Sam Straus’ Résumé
sis35@cornell.edu | linkedin.com/in/sam-straus
EDUCATION
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL (Cambridge, MA)
Deferred Admit to 2+2 Program (Marticulate in 2026, 2027, or 2028)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, SC JOHNSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS (Ithaca, NY)
The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management (Graduated May 2024)
Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Management with Distinction in Research [GPA: 4.16; summa cum laude]
Concentration: Business Analytics; Minor: Psychology
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Oxford, England)
Lady Margaret Hall (September 2023 - December 2023)
Visiting Student, Economics and Management [First-Class Honours]
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Cambridge, England)
Pembroke College (January 2023 - June 2023)
Visiting Student, Development Economics and Sociology [First-Class Honours]
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY (Pittsburgh, PA)
The Tepper School of Business (August 2020 - August 2021)
Candidate for Bachelor of Science in Business Administration [GPA: 4.00]
Intended Concentration: Business Analytics; Intended Minor: Psychology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP (Boston, MA)
Associate (October 2024 - Present)
SAM’S COINS OF CALIFORNIA, INC. (Los Angeles, CA)
Founder (November 2016 - Present)
• Pivoted my passion for collecting coins into a business through eBay that has generated $500,000+ in revenue
• Managed a supply chain and developed wholesaler relationships with 18 companies throughout the US & AU
• Maintained 100% positive customer feedback after 25,000+ transactions through successful customer service
THE FEEDBACK FIXER (Los Angeles, CA)
Founder (August 2019 - August 2024)
• Consulted other eBay sellers (~56% repeat clients) on strategies to improve their businesses’ feedback/ratings
• Created a website and cold messaged on Instagram (1800+ followers) to drive 500+ monthly website views
• Drove 17% year-over-year revenue growth with a 500+ client base (200+ 5-star reviews) with $0 in ad spend
BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP (Boston, MA)
Summer Associate (June 2023 - August 2023)
• Conducted 30+ expert interviews to inform a whole company Strategic Review for a client CEO and Board of Directors
• Analyzed >$20M in client's external spend to benchmark spend categories and suggest areas for future cost minimization
• Developed >5 case studies to inform the go-to-market strategy of a new therapeutic modality within the US market
STUDENT AGENCIES INC. (Ithaca, NY)
Assistant Real Estate Manager (October 2021 - Present)
• Co-managed a $24M building with 64 units & ~100 tenants alongside 3 other undergraduate Cornell students
• Ran a competitive analysis on 6 apartment complexes to calculate our 11% year-over-year increase in rents
• Executed tenant-facing initiatives to increase registered NYSEG users from 63% to 100% over first quarter
EBAY (San Jose, CA)
Communications Intern (May 2022 - August 2022)
• Diagnosed internal obstacles of internal eBay selling to craft an incentive program ($3,000 budget approved)
• Interviewed 5 database management firms and implemented one that could best resolve internal inefficiencies
• Presented at 6 all-hands meetings with 550+ cumulative attendees to walk through an account-linking process
EBAY (San Jose, CA/Hybrid)
Community and Engagement Intern (May 2021 - August 2021)
• Developed and piloted a platform to verticalize customer feedback, improving the selling experience on eBay
• Brought my project live to site during my 12-week internship (200+ users) and designed an off-boarding plan
• Co-ran and monitored a three-day online event (eBay Open) with 7,000+ eBay sellers synchronously engaging
• Led 1:1 seller calls with 40+ individual sellers to help inform internal project ideations and provide feedback
BLUE POOL CAPITAL [AUM: $2+ billion; Hong Kong, China (Remote)]
Research Intern (February 2021 - May 2021)
• Conducted research using sell-side reports to calculate the first total addressable market for NFTs to be $48B
• Co-authored a 10-page research paper to inform the venture capital firm about investments in the NFT space
LEADERSHIP AND ACTIVITIES
TEDxCORNELL (Ithaca, NY)
Co-coordinator (September 2021 - Present)
• Co-hosted an in-person conference with 200+ attendees & 7 diverse speakers from around the United States
• Secured $5,500+ in donations from 4 private companies in the Ithaca and Cornell University to fund event
• Facilitated accommodations and reimbursements for 7 speakers who traveled to our on-campus conference
CORNELL BLOCKCHAIN (ITHACA, NY)
Consultant/Board Member (September 2021 - December 2022)
• Led group of 5 students in a consulting-based project for CrossTower, Inc. that identified 8 key tokens to add
• Chaired advisory board to present weekly Blockchain/cryptocurrency news to 25+ peers and facilitated Q&A
MONEYTHINK (Pittsburgh, PA)
VP (August 2020 - August 2021)
• Created weekly financial literacy & investing lesson plans and presented to 60+ students across 3 local schools
• Applied and selected from 13 students to be VP of club (as a freshman) to head coordination & communication
SCOTTIE VENTURES (Pittsburgh, PA)
VP of Outreach (September 2020 - August 2021)
• Competed and won internal competition (out of 12 other teams) to sign a deal with an entrepreneur in FinTech
• Applied and selected to be VP of Outreach to lead applications/onboarding & weekly new-member education
COMMUNITY YOUTH PARTNERSHIP (Los Angeles, CA)
Student Coordinator (September 2017-March 2020)
• Created & designed weekly lesson plans for elementary-level science classes for 20+ students from 5+ schools
• Created the role of student coordinator to assist the faculty coordinator in managing the 150+ person program
• Doubled enrollment from roughly 50 kids per week 100+ through engagement programs and C2C marketing
CAMP ALONIM (Simi Valley, CA)
Overnight Camp Counselor (June 2019 - December 2019)
• Oversaw and managed the program development, schedule organization, and communication with guardians
• Fostered an environment for 14 campers that led to the highest camper retention rate (relative to ~16 groups)
OAKWOOD SCHOOL (Los Angeles, CA)
Senior Project (April 2020-June 2020)
• Created resources for high school students to learn to position their college applications for the best results
• Reached out to 20+ admission officers; interviewed 6 of them via Zoom (U Chicago, Emory, Georgia Tech, etc.)
• Learned to edit videos via Adobe’s Premiere Pro & uploaded two ~30-minute videos to YouTube (~300 views)
SKILLS, CERTIFICATES, AND INTERESTS
• Technical skills: Pythom, SQL, Tableau, Tableau Prep, R, HTML, CSS, Microsoft Office (advanced), Adobe Premiere Pro
• Certificate: passed real estate salesperson exam in CA – completed 135 hours of coursework in summer 2020 (pandemic)
• Interests: psychological-thriller movies, Robin Williams, stand-up comedy (e.g., Bo Burnham & John Mulaney)