Business school professor (and Harvard graduate) will handle all your spreadsheet needs!

Find out more about Marc

• Can you tell us about your first experience using a computer?

  Well, I'm dating myself here, but we had an Apple IIe computer when I was growing up. It had a single floppy disk drive, no hard drive and a monochrome monitor. It probably cost more than the apartment I currently live in. It was amazing. We had a few applications to use, and each one was on its own floppy disk. When not in use, we kept these application disks in a rolodex sort of thing (dating myself yet again), which we called the "Apple App Store"… because that is where the disks were stored.

• What is the technological evolution that has marked you most and what will be, in your eyes, a turning point in this field?

  Well, speaking of the Apple II, Visicalc was the first true "killer app" - it was the sole excuse many people needed to buy their first computer. It also happens to be the direct ancestor of MS Excel, whose ins and outs I spend a very large portion of my time and energy teaching people so they can use this system to make their lives easier.
  
  In this sub-field of spreadsheet stuff, I suspect AI is going to change things up a lot. What if you could speak to Excel into a mic, describing what you wanted to happen to your data, and then Excel just did it for you - writing formulas and macros. I guess it will mean I'll be out of a job. Luckily, it seems the consumer-level AI folks decided to invest in photo editing instead of spreadsheets. Hooray for me!

• Explain your expertise, your interest in it and, more broadly, its importance in the computer world.

  In addition to studying computer science in college, I used Excel in a professional context for 20+ years, first as an engineer, then as a business-owner. Additionally, my graduate studies focused on corporate finance - lotsa numbers. I can attest firsthand to what a powerful tool it is.

• Do so-called 'visionaries', such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg inspire you or do you have other role models?

  What these three guys have in common is that they were each able to turn the ideas they had into great stories which they were able to tell incredibly well. And I do not dare put myself in that circle, but I do see storytelling as a core part of what I do as a tutor. I do not list skills and steps for my students to learn; I try to tell a story that leaves them with the new skills and fluency they are seeking.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  I was taking a finance course in grad school and I was studying with one of my classmates, who had far less computer experience than me. We were doing some fairly involved calculations - I with Excel and he with his Texas Instruments financial calculator. I tried to tell him how much better a spreadsheet was, especially for doing the same thing twice with different numbers. Finally I sort of shoved my screen in front of him, and the look on his face as he took in my sheets looked - I am not exaggerating here - like he was receiving some sort of religious revelation.

• What would you say to an uncomfortable person in front of a screen who says that "Excel is too complicated"?

  People tell me that I excel (sorry) at explaining complex things in a way that makes sense. Also, while Excel can be overwhelming, each aspect of it builds on the last, and the fundamentals are actually quite straightforward - sort of like the buttons on one of those scientific calculators. My whole philosophy is to start wherever the client is, even if that is zero knowledge of Excel, and get them feeling comfortable and confident step by step. You can do this!

• What are your other passions, related or non-related to computers?

  I love singing and riding a bicycle-sometimes both at once. Fittingly, my favorite sport to follow is professional cycling, and I'm a big fan of opera. I am also father to a 7-year-old girl, which means spending lots of time in playgrounds, swim lessons, piano lessons, petting zoos, and watching the occasional Disney movie. And we do talk about Bruno.

• What makes you a Superprof in Excel?

  I have been teaching and/or tutoring for several years, and Excel is my favorite subject to teach because of how well it lends itself to customized lessons and because of how empowered clients are afterwards, whether a single session brush-up or something longer term. I make a point to not just show-but to make sure that you walk away with real knowledge and real confidence.