Smith Soc Featured Member
Questions and Answers with Adam Smith Society Members
Max Doubenski | MIT Sloan Chapter
Prior to Sloan, Max worked at Goldman Sachs, spending four years as an investment banker and two years in Goldman’s private equity group. In the latter role, Max invested in US manufacturing companies, working with their management teams to help grow their businesses. Max holds a B.A. in Business Economics from Brown University, where he played on the Club Tennis team for four years. He is an avid tennis player and has attended the U.S. Open every year for the last decade. In his spare time, Max enjoys reading about economics, working out, and seeing friends and family.
What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume alone?
I moved to the US at the age of 13. I did not have the luxury of picking friends but rather gravitated towards those who welcomed me to my new environment. As a result, in high school I ended up being friends with people who were quite different from each other and who would normally spend time in different social circles. To this day, I find that my friend group is incredibly diverse and I've come to deeply value this aspect of my life.
How do you curate your intellectual diet? What blogs, publications, etc. do you ready daily?
WSJ! Sometimes MarginalRevolution.com (Tyler Cowen's blog). I like Greg Mankiw's blog. The challenge is that coverage of news has become so sensationalist that sometimes it's hard to read current events everyday and remain upbeat. That's where ESPN and pop culture blogs come in.
Imagine you are given a million dollars to launch your best entrepreneurial idea. What is it?
A TV show where competing teams (from wildly different walks of life!) are given 24 hours to make the most cash they can without breaking any laws. Each team starts with $5. In the middle of Manhattan. First episode will feature a team of investment bankers going up against a team of Seamless delivery guys.
Name something you’ve gained from your membership in the Adam Smith Society that you feel like you could not have gotten elsewhere in your MBA program.
I got to see the intellectual passions of my fellow classmates. It has been refreshing to see folks ask difficult questions and share their opinions at Adam Smith events. I appreciate the sincerity that students bring to our events.
If you had to choose a theme song for the Adam Smith Society, what would it be?
"From the concrete, who knew that a flower would grow?" - Drake. Can anyone else describe capitalism as eloquently?
Who is your favorite founding father (or president) and why?
Benjamin Franklin. He was one of the first millionaires in the colonies. He was also a true renaissance man: he was publishing the Almanac (18th century version of Gary Vee's youtube channel) while also conducting meaningful scientific experiments (think Elon Musk minus the government subsidies).