Berkeley MBA Evening & Weekend Students

We've Moved!

2011-08-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

The Berkeley MBA Evening & Weekend Students Blog has moved from Blogger to Wordpress. New posts will appear exclusively at http://berkeleyewmbastudents.wordpress.com/. The new RSS feed is available here. Thanks for reading!

SIB - China Video Trip Report

2011-06-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by several students and potential applicants what international seminars are all about.

Answer: They are an opportunity to have the time of your life!

Allow the SIB-China guys to demonstrate in a fun musical format!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es3xDnAB0EE

I admit, I'm addicted! I've watched the video about 10 times so far and the song has been playing in a loop in the background all morning. The fun is multiplied if you know the guys in the video.

Video Highlights (you won't know what I'm talking about unless you watch the video):

Prof. Schultz's intro
Running man on Great Wall of China
Screwing the light bulb
Mike Han's and Andrew Chau's wicked dance moves
The Haas ladies. Such good sports!

Enjoy!

PS: SIB stands for seminar in international business, an experiential learning course that allows Haas students to learn about international business focused on a certain country. Haas conducts multiple SIBs throughout the year spanning countries around the world.

Graduation Day 2011

2011-05-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

What an incredible feeling! Commencement came and went last Sunday (May 15, 2011) and Berkeley's air filled with the stir of the Class of 2011 grads, abounding in the streets. What we expected to be a dreary and wet (read: miserable) day outside at the Greek Theatre (outside) Auditorium (pictured right) instead turned into a fairly beautiful one. As usual, the festivities were emcee'd by Dean Lyons (pictured left)

My fellow classmates and I shared a laugh, while we took snapshots together, reminiscing over the past three years and celebrating our latest triumph: to become graduate MBAs of our beloved Haas School of Business. So many of us crossed the stage with our little ones (self-included!) in our arms or by our sides. Our Part-Time program offered so many Haas Babies, that it practically brimmed with nostalgia (and wonder of how we and our spouses made it).

There were great speeches by a few selected students, and our commencement address was given by Barbara Desoer, President of Home Loans for Bank of America (and fellow Haas MBA Alum). There were many memorable remarks, but two in particular remain vivid in my brain that I wanted to share to our readers:

Single-Tasking. So many of us get too caught up in multitasking that we lose our focus and end up doing a poor job all around. It's time to remember what's important and attack it fervently with all our hearts -- to single-task instead for a change. To this, I can definitely relate, having gotten caught up in meetings, while typing emails, IMing and texting. It all can get a little ridiculous.
Wisdom from Maya Angelou: Ms. Desoer also quoted Maya Angelou, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." That sentiment just aims us in the right direction: to think about and take action for people -- that becomes the greatest gift, and the most memorable. Not money, glory, power or anything else.

For a full transcript of her speech, click here.

After the reception, many of us gathered at the Campanile Esplanade (pictured below) for some refreshments and then off to our many celebratory dinners/parties. An end to one part of our lives, but really just another first step in our journey to go beyond ourselves and be students always.

With any luck, I'll be able to squeeze in another good-bye post. Until then, Happy Summer'ing and many blessings.

- TL

Two down - One to go

2011-05-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend marked the completion of my second year. Super delighted that I'm getting a six-week break before Summer starts. The break will also give me an opportunity to catch up on my blogging. So many stories to tell and such little time, at least until now.

The lack of activity on the blog tells me others were equally busy but now that Summer's here - no more excuses.

Congratulations to the first-years for surviving what is considered to be the toughest year in the program. More importantly, congratulations to the third-years especially our very own Tim and Div for graduating from the program. The commencement ceremony was on Sunday, 5/15. What an achievement! I hope we get to hear from them a couple of times before they sign off.

Summer, Summer, Summertime

2011-05-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Now this is a story all about how,
My life got flipped and turned upside down,
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there,
I'll tell you how I survived my EWMBA first year.

In Berkeley and Santa Clara, tired and dazed,
In the classroom where I spent every Saturday,
Problem sets, case studies, papers all cruel,
Ten units in the spring seemed like just too much school.
We analyzed firms, why they were up to no good,
Started talking GDP with Mr. Wood,
Got addicted to Littlefield, to see how we compared,
Hit up Henry's after class for a couple of beers.

I prayed for passing grades and when the end came near,
Facebook posts entertained, speculating Greg's career,
If anything I think we were exhausted to tears,
But I thought nah, forget it, we're almost there!

I walked out of my finals, around 4PM,
And I said to my classmates, "it's the end of our first year!"
Looked at everyone, we were finally there,
To sit on our thrones, now as second years!

Improvisational Leadership

2011-05-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Going to keep this post short, as I just wanted to get a shout out and say, "Happy Close-to-the-end-of-the-school-year" to all. Where are my fellow bloggers at? I'm sure they're wrapping up a lot of loose ends on final projects and finals themselves. As for us third years, we're getting ready to graduate!

I wrapped up my second 1-unit class to round off my MBA with a class called Improvisational Leadership. Definitely an interactive class with lots of self-reflection and exercises to get one's motor running on how to engage and stay dynamic within our own ever-changing environments. I really love tying things up with a soft-skills class to round off the quantitative and strategic-focused courses. Some people really are innately great at soft skills, but there are aspects that can definitely be learned and/or honed through practice, which I certainly appreciate.

Personally, I was comforted by the fact that some of the improvisational maxims in our readings lined right up with some of my list in the previous Top 10 blog. Particularly, "Make Mistakes!" ("Don't be afraid to make mistakes" - #7 in my list).

In recent times, I have really had to expose myself to this and "let things go." With the flurry of activities in my own work, there are so many things I have to let my team experience and figure out for themselves. It's been a rough ride, but I think the lesson learned here is that as you move up in your career, there will be an endless array of "to do's" -- and we can't just punch the card and try to get through that list. Building on routines sometimes is helpful, but we can't let it get in the way of innovation or stagnation of other developments. So, theory in practice, as they say... Not that I don't still try to stay vigilant, but the point remains that to extend ourselves means to let others get on the same page and aligned such that greater works can be done. Not just the work of a sole person which just won't scale. More hippy talk from a Berkeley-ite?

Until the next time, I'm wishing all the students, prospective students and related Haas'ians well. Definitely will let you know how graduation goes. We're all set and ready for May 15th! Happy Haas'ing, friends.

- TL

10 Things I Learned at Haas

2011-03-07T15:28:00.001-08:00

While I await my last class sessions (starting in April), here are a few things I learned at Haas. These are not to be taken as a full overview of the program or a record of everything you'd get out of Haas. However, I thought a little fun, ever-changing list of thoughts to get your own motor thinking about the Haas MBA and work-life was appropriate... in no particular order:

10. Your priorities always shake out when you're in a time-crunch (which you will undoubtedly be in, if you work full-time, go to school part-time and have a life like us EWMBA'ers). In those cases, it's good to keep organized and you'll find out what's important to you.

9. Every person you meet has something you can learn from. Never forget that. Doesn't matter if that person's supervises you, reports to you, is a colleague, a friend, has a dispute with you, or is in an unrelated field or position. Just another reason why networking is so important. And by the way, if you've ever met or talked to me, thank you for touching my life-- I mean it.

8. There's a fine line between confidence and hubris. You don't want to waver far from that line in either direction. Unconfident and no one will follow you. Over-confident and you'll bring yourself and others down quickly when you flame out (assuming they believe in your confidence in the first place).

7. Never be afraid to make a mistake. Use your concerns to prepare properly; but when it comes down to it, if you hinder yourself with fear, it's all for naught. Besides, the best lessons are learned from our failures, as they say.

6. Learn how to improvise. We can't just follow a script. What would be the fun in that? Dynamic interpretation and response. Learn the dance and relish in it. Good to go with your gut. Unless your gut always takes the easy way out. ;)

5. Almost everything is negotiable. And, some rules are meant to be broken (but not the law). Just don't use that as your excuse when you get pulled over for a speeding ticket (and hopefully nothing worse).

4. Put in the work. Sometimes, things are just practice, practice, practice. Even when you think you got it down, you'll find you forgot something or learned something new. Even when you "command from high," lead by example and it's easier for others to fall in line.

3. Never forget about your family and friends and all the people who made your journey worthwhile. Appreciate them and take the time to make sure they know it. This relates to #9, but it isn't just about learning (which is important), but also sharing in the experience and remembering people for what they are: people. Not just floaty numbers, assets or what not.

2. Don't always be so serious. Dedicate time to enjoy things and remember to see the humor in it all. That doesn't mean joke around all the time to the point that nothing gets done, and make everyone else do the work. But a positive attitude and uplifting personality is worth just as much, if not more, than organizing logistics to the letter. Excitement for the challenge is one of the biggest motivators for teams, and a tight-lipped scowl doesn't convey excitement. :)

1. The list will always change. I'm sure this isn't an all-inclusive list. I hope to add to it (or see my fellow bloggers' thoughts and yours). I was going to make this a "Top 9 list" (just to be different) but then it just feels right that the last point for this list is: it never ends, it never stops, it lives and breathes on through eternity!

Sure, a lot of this is common sense or may have been known before my time at Cal, but they've been reinforced time and time again during my Haas journey. Also, I should reiterate that I'm the guiltiest of people in not always using what I learned above, but as they come up so often, it's always nice to share the common threads, ponder on them and grow from it.

'Til the next time -- looking forward to it.

- TL

Are we there yet?

2011-02-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

83 days to graduation.

This semester has been a bit of a contradiction so far. Senioritis has kicked in and I can’t wait for the term to be over and get to May 15th when the class of 2011 has its commencement! At the same time, weeks have just flown by despite my lighter load compared to prior semesters. I have 4 credits remaining, that’s two half-semester classes (with the final presentation for one of them coming up next week). I think the pace will relax in March with only one remaining class. Murphy’s Law dictates that my day job will start taking more cycles to compensate though :-)

As a soon-to-be-graduating student, I often get asked questions about my time at Haas with the most common among them being “was it worth it”? This here is my brief take at tackling this. Get in touch with me for a more verbose version that will likely need a trip to the local watering hole. And for the record, these comments are mine only and not intended as a voice of a majority or a minority -

Was it worth it, in terms of “time”:
...away from family - NO. In my book not many things qualify for this though.
...away from fun - are you kiddin'? I now know of a lot more ways of having fun.
...away from those special projects - O-yeah, got involved in more “projects” than I would have done otherwise, courtesy all the new found avenues.
...away from what else I could have done - This is what I wanted to do.

Was it worth it, in terms of “money”:
...fees are slightly more than what a normal person spends on “hobbies” :-) . And I could probably show you lots of spreadsheets I worked out to quantify this but honestly this is not a black and white situation. I think of it as an investment for my future, the way I'd like to have it. Plans change though.
...some of my classmates have reaped immediate rewards while others, notably those starting their own entrepreneurial ventures, are set to do so in due time.

Was it worth in terms of the “learning”:
...ABSOLUTELY. Business school has exposed me to a lot that would have remained non-existent to me. It has given me the tools (and am not talking about academic stuff although that was darn interesting) that help me recognize value which was earlier not so apparent (and vice-versa). And relationships that I will carry with me the rest of my life.

This particular aspect actually needs more verbosity. There are a lot of people who see the MBA as secondary to real world experience. They are correct. And I admire them because they are self-aware. But most importantly, they are talking about themselves. "Learning" at school is a choice like any other in life. One can go through the motions and come out on the other side with only a degree. Hey, for some of us, that is all we are looking to get out of it.

So, would I recommend that you go for an MBA?
...The question doesn’t make sense. What you should ask instead is whether an MBA is the right thing for you at this stage (or ever) in your career.

If I got a chance for a do-over, will I do something differently while being in the program?
...Heck ya. That’s what MBA education has "reinforced". If you get do-overs, always, always try ways to improve the experience!

Until next time.

It Depends

2011-02-18T19:27:00.001-08:00

One of the most useful things I've learned in school is the helpful phrase "it depends." Amazingly, there are remarkably few "right" answers, even in disciplines where you think there might be (finance, accounting, operations). Sure, there's often a 'right' numerical answer, but often the way you get there or how you interpret it is up for debate.

This says to me why business school matters now - especially at Haas. One of our core values is "question the status quo" - something that I think everyone needs to do as we face the very difficult problems of the 21st century. So it's reassuring that even in school we're being taught to question our assumptions, to realize that you can interpret the same 'facts' differently. This is a creative approach to problem solving, and it's an absolutely essential skill for leaders.

This quarter has been the most challenging yet (which is why you haven't heard much from the first-years on the blog!) with intensive courses in finance, operations and leadership communications. And yes, there are some days where if you asked me if I were enjoying my year, I might say "it depends" - for example I'm writing this on a Friday night and then I'm going to go work on a finance problem set. Ah, student life!

But it's heartening to know that the future leaders of America and beyond aren't willing to settle for black and white, but know that we live in shades of gray, and our education at Haas reflects that.

Problem Finding, Problem Solving

2011-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

"Does Not Compute! Does Not Compute!"

Sometimes, you have to wonder if everything is too "book-focused." Clearly, we live in the real world and need practical understanding and activity to make things roll the way we do. Part of that may be the reason some of us are at Haas. If I may be so bold, I think we've already shown we have tried to step outside our boundaries and do whatever needs to be done (ethically) in order to keep our businesses successful.

My first course this semester (and second-to-last before graduating!) is called "Problem Finding, Problem Solving" (PFPS) and is meant to help push the envelope in that regard. It's a part of the new BILD (Berkeley Innovative Leadership Development) curriculum.

What's so special about BILD and PFPS? Notably, it's being taught by illustrious faculty members, Sara Beckman and Clark Kellogg, who are attempting to bring a new tack to how we look at the business world. Most of our class sessions for PFPS are not in our fabled halls of Haas, but in Wurster Hall-- UC Berkeley's Architecture building.

That's indeed fitting because the course is meant to teach us new ways of thinking: specifically, tools and methods on how to repeatedly diverge on building volume of ideas and converge them into something meaningful and productive. Sitting in the EA Design Lab is quite a change from our usual auditorium format, centered on the lecturer (Socratic teaching at its best).

The concepts in PFPS are simple, but the impact is enormous. We all agree that there are problems in our workplaces and the world that need to be addressed. Learning how to explore the issues through ethnographic interviews, gathering information from multiple viewpoints (mind maps, journey maps, etc.) and synthesizing it into relevancy are a part of the syllabus. These are truly skills that any Product Manager can use, but will also be important for any organizational leader.

We're definitely excited to see new programs that stretch Haas and which attempt to uniquely build Haas graduates into becoming more than your every-MBA grad with an academic understanding of business. Instead, we're pleased to get innovative, with hands-on and practical exploration through courses like PFPS.

I'm on a shorter schedule this semester -- my last two units before graduating-- I can hardly believe it! Stay tuned, as me and the fellow bloggers speak more about Spring Semester 2011. It's time to start revving up my top 10 lists!

Cheers,

- Tim

That awesome weekend that was MPAR

2011-02-10T00:42:00.000-08:00

MPAR was almost four weeks ago but I still have to write about it. Hands down the best weekend in the MBA program so far. To say we had fun would be an understatement.

For those who don’t already know, MPAR stands for Mid-Program Academic Retreat, a second year event set up at the mid-point of the three-year EWMBA program. This was an opportunity for the Class of 2012 to get together again for a weekend of fun, learning and networking at Seascape resort in Santa Cruz (the last time we met in a similar setting was during orientation). The learning part comes from having to compete against our fellow classmates in a strategic simulation during which we are expected to make a number of executive decisions for a company. The decisions impact how well our company does against others in our industry. We get to strategize and course-correct if necessary over a total of six rounds. The best run company at the end of Round 6 is the winner. The whole class was divided into eight industries and each industry consisted of six companies. Each company was made up of a team of 4-5 students randomly assigned at the beginning of the simulation. Competition was absolutely FIERCE! (Can you expect anything less when a bunch of MBAs are competing?) It was super-exciting to watch how we did after each round and adjust our strategy accordingly.

