Leland+ Content Library

What McKinsey, BCG, and Bain Look For [5/19/2026] (Recording)

FREE COACHING SESSION GIVEAWAY FOR LIVE ATTENDEES. Breaking into McKinsey, BCG, or Bain is highly competitive, and many candidates aren’t sure what actually sets top applicants apart. This session is for those targeting MBB who want a clearer understanding of how these firms evaluate candidates. You’ll learn what interviewers look for across resumes, case interviews, and behavioral assessments, how to demonstrate structured thinking and impact, and the patterns that consistently show up in successful candidates. Join live to hear from a panel of experts with backgrounds at MBB firms and ask your questions about the recruiting process. The panelists regularly work with candidates and will share what stood out to them when evaluating applicants. Expect practical insights and guidance similar to what’s covered in 1:1 coaching conversations.

Design Beautiful Presentations with Claude [5/19/2026] (Recording)

Build Anything Series · Event 02 · Free · Live Most people use Claude as a writing assistant and stop there. Then they open PowerPoint, fight with templates for two hours, and ship something that looks like every other deck. There's a better way. In this hour, we'll build presentations end-to-end with Claude — from a one-line brief to polished, on-brand slides. No templates, no stock-photo aesthetic, no drag-the-text-box-three-pixels-left. What we'll build live: - Generate a deck from a one-line brief — outline, structure, narrative arc, all in one prompt loop - Iterate without leaving Claude — slide-by-slide refinement using structured prompts (not "make it better") - Export polished, on-brand presentations — color systems, type, layout, rendered cleanly Who it's for: - Coaches, consultants, founders, PMs who present often and hate the deck-building tax - People who've prompted Claude for design work and gotten generic results - Anyone who wants their slides to feel like theirs, not a SaaS template Not a fit if: - You're already a senior visual designer with a tight workflow - You want to learn pure Figma/Keynote craft — this is about directing AI to do most of the work We'll talk about where Claude excels (structure, narrative, copy, layout systems) and where it still needs you (taste, judgment, the final 10% of polish). Bring a real project you'd like to work on — fastest way to learn.

Freeing the People's Data: AI Agents for Legislative Transparency [5/20/2026] (Recording)

Struggling to make sense of fragmented legislative data or build tools that surface it in a usable way? This session is for builders, policy professionals, and researchers who want to use AI agents to unlock and structure public legislative data for real transparency. You’ll learn how to design agents that gather and normalize data across sources, create workflows that turn raw information into searchable insights, and evaluate outputs for accuracy and bias. Attending live gives you the opportunity to ask technical and strategic questions about your own use cases and get clarity in real time. The speaker works closely with practitioners and will share the patterns they see when building systems that actually get used, along with what they look for when evaluating effectiveness and trust. If you’re serious about turning legislative data into something actionable, it’s worth joining live.

Successful Tuck Essays (with career goals)

Successful Dartmouth Tuck essays with career goals section, consultant, non-traditional application, volunteering, nonprofit, startup, family story, personal story, and thoughtful applicant positioning.

The Claude Code Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

A one-page visual reference for every Claude Code keyboard shortcut — modes, input, navigation, prompts, IDE integration, and desktop hotkeys. Built for anyone using Claude daily who wants to stop reaching for their mouse and start commanding at the speed of thought. Pro tip: pair this with WISPR Flow to work like 5x faster: https://wisprflow.ai/r?BEN101358 -- my philosophy is that your work and your output shouldn't be restricted by the physical.

Crafting an MBA Essay That Actually Stands Out [5/12/2026] (Recording)

FREE LELAND + FOR 1 MONTH FOR ALL LIVE ATTENDEES. Strong MBA essays aren’t just well-written, they clearly communicate who you are and why you belong at a program. This session is for applicants who want to move beyond generic advice and craft essays that genuinely stand out. You’ll learn how to develop a focused personal narrative, avoid common mistakes that dilute your story, and align your essays with what admissions readers are actually looking for. Join live to hear from MBA admissions experts and ask questions about your own essay ideas. The panelists regularly work with applicants on essay development and will share the patterns they see across successful submissions. Expect practical feedback and insights similar to what’s covered in 1:1 coaching conversations.

