Claire Marsh Product Leader at BCG X.Ventures
Affiliated Programs
About
Claire is a product leader who is passionate about leveraging human centered design and tech to scale social and environmental impact. She specializes in 0-1 builds and early stage product development within healthcare and financial services. Claire began her career in Nicaragua, working as a social entrepreneur building out a crowdfunding platform for rural community development in Central America and West Africa. She advanced her product and design career through Kiva, a world renowned global microfinance nonprofit, where she led product and design for a crowdlending platform focused on small business owners in the U.S. and Kenya. Through these experiences, Claire became interested in how human centered design can help accelerate new product development. She attended the MMM Program at Kellogg and interned at BCG Digital Ventures as a Product Manager to further her skillset in new product development and corporate innovation across a variety of industries. After graduating from the MMM Program in 2020, Claire joined BCG Digital Ventures (now BCG X) full time, and is now a Lead Product Manager based out of the new Brooklyn office for new corporate ventures across a variety of industries.
Q & A
How has MMM made a difference in your career?
MMM has allowed me a new mental model and lense through which I look at the world of business. Not only am I able to speak the language of C-Suite executives and influence their behaviors around the core of the business, but I'm able to be on the ground with design and engineering to build new innovative products. It has allowed me both the confidence and toolkit to do so in highly ambiguous environments.
What value do you think MMM graduates bring to industry now?
MMM's have a leg up in the market because they are ambidextrous. It's no secret that when there are dips in the economic outlook, many corporations cut funding for some of their longer term bets. In these times, MMM's can flex their MBA side to help work within core areas of the business to drive revenue, while keeping an eye to what new areas of innovation can kickstart revenue. In good economic conditions, MMM's are the swiss army knives that can identify and drive new areas of growth for a business.
What advice do you have for a student just starting the MMM Program?
Take advantage of as much of the studio and experiential classes as you can. These are the experiences that will stick with you and allow you to apply what you are learning in the safety of the classroom to real world problems.