Friday, Jan 14th was when it all started. A day of information overload. We checked into the hotel, got an overview of the simulation and got to meet our assigned team members. We were briefed on all the decisions we were expected to make. As we tried to make sense of the tons of data provided to us we were also learning to work with our team members. Instantly we developed empathy for all the execs out there – how do they manage to parse through the enormous amount of data thrown their way and make informed decisions when the company's future is at stake? On the first day we completed two rounds of simulation before breaking for dinner.

Even on a day filled with activity and over 200 of us running around, our incredible program office kept things running like clock-work. The EWMBA program office never ceases to wow me. If we ever wanted to watch org behavior at its finest, we don’t have to look far. Haas EWMBA program office is simply perfection!

After dinner, each cohort grouped together for an activity of their choice for team-bonding. My cohort (Axe) got together in one of the conference rooms to take a group picture after which folks started sharing the most memorable moments of their MBA life. What followed has been popularly dubbed as ‘The Axe Lovefest’ with the entire cohort sharing the most fun, memorable, cherished or even embarrassing moments of the past year and a half. We concluded by agreeing that – AXE ROCKS (Yea it does!).

And then the partying began. Prof. Shultz accurately predicted that morning that the class of 2012 was going to party like it was their last chance to act like undergrads. And party like undergrads we did!

Saturday morning 9AM sharp – everyone is back working on the simulation with their teams. Two more rounds of simulation amid lectures. The rounds got shorter as they progressed which meant we had to make our decisions a lot quicker as rounds went by. In the evening, we had dinner followed by bonfire on the beach.

Then some more partying.

Sunday morning 9AM sharp – everyone is back again with their teams for the final two rounds of the simulation. It was incredible to watch how diligently my fellow Haasies followed the ‘work hard party harder but then get back to work on time’ rule. The Industry winners were announced just before MPAR came to an end at noon. The icing on the cake was my team winning in our industry (yessss!).
It’s safe to say that by Sunday afternoon the whole class was horribly sleep deprived. However, no complaints. MPAR was awesome. An experience we will remember forever – right, Class?

My only regret - that it's over.

Guest Blog: Time Management Guru

2011-01-14T01:20:00.000-08:00

Sonny: Here's a post from Jim Protsenko, a senior manager from Yahoo and '12 EWMBA student with whom I share two things (at least!) in common. We were both in Axe cohort and we both commute long-distance for classes. A year or so ago, I posted my experiences on commuting from Seattle. Jim kindly volunteered to do the same and in this post he shares his perspective on commuting from LA every weekend. We have an increasing number of folks from cities outside the Bay area that apply to the Haas EWMBA program each year. Hope these posts helps answer some of your questions on how current students balance work, school and travel. Jim is also one of students profiled on the EWMBA website. You can read more sound-bites from him here.

“Are you serious?” is probably the most common reaction I hear from people when they discover I commute from Los Angeles to Berkeley on a weekly basis for classes. The pessimistic point of view on it is "it is a burden." The optimistic, however, is a realization of how much one can get done while commuting:

If driving (think five hours):

- Reflecting, thinking through the important issues in your personal, professional and student lives, the things you normally neglect during your hectic day-to-day activities - 1 hour
- Catching up with friends and loved ones on the phone – 1.5 hours (3 calls 30 minutes each)
- Listening to your favorite radio station from around the country or world (make sure to get an iPhone and download iHeart Radio app) – 1.5 hours
- Listening to a ‘book on tape’ – 1 hour

If flying (think four hours, assuming arriving to an airport an hour before the flight):

- Studying (reading lecture notes, books, writing a paper)
- Working (catching up on emails, working on presentations, building models)
- Reading your favorite book, magazine or newspaper
- Unwinding, relaxing, sleeping

Either option will offer an opportunity to get some things done, so you’ll feel less guilty spending an extra hour or two with your family, friends or just relaxing on your own.

Budget-wise, I opt in for driving when my schedule becomes less predictable. Typically that happens during the Fall of the 2nd and 3rd years, when internship or full-time job recruiting heats up and one has to attend numerous on-campus events. I look at this option as a $150 expense, ignoring ‘asset depreciation’ and lodging (I stay with in-laws when in the Bay Area). Otherwise I try to fly. With advanced airfare and rental car bookings, I would typically be looking at ~ $300 per trip. While it costs more, physically it’s less taxing. It’s good to mix these a bit.

Although the time and money commitments associated with travel may seem considerable at times, I try have the right perspective, remembering that many of my fellow-students travel from places even more remote than L.A., such as San Diego, Seattle and Phoenix.

Eventually this becomes a routine and you get used to it. Soon you’ll start hearing from others: “I don’t know how you find time to get all this done.” At that point you’ll know you’ve just become a time management guru.

The Home Stretch

2011-01-05T15:07:00.001-08:00

The upcoming semester will be my last at Haas. Thus begins the bittersweet moments of near-graduation. It will be sweet to taste the lap of victory and celebrate no more classes, homework or group projects. But, of course, it will be bitter also to think of missing out on hanging with and seeing classmates/friends who've shared in the journey.

For second years, now's the time to really drill down and see what classes you want to take in the upcoming year and a half, if you haven't already. It really helps to plan accordingly, so that your time here is as productive as possible. The fun times will come with, if you let it.

Admittedly, it's been a difficult, though incredible, winter break. My wife and I just had our first child over the break period (good timing in student terms? :) ), which comes with so many happy moments, coupled with huge lapses in sleep. It reminds me why we come to business school though: to build upon ourselves and the world around us -- whether it be in developing products, people, companies, or economies; all of it relates to simply making a better place that our children and our children's children will enjoy and cherish. Sure-- there will be scandals, crashes, and worse-- but hopefully we take away the best of business at Haas and the "good will" personality, emblazoned upon our four principles (one of which is "Beyond Yourself").

As always, onward... good luck 2nd year's at MPAR-- simulations and partying ahead. I'll leave my fellow students (and blog readers) with another quote (or rather song lyrics):

Oh, these times are hard

Yeah, they're making us crazy

Don't give up on me baby

-- For the First Time, The Script

Until the next time,

- Tim

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

The end of the first semester and the three week long school vacation has brought some well deserved free time for us all. As I was driving on the gorgeous 17 mile drive a couple of days ago, my thoughts went back to the semester starting with orientation weekend in August and all the fun we’ve had over the last few months getting to know each other. Now this being the holiday season and all, I had to pull over by the scenic road-side and break into a song, which, from what I can recollect, had a carol-like ring to it and went something like this:
---
As an exciting first semester is drawn to a close,
You feel the passage of time, as it dramatically slows.
And you remember the day, not so very long ago,
You said yes to Haas, and then downed a Bordeaux,
Not knowing how you’d manage your precious time,
As you said your vows, to the MBA part-time.

The memories of the orientation weekend play in your head,
Those new faces you smiled at, the accents you misread.
Shooting the tennis-balls at your team’s architectural wonder,
Heaving a sigh of relief, as the Chateau refused to go under.
The Coors case analysis, right after that delectable dinner,
You knew right then, in Haas, you’d chosen a winner.

For your first group assignment, in the “Leading People” class,
You interviewed accomplished leaders, without a safety glass.
Studying supply demand and game theory in Economics course,
Made the engineer in you, love the dark side of the force.
Accounting made you delve closer into your investments-stocks
Those financial statements, after all, weren’t a complete black-box.
And you loved Marketing, in all its great glory,
For it taught you there was a method, to selling a story.

As you look forward to a year, brand new,
You know you’ve bid that initial fear adieu.
And you catch yourself smiling in your clairvoyant mirror,
For you know that the destination is so much nearer.
---
Happy Holidays everyone and see you all next semester!

A call to action...

2010-12-05T01:26:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: Overly dramatized and laced with Indian Bollywood style-masala (spices) for readability and boredom prevention.

“Third place to the team with the fantastic ideas on investing in mobile payments” – I heaved a sigh of relief on hearing the announcement by the judges at the 2010 Apple Technology Challenge organized by Haas Technology Club. We were still clinging on to the hope of finishing in the top two at the competition whose question was to suggest a strategy for Apple to invest its $51B cash reserves.

“The second prize goes to the team with a great array of ideas on re-investing in the current Apple ecosystem and further developing the current market”. There was just one prize left, the first prize. Instinctively, my head turned down towards the floor, recollecting the three near-all-nighters our team had spent that week working on our idea’s presentation to the Apple product marketing executives.

Two weeks earlier, our team, Sam Kanakamedala, Shone Tran and I, Archit Lohokare, had been selected as one of the five finalists at the Apple Technology Challenge for the seemingly flabbergasting (not my words) proposal that Apple should spend a part of its $51B cash reserves acquiring Tesla Motors, the electric car company. The idea was a product of some very animated brainstorming over a few cups of coffee at a Starbucks between a software engineer, a product marketer and a technical salesperson.

Flashes of those all-nighters came back to me as I stole a glance at my team members. We knew our idea had strong merit, but backing up ideas with hard facts and data was important. Pouring over 20+ research reports on car telematics, infotainment, electric vehicles, Apple and Tesla from sources like Gartner, IDC, ABI research, Consumer Electronics Association, Frost & Sullivan, iSuppli, etc, we had managed to develop credible projections of the total addressable market, future market growth, opportunities, competitive analysis and a whole slew of consumer survey analyses to support our proposal.

Our team's debates about how to organize the presentation started playing in my head. Focus on the strategic aspects, not on tactical considerations. Answer the fundamental questions with conviction and simplicity - “Why Car?” and “Why Tesla?” Obsessively working on each slide figuring out how it was transitioned into, and transitioned out of. What kind of questions could we expect on each point, and how could we credibly and honestly answer them. We had to remember that this was, for all practical purposes, a strategy presentation to the product marketing executives at the largest technology company in the world. And we were first year part time MBA students.

The night before the presentation then flashed before me – 3 a.m. and we were midway through rehearsing our presentation. By the end of the night, each of us knew the presentation by rote and had the numbers in the slides on our fingertips. And we were dead tired. I closed my eyes for a bit.

On opening them again, I was back in the O’Neill room at the Haas Faculty Club looking down at the floor. The world was seemingly at standstill and the only sound I heard was the judge saying, “The winner of this year’s Apple Technology Challenge, is TEAM TESLA”! That was our team’s “Miss World” moment - the moment where you stand up instinctively, round your lips into an “O” and then cover them with the palms of both your hands. We had won!

To end on a more serious and heartfelt note, yes, there was a lot of work and a lot of luck involved. I am not, from even the remotest perspective, an authority on b-school competitions. However, the purpose of this post, in all honesty, is to educate our blog readers that Haas and b-school competitions in general are serious business, and to be treated just as you would treat your job. Ideation and out-of-the-box thinking is great and absolutely needed, but as in the corporate world, these competitions will see probing questions from the judges on the validity and coherence of your ideas. Lastly, and probably most importantly, the team, its enthusiasm and its synergy make a monumental difference.

My EWMBA brethren, this is a call to action. So spread your wings, form your teams and attack these competitions head on. I promise you’ll enjoy every moment of it and come out, at the very minimal, with strong friendships, new confidence and great business analysis skills!

For those of you interested, here’s the collateral (slide deck, executive summary, and an acquisition strategy pitch-book) we developed for the competition. We were also helped greatly by a fantastic video developed by Blue Penguin Pictures run by Shone's close friend Alan Chern, who we cannot be more thankful to. Comments and critical review welcome!

Mythbusters - Haas EWMBA Edition

2010-11-23T03:58:00.000-08:00

Mythbusters is an awesome show on the Discovery Channel. The premise of the show focuses on proving and disproving common myths using various scientific methods. After a long unintentional Mythbusters hiatus, I happened to catch an episode yesterday on my plane ride to Taiwan (more about that later). The show got me thinking about frozen newspaper boats (great episode) and the many myths of the Haas EWMBA. I'm not going to lie; I thought I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into when I started this part-time program over three months ago. But, just like the show, some of these myths were 'busted', albeit not always in a scientific way. So, I present to you: Mythbusters - Haas EWMBA Edition.

Myth #1:
I was a Haas undergraduate business major. As a Haas EWMBA student, I will be relearning mostly the same things, just with a new set of classmates.
We probably learned 16 weeks of undergraduate microeconomics material in the first class. In financial accounting, most (if not all) of what I learned as an undergraduate isn't even part of the core curriculum as an EWMBA. It was the pre-course workshop. The learning approach is also quite different. As an undergraduate, it was more about memorization and number crunching, whereas, the current curriculum is catered towards every day management and decision making. And trust me, it's not any easier the second time around.

Myth #2:
I work in marketing/advertising. Why do I need to know (insert core class)? Can't I just hire a (insert subject matter expert) if I need one?
The beauty of the part-time program is to be able to apply what you learn in class immediately at work. Just this past week, I referenced every single class I've taken thus far. I was on a conference call with a client and was able to explain the budget accrual process and the back-end accounts receivable reversals. Next, in a request to the yield management team for a discount pricing exception, I calculated the opportunity cost as part of my argument for approval (and approval was granted). Lastly, I put together a 90-day plan for management development focusing on early wins and excellence in execution. Instant application is amazing and totally under rated. Meghan, Nancy and Suneel would be so proud!

Myth #3:
It is impossible to take personal vacation during the school year.
As I mentioned earlier, I am currently in Taiwan and will be going to Japan in a couple of days. I'm taking advantage of no classes on Thanksgiving weekend and celebrating turkey festivities with peking duck and sashimi. Some of my fellow classmates are doing the same with trips to Belgium and Hawaii, to name a few. With the ease of emails, conference calls and PDF notes, it's easy to stay on track with homework and in touch with group members, even if you're 5000 miles away. Heck, I have classmates who travel to Argentina and China for work during a normal week and they still manage to not miss a beat.

Consider these myths BUSTED.

The past few weeks...

2010-11-22T19:03:00.001-08:00

So, I’ve had a really busy and interesting month at Haas and couldn’t wait to tell you all about it. But then, I went on this long motorcycle ride with my procrastinating self, and got back from Wonderland only today.

Good memories of the Haas Scotch night organized by HAN SF last week; at least of the first 30 or so minutes. Not sure if I can remember much after that, wink wink. The evening began with an interesting comedy of errors, which involved one of my Haas classmates and me missing the Caltrain first at Lawrence Station, then at Sunnyvale, and finally getting on at Mountain View after a mad rush through South Bay back roads. The event was at the SWIG bar in San Francisco, and boy, was the bar full! It was truly fantastic to see so many students and alumni actively network on a weekday night. But then again, with 150 types of Scotch Whiskey, I wasn't too surprised! I promise I (was) stopped at 20. Err, 30.

Now I do attend events that don’t just involve “I’alcool” (pardon my French). I, for one, have been interested in the field of clean technology for quite some time. Attending the third Berkeley Entrepreneurs Forum a few weeks ago was an amazing experience. Listening to accomplished VCs talk about where the current investments are being made, what types of technologies are in a “bubble” and which ones have true potential was an insightful eye-opener. I doubt I’ve heard a more articulate segmentation of the clean tech market from anyone before.

And then there have been a couple of interesting competitions I’ve participated in. Give my team your best, folks, we’re in the finals of the first Apple Tech Challenge organized by the active and fun Haas Technology Club. I haven’t had so much fun brainstorming ideas in a long time. And tomorrow is the first round submission of the VCIC competition. Talk about an interesting life!