Claude Essentials for Engineers [5/19/2026] (Recording)

Most engineers use Claude like a smarter autocomplete. Type a prompt, read the answer, type again. That's not a workflow — that's just waiting. In this 45-minute live session, I'll show you exactly how I've configured Claude to work in the background while I keep shipping. You'll see my real setup: Git worktrees running parallel agents on separate branches, async notifications that ping me when Claude's done, skills that produce production-quality output every time, and a CLAUDE.md that gives Claude deep context on my codebase without me repeating myself. WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH → Git worktrees set up so you can run multiple Claude agents simultaneously without branch chaos → An async notification workflow that frees you from watching progress bars → A reusable skill you can use to get consistent, high-quality output on repeat tasks → A CLAUDE.md file structure that makes Claude immediately useful in any project WHO THIS IS FOR This session is built for engineers at all levels — whether you've never heard of CLAUDE.md or you're already using Claude daily and want to go deeper. Non-technical founders who work alongside engineering teams will also find the workflow principles directly applicable. WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT Everything in this session comes from shipping real projects with Claude. No theory, no slides full of bullet points. I'll be live in my actual environment, showing the tools and configs I use every day. You'll leave with things you can set up in under 30 minutes — and that will still be working for you months from now.

Personal Statement Coaching Session (Stanford Law Student) [5/22/2026] (Recording)

Are you gearing up for law school applications and looking for guidance on crafting a standout personal statement? Join me, Matthew, a current Stanford Law student, for an insightful coaching session focused on application strategy and essay writing. With a background in Cognitive Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis and diverse experiences ranging from legal internships to public speaking at the United Nations and TEDx, I bring a unique perspective to the table. My journey has equipped me with the insight to help students — especially those with diverse or unconventional backgrounds — craft their stories compellingly and cohesively. Don't miss this opportunity to refine your personal statement and strengthen your application. Space is limited, so RSVP now to secure your spot!

Office Hours with a Senior Software Engineer [5/24/2026] (Recording)

We're going to help you get clarity around these questions: 1. Is software a good fit for the life I want? 2. What does it take to become a software engineer? This will also be an open session to ask a question about software from someone who has been living and breathing it for the last decade. People of all experience levels are welcome!

GMAT Quant Short-Cuts Used by Top-Scorers [5/26/2026] (Recording)

In this session, you will learn how top GMAT scorers approach quantitative problems faster and more accurately by recognizing pattern types before choosing a method. The focus will be on number properties shortcuts that eliminate answer choices early, strategic back-solving for algebra-heavy problems, and how to identify when estimation beats exact calculation on data sufficiency questions. The coach works with GMAT candidates regularly and will be sharing the reasoning process they actually teach, the kind of situational thinking that is hard to absorb from a recording alone.

What AI Can’t Do in MBA Admissions [5/18/2026] (Recording)

Artificial intelligence has transformed how applicants brainstorm, draft, and prepare for business school applications, but the strongest MBA applications still require far more than polished prose. This session will break down where AI can help, where it often hurts, and the critical aspects of strategy, reflection, and storytelling that technology cannot replicate. Attendees will learn why top admissions committees continue to reward authenticity, judgment, and narrative depth, and how to use AI as a tool without allowing it to dilute what makes an application compelling.

Home for Ambition #9 — Weekly Live Show [5/13/2026] (Recording)

Home for Ambition is a weekly live show, by Leland, for people trying to stay ahead as work, learning, and opportunity keep changing. Each episode tackles a handful of timely, high-signal topics across AI, careers, education, and the future of work. We expect thoughtful debate, unique perspectives, and practical takeaways you can actually use. It is not a typical interview show or a generic news recap. It is a live roundtable built to help ambitious people make sense of what is changing, understand what matters, and leave with a sharper point of view on how to navigate what comes next.

