ivy league MBAs don’t future-proof your business

why doing the work isn’t enough, even for Ivy League founders, and how visibility is becoming the real differentiator in a prestige-skeptical world.

Photo by Emily Karakis on Unsplash

For years, elite professionals were taught that if you earned the right degrees, climbed the right ladders, and worked quietly behind the scenes, success would find you.

But something fundamental has shifted.

When Alix Earle, a 23-year-old social media influencer, visited Harvard Business School this spring, student-run businesses that had been slowly building audiences exploded overnight. Websites crashed. Investor meetings were initiated. Months of slow growth were eclipsed by a single shoutout from someone who had mastered visibility, not traditional prestige.

It was a glimpse into the future of influence: authority no longer flows only through credentials. It flows through trust, visibility, and narrative ownership.

It also surfaced a hidden tension.

Many of the student founders who received this sudden influx of attention were still in pre or early launch phases. They were forced to hustle and operationalize businesses that, in many cases, weren't fully ready yet, simply to capitalize on the "lightning in a bottle" moment.

That's not a criticism. It's the reality of modern momentum: when opportunity knocks, you sprint.

But it's also a reminder.

Visibility without readiness creates pressure, not just opportunity. Virality can crack foundations if they aren't built for scale. Building visibility intentionally, before you need it, is no longer a luxury. It's a strategy for sustainable success.

Building an online presence isn't about becoming an "influencer." It's about safeguarding your relevance, your opportunities, and your legacy, while you still have the luxury of choosing how you want to show up.

The professionals who understand this will quietly and powerfully shape the next era of leadership. The ones who dismiss it will be left wondering when their reputation stopped being enough.

The Legacy Misunderstanding

Many elite professionals resist the idea of building a public presence because they associate it with self-promotion or performative "influencer" culture. There's an underlying fear: If I start posting online, will it cheapen what I've spent years building? In some cases, yes. In certain industries or roles built on discretion, being highly visible online can still be a liability. But for consumer businesses or movements that require public scale, visibility has become essential.

And to be clear, many elite professionals aren't just "quiet." They are busy advocating for themselves within their organizations, demonstrating their value directly to decision-makers, not to anonymous internet audiences.

Ironically, Ivy League founders are often among the best-equipped to contribute meaningfully online. Their takes are usually more informed, researched, and credible than many self-proclaimed "experts" who pop up across the internet. Yet fear holds them back from entering the conversation: fear of peers seeing them post with small audiences at first, fear of stepping outside the norms their group has lived by for decades, and with it, from earning the trust they’re more than qualified to hold.

Why the Rules Changed

In the past, elite professionals didn't need public audiences. Success was often safeguarded by closed networks: alumni groups, industry associations, referrals behind the scenes. Your school, your firm, and your title all spoke for you.

Today, the ground is shifting.

Trust in institutions is eroding. Attention has become its own form of capital.

Those who can earn trust in public, not just behind closed doors, will quietly and powerfully shape the next era of leadership.

Ironically, many prestige-driven professionals are skeptical of online visibility. They worry it democratizes "elite" spaces or invites misunderstanding. And yet, the very skepticism that once protected them is now becoming a barrier.

In a world where stories spread faster than resumes, staying invisible carries risks that yesterday's rules never accounted for.

Even within the HBS community, the shift is visible. Many students have been advised to build LinkedIn audiences to enhance their credibility; a surprising recommendation given that the "HBS" brand was once considered more than enough. Content creation is still viewed by many as secondary to their business ambitions. The real work, they believe, happens behind closed doors: pitching investors, refining product-market fit, securing early customers.

That mindset isn't wrong. But it's incomplete.

Today, distribution is often as valuable as product. And people are just as curious about the person behind the product as they are about the product itself. For Ivy League graduates, strategic visibility isn't about abandoning their credentials, it's about amplifying them. Those who intentionally share their thinking and leadership can go even further than their degrees alone ever could.

How to Build Visibility Without Losing Credibility

Visibility doesn't require you to broadcast every personal detail or chase trends. Thoughtful, strategic presence is possible, and it often looks quieter than people assume.

A few principles:

• Share insights, not just opinions. You don’t have to post insane “hot takes” to be seen. Offer reflections on your industry, leadership, or career journey.

• Focus on consistency, not virality. A steady rhythm of valuable contributions builds more trust than sporadic big moments.

• Show your thinking, not just your wins. While it’s tempting to only post your successes, thought leadership comes from sharing frameworks, observations, and lessons, not just outcomes.

• Turn milestones into teachable moments. Instead of the "So honored to speak at..." posts that provide little value to the reader, focus on what you learned. Share a small insight, an unexpected challenge, or a takeaway that others can apply. This shift from self-congratulation to service instantly differentiates your presence and makes people care.

You don't have to become someone else. You simply have to let more people see the depth and thoughtfulness you already possess.

For some, building an audience feels like an obligation. For others, it becomes a quiet form of leadership — a way to shape ideas, communities, and conversations that extend far beyond any single business or title.

Personally, I see content as more than just a strategy. It's a way to build a legacy that reflects not just what I did, but who I was becoming.

Where This Leaves Us

The bottom line: the rules have changed. Prestige might open the door, but visibility and trust decide who stays in the room.

If you're serious about building something bigger than your title, something that lasts beyond the traditional signals of success, it's time to be seen, not just credentialed.