Last night, I had a dream. I was 10 years old. I went up to my Dad and told him, “I want to be an Accountant when I grow up”. What followed next resulted in a call to Child Services in the dream, so I’ll leave the specifics out. Just kidding! Yep my friends, I dream of accounting these days. That’s how much fun and insanely exciting our class on Financial Accounting Analysis is. I still look back at our midterm group paper submission and am amazed that we learned such sophisticated analysis of financial statements in no time. In all honesty, it’s been one of the best classes I’ve taken till date. And guess what, Prof. Udpa has his own facebook fan page!

So there, that’s a quick snapshot of my past few weeks. And yes, James Bond called me yesterday asking if he could get my life.

Oh, the possibilities...

2010-11-16T14:45:00.001-08:00

Frequent advice for those applying to MBA programs is "Know what you want, so you can get the most out of your program." And as you may have read in my intro, I have definitely approached my time at Haas with a pretty defined path and set of goals: develop my skills in managing the double bottom line (mission and money) and become an Executive Director at a cultural not-for-profit. So while I haven't had to make many choices yet (the first year core is completely chosen for you), I have joined the Board Fellows program and often consider how to apply my classwork to my daily work at the museum.

But one of the most surprising aspects of the program is my newly developing sense of all the possibilities. I knew I would be surrounded by classmates with a wide diversity of backgrounds and life experiences, and that I would be exposed to academic subjects I had never considered. However, I'm surprised to find that I'm actually enjoying accounting :gasp:! Now, I'm probably not going to switch gears and head toward finance as a career, but I'm really appreciating learning more about the arcane acronyms I'd heard on the news, and how understanding accounting choices can give you insight into how a business is run.

And about a week ago, I took the Gallup business development workshop, and found myself actually considering a career in consulting! I was completely energized throughout the workshop, and found the idea of working in a strengths-based, compensation-for-performance based firm remarkably compelling.

A number of my classmates are "career changers" and attending Haas with the goal of switching fields. I would not have put myself in that category, but I'm pretty excited to learn more about other careers where I also could be passionate about the work - even in the private sector!

Pricing Simulations, Fast Fall and Rolling Days

2010-11-08T15:17:00.001-08:00

Looks like I've been MIA for a little while, but the rest of the gang has been more than holding fort. First, of course-- I'm glad to see such fresh enthusiasm and want to give my own hearty welcome to our newest bloggers! Awesome posts, team, if I do say so myself.

Getting back in the swing of things, it's been an excellent experience -- doing simulations in my Pricing class this semester with our award-winning professor. Not only have we engaged in price wars (or for the bolder of us -- price leadership!), but we've also done simulations in price matching, auctions, bid negotiations and more. My only downer is that we compete against our classmates in simulations and, while we mix teams every time, my teams seem to always come in second. And we all know that we can't settle for that! :)

We've also had some guest speakers from companies that have leveraged our illustrious professor's knowledge in how to price their products, and a consulting company that uses similar methodologies in evaluating pricing strategies. Incredible and fun stuff. My class team is on our way on our own group project to do the usual conjoint analysis and evaluate the pricing packages of a well-known video streaming company with our own recommendations.

As usual, it's hard to believe how quickly time flies. We're already looking ahead to final exams and projects, and bidding for Spring courses. I can't start the will-miss-you shuffles yet, but I can say I had a few select Haas-mates over for a party the other day and can't help but wonder where we'll all be in 5 to 10 years.

I gained an extra hour from "Fall Back" (Daylight Savings) and I get this Thursday evening's class off for Veteran's Day. Looking forward to using that extra time (like found money) for catching up on things once again (like blogging). Good luck, fellow classmates, and Happy November!

Hope to shake things with you again soon on the blog. Until then, onward..

- T

I feel like Neo!

2010-11-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, let me explain. Remember that scene from Matrix when Neo comes onboard and starts training. He emerges from one training session and says, ‘I know Kung Fu’. That’s exactly how I feel. Not about Kung Fu. About Mergers & Acquisitions. We just finished the M&A final and I now want to announce to the world, ‘I know M&A!’. That’s right.

After taking the 10-week course, I feel I’d know what to do if I was ever in a M&A situation - either as an acquirer or a target. Prof. George Geis did a great job structuring the class. The course project (which I thought was the best part) required us to identify an acquirer company and a target company. We then had to put together a pitch book for the execs of the acquirer company making a case for why the deal is a great idea and recommend a deal structure. As usual, I learned A TON working on the project. During the team presentations, which took place during the last two classes, each of the students was asked which deal they would be willing to support by distributing $10 million among their top 3 choices. And my team won the highest amount of money! My project team had suggested that Oracle should acquire Informatica.

Wouldn’t it be fun if the deal actually happened in real life?

Guest Blog: All aboard the Haas Express!

2010-11-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

Sonny: This year we are trying out a new concept - Guest Blogging! We think this will help us capture interesting Haas experiences even from students who are not on the Blog Squad. Manaswini Sawant is our first contributor. She is a first year student who shares her experience of riding the Haas bus for the first time. Fun story...read on...

So, because I have a year-old convertible, I really do enjoy my drives to and from Berkeley. The weather has been superbly cooperative and I get to blast my favorite music or just listen to the wind as it rushes by.

But there are a lot of weekday events for which taking the Haas bus makes sense. Its prime carpool hours, the freeway is pretty much crowded to the point of being stop-and-go traffic in some places AND its the green thing to do.

Unlike the Hogwarts Express which only leaves from platform 9 and 3 quarters, there are 2 locations in the South Bay from which to board the Haas Bus. Once aboard the bus, there is cold bottled water, cookies and wireless connectivity (of course!).

When I told the driver that this was my first time taking the bus, he promptly whipped out a self-printed business card with his cell phone number and his supervisor’s email and phone number.

He told me to use his cell phone number to let him know if I was running late and needed the bus to wait for me. If I was happy with the service he provided, he would appreciate it if I could email/call his supervisor to let him know that. Perhaps if I weren’t in business school, I would have found this to be a little odd. But after learning all about the Art of Self Promotion (AKA Artful Bragging), it all made perfect sense to me!

There are other reasons to take the bus besides the cookies and the wireless of course. You can actually get some homework / discussion done with your fellow riders in the hour it takes to get to Haas. The air is thick with Accounting homework and Marketing case studies. And before you know it, you are on campus, well in time for classes to begin. No worries about finding parking either!

When classes are over, the bus fills up fast for the ride back home. The atmosphere now does a complete 360! Its almost like being at Henry’s but without the beer or the wine (or the fries). But …. we do have the very latest from Hollywood for our entertainment! Our bus driver offered us a selection of movies we could watch and by popular consensus, Robin Hood was chosen.

Conversations were more relaxed as people rehashed funny things that happened in class or simply watched Russell Crowe‘s antics on the tiny TV screens.

All in all, a delightful experience and one I am sure to repeat again.

All A-B-O-A-R-D!!

To Study Abroad or Not?

2010-11-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

It’s been far too long since my last blog post, which dates back to early in the summer. I just needed a mental break from having to think about school, and the summer was the time I gave myself to relax and decompress. I had every intention of writing regularly upon the start of school, but my course-load and work schedule combined for a horrendous September. It was my own doing though, scheduling 3 classes that all started in late August, including a course that met for 4 consecutive Sundays from 9-5pm, except for Labor Day. At least I can say that I’ve found my limit in terms of the amount of course-work I should take at one time. Good knowledge for the future as I plan the next few semesters.

What these next 1.5 years has in store is very much open. I still harbor desires to study abroad. The choice of cities is somewhat limited by the few other programs around the world share the desire to exchange part-time students. There are four exchange programs available to EWMBA students, of which I would likely choose between Barcelona and Spain. I’m not saying that these programs are anything to sneeze at, and indeed, Barcelona is a top destination for me to begin with. The lack of opportunities in east Asia is somewhat disappointing though. Specifically, I would have preferred a Mandarin-speaking country such as Taiwan or China which would provide me with an opportunity to immerse myself in an environment that would improve my Mandarin.

I never considered studying abroad as an undergrad, and indeed, I never had much of a desire to travel. I was a stereotypical California kid who felt that I already lived in the best place in the world and didn’t feel the need to explore beyond the west coast, let alone a different country. I’ve since learned the value of exploring beyond my comfort zones, and thus want to take advantage of this opportunity. It’s a difficult task though, to balance the desire to expand my horizon beyond a California-centric view of the world with the need to honor my commitment to my personal and work life.

Known knowns, known unknowns, unknown unknowns

2010-10-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you may be quite surprised that I'm quoting Donald Rumsfeld here -- and I promise I'm not getting political (yet) -- but this infamous quote is actually very applicable to my first semester at Haas!

As I mentioned before, I've spent the past 12+ years in the non-profit sector, so I knew going in that there was a lot I didn't know. I've never taken any sort of business class (mostly the fuzzier sciences and drama) so it's no surprise that microeconomics and accounting are new to me - known unknowns, that is. And there's certainly known knowns too, lest you think I'm a newbie to business (marketing for sure, and I had plenty to share in Leading People, our organizational behavior core class).

But this week I've been puzzling over which company to pick for the Gallup Strengths-based Business Development Workshop I'm attending. Attendees have been charged with writing up a research profile a company of our choice -- a large, US-based, publicly-held company, with multiple divisions and complex business operations. I have no experience with any company like that, except from the consumer perspective! To me, this is really an unknown unknown - the strategies of such a company are very different from the three local cultural nonprofits where I've spent my career. Non-profits have their own complexities and there are quite a few national charities (American Red Cross, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for example), but they're not in the scope of this project.

So how do I even begin to narrow it down? I'm not currently working in a sector that would "count" for this project - so do I go for tech, consumer goods, green, financial services, entertainment? Do I browse the listings at finance.google.com? Do I use some of my newly acquired accounting knowledge (return on equity!) to pick a super-profitable company with high margins (Apple)? How about one that produces a product I'm addicted to (Diet Coke)? Maybe one from Fortune's Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list (Whole Foods)? I've worked at an art-house movie theater, so maybe a big movie studio (Lionsgate) - or a big company that owns a movie studio (GE or Viacom)? Or a company with values that resonate with my own (P&G maybe?)

I also got some great advice this week from Alison Davis at the MBA-Nonprofit Connection: endeavor to apply every project in my MBA to my non-profit career goals. How can I find the angle in this project to apply the experience to the very-real differences in the non-profit sector? I've signed up for this workshop to explore my leadership style, and gain experience in developing strong consultative selling relationships - something I think will be very applicable in future dealings with donors and supporters.

So readers, help me out. Comment with the company you would pick if you got to choose!

Introduction, Giants, Elections …

2010-10-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, those are some great introductions. Welcome Archit, Jennifer and Joann. You guys have a fun few years of blogging in front of you, savor every minute of it (Uhh…that’s probably my senioritis kicking in).

Here’s my brief intro keeping with the introduction season. My name is Divyang Agrawal (Div). I started my 3rd year this fall and am hoping to graduate next year. When I started school back in ‘08, one of my goals was to really enjoy the Haas experience, academic and more importantly the amazing world outside of academia. In the past 26 months I’ve lived my goals by engaging in a variety of endeavors. From being the editor of eZine, the EWMBA magazine, to running for office as an executive member of the EWMBA association; from taking voluntary consulting assignments to finding myself stranded on the beach after a late night “field expedition”. Haas is now a part of my life, and my family’s life, what with my son being born 3 days before the Core Finance Exam. Now that was some timing. I should add that my first year Finance Prof was very understanding :-) If I ramble more it’s going to sound like a retirement speech and there’s still time for that so let’s move on.

So I have classes Wed (Corporate Finance, which incidentally has a midterm next week) and Sat (Negotiations). Today, the Negotiations class was in South Bay allowing me to watch the entire NLCS Game6 after a short ride back home. The Giants really tried to make things difficult for themselves but finally came through. I am not a big baseball follower. Back in 2002 when the Giants last entered the World Series, I didn’t really appreciate the game having come to the US less than a year earlier. Over the years I started understanding some of the nuances but most recently I think it’s the sweeping Giants fever that has just made me a convert.

The Giants are celebrating today and hopefully they’ll be celebrating even more in another 2 weeks. The upcoming midterm elections will also have quite a people celebrating by that time. Our own Haas EWMBA Association election winners will only get to celebrate by 2nd week of November though. Every year the Haas student community elects its four executive officers (President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary). This year’s slate is now out and we have 10 candidates in the fray. Good luck to all of them. For my fellow bloggers, make sure to vote once the elections open next week. This is a great tradition and these 10 people have stepped up to challenge the status quo and make a difference in our Haas experience. Please encourage your friends, project mates, classmates to exercise their franchise and choose the next executive team at Haas. And don’t be surprised if some of these candidates show up for campaigning in your next class!

The third musketeer

2010-10-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

You know, for the longest time, I had been living with a deep dark secret. It had been tough dealing with the innumerable life-threatening situations and all those psychotic villains with their clichéd jabs about my get-up. Thanks to the economy, I was behind on my auto and home payments, and not a day went by when the bank forgot to send me a foreclosure notice. Cutting down on my health-food to save money saw me put on a few pounds, and rendered my precious belt completely unusable. Now if you take a look at my car, home and my belt, you’d see how much pain separation from them could cause someone. Even my loyal butler decided to part ways with me. That’s when I decided I needed a new career; being Batman no longer seemed the right fit for me at my point in life. And I knew Haas would be the step towards that. Sorry it had to be this way, Robin - I can write your recommendation though if you too decide to apply to Haas.

Now since you all believe me with all your sincerity, let me introduce the man behind the get-up. The name’s Lohokare, Archit Lohokare (that surely sounded a lot cooler in my head). And what follows next is a copy-paste from my Match.com profile. Well, not really.

By day, I am a technical sales consultant in security software for IBM Corporation. After my bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from NTU, Singapore, I joined a young Silicon Valley startup, Encentuate, which was acquired by IBM in 2008. At Encentuate, I was fortunate enough to perform diverse roles in engineering, support, professional services and technical sales. I absolutely adore startups and technology, so here’s a big shout-out to all you startuppers out there. I’d love to hear more and write about you and your startup!

Before ending up in Silicon Valley, I’ve lived in several places in India, spent seven years in Singapore, a year in a number of European countries and 2 years in New York City. Besides being a source of some amazing experiences, this nomadic lifestyle has helped me perfect the art of faking stupor and appearing clueless in a new place.

Not to burst your bubble, but I’m not really Batman and I don’t really have a bank breathing down my neck. So let me come clean about my reasons to join the EWMBA program at Haas. To me, Haas is at the epicenter of the unique Silicon Valley technology startups phenomenon. It has a rich history of nurturing entrepreneurship and the philosophy of ‘challenging the status quo’. The versatility and diverse experience of my classmates has only reinforced my idea of what to expect at Haas. And I can’t stop raving about our professors – never have I seen such engaging teaching. I could go on.

So here I am. I am super excited to write about YOUR and my Haas experience over the next couple of years. So feel free to get a hold of me in school or drop me an email. I’m all ears. Cheers!

Knock Knock...

2010-10-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

Who's there? Joann. Joann Who? Joann Hu! (really, that never gets old)

I'm another one of the new kids on the blog. I'll piggy-back off of Jennifer's post and share a little bit about myself. I was born in Taipei, Taiwan. I currently live and work in San Francisco. My Starbucks drink of choice is a double tall no foam soy latte. I hate parsley and cilantro. I was an undergraduate Haas student. And, as Sonny mentioned in her previous post, I also used to write for The Daily Californian, UC Berkeley's independent student newspaper. I was a sports writer and had the opportunity to cover a variety of sports, including men's soccer, tennis and women's softball. I even had a chance to interview Natalie Coughlin, the 11-time Olympic medalist, while she swam for Cal. As you can tell, I'm a pretty big Golden Bear sports fan.

