setbacks, and turning them into successes. On the professional side, there are many people with more prestigious PE experience than I have but I did work with management teams on scaling them from a local company to becoming a pan European champion, which not many juniors get to do in large PE firms.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I am a passionate hobby chef and frequently take over the kitchen for family events or with friends. My favorite dish to make is spaghetti carbonara where I make everything from scratch.
Post-MBA career interests:
I want to keep working with mid-market companies and develop them. I either want to stay in PE and truly excel within the mid-market space or I want to try and raise my own search fund to acquire a SME company that I can develop. That being said, I could also see myself returning to the business of sports. A thing I learned about HBS is that you get so many ideas from classmates and the faculty that you are interested in and want to explore that your dream job changes every other week.
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
I would absolutely reach out to as many people at the school as I can. Not only have I met many amazing people who are now friends, but it truly helped a lot during my application. Current students have helped me write my essays and did interview prep with me. I do not think that I would have been admitted if I had not done that.
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
I would change my strategy of studying for the GMAT. I wasted a lot of time just randomly doing practice questions before I started a studying plan and actually learning for the test rather than thinking I could do it through repetition of problems. I personally used Magoosh which helped me, but I think any platform helps you studying for these tests.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Obviously the GMAT. I have a strong opinion about standardized tests and belief that it is no measurement of intelligence and only of hard work. I dreamt of going to HBS ever since retiring from basketball and I am generally quite ambitious and competitive. I viewed the GMAT as a (boring) competition against myself and the correlation of hours of studying and score gave me comfort in the grind. I took the test three times, by the way.
What is your initial impression of the HBS students/culture/community?
While I have been extremely impressed by the faculty and the lectures, which I enjoy immensely, I enjoy being around my classmates the most. Everybody is super open, friendly and willing to help. The diverse class has so many perspectives that I enjoy, and nobody is afraid of arguing their point of view. The section experience enhances these discussions as well, which has been great! I think the part that impresses me the most is how the environment here makes you dream bigger and you develop the urge to do something that you have not thought of before.
What student organizations have you joined/are you hoping to join and why?
I joined a number of professional clubs such as the VC/PE club, business of sports club or the ETA club. They help me meet people that share similar professional interests and from whom I can learn and which broaden my perspective. On the personal side I joined the basketball club and the wine and cuisine club which has been great for spending time outside of the classroom while doing things that you enjoy.
What is one thing you have learned about HBS that has surprised you?
I knew before that HBS puts a lot of focus on academics, especially in the first year. But I was very positively surprised about how the case method brings to life areas like accounting.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Going into my second semester, I am most excited about travelling more with the friends I made and the people I am going to meet. As I am writing this, I am in Egypt with 110 fellow students on a Nile cruise, which has been amazing. These are times I will probably never forget! I am also very excited for the capstone field project at the end of the semester were we get to do a project with a company in a country we have never been to. Lastly, I am excited to discover more professional opportunities in the areas I am interested in.
