Become a Master of Finance with Harvard Professor Mihir Desai

I love bringing the brightest minds in the world onto the podcast. Especially when they are experts in an area that most people are confused by. Which is why I thought it would be useful to interview a top world expert on finance. Now before you tune out and think, “This isn’t for me,” let me be honest. I don’t love studying finance either. Charts and graphs and jargon don’t do it for me. But there was something different about Harvard Professor Mihir Desai‘s new book that stuck out to me — it explained basic financial concepts through stories. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that “facts tell, but stories sell.” Stories are also great teachers, which is exactly why Mihir wanted to use the most interesting stories from history and fiction to break down the complexity of finance. Mihir has spent 18 years teaching the brightest students in the world finance. But he knows that if more people don’t understand the core concepts of how to wisely manage finances (and use them to leverage their opportunities), then finance is failing its purpose. I loved this discussion with the third Ivy League professor I talked to this week. Join me for round two of “Professor Week” for a fascinating explanation of finance in Episode 518.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:The upside and downside of debt (4:50)How to determine how much to invest in your education (6:20)How stories from history and fiction can easily explain finance concepts (18:14)Why too many options can be a bad thing in finance (19:20)Why we had to re-think our beliefs about failure in finance (22:20)How to use the power of leverage wisely (24:32)Plus much more…