Last Saturday, Cal football hosted UCLA for our annual homecoming game. Coincidentally (or not, thanks to the EWMBA program office), the weekend cohorts finished their first session of classes and we were done for the day at noon after our Microeconomics final. How did I celebrate the end of MC=MR and Performance=A*S*E? With a 35-7 win alongside 60,000+ of my closest friends at Memorial Stadium, of course.

My first piece of advice (of many more to come in the future): Attend a Cal football game. It's an all-around great experience. Even if you're not a football fan, the Cal Band puts on fantastic half-time performances, such as last week's "Sounds of Latin Music" and the famous video game show. I believe the athletic department may even offer discounted student tickets (3rd degree price discrimination). If and when you do attend a football game or any other Cal sporting event, I would advise you not to wear anything red, or be prepared to spend the rest of the game shirtless/hat less/sock less.

If you need any other game day fashion advice, I'm here to help. GO BEARS!

Please allow me to introduce myself...

2010-10-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm Jennifer Caleshu, and I'm one of the new first year EWMBA bloggers.

I've spent my entire career working in cultural non-profits, which is a fairly atypical path for an MBA student. I've produced live theater, chosen the films for an art-house movie theater, and marketed a children's museum. I'm passionate about real experiences - the kinds of non-virtual, in-person experiences that are by definition unique - only happening at that particular place and time. I have a degree in Human Biology with a focus on Issues of Adolescence from Stanford (don't hold it against me!). I always joked that the adolescence part came in handy when working with actors, but in truth, I never really used much of the knowledge gained in the major. Instead, I graduated and took an unpaid artistic internship at American Conservatory Theater, and never looked back!

But a couple of years ago, I started thinking about graduate school. When you don't have a business background (I've never taken any sort of business class before this!), you learn on the job. And to paraphrase the well-known book, "what got you here won't get you there." My career goals include being the executive director of a cultural institution, but on-the-job knowledge isn't always enough to gain the kind of strategic planning, financial acumen, and operational chops to help an institution reach its highest capacity. Many non-profit managers choose masters in arts administration, but I wanted to keep my options open. I'm passionate about the double-bottom-line (mission and profits), and knew the knowledge gained would apply to a wide variety of non-profits, and be transferable should I ever choose to go to the "for-profit" side.

So over the holidays last winter, I decided to take the plunge and apply for an MBA. As the breadwinner in my family (my husband is a stay-at-home dad to our two children, Cole age 5, and Rae, age 2), I knew I wanted to keep working, and I was committed to staying in the Bay Area. So Haas EWMBA was the best choice, and here I am! I'm in the Blue cohort, so I take class on Mondays & Wednesday evenings, and I commute from Sausalito where I work at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with the readers of the blog - and hearing the perspectives of my fellow bloggers. Please feel free to email me or comment here with any questions!

Introducing the First Year Bloggers!

2010-10-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

Following the yearly tradition of bringing in new bloggers from a fresh batch of EWMBA'ers, we have selected three talented first-years (class of 2013) to join the EWMBA blog team. There was quite a bit of interest to join the blog team this year and the applicant pool was strong. Needless to say, this made our job of selecting the bloggers very challenging - but we got it done.

Without further ado, I introduce the new bloggers...

*drumroll, please*

Joann Hu
Archit Lohokare
Jennifer Caleshu

Please join me in welcoming them. Each of them has had previous experience with blogging and in Joann's case, writing for The Daily Cal (isn't that fantastic!).

I am very much looking forward to reading all about their exploits. I hope so are you.

One month into fall…

2010-09-27T01:35:00.000-07:00

Summer got over in a flash and Fall Semester’s already a month in. It’s starting to kick in that the promised land of graduation is really a few corners around.

One of the classes I took in the spring was Competitive Strategy. Btw, this is going to be a “core” class starting class of 2013 (it’s already a “core” class for the FT-MBA program). For my 2nd year colleagues, I would strongly recommend taking this elective as it helps tie together most if not all of the different functional areas covered during core (Micro, Macro, Finance, Accounting…). It was a semester long class, entirely case based. We evaluated how companies tried to gain and sustain competitive advantage, and analyzed moves made by companies such as MSFT, INTC, AAPL, WMART, etc. Over the summer I got a great opportunity to apply some of these concepts in a project I did with one of the top tech companies in the Bay Area, with their corporate strategy team. Two things helped me get this assignment, contacts with Haas alums and the Haas brand. It was a crazy busy summer with work kicking up a notch and the strategy assignment taking as much time as regular school.

The fall classes are off to a steady start but there’s a lot going on campus as well. For instance, the final Haas@work engagement before the program becomes a “3-credit” class starting spring has generated some debate. On the plus side, semester long commitment will give participants enough time to not only thrash ideas but also actively engage in the execution phase. On the other side of the debate is the loss of one of “free” programs. Regardless of the debate the program itself brings a lot of value (I was involved in a Haas@Work engagement this past spring).

The EWMBA Association events are also picking up and we have a packed schedule of Academic, Social, Alum and Career Services activities. Just completed our mid-year kick-off where each of the committees presented a mid-term report card. It’s amazing to see the level of commitment from the folks who’ve stepped up to drive the association and help make a difference during our stay at Haas. This is despite balancing family, school and work lives. A big shout out for them.

More on EWMBAA in the next post as we prepare for our annual elections coming up in November....

Haas Blog Marketing Challenge!

2010-09-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, who was a Berkeley undergraduate, brought this up a few weeks back, while we were having dinner over Labor Day Weekend. She thought of the following as a possible idea for marketing our beloved business school.

Haas

Not just an Avocado

Can you think of a short-blurb, marketing idea for Haas (another slogan, mantra or image)? If so, I'll open the unofficial gauntlet/challenge and be willing to post the best ones later on to the blog.

Feel free to send them to: tlee328@hotmail.com and I'll sort through and post some of the best on a later date. Please note that there is no prize and we reserve the right to re-use as we see fit, though I will try to give credit where credit's due. :)

- Tim

Second Year - First Impressions

2010-09-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

After three weeks of classes, I can already tell second year is going to be different. Very different. Good different.

To begin with, we had to put major thought into the classes we wanted to take this semester - long discussions on which ones to pick, what order works best, class combinations, etc. There was an initial bidding process to pick classes that happened back in May. More than anything the bidding process was a great lesson in Game Theory - how to distribute your bidding points to maximize the chances of getting the classes you want? I will share my experience in a later post. For the first three weeks after classes started, we had an opportunity to revise our class selections. Watching the class waitlists move in real-time during the last week of the add/drop period was no less exciting than watching the stock market. I’m super delighted that I got into all the classes I wanted: Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Financial Management & Behavioral Finance.

The class format is different too. We no longer have the same folks in each of our classes. Apart from the weekend-ers, we also have some weekday and third-year students in our classes now. This provides a great opportunity to network with people I rarely got a chance to meet last year. Also we finish classes 2 hours early at 4PM on Saturdays instead of going till 6PM.

In addition to classes, second year is also when most folks start looking into joining clubs and other activities outside classroom. I still haven’t had to chance to give serious thought to which clubs I want to be part of and how I will manage club participation being long distance. Now that my class schedule is decided and I have a good idea of the course workload, I plan to spend more time strategizing about my extra-curricular activities.

Looking back, I feel we were babied quite a bit in our first year. Our course schedule was pre-set. Our professors were decided. We took all our classes with the same cohort the whole year. All we had to worry about was our course work. Now it feels like we are stepping into the real world where the decisions we make will majorly shape our MBA experience. Or this is the step before stepping into the actual real world.

Two things have stayed the same from last year - I’m still having lots of fun and the workload is equally heavy. I had heard that the workload was going to drop off pretty dramatically starting second year. Appears to not be so in my case. I was even forced to break my Farmville addiction two weeks ago - which is tragic!

But I still think those guys at Zynga are pretty fantastic. :)

One month in - Reminiscing

2010-09-08T22:22:00.001-07:00

It's about a month into the semester already and I'm reminiscing on the past two years. After having attended Orientation as a committee member, I had to look back at my own class' orientation and the statements that stuck with me.

Thinking back to Class of '11 Orientation, some quotes from our starting weekend two years ago are still useful today for students at Haas and everywhere... with a few extra subtitles:

"As a full-time professional, part-time student, you now juggle three things: life, school and work. One of the three is bound to suffer." (..without the right support system in place..)
"You either are owners or visitors. You decide, and everyone else knows what and when you've decided it." (.. just remember this, if you try to slack off at work or school or life..)
"You must be the change you want to see in the world." (Gandhi's words still hold true)

To this, I add a few of my own (semi-humorous) tidbits of wisdom from the multiverse:

"Why.. so.. serious?" (The Joker in Dark Knight Returns; don't forget to have a little fun..)
"If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment. Would you capture it, or just let it slip?" (Eminem in Lose Yourself; recently wrecked at an Orientation party near you ;) But hey, it fits with the entrepreneurial theme)
"If I was you and you were me, you'd wanna be winning. If you want something bad, yo, you gotta wanna give your all." (On Our Own, Bobby Brown - 90's flashback - Ghostbusters II, anyone?)
"It's the end where I begin.." (by The Script -- for my third year's and graduating buddies)

Hopefully a little light motivation for our fellow students and blog readers. Go get 'em. :)

- Tim

Switcheroo - Weekend vs. Evening

2010-08-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

This semester, I've pulled the old switcheroo and moved from all Weekend classes to all Evening classes. I'm sometimes asked by prospective or new students which is preferred. With that in mind, here's a little something to help - you'll see it's mainly all about trade-offs, just like everything else in the business world.

Weekday/Evening Classes

You get to have an actual weekend! (though you may have to study on the weekends, if your week nights are busy)
You may get a bit more of a Berkeley student feel with more undergraduates or full-time MBA'ers on-campus; and, all sessions are at UC Berkeley
There's a shuttle for South Bay and Peninsula folks for those who don't like to drive themselves (but no meals are provided - you can walk around near-Campus eateries and choose your own food on your own dime though)
You can attend weekend events, while Saturday folks are in-class (But you may miss week-day events like Taste of Haas - which is on a Thursday)
There are more elective classes to choose from than weekend, just by factor of more days in the week (Mon - Thurs).

Weekend Classes

Snacks, lunch and coffee are provided (But no bus shuttles; parking or carpool only - there's the tradeoff)
For core classes (1st year), you get a longer Winter break because class sessions are longer (but that may be more painful during the actual class session)
One day of the week (primarily) is dedicated for class, allowing you to focus on school (not coming right after work); also helpful in case you have a dynamic weekday work schedule or travel a lot for work
1/2 time in alternate location in Santa Clara, which is closer for South Bay folks (it may be further for others)
You can attend week-day events (but not weekend events; some business conferences are held on Saturdays)

There may be other factors. If I remember them, I'll recant later-- or perhaps my fellow bloggers have some add'l thoughts? No matter which route you choose, you'll get to share in the experience of part-time student, full-time professional and meet amazing and fun people. I definitely like being able to try evening and meet even more friendly folks to network with.

And of course, even though you have to choose evening vs. weekend for your first year, you do get an option to switch after core classes are done or undeclare during any given semester in your 2nd or 3rd year (which allows you to choose from any courses that are offered on any day).

I for one am really enjoying the #1 aspect of taking evening courses and having more relaxing weekends. We'll see if that lasts come midterms!

Cheers,

- Tim

Class of 2013 Orientation

2010-08-09T10:55:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe it's been over a month since our last student post. Everyone is recuperating during the Summer for the most part, though Fall is right around the corner.

Last weekend was the official kick-off for the new student class (Class of 2013) -- starting with Orientation. Welcome to Haas, new students! Officially, this kicks off the school year and the Fall semester as well . In fact, the core classes for the new, lucky Blue cohort should be starting tonight. Meanwhile, 2nd and 3rd years (like myself) still have another 1-2 week's worth of rest.

That is, unless you're still wrapping up Summer School. Competitive Strategy this Summer has been enlightening, but extremely fast-paced, given the Summer schedule. Very worthwhile, so it's convenient that it will now be a part of core classes for the new and future students.

Orientation was filled with a number of activities to prepare the students for their time here and making the best use of it, so they can do more beyond (the end goal). Of course, intra- and cross-cohort networking, bonding, and fun are also key elements.

Last Friday, during the first dinner of Orientation, Dean Lyons (picture above) went over our four defining principles at Haas, which capture what Berkeley-Haas means when it develops future leaders:

Question the Status Quo
Students Always
Confidence without Attitude
Beyond Yourself

While these all exemplify the Haas way, we also like to enjoy ourselves and shake things up. I don't want to spoil it for future prospective students, but Orientation is always memorable. I was fortunate to get to partake in a few festivities, including the party on Saturday, as a co-chair of our EWMBAA Admissions Committee along with many, many volunteers (to whom I extend a big thanks!).

Congrats to the Gold cohort who won prizes during one of our little competitions also.

This year was a Hawaiian/Luau theme (see picture: me posing with our beloved Program Office folks, in front of a backdrop they created with friends). While the Admissions Committee worked closely with the Program Office to coordinate student-led events during Orientation, there were so many things going on behind the scenes, that we have to take our hats off to them on providing a great atmosphere and experience for the students.

All in a day's work at Haas. We come prepared and strive toward being a part of something grander. Have a great start to the new year, everyone!

- TL

Annual Haas Picnic

2010-06-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, we had our Annual Summer Haas Picnic. This year it was at Tilden Park, thrown by our Social Events Committee. It was a nice afternoon in our typical, moderate, Bay Area weather.

As always, it's a nice breather in-between semesters to catch up without having to worry about the joys of homework and class readings. That is, unless you're in Summer school, in which case you're out of luck.

People funneled in and out throughout the afternoon. And, with the thought of World Cup in the air (nice work, Team U.S.A.-- you did well), there were a few rounds of light soccer. More carefree this time around, though we do have our share of competitive sports here at Haas.

The Summer is full of activities still though. There are the aforementioned Summer school

classes, the Semesters in International Business (China earlier, and upcoming Argentina/Chile

trip), and our Admissions Committee planning for our new students Orientation

(which should be entertaining, as always).

As Tony said, hope our new students are ready for a wild, but fun ride. There's a lot in store for all of you and we're glad to share in the experience.

- T

Top Ten Things Incoming Students Should Do Over the Summer

2010-06-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

I don’t know how it’s gotten to be the end of June already. Summer solstice, longest day of the year. I love this time of year, not just because of the great weather, but because the long days allow me to feel like I can still accomplish quite a bit after I’ve left the office. Now though, we start the long, inevitable march towards shorter days. It’s a mere two months from the start of school, less for those entering the first year.

With those incoming Class of 2013 in mind, I thought I’d develop a “Top Ten” list of things to do over the summer before classes begin.

10. Accept your offer. I have no idea when the deadline is, it’s probably passed. But if it hasn’t and you haven’t accepted the offer, what are you waiting for?!

9. Keep up with your school emails. They are few and far in between, but each provides critical To Do lists before classes begin. It’s best to keep up rather than miss deadlines for things like updating the Facebook.

8. Consider testing out of core classes. Frankly, this was an option I likely could have chosen for marketing given I am a marketing professional. However, I chose not to for a few reasons, including wanting to take all of the core classes with my fellow gold members. Go GOLD! If you feel your 2 units are best served taking an elective though, by all means do so. 42 Units is not much, and it adds up quickly. If you feel you don’t need one of the core classes that you are able to test out of, and there are other classes of more interest to you, do consider the option.

7. Take care of those pesky math and statistics requirements. Before hearing that I’d passed the Stat waiver exam, there were a few nervous weeks looking through available options. It’s best to take care of this sooner rather than later.