MBB Interview Workshop: Master the Fundamentals [5/14/2026] (Recording)

MBB interviews test a specific set of core skills, and many candidates struggle not because they lack ability, but because they haven’t fully mastered the fundamentals. This session is for candidates preparing for consulting interviews who want to build a strong foundation before moving to advanced cases. You’ll learn how to structure clear and logical frameworks, communicate your thinking effectively, and avoid the common mistakes that cost candidates offers. Join live to see how an experienced coach breaks down core case interview skills and the patterns they see across successful candidates. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions and get real-time guidance on your approach, with insights typically shared in 1:1 coaching sessions.

Banking to Buy-Side: IB & Venture Playbook [5/18/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you'll understand how investment banking experience translates into a credible VC narrative and where most candidates lose the thread making that transition. We'll cover how to position deal experience for early-stage fund interviews, what VC firms actually look for in candidates coming from IB versus other paths, and how to think about sourcing as a differentiator when you have limited buy-side exposure. Attending live means you can bring your specific background and get a direct read on how it lands, which a recording cannot replicate. The coach works inside this industry and will share the patterns they see across candidates who successfully make this move, giving you a real look at how practitioners evaluate this transition.

Build a Job Search Operating System (JSOS) [5/13/2026] (Recording)

Build Anything Series · Event 01 · Free · Live The job search is the most expensive workflow most people will ever run — and the one they're least equipped for. Spreadsheets, sticky notes, half-tracked outreach, lost interview notes. By the end of this hour, you'll learn how to create a complete Job Search Operating System to help you land your next offer. What we'll walk through live: - A real applicant tracker | every role, company, and contact in one view. Status, last action, next step, follow-up date. - Automated outreach + research | pull company context, drafts personalized outreach, surfaces the right people to message. - Synced notes, prep, offer comparison | interview notes that auto-link to the role, prep doc generation per company, structured offer comparison when it's time to choose. Who it's for: - People actively job searching or about to start - Career switchers, returning-to-work folks, recent grads - Anyone who's run a search before and remembers losing track of half of it Not a fit if: - You enjoy manual data entry and Excel-tab chaos - You'd rather pay $300 for a static prompt template that fails instead of learning the principles yourself - You want a one-click magic button I'll be honest about where AI helps and where it doesn't, and how to keep the system running without me. Bring your laptop and follow along, or lean in, watch, and replicate after.

Sector Overview: Enterprise SaaS

Learn more about the Enterprise SaaS Industry, the market it operates in, sub-sectors, metrics, valuations, and what it means for VC.

Targeting M7 Schools? What It Really Takes [5/20/2026] (Recording)

1YR FREE LELAND+ GIVEAWAY FOR LIVE ATTENDEES ($119 VALUE). After this session, you'll know how to assess whether your profile is genuinely competitive for M7 schools and where the real gaps tend to appear. We'll cover how admissions committees at these programs actually differentiate candidates at the margin, what a strong post-MBA narrative looks like for the most common applicant profiles, and how to decide where to apply given your specific background and goals. Attending live means you can hear how experienced coaches thinks through cases like yours in real time, context a recording simply cannot replicate. These coaches work with M7 applicants daily and will share the patterns that separate candidates who get in from those who fall short at the final round.

GRE Geometry & Algebra: The Top Tips High Scorers Use [5/22/2026] (Recording)

Geometry and algebra questions make up a major portion of the GRE Quant section, but high scorers approach them with specific strategies that go far beyond memorizing formulas. This session is for students who want to improve both accuracy and speed on two of the most heavily tested GRE topics. You’ll learn the shortcuts and patterns top scorers rely on, how to recognize common trap setups, and the foundational concepts that make difficult problems more manageable under time pressure. Join live to see how an experienced GRE instructor breaks down these question types and the patterns they see across high-performing test takers. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions in real time and get practical guidance on how to apply these strategies effectively during your own preparation.

How to Write an MBA Goals Essay

A complete framework for writing the goals essay that nearly every MBA program requires. Learn the winning formula, then use fillable tables to map your goals, select supporting past experiences, and connect to opportunities at up to four target schools. At the end, you'll have everything you need to draft a focused goals essay.