6. Outline your finances. Tuition is expensive. At the new rate of $2,387, you’re going to be writing checks for $19K when July and December roll around. That’s a hefty chunk of change, one that really puts a dent into any pocketbook.

5. Sign up for financial aid. FAFSA… a term I thought I would never have to hear ever again. Yet, I took advantage of student loans, if only to accept the subsidized version.

4. Prepare your work-place for your new commitment to school. It will be the rare employer that will not accommodate your decision to pursue an MBA. If they don’t, they are likely not an employer worth sticking with anyway. Any company should be thrilled to have employees taking the initiative to better themselves. However, part-time school is a massive commitment, and they should know you

3. For the evening students (Gold and Blue), clear your Saturdays for the fall semester, and not just because it’s football season. Many classes hold very helpful Saturday study sessions, others require group work in which you will need to meet in-person. Pretty much assume that you’ll need to be on-campus at least a few Saturdays a month.

2. Prepare your family and friends. Full time work and part-time school is a massive time-commitment. For your family, it will require an understanding that you will not be as available as you once were. There will be times when you just need to study, read, or meet with your group. They need to know to give you that time. For your friends, you will need to know that you can’t go to every event. Given you are not relocating for school, at least most of you are not, you will still see the Evites to many events, you will still be invited out, or invited over for various occasions. Just know that you won’t be able to make as many of those events as you previously were able to.

1. Go on a vacation. Who knows when you’ll have the chance to do so again. Winter break is a mere 2 weeks, and if you take summer classes after your first year, you could be in classes for a long time before you have the opportunity to take significant time off. Take advantage of this summer to go somewhere to relax before embarking on this part-time MBA program.

It’s an exciting time for incoming students! Your Haas experience is going to be awesome, and I can’t wait to meet you all as you join us on campus. Before you do, be sure to enjoy your summer!

Top Ten Highlights of My First Year

2010-06-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

It’s been four weeks since we finished finals and I now finally feel like I have caught up on my sleep and relaxation - no kidding. First year turned to be every bit as taxing as we were told it was going to be during orientation but it wasn’t without its moments. And now is an appropriate time to countdown the top ten highlights of my first year in the EWMBA program:

10. Wrapping up the final exam of first year with a water fight which was a great idea because our brains were completely fried by that time and the water helped cool us down for the presentations that followed. Fun times!

9. Out of the 60 flights I took for classes, I only missed one flight. Not bad I think. It sucks though that it was because of something silly like the alarm not going off.

8. Being picked to be on the blog squad which has been a very fun experience. I love it especially because it is a long-distance-commuter-friendly activity.

7. Getting to hang out with Axe’rs 2012 every week. There are a few folks I want to give a shout out to:
• My carpool group (Lahary, Mike, Mukesh & Roopesh) who have been extremely generous to me in terms of giving rides whenever I needed them - You are the best.
• All my project teams - I have learnt a lot from you.
• The Seattle group - Love you guys.

6. Greg La Blanc’s Finance class - because La Blanc is La Blanc is La Blanc. Among a faculty that is absolutely fantastic, Greg is one of my favorites. So much so that I am going to act very groupie-like and take up any courses that La Blanc teaches going forward if I get a chance.

5. Being profiled on the EWMBA website. It’s not published yet but I’m guessing it will be sometime soon. So stay tuned!

4. Ending up 3rd in Ops Sim2 after an abysmal performance in Sim1. Victory was ours and boy, was it sweet.

3. HAAS VEGAS - need I say more. Also, it was amazing that I found my camera which I thought was lost for half a day (Thanks, Sandeep!). Those who know me can tell you how important my camera is to me.

2. Moving into a people management role right after completing the ‘Leading people’ class. The timing could not have been more perfect.

1. Figuring out that I have the best family in the world. I always knew this but now I have undeniable proof. There is no way that I could have stayed sane the past year with school and work and commuting if not for my amazing husband & my baby, Zero. It is a known fact that behind every successful part-time MBA there is a family that has the patience of a saint - as was the case with me.

Mikin & Zero - Thank you! You are my life!

What a Great Time... SIB China '10

2010-06-14T13:21:00.001-07:00

Just got back from one of our Seminars in International Business. This Summer's was in China (Beijing and Shanghai - pic on left is the Bund in Shanghai). What an awesome time we had out there. Not only did we visit over 1.5 dozen companies, including Microsoft, Google, 51Job, NBA China, Nalco, and more, we got get a shot of tourism in. Definitely beautiful sights to see (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Shanghai Aquarium, etc.) and culture to soak up.

We've come back with a better understanding of what companies do to keep pace in the dynamic, growing environment in China. Dealing with State Owned Enterprises, Government incentives/disincentives, the saturation of college students with entitlement issues and the maturation of a growing super power. But best of all, we've made some new friends and even got to hang out with our likeable Program Office buddies ("Mr. Wong" and Shelby), who joined in the festivities.

I can't forget about the food, of which we explored and part-took in large quantities. From xiao

long bao (Shanghai Dumplings - see picture) to hot pot and lamb skewers (there were even live scorpions, donkey meat and other random eats), I feel full just thinking about it. I think I can do without Chinese food for a little while though.

In the end, I will never forget the karaoke nights, the joking around with the student crew, crazy taxi rides and aching legs from long walks through both historic sites and random city streets.

Thanks to everyone who made it a worthwhile adventure. Definitely encourage and throw out my best wishes to those going to future trips. You'll be envied for it.

Just watch out for grabby street vendors. "DNE!"

Rest & Relaxation

2010-05-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

A week ago, Deanne and I walked across that stage (here we are just before the ceremony began). It's hard to believe that at this time three years ago, I was eagerly anticipating the first year orientation and all that was to come.

Looking back, the three years really flew by. A lot has happened - many people in our class got married, had a child, got new jobs, and so on.

After graduation, and after hearing people wishing congratulations, two questions seem to come up time and time again:

1. What next (new job? PhD)?

2. What are you going to do with all your free time?

As for me, no PhD on the horizon. I'm excited to have my MBA and don't know what lies ahead just yet. It's already an adjustment letting people know I'm done versus going to be done in x amount of time. So far, I still haven't figured out what free time is (it manages to fill up so fast that I wonder how I ever made it to class and did all of my homework in time). There has been a lot going on, but it's only the first week after school. Nevertheless, it's been a blast sharing some of my school life with you.

Some have asked - was it all worth it? Would you do it again? I would absolutely do this experience again in a heartbeat. I've learned so much and met a lot of great people. I've had access to experiences that would have been much more difficult or downright impossible to get without Haas. And now, there are a lot of resources that I, as a Haas alum, can use too.

Good luck to those whom are considering or in the process of applying! An amazing time is just up ahead. Go Bears and Hire Haas!

Alumni!

2010-05-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

Well - the big day finally came - the Class of 2010 graduated! There were many big smiles and lots of celebrations. Our class speaker, Mike Todasco, encouraged us go forward and "bombie" in to the pool of life and the graduation speaker, Class of '59 alumni Richard Blum encouraged us to take risks, give back to our community and make sure we enjoy life outside of business to give us perspective and keep us recharged. Dean Lyons commented on the energy in each person's face as he shook their hand as they crossed the stage to graduate.

I really enjoyed reconnecting with many of my MBA friends, and enjoying the special day with them. After graduation we enjoyed a champagne reception by the Campanile Tower - that tower that had chimed so many times at 6pm as I scurried into class, reminding me that I was running late (again).

On Saturday night we partied on, with the EWMBA Class of 2010 Grad Party in the city - it was a very fun night, that went by too quickly! So much so, that we're continuing the party in Vegas this weekend. I'll update you further on the fun as the partying continues....

From one semester to the next

2010-05-10T15:55:00.001-07:00

First, Congratulations to Deanne and Anlei on their graduation, along with the rest of the Class of 2010! They've earned their degrees, had some crazy times (some not over with "final" finals and papers), and developed cherished memories. We will certainly miss them around campus, but hope to see them as our illustrious alumni list grows longer!

Forgot to mention that a few weeks back, I was lucky enough to get to meet many of the wonderful Round 1 and Round 2 admits for the Class of 2013 at one of our Welcome Receptions. Again, congratulations to the new and fresh faces to Haas. At the reception, Dean Lyons spoke, as did one of our EWMBA Alumni (Class of 2007), and Hector Preciado (our current EWMBA Student Body President). Definitely glad to see another lively bunch with impressive resumes, but more importantly, interesting backgrounds and "down-to-earth" personalities.

I was treated this week to another quick international trip for work in between my weekend classes. This time, I went out to Copenhagen to visit a client for a few days, before trying to get back and playing catch-up with all the "other" work that got

deferred during the trip. Then, I tried to get my homework done in a hotel room (and sometimes at a cafe on the street). That being said, there's something special about being a Haas student also and seeing the world from a student perspective. Each trip is a learning adventure. It's almost a supplement to the education, and another reason why being a part-timer isn't always a bad thing if you take it in the right context.

Too bad I couldn't see the famous "mermaid" statue in Copenhagen, as they moved it to Shanghai for World Expo! Maybe I'll catch it though during our Summer Seminar in International Business over there-- that'd be ironic! :)

Anyway, I've returned home, dealt with the jetlag, and we had a fantastic wrap-up to both Power and Politics and Financial Information Analysis. In the former, we did a recap on all the areas that we covered during the semester and had a party. In the latter, we had a final massive (read: the class was split in 1/2 for two large groups) group presentation presenting on an M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) scenario-- valuation and deal structuring and all. Our team did great-- and had some amazing feedback from a panel of folks that are already in the field today.

It's hard to believe that another year is done. Can't wait to celebrate some more.. but in the mean time, still have another paper to write, and a presentation to put together, even though our class sessions are over.

Have a great Summer, everyone!

Where have all the 1st years gone during break?

2010-05-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting discussion with a 2nd year friend of mine last week when she pointed out that we 1st years gave gone conspicuously missing during breaks. I hadn’t noticed a difference since I didn’t know what the norm was, but it’s apparently quite conspicuous.

Well folks, I’m here with the answer to the mystery: Koret Classroom. If you responded as my friend did, it was probably with a, “Huh?”, so let me explain. Koret Classroom is the new lecture hall hidden away behind the MBA lounge towards to left, if you were to walk towards the computer center. A state-of-the-art 75-seat room, it not only makes a great lecture hall, it also makes for a great centralized location for us to have dinner. So great, in fact, that we hardly sit down at FIFO’s these days, but rather just grab and go, returning to the classroom to eat and chat.

This is a far cry from C230, which was where we had our classes prior to the new year. The room was simply not conducive to group discussions, and people were simply eager to leave the room the moment break started. No longer, now that we are in Koret. The new classroom, combined with people walking to the DFC (Durant Food Court), I-House Café, or some other location that shall remain nameless (hey, we have to have some secrets!) lead to us not being about at FIFO’s or the BofA forum as much as we had been previously.

So there you have it, the mystery of the missing 1st years is solved! Given this classroom will likely be used for all future core EWMBA classes, I think this may in fact become the new norm. It’s interesting how the opening of a new facility appears to be altering behavior among students, potentially impacting the amount of time we have to mingle with other classes. Seems there are many other opportunities to do so though, and besides, it’s not as if we are all locking ourselves up in Koret. It just represents one additional area for students to gather.

One Week Away

2010-05-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is the start of the last weekend of school. As my good friend put it, this will be the last week I'll be an MBA student. Tomorrow afternoon, it will be time to go make our presentation to venture capitalists - the real deal in Menlo Park. Our whole semester grade rides on 40 minutes and a paper. I feel excited, a little anxious, and slightly scared, but we've got a great idea, a great team, and I know it will all go smoothly.

Not to be outdone by the first years, the third years also have a trip to Vegas. And we've already started talking about our reunion that's been scheduled the last weekend of April 2011. It's hard to believe that three years has flown by - a lot of teleconferences, a lot of powerpoint decks, and a lot of case studies. Is it all worth it? It's like that runner's high. Feeling a bit exhausted (ok, maybe more than a little bit at this very moment), but satisfied. I'm enjoying the feeling that something was accomplished and all the hard work leading up to this moment has been worth it. At this time next week, Deanne and I will probably be celebrating with family and friends, but for now, back to the powerpoint (version 63 just got uploaded - no kidding!).

Viva Haas Vegas!

2010-05-06T00:32:00.000-07:00

Less than two weeks to go before the first year comes to end - almost there! Just need to get done with the Comms paper …and the Macro project …and the Macro final …and possibly a final presentation. That’s all.

Because we so completely believe in “working very hard & partying ultra hard”, it’s not surprising that our first weekend after finals is already planned out. The Class of 2012 will celebrate in style - in fabulous LAS VEGAS!!!

The oh-so-amazing Brett Conner from one of the weekday cohorts not only came up with the idea and got the plan rolling, he also got us excellent hotel rates at Caesars Palace. Brett along with a few others planned out an extravagant set of activities for us during our stay in Vegas. First, there’s the private party in the Hangover suite (That’s right - the very same one from the movie ‘The Hangover’) on Friday night. Then, we have a private VIP party on Saturday night in Pure nightclub. We also have poolside cabanas reserved all day Saturday. So looks like we have everything set up to have a super awesome fun time. Another one of our classmates negotiated great airfares on Southwest for folks in Bay area - ah, I really do love how resourceful my classmates are.

So far 70 of us are signed up to go on the trip and some of us are taking our significant others along too.

To think - 15 days from now, we will be hanging out in the Hangover suite hopefully with a scotch in my hand. Just the motivation I need to get me through the final stretch!

Now back to my Comms paper.

Light at the end of the tunnel.. and it's NOT the train!

2010-05-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

Not exactly sure how it happened, but I find myself in May, with three weeks of class remaining. The process for bidding for Fall 2010 classes has come and gone, and was actually a rather interesting experience. Being a Cal undergrad, I was expecting something similar to the old “Tele-Bears” phone dial-in system where students used a phone to code in desired classes. Yeah, shows you how long ago I was an undergrad, doesn’t it?

Now, we use a system of point allocation, and I found myself using my years of experience bidding for items on eBay to optimize my point allocation across my classes of interest. It’s actually a fairly equitable system, or perhaps I only think that because I was able to get into the classes that I wanted. Of course, I knew better than to even try for certain classes I knew were going to be popular, such as Prof Ho’s Pricing class and Prof La Blanc’s CFM class.

With bidding now behind us and class schedules set, it’s with a tinge of regret that I see the conclusion of year one fast approaching. I’ll be remaining on the Tuesday/Thursday schedule next fall, a coincidence that the electives I wanted to take happened to fall on these days, I know my fellow Gold cohort members may not be. Hopefully, I’ll still see them on occasion on the days I happen to share class with them, but I that won’t be the case for everyone. I don’t doubt the quality and of the other students I’ll be in class with, and indeed, my fellow non-Gold classmates of 2012 are all great, as are c/o 2011 folks I will share classes with, we have a camaraderie among our cohort that I treasure and will miss.

I certainly feel that our group has coalesced into a tightly bonded group in a way that I did not expect part-time students to. After all, we are all local, have established networks of friends and family, not to mention a full-time job. I did not expect to form such tight friendships with my classmates. Yet only 8 months since orientation, I feel a very tight sense of camaraderie with everyone.

It’s certainly a feeling I hope continues through the remaining time we share here at Haas, and well beyond.

Commencement

2010-05-04T20:09:00.001-07:00

So they call graduation Commencement - because it is really a beginning. Is it the beginning of the end, or just the end of the beginning?

I'm not so good with endings, and I've had a number of comments on my blogs, emails and seen facebook messages that others in the Class of 2010 feel similarly. As I've said previously, I only took 1 unit of classes this semester apart from the Dubai international seminar - so the entire semester has almost been like a slow ending to the EWMBA Program for me. So I've been trying to turn the end of the degree into a number of beginnings.

I'd say like myself, most of my classmates in the EWMBA are typically people who are used to doing 100 different things at once, and very driven and organized people. So suddenly having lots of free time is something I find very difficult - it starts to make me feel a bit nervous. I mentioned to my husband that I might look into studying another Masters degree - I think he nearly divorced me on the spot. I've been trying to set myself other goals so I still feel like I can be productive with my spare time, and have something to work towards. I haven't always been much of an athlete - so running was something I took up this year, and decided to work on - and my goal is to run the San Diego Half Marathon (the Rock & Roll Marathon) in June. The satisfaction of increasing my running distance has replaced the feelings of stimulation and achievement as I studied for exams, or completed assignments. I know the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Class of 2010 set a class goal of completing a half iron man race at 'Vine Man' in Sonoma - so I definitely think its a common sensation for graduating students to replace their studying with other goals.

So - its been very quiet from our 1st and 2nd year bloggers - I guess they're all busy with extra communications classes, studying for final exams and finishing off those final group projects. Good luck to all as the semester draws to a close. Less than 10 days now till graduation!

Almost Done

2010-05-02T22:57:00.001-07:00

3 more classes, 2 more powerpoint decks, 1 VC presentation, and 1 final paper to go. There are less than two weeks left and you can feel the excitement amongst the 3rd years.

One thing you learn in b-school is that there are many paths to the same end. Congrats Deanne! :)

The end is nearing for me too and I am also anticipating the big day. There will be celebrations with family, friends, and the party after graduation is sure to be spectacular – there’s even been mention of Kara’s Cupcakes making an appearance.

However, this journey couldn’t be done without the help of the program office. They’re an awesome bunch and they’ve supported us since the beginning. From planning out our orientation activities to helping us with bidding, to partnering with the EWMBAA, the program office is a firm shoulder to lean on whether we’re asking questions regarding our academic career or wanting to know how we can arrange a social event and reach the masses. They’re creative too – to help us know how people can bring their kids on stage as their name gets called during graduation, they even created a helpful video to demonstrate how it gets done. You guys are the best!

Pomp & Circumstance

2010-04-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well - the final countdown is going on for the Class of 2010 - we're almost there, walking across the stage to receive our degrees. Still hard to believe. My regalia got delivered yesterday - graduation is becoming more real as I look at the black fabric. Final papers are being turned in, exams feverishly studied for, and party plans are being made. I'm looking forward to spending time with my classmates celebrating at the graduation party in San Francisco the day after the ceremony, and at the class trip to Vegas the following weekend. My parents are also flying over from Australia to be there, and I have a celebratory dinner planned with colleagues/friends who have supported me along the way towards completing my MBA. I know many other families are planning various celebrations - its definitely a time of reflecting on all that we've achieved, learnt and got out of the program, and being there with friends from along the way.

Done....

2010-04-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

Wow - I've finally finished.... Is quite a strange feeling, never really thought about what life would be like post-MBA (its hard to image you'll ever be done when you're going through it). I got my final grades - and its such a relieving feeling. So I've been spending my free time catching up on things I never had time to do - finished a metric century bike ride last Sunday, which was an incredible feeling - having time to do all those things I've been putting off.

I've ordered my cap and gown, and am getting all set for graduation, along with all the parties that go along with it.

Time to savor the moment of finally being done!

Relationships

2010-04-14T22:25:00.001-07:00

First, congrats to those who got accepted in Round 1. Well done! I hope you had a great time at the New Admit reception and got a chance to meet some of your future classmates.

There seems to be a common theme this semester as I go through my two classes. The metaphor of relationships appears over and over - almost in every lecture. For example, my Entrepreneurship class talks a lot about the relationship between the founders of a company and their venture capitalist. Our professor refers to the choosing of the right VC and the right company as a courting relationship where the VC may test the entrepreneurs by seeing how they react to them not calling back or how they respond to various demands.

In Pricing, we talk about relationships in terms of signaling. If you lower prices, you may be signaling to your competition and competitors that you mean war. This might serve as a pre-emptive action resulting in the competition not releasing a new product. Likewise, if you demand something from your spouse, your pre-emptive position may get you what your want, or not.

Just think, the things you learn in business school go beyond your business life...they could affect your relationships at home or with a loved one. In any case, the life applications are endless :)

Almost There....

2010-04-05T10:15:00.001-07:00

While most people seem to be writing about their exciting travel adventures during Spring break, I took the opportunity to stay at home, rather than my constant weekend travel to the Bay Area. It was nice to feel like I could get on top of the things that I had been neglecting at home (and procrastinate on homework!). My house had a really good spring clean, which feels great.

Last Saturday I went to my last class, ever. Was a little sad. It was at Santa Clara, rather than Haas, and the class I've been taking this semester is off-set from the regular schedule (its a five-week, Saturday afternoon class for one credit class on Doing Business in China) - so no one else in my class was finishing up this week. So while I smiled with relief at the end of the class, there was no huge celebrations on Saturday. I do still have a final paper to write, due next week, and perhaps after that there will be some celebrations. But I'm looking forward to all the partying with my fellow third year classmates around graduation. And although I'm feeling a little sad about coming to the end of an era, as one of my fellow third-years pointed out, it now means we have opportunities to do all the things at Haas that we never had time for when we were too busy with class - like auditing classes that sound really interesting just for the fun of it, and going to 'Taste of Haas' and other alumni events.

So this week I'm busy working on my final paper, but I'll let you know what freedom feels like next week!

Deanne

Spring break and more...

2010-04-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

Spring break was much needed R&R. Went to Mendocino with the family for a few days. No TV, no Internet, no Cell-phone, no Computer. I think last time I was this removed from the “normal” life for more than a couple of days was when my son was born. Although that certainly did not qualify as R&R :-)

We got a vacation rental just South of Mendocino on CA-1. Here are a couple of pictures taken from inside the house, at 3 AM and 3PM. Breathtaking view, not for nothing is the California Coastline the envy of all and sundry.

Back in the world of fun and frolic things picked up right away. My Comp Strategy group has a Case write up due Wed and am gonna review the case for my Sunday AM meeting as soon as I post this. I also wrapped up one of my 1-unit classes the week before the break. This was my first class with the FT program. Btw, EW students can apply to the classes on the FT schedule and are admitted depending on availability..

On the non-academic front, the EWMBA Association had a kick-off meeting since my last post. And like Tim, I forgot to capture all the energy in the room despite having a camera in my backpack. If you’re curious, there are 8 functional committees in the association which drive various student government activities with the help of the Program Office and the Executive Committee (Pres, VP, et al). Some of these activities are Technology adoption in the program, Communication, Admissions support, Alumni outreach, etc. It was a successful event and a great networking opportunity over some pizzas and presentations.

Six Weeks and counting for the Summer Break. (Although for our third year classmates this is more than your usual break, no?)

Less than 50 Days Away....

2010-03-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have to admit - although I love Haas and Berkeley, every time I get an email that mentions commencement, I get excited and a big smile shows up on my face. We are now less than 50 days away from a most momentous occasion - graduation. The email from the program office reminding us of next steps - go get your cap and gown, make sure we've submitted in the paperwork for graduation - they're coming more often now in my inbox.

This past week of spring break has been really enjoyable. I got to go home after work and although it wasn't a completely homework-free weekend, it was great to not have so many pressing items on my to-do list. I could get used to this.

While I was staying around the Bay Area relaxing during the week, there were Facebook postings from classmates in Brazil whom ventured on an international trip, postings from the Haas team that went to New Orleans (you can follow their experience along with teams from other schools at http://www.theideavillage.blogspot.com), and also some from the Haas team that represented at the Boston University Case Competition (http://casecomp.blogspot.com/).

However, reality is never far away. Yesterday, I spent the day in Berkeley with my Entrepreneurship group enjoying the sunshine and talking about our upcoming deliverable - a presentation and paper sharing our Go To Market and Sales strategies for our business plan.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

A Spring Break Medley

2010-03-24T13:44:00.001-07:00

Spring Break

It's again Spring Break with many (self-included) trying to recuperate. The semester has gone by quickly, but there's still a few more group projects left to go. I might even be able to use some time here efficiently and get ahead on my individual papers. But more likely, I'll just start organizing and get swayed into enjoying the break with my friends and family.

We like to refer to them as the "Haas Widows," given our propensity to get buried in our studies and work.

Some fantastic few have gone on to do special events this week, like helping out with the community in New Orleans (go, Bears!). Unfortunately, in March Madness, our Bears didn't make it past Duke, but they played pretty strong and made a good showing for us and the Pac-10.

Summer!

More importantly, we're already planning for the Summer-- right around the corner-- and it looks to be a full one. I'm setup to take the Seminar in International Business (China). Very excited and looking forward to visiting companies in Beijing and Shanghai with my fellow classmates. Definitely will keep you posted on how that goes! I'm also taking a summer school class when I return, which should pave the way well for a hopefully more relaxed final year. I'm really only half way through things and I'm already nostalgic!

I keep forgetting to take pictures at events, like our EWMBA Committee Kick-off and our recent Poker Night (last Saturday). I'll remember to next time-- I'm just glad I came up net positive last weekend in gambling.

Happy Spring Break, everyone!

Adventures in Atherton

2010-03-14T21:29:00.001-07:00

Every year since entering Haas, I have received an invitation to the Menlo Park Circus Club Alumni Networking Event. During the last two years, I've had class the night the event was held, but this year, I could finally attend without conflict. It's an event that gets sold-out every year and is a great opportunity for alums and current students to mingle based on industry interests. Located in Atherton (a very wealthy town for those of you who many not be familiar with the area), the Circus Club is an elegant beautiful for all of this mingling to take place.

This year, Jagdeep Singh, MBA 90, was the keynote speaker. He co-founded several startups, including Infinera, an optical network equipment manufacturer where he currently serves as Executive Chairman.

Here he is speaking along with a photo of the engaged crowd. If you look closely, you'll see colorful balloon arrangements and colored ribbons under each person's name tag. Since I'm interested in a few areas, my name tag ribbons looked almost like that of a distinguished army general. The ribbons listed our area of interest (e.g. Technology, Entrepreneurship, Biotech etc); the balloons matched the ribbon colors and served as a way for us to find people with similar interests.

I got to meet several alum from Google, Adobe, and Symantec, as well as get to know a few full time students that I hadn't met before. It was a fun evening and it's no wonder it's such a popular event.

May we Live in Interesting Times...

2010-03-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

This has been one heck of week. The current editors (including yours truly) of the eZine, the Haas EWMBA Magazine, bowed out and the new team of Shadab Nazar (1st year) and Amber Ulrich (2nd year) took charge. We wish them all the best! Incidentally Anlei (our fellow blogger) was one of the editors last year before she ran for office :-)

eZine is a collection of events/news/announcements of perceived interest to the EWMBA community and a great source (biased opinion) to keep abreast of what’s happening in and around Haas. It was a thrill-ride editing it last year, and I’m gonna miss those tens of hours spent pouring over articles every week :-(

Another event of note that’s happening this Sunday is the kick-off meeting for the incoming EWMBA Association. The Executive team has been busy planning the event with a tonne of help from the Program Office (a big shout out for Beth, our Director of Student Affairs and Dave, our Executive Director for the EWMBA program). The kick-off represents a unique opportunity where all the EWMBAA Committees get together and formalize the annual goals to improve our overall experience at Haas. More on this next week with hopefully some pictures from the kick-off!

With so many things going on it’s easy to forget that I’m enrolled in 11 credits worth of classes this semester. Yeah, unbelievably I’ve made my most intense Academic Semester at Haas till date. With the eZine work ramping down, hopefully I’ll be able to pull it off. It’s good to see Tim every week in the FIA class and I couldn’t agree more with his take on it. I don’t really have a soft-skill class this semester with Competitive Strategy, LBO, Business Law, Risk Modelling rounding off my course-load. But each of the classes has so far provided some cherished memories. One of 'em which bubbles up is our quiz from Business Law from two weeks ago. Each of us had to pick up a question out of a hat and then answer it in front of the class (I think last time I took an exam like this was in high school). Anyway, I got to babble about the landmark case on Brown vs Board of Education, hahaha.

Before I sign off, can’t help but blurb on the Haas@Work engagement, the details of which are perhaps best left for another post. It culminated a few weeks ago with a team presentation in front of the CTO for a $100B HealthCare Conglomerate! That’s the access you get as a Haas student.

Later…

Golden Memories

2010-03-08T22:03:00.001-08:00

Wow, its great to hear folks talking about the fun of the Operations simulation - ahh, the fond memories that I now have... It seems that perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think I recall (vaguely), the crazy simulation that took over our lives, the urgent conference calls, the people who were waking at all hours to check the simulation and the adrenaline of the sudden changes that shocked us. But now, I look back on it with such fond memories - ahh, that was such a fun class - Terry Hendershott imparted on us so much wisdom, and we had a blast with the beer game (especially thanks to our Anheuser-Busch class-mate, Sean). Its funny how your perspective changes, especially when you're close to finishing.

So I have one-unit left, and suddenly I'm thinking wistfully about the program. All that time that I said, 'I'm going to be done as soon as I can...', I'm now thinking 'Is it really almost over??'. It was fun to be back on campus again this weekend (for the second week), and catch up with some of my Blue and Gold classmates, find out how everyone's winter break went, what classes they're taking, who's had a baby (it seems nearly everyone!) and what people are thinking about post-MBA. Quite a number of people seem to be delaying graduation in order to take advantage of the many career center offerings at Haas during this slow economic time.

I'm taking 'Doing Business with China', which is a fascinating class taught by a retired lawyer who spent many years practicing in China & Japan. We had a very interesting discussion last Saturday afternoon about Chinese negotiating styles and how to work with them if you're from the West. The class runs for 5 Saturday afternoons, and is a really nice contrast to some of the other theoretical classes I've taken, and also a perfect amount of time - 5 weeks is a great introduction to Business in China, but no overkill, especially as I'm not working with China at this time (but do hope to do so again some time in the future).

So now I'm just trying to make the most of being at Haas while I still can, and enjoying the spare time I have (given I'm taking so many less classes than last semester) to catch up with friends and enjoy life.

Cheers

Deanne

How OB Ruled the World

2010-03-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned in previous posts this struggle between paying for "soft skill classes" and focusing on what most people think of as business school (the quantitative finance classes, marketing-specific theory and application, etc.). Our old OB and Leadership (organizational behavior) prof, Frank, used to constantly remind us what Jeff Immelt (GE) said in one of Immelt's visits to Haas. Immelt was quoted saying that his work today as CEO is: "all about OB!" (after looking back at his b-school days and how he scorned OB/soft skill classes)

I've been taking an OB-related class this semester, and it's been a great learning experience. Partly, it's good balance with my other class, which is more quantitative. But most especially because as someone who works full-time as a director, I have been able to apply much of it on a day-to-day basis recently. Our prof, Eli, has kept things interesting and at times, inspirational. I've been able to use the strategic and political/cultural lens at work more and see some things I probably wouldn't have seen before.

It's truly been a wild ride looking at how the OB-aspects relate to my current work-life. While I can't go into all the details, it has been a roller-coaster. But to me, it's been invaluable to take new perspectives and see how we can align everyone in an organization (post-acquisition, post-merger, post-change) to "get things done." I'm nowhere near perfect on this, but in my look back, I sometimes wish I had come back to b-school sooner! It would've been easier to balance things certainly. But then again, maybe I'm gaining more because of the situational aspects.

On a separate note, I am still constantly amazed in my other class that some people seem to have a lot of time, energy (and let's not forget brain-power, my fellow Haasketeers) to devote to some really fantastic and detailed quantitative analyses. Really great stuff-- Kudos to them! I find my team working hard to keep up with the Joneses in that class, but maybe we've been too preoccupied with regular work duties recently. C'est la vie.

Lastly, I think I saw my compadre blogger, Sonny, at Henry's (the local bar)-- while on my way out, last Saturday. If so, we have to arrange a post-class bar visit some time! Anyway, until the next round..

- T

The Simulation Project That Took Over Our Life - Part I

2010-02-28T00:13:00.000-08:00

It started exactly one week ago. We were assigned part one of two of the Operations project which involved running a simulated factory for four days. As the Operations managers of this factory we were required to make a few key decisions in order to maximize the company's revenues. All the teams in the class were competing against each other and the winning team was the one with the highest cash standing at the end of 268 (simulated) days. I don’t want to give away the punch line to those who might do this project in future but just think of the most fun school project you ever did and multiply that by a hundred - that’s how fun this one was.

The competition was intense and it was impossible to stop obsessively monitoring our rank against other teams while the simulation ran from Monday afternoon to Friday afternoon and as the title says, this project completely took over my life this past week. My only consolation, if that, was that everyone else in class was equally addicted.

Apart from being fun, the project also reinforced some valuable lessons such as:

5) Kiwis are very smart birds (the class knows what I’m talking about)
4) Do your homework and plan well
3) Be proactive
3) Do not get too drunk on your position when you are at the top
1) Having the right strategy is way more important than putting in long hours

To RohmHaas & OpsNinjas: Congratulations on a job well done and watch out because we are coming to take away your spot.

To the incoming class: You are in for an absolute treat in the third term. My only advice to you is - pick your teams wisely. More than anything, you need people who will forgive you for making stupid mistakes.

This week we need to complete the second part of the simulation and clearly all the teams are geared up for another round of competition prepared with the insights gained from last week. I can’t wait to see which team will win. Of course, I’m hoping it’ll be mine.

Good luck all!
Sonny

Email Explosions in Entrepreneurship and Sketch Maven

2010-02-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like a new group project to increase email traffic in my inbox. The excitement of coming up with a concept, figuring out the logistics behind each class deliverable - every time I open up my email, there is a long list of unread messages from my group members. That's the nature of group projects in general, but in particular, my group's Entrepreneurship project seems to be generating the most mail.

Inevitably, it seems that every blogger who takes Entrepreneurship at Haas must post about the experience. 'Why' you might ask? In our first class night, our professor told us we would have a C by the end of the course. Ok, not really a C, but a SEE - a Significant Emotional Experience. Yes, it is indeed an emotional rollercoaster.

We're hoping our idea turns out as good as my classmate, Mike Todasco's, idea. Mike founded Sketch Maven - the world's greatest comic art marketplace.

I asked Mike for some advice about starting up a successful business. Here's what he had to say, "When starting a business, if you can, follow your passion. You have many late nights and weekends ahead of you and you might as well be doing something you love. If you can’t do that, make sure you have expertise in whatever area you’re entering. We had Amici’s Pizza founder, Peter Cooperstein, tell us his story in Entrepreneurship class; he was a high-paid MBA who wanted to open a pizza joint. But he had no experience in the field and took a major step back in his career, to work for an hourly wage in various pizza places. He cleaned dishes, made dough, and waited tables for two years to learn the mechanics of running a pizza operation. And probably most importantly, make sure everyone in your household is on board with your decision; you’ll need their love, support, and patience more than ever."

I can definitely agree that we've had some awesome speakers in our class that have also inspired us to think a little differently. More on that another time. Off to go work on my project.

Vacation Hangover

2010-02-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

I know it's too late to be talking about winter vacations and it’s already been a month and a half since our vacation in India ended but here I am - still very homesick. This is the longest vacation hangover I’ve ever had which is probably due to the amount of fun we had in India.

There was a family wedding. Shopping in Bombay. Visits to four different cities to meet our families. A revisit to this small fishing village that I visited for a few summers as a child. And then there was this interesting incident at one of the tiniest airports I’ve ever been to - where we managed to miss our flight even though we were waiting in front of the only door you could go through to catch the flight (long story). Overall very eventful and immensely memorable.

We stopped over in Dubai for four days on the way back from India. We landed in Dubai two days after the opening of Burj Khalifa - which has to be the sexiest building ever in addition to being the tallest. As we were coming down the elevator from the observation deck, I had this realization about myself. I never want to go up another tall building again. They are such tourist traps and it’s always the same boring drill - stand in line to buy tickets, stand in line for the elevator up and then stand in yet another line to come back down. The views are definitely beautiful but in my opinion not worth the effort. I wonder if I’m just turning blaze having done this a few times. Regardless, the Burj is awesomely striking and it was hard to stop taking pictures every time I saw it.

So we got back home on the 10th of January and I had exactly one weekend to relax before school started on Jan 23rd. We have Operations and Finance this term and things are moving fast. Not only did we already finish four classes, we also completed the Operations mid-term last week. The workload is much higher than Fall. Every week we have homework and case preparation and a quiz at the beginning of every Finance class. It’s really tough but I’m learning so much. And our finance professor, who is an excellent teacher and inherently funny, makes the classes something to look forward to every week.

What is easing the course load this time is that we got to pick our own teams and I’ve teamed up with the rest of the Seattle folks which gives us a chance to discuss homework and cases in person - much easier than over phone. To keep up with the increased load we have now started meeting twice a week. With classes all-day Saturday and 3-hour study group sessions two days a week plus full-time work, free time has ceased to exist.

But since this experience is guaranteed to result in a positive NPV (inside joke) - it’s worth it.

Until next time
-Sonny

Poker, Financial Analysis, Improv and beyond

2010-02-17T07:57:00.001-08:00

It's funny how many MBA students take their turn at the poker tables. I wonder if it speaks to negotiation skills, coolness under pressure, or "ability to b.s." No matter the case, it certainly is a fun bonding activity for the group. Perhaps a second career is in the making for some?

On my end, the semester is again in full swing. In Financial Information Analysis class, we've had some fun times analyzing potential investments, from industry/sector and firm analysis down to accounting and financial analysis. Our professor has admirably kept the "numbers" game very entertaining, which is a feat in itself. It's incredible how obviously bad some investments seem, when analyzing in retrospect and finding distortions. I'm sure our whole class hopes it will become second nature and just as easy, understanding the ins and outs, on future investments (good luck).

Last week, in Power and Politics class, we had a special guest from the Groundlings Troupe come and teach us Improv. One of the activities was to get-together and come up with marketing ideas on an assigned "wacky product," only allowing positive feedback to each other (Not allowed to say: "That's a dumb idea." Only: "That is an amazing/stupendous idea!"). Some of the products included: fruit-flavored soup, pets with heads shaped like tools, super-heavy shoes and more. The idea was to use the positive energy and ideas and turn it into fuel for brainstorming further, no matter how crazy the thought. Certainly, some insane but fun ideas came out ("heavy shoes to be marketed to the mob?"). Ultimately, thinking on your feet is a part of everyday business, and it's nice to take a fresh approach with Improv in striving toward that goal.

Also, congrats to our first-round admits for the Class of 2013! Hopefully more blogging to come. Time to stir up the troops. Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's/President's Day Weekend.

- Tim

Congrats Poker Players

2010-02-04T12:30:00.001-08:00

During winter break, some of our classmates went to Caesar's Palace in Vegas to represent Haas at the three day MBA Poker Championship Tournament. Here are some of the guys who joined the tournament.

Many of us watched for status updates on Facebook to see who was still in the game each day.

Congrats go out to my fellow classmates for placing in the top ten each day of the tournament!

Sam Chatterjee - 5th out of 257 on Friday
Farhan Ahmad - 2nd out of 201 on Saturday
Christina Stewart - 9th out of 78 on Sunday
Sam again -10th out of 78 on Sunday

Go Bears!

The Final Countdown

2010-02-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

So I'm now in my final semester, and I thought that at this point I'd be counting down the hours till graduation. But actually, I'm feeling kinda strange about coming to the end. It could also be to do with the fact that I've only got one unit this semester, and it doesn't start until the end of February, so right now I feel like I have a lot of spare time on my hands (well, apart from that Dubai paper that's due in a couple of weeks...). I guess the end of the program seems to be a time of reflection for a lot of folks in the program. As I come towards the finish, and hear about my classmates who are starting new jobs in the summer/fall or contemplating sticking around to try On-campus recruiting, or just listening to everyone's post-MBA plans, its getting me thinking about what I really want with my life..... Does seem kind of strange to be coming to the end. What am I going to do with all my spare time? Previously spare time was only a temporary thing, so I just enjoyed it while I could, but now the thought of all that spare time is making me feel a little anxious. Well, I think it might be time to distract myself in final assignments and my last class.....

The Start of A New Semester

2010-01-18T14:01:00.001-08:00

It sounds like Deanne and Tim had awesome trips. I went to Hong Kong and Macau too and stuffed myself silly with tons of good food, but didn't manage to bump into Tim.

I also finished reading a book during break (something I don't normally do if it's not a book listed in my syllabus for the semester) and to get my car tuned up for commuting this semester.

While the first year evening folks have already been in classes for the last few weeks, my first class isn't until this Thursday. I've signed up for Pricing and Entrepreneurship (and yes, reading our blog has made me realize it's going to be a busy semester). The relaxing part of January is going to be over soon as I start reading case studies again.

Also, as Tim mentioned, we have new executive team members (including our very own Div), so I'm busy planning the upcoming EWMBAA Leadership Appreciation Dinner for last year's hard working volunteers as well as planning for the transition meeting to hand off everything to the new President. It's amazing to think how quickly the last year passed by and how many academic, social, and other events have taken place. I will definitely cherish the memories of being part of the EWMBAA leadership team and hope many of you reading this might consider volunteering once you become part of Haas.

Sleep MPAR'ed (impaired)

2010-01-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a great trip Deanne had over the winter break! Exciting things have been happening, and the International Business Seminars are definitely amazing opportunities. I'm looking into the China trip for this Summer myself.

In the mean time, it has been quite a Winter. I had been swamped in December all the way through with "regular" work. But come January, I spent two weeks in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan on my own having a blast for my first extended vacation in two years.

I did get to meet up with one of my pals from the Haas program out there, as the Haas Finance Club also did a turn in Hong Kong to meet up with Investment Banks like Goldman Sachs and others as part of a joint program with other business schools. Several people interviewed for Summer internships, which are highly competitive.

Here's a pic of me (sporting new glasses made in Hong Kong in less than two days-- how are we not able to do that in the U.S.?) and my buddy, Asad Baheri (our current EWMBA Association Vice President) and his son, Kian, in Taiwan.

Asad joined the Finance Club in their Hong Kong tour before heading over to Taiwan. Several of the Finance Club folks (and myself) also got custom tailored suits in Hong Kong, since they are well-known for fine tailoring at an affordable price and with very fast turnaround (also only took two days). Never know when you're going to need another suit-- and it never hurts to have one custom fitted with your name stitched in the inner lining (grin).

I returned from Asia two days before MPAR started and am now back from our weekend extravaganza. For those of you that are not familiar with it, MPAR is our Haas Mid-Program Academic Retreat-- a Fri thru Sun adventure where we try to put together a lot of the learning from the previous year and a half AND get an opportunity to again meet with our full class (Go, Class of '11!). Simulation exercises in quick successive rounds kept things rolling, and it was great to "party on" at the Seascape Resort in Santa Cruz. The current first-years are definitely in for a treat next year!

To give you a taste of the less formal side of things, many late-night "informal networking events" (read: parties) went on, including poker (big winner: Jimmy Q.-- I broke even basically), and beach bonfire socials (along with glowing, luminescent algae in the area--weird-- people lightly dubbed this phenomenon: "Avatar"). With all the late night events, coupled with jet lag, I totaled roughly 7-8 hours of sleep across the two nights-- though I'm sure there were others who were worse off. The Program Office and our illustrious Frank Schultz (of OB, Leadership and Competitive Strategy fame) pulled off making it a fantastic experience. Maybe Div actually brought his camera and can share some photos later..

Sleep impairment (MPAR-ment) aside-- it was a blast, and I was so glad to see old and new faces. Looking forward to the new semester. Go Haasketeers!

- Tim

International Seminar: Dubai

2010-01-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their winter break, and the second year's are having a blast at MPAR.

I'm sitting in LAX waiting my final connection home from the International Seminar in Dubai. We had a fantastic trip! Below is a photo of the ladies on our trip during our visit to the Grand Mosque in AbuDhabi. When I get more photos from our official photographers (Marissa/TJ) I'll post some more group shots.

The trip took us on company visits to 10 different organizations including the Strategic Planning Department of the Government of Dubai, Unilever Arabia and Emirates National Oil Company. The 20 EWMBA students on the trip all got a first hand view of the effects of the global financial crisis on Dubai and the surrounding Middle East countries. The incredible development that has recently occurred in Dubai is amazing - contrasting the current skyline with the photos from 1990 which showed pretty much sand, was very stark.

The trip was made up of entirely 3rd year students, and before I left, I think I knew about a little over a quarter of the participants. It was a great opportunity to get to know others from the program in an in depth way. We immersed ourselves in the local culture in the evenings after our seminars. On Wednesday we went on a 'desert safari', including four wheel drives, camel rides and belly-dancing. We made good use of the cheap local taxi's to explore the city and its many sights, including the gold and spice souk's, the Jumeria beach area and its spectacular hotels and new 'islands', the Emirates Mall including the indoor ski slopes and the Dubai Mall with an aquarium, a Bellagio-esque fountain show and the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world (for now!).

As well as learn about the local economy, culture and what it takes to do business in Dubai and the region, we also got to put some of the skills we learnt in other classes into practice. We used a lot of negotiation - in the markets, with taxi drivers and quickly found out who in the group we should send in for particular negotiating scenarios. We also used our Pricing skills, when setting our opening bids for items at the markets.

In the coming weeks we'll be putting together a report on our analysis of doing business in Dubai, and an element of this that has an impact on our own companies.

The international seminar was a fantastic experience to top-off my final semester (I can't believe it!) at Haas - I'd recommend taking one to anyone in the program.

Deanne

5 more months

2009-12-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

It's amazing to consider that I've been blogging here for a little over two years now and I have a mere five months left in 2010 before my time at Haas is officially complete. For now, there is talk amongst classmates about upcoming academic trips both in early January and during spring break.

I'm enjoying my time off during winter break and enjoying the freedom from case studies and required reading. Instead of prepping for my upcoming classes, I'm reading a mystery involving theft, murder, and other non-business related topics. However, after the past few years, I find that I'm never really far away from my MBA experience - whether it's seeing a billboard and thinking about how a company brands itself to considering how a piece of news is affecting our economy and inflation - the Berkeley MBA has become such a part of who I am that, although it sounds cliche, I really am a different person now than when I started the program.

In any case, there are only a few days left before 2010 arrives - time to go back to sipping tea and relaxing before the break is over.

Entrepreneurship and Finals

2009-12-09T09:12:00.001-08:00

Alas, while my fellow bloggers were partying at the Xmas Party, my Entrepreneurship Team and I were busy preparing for our VC pitch.

It's finally over now though, as we got to make our way up legendary Sand Hill Rd. to pitch in front of five VCs and our professor (he's part of a VC too actually, so I guess that makes six). That's quite a feeling to go in front of people and try to eloquently make sense of your proposed start-up, but congrats all around to the class's teams who have executed on Monday, and those who will this coming Saturday!

All in all, the class was an amazing learning experience. Interesting to sit in front of this V-shaped table (at the point) and get peppered with questions on the proposal and the small matter of a request for funding. But as a former classmate said to us, "if you don't get questions, you don't have a real case." Nevertheless, I'm sure that the VCs, knowing we were a class, gave us the kid gloves treatment.

Also, further cementing how important relationships are, I was delighted to find that one of the VC's listening to our pitch was an old friend from way back that I hadn't seen in years. He (and I) both have very common names, so I didn't think twice about it until we met in-person. In any case, kudos to the class and the VCs-- the feedback we received from the professor, one of the mentors and the VCs has been invaluable. I remember when one mentor's feedback to us was that our simple logo (see left) was "nice and consistent"-- that's not a good thing to hear as the first feedback point, is it (ha!)? We had our OB-related struggles, alongside working the market research and identifying the proper course of action, but we made it through

I'm sure the advanced entrepreneurship class that Deanne mentioned would be an incredible one too (and have to look into that for next year). I'm just looking to get through one last class and final, and it will be Winter Break smooth sailing. Party on..

Congrats to the new EWMBAA Student Body: it includes my fellow entrepreneurship teammate, Asad, who is the newly elected EWMBAA VP, Hector (Pres.), Rahul (Treasurer) and fellow blogger, Div, as Secretary (as was mentioned in an earlier post, I believe). Looking forward to another strong year-- big shoes to fill, with our incumbent President, Anlei (another blogger), graduating soon.

Good luck on finals, all!

Haas Holiday Party 2009

2009-12-08T01:52:00.000-08:00

Because it is the finals week and there are two group projects to be completed, this'll be a quick one. And since pictures are worth a thousand words anyway I really don't need to blab.

Here are some pictures from the 2009 Haas Holiday Party. The party was fun with great music and a fantastic turn-out. The EWMBA Social Committee did an excellent job organizing the event. Too bad we had to skip out a little early to catch the flight back home.

With fellow bloggers: Anlei Lee & Aaron French.

Class of 2012: Amit Paka, Akash Sah, Ankit Tandon & me.

Girls of 2012

Axe Cohort '12

On another note, I'm so excited for Deanne about her Dubai trip. Coincidently, I'm visiting Dubai for four days this winter as well on a personal trip and two of those days overlap with the days that the international seminar group will be there. Perhaps Deanne and I will bump into each other there - or perhaps she will be busy having too much fun with her group and I'll be too busy going berserk in a gold souk. Hmm. I wonder which is more fun.

Anlei - I beat you to it. ha ha! (We were joking in the party about which one of us will be the first to post the pictures here and as you can see, I won! :) )

It's too late and I need to catch some sleep to prepare for what is turning out to be the hardest week since I started the program.

So good night all!
-S

This post was written while listening to 'Radar' by Britney Spears

The End is Nigh...

2009-12-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a really hectic semester - I can't believe how time has flow and its been so long since I blogged. As for the *it's - I can't believe you guys are planning to commute to Berkeley for 3 years - that's some dedication. I've done it for 2 semesters and its been very tough. I think I've come down with more flu's this year than any other year.

But I have some exciting news - I'm heading to Dubai in January with the international seminar. With the current financial situation there, its is very interesting to be visiting. Not to mention the cool class I'm traveling with. We got together last week for our briefing, and we're all very excited. Working out rooming lists, sharing flight details and discussing the all important - what to pack!

I'm also excited because I've reached the end of my Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA classes. It was tough towards the end, I was at Berkeley till late on Thursday night working on a presentation for Friday with my Pricing team. But we still managed to go out for sushi with the class on Thursday. It was also tough at the end, because it got a little emotional in the class - lots of joy that the intense program was over for the BCEMBA Class of 2010, but also a little sadness. It was a little sad for me because I'd grown close to the class, but won't be with them for graduation or their final dinners etc. They've been a fantastic bunch that I have really enjoyed getting to know, and was honored that they accepted me so much into their class.

The only class I have left is Mergers & Acquisitions, where we have a presentation of our deal pitch on Saturday morning. I also have my Advanced Entrepreneurship group project due Saturday (aka the Customer Development Model). These teams have been so efficient - I think as we're getting towards the end of the program we're all getting really great at this group project process! I thank my teams for all their hard work, and for being such supportive team members. They have been a pleasure to work with!

So, for now, its back down to it - two assignments to go.... But its getting so close to the end, that it is getting hard to focus.

Then after Saturday I have 4 weeks vacation back at home in Australia, before I head to Dubai. I'll still have to read about Dubai, and do a company briefing for the Dubai trip over the next few weeks. But for now it feels nice to think I'm coming to the end and getting a break soon!

Good luck with exams all!

Cheers

Deanne

Confessions of a Workaholic

2009-12-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

"Thanksgiving break has come and gone, but all we know is work goes on!"

It's been a rough semester all around. All in all, I am beginning to think second-year is just as tough as the first-year, but in a very different way. Having to deal with picking courses, class-hopping in the early weeks (if you're like me) and settling into your groove, all with keeping focused over a longer course haul (no more split semester). It has its difficulties. Then again, the actual class time reduction (at least for weekenders.. from 4 hrs/class to 3 hrs/class) does seem to help boost spirits. Then again, I'm sure third-years contend with "senioritis"-- and I can't take away from the first-year shuffle!

Entrepreneurship
Now-a-days, my Entrepreneurship Team is toughing it out, trying to get our business plan ready and prepare for the VC pitch (for the class, but with real VCs, as you'd expect). Even during the Holiday break, we've been attempting to smooth out the rough edges. It's been a fun ride, though I am definitely looking forward to the Winter break. Funny thing is this step would normally just be the start to entering the start-up world. Nice learning lesson for the "next time around," right? :) I'm sure I'll get a chance to let you know how the class-version goes. The ol' saying is that if they don't grill you until you cry, you're not making an interesting pitch!

International Marketing
Still a very interesting class with a very knowledgeable professor and solid guest speakers. Last week around, we actually had a non-profit company (Kick Start, formerly ApproTEC) come in and talk to us about their work in Africa and how they use technology to expand wealth and economy there in practical areas like irrigation. One more written analysis case ("WAC!") to do for a final..

Designing Financial Models That Work
For my only 1-unit course this semester, we have already wrapped up, prior to Thanksgiving. It's a good thing too, with all the hustle and bustle of other classes. It's inspired me to further firm up some of my financial foundational skills. To that end, I've signed up for Financial Information Analysis next semester.

Beyond Class
Definitely a lot of external activities going on, as Anlei had mentioned. At least I'm not having to travel for class like our buddy, Sonny (though she, in typical Sonny fashion, has enthusiastically handled it with super grace and is "working it"). Haas Holiday party is coming up this Saturday too, in fact. Work still has its own challenges, and backing up the bottle during holidays (and then returning to the flood) has its moments.

If that's not enough, some of my Haas buddies and I decided to get our feet wet with a case competition (just started), and I'm trying to plan around two personal trips next year-- they're keeping me looking forward.

Random tidbits again from me, but another "day in the life" so-to-speak.

Until next time.. Good luck with Finals, folks!
- Tim

The Party Doesn't Stop

2009-11-29T14:04:00.001-08:00

If you can pry yourself away from case studies, or if you're a third year and could use a breather from job searching or wanted to try a different approach to networking, the Evening and Weekend MBA Association (EWMBAA) Alumni Committee had just the right event to take a break - bowling.

The committee organized an afternoon networking event for students, faculty, and alumni at Strike Bowling in Cupertino. Here is Evonne sporting her Class of 2011 T-shirt. We enjoyed a fun time hanging out with fellow classmates and as you know, b-school students are highly competitive, so that made things more interesting.

Many of us had heard that Professor Frank Schultz is a good bowler, but he proved it with his score of 135 and his winning the grand prize for the afternoon, a gift certificate to Best Buy. Here he is with his wife Jennifer, whom also happens to be the COO and Senior Assistant Dean at Haas. Yes, Haas runs in the family.

The parties don't stop though. This weekend will be the annual Holiday party. This year, we'll be combining the fun with the full-time and Berkeley-Columbia students too. If you're not exhausted with school, don't worry, the parties just keep on coming :)

Jet-Setting @ Haas

2009-11-24T23:39:00.000-08:00

You commute from where??? Seattle??? Wow - now that's some dedication! How do you do it?

We've all heard it - many times. We usually brush it off - casually. We secretly enjoy the reaction - very much (it still hasn't gotten old). We - are the Haas Jet-Set.

Yes, the constant flying is very tiring. Absolutely exhausting at times. And yes it sucks to miss out on so many cool events that happen at Haas. The Bay Area folks try to tell us it is not such a big deal because they end up not being able to make it to several of these events as well - but it still sucks.

So how do I do it? I have a secret weapon. In fact I have three. My fellow commuters from Seattle: Ankit Tandon, Sumit Garg & Amit Paka - without whom I'd have spent many many miserable hours waiting alone at the airport. And I'm not making this up - all their first names really do end with 'it' which is why it is easier to refer to the three of them as *its.

It is amazing to think that after 13 weeks of commuting this semester which translates to 26 flights, I have not been on a single flight where I was alone. I always had one of the *its travelling with me. Not only is it more fun to have company it is also very economical. We save a ton by carpooling and sharing cabs. We are always looking out for the cheapest flight deals and let each other know when one is available. We also formed a study group that meets weekly to go over homework (that's us below - working on Accounting problems earlier in the day today).

We have jet-setters from other cities too - flying in all the way from from Portland, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and even Minneapolis (wow!). Between all of us I think we have the west coast pretty well-covered.

I have to say - the out-of-state commute is not that bad. Like everything else that's challenging it gets better over time. It also helps to have so many people around me that are going through the same experience.

To the *ITs - I'm so glad you are in the program. Even though you tease me about wearing blue PJs to school, I still think you are cool, fun and smart!

To everyone else - Good night & Happy Thanksgiving!
- S

This post was written while listening to 'Jimmy' by M.I.A.

Freedom, Parties and Elections

2009-11-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

The end of this week marks the end of the semester for me in terms of academic responsibilities. And that is freedom indeed. A little early you ask? Yes, it is a little early. I opted to take two 2-unit classes which meant that my finals and lectures only went through the early part of November. Although it's not viable to do that every semester, I was extremely fortunate to be able to do so this fall because of some 1-unit courses I had taken last year. Once my group paper gets turned in for Competitive Strategy, it will really be time to party.

The week my Managerial Accounting final was taken, I got to celebrate by going to the annual Haas Gala event. This year, UC Regent Richard C. Blum was honored as well as recent Nobel Prize Winner Oliver Williamson. Here I am with my fellow EWMBAA executive team members Amy Daily, EWMBAA Secretary, and Vijay Bhaskaran, EWMBAA Vice-President. Who is that other guy you ask? That's Professor Paul Tiffany, whom has taught all three of us some form of Strategy (yes, it's for his class that I have this 25+ page paper due). Three out of four executive team members this year have been challenged to consider new ideas by Professor Tiffany's teaching. All kidding aside, it's great to be able to mingle with alumni, professors, and other distinguished honorees and guests at the gala event.
As for elections, it's hard to believe that a year has passed since I hit my own campaign trail and ran for EWMBAA President. Now, we're in the process of listening to campaign speeches by new candidates, including our very own blogger Divyang Agrawal. Good luck Div!

Five more weeks?

2009-11-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

Definitely jealous that Anlei got to meet some of our new bloggers. I'm still "out-of-the-loop" in that regard. Hoping to catch them during some upcoming social event at Haas though. It certainly isn't easy, despite the fairly small group we have with all the class and work schedules involved.

November's rolled around and we only have a handful of weeks (four more classes for the 2nd and 3rd year weekenders, given the Thanksgiving Holiday) for the semester.

Since my last post, I've started my third class, "Designing Financial Models that Work." It has been an interesting class on spreadsheeting financials in a way that fosters clearer communication with non-financial resources. Definitely very useful in establishing a clear message that resonates with any audience when making business decisions based on quantitative data. Gave up my Sunday afternoons for this, but our professor keeps things lively and has a lot of enthusiasm on the subject, which is a tremendous boon. I also definitely have learned some new Excel tricks and it's not like I was a newbie there to begin with.

On the work side, I was fortunate enough to visit my U.S. work headquarters in Boston last week during a time with reasonably good weather (50's and 60's-- pretty nice for this time of year actually). Unfortunately, I caught a typical Winter cold on the way back. As always, working around all the dynamics of the Haas EWMBA life is a challenge, but one worth keeping pace with!

Now, people are starting to commit to running for EWMBAA student body positions for the new year. We're excited to see the new batch of representatives to keep Haas running strong-- the way we expect it to! Good luck to our new candidates. Lastly, we're all beginning to look at the Spring 2010 bidding process for electives, and another round of new classes. Here's looking at the holiday season in full swing.

Cheers,
-Tim

Meeting the Bloggers

2009-11-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

It's sometimes funny that I feel like I learn more about my fellow bloggers via the blog than in person. With different schedules and not necessarily being on campus at the same time, it's great that we can get connect by reading one another's postings.

A few weeks ago, I met first year blogger Aaron French. Aaron was chatting with one of my friends in the courtyard just before classes started and we were introduced to one another. I still need to check out the Sunny Side Cafe to find out what Aaron is cooking up - literally.

At the Halloween party held at the Gallery Lounge in SF a few weekends ago, it was really cool that first year blogger Sonny Chinthamani came up to me and said hello. Here we are sporting both acceptable attires for the evening.

It was great to catch up with folks outside of campus for the evening and we had a festive group as you can tell....

Staying on Target…

2009-11-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

Without any time off to catch our collective breaths between 10-week courses, I and my fellow first years are now 4 weeks deep into our second set of classes. The transition has been a bit rougher than I expected. We had just endured our first ten week courses, turning in our Microeconomics group paper on that last Tuesday, taking our Micro final that Friday, then threading the needle on the Saturday 5pm deadline for the Organizational Behavior paper. It was an intensive week for everyone, and no sooner had our collective exhale left us, we were back in class for Wave 2.

One of the first things I did when handed the syllabus for the Accounting and Marketing courses was to consider the papers and midterms each class would have in store for us. And I was rather happy when I noticed nothing substantially time-consuming for either class. Just some problem sets and case reading.

Now, four weeks into these classes, I’m realizing the value of having something to study towards. Additionally, not having a mid-course marker to judge my progress, I’m now well into the course without a firm grasp of how well I’m doing in each course.

Without a midterm to focus studying energies towards, I’ve found myself spending less time hitting the books, and more time catching up with work and other diversions (My PS3 has gotten some heavy usage of late, I’ll admit). Still, I know it’s just a matter of time before the group projects start kicking in to high gear, and I’ll once again find myself buried beneath an avalanche of homework and “real” work. And once again, it’ll be a scramble to complete our group projects while trying to deliver work products during my company’s business time of the year. It’s ironic that the two of the busiest times of the year for work are in May and December, coinciding with finals. Something that no doubt will prove challenging in the years to come.

Well, at least now, I have something else to look forward to at the end of this current 10 weeks. I’ve just booked tickets for a 2-week excursion to Japan! This will be my first time ever to Japan, and I’ll be doing nothing but visiting friends, sampling the food, seeing the sights, and generally doing everything but thinking of work and school. I can’t wait!!

>play conference

2009-10-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I attended Haas' Digital Media and Entertainment Club's annual >play conference. I've been hearing about this event since orientation and didn't have the chance to go the last two years and with my effort to make the most of my last year, I was not going to miss this one!

I signed up to be a >play volunteer which entitled me to a free shirt and free admission (nice perks). There was a lot on the agenda from keynote speakers to multiple panels and more. This conference, like so many others at Haas is organized entirely by students. One aspect I particularly enjoy is that it's an opportunity for the Evening-Weekend and Full-Time programs to get together and mingle informally.

During breaks from the panels, many students went to the expo (first of its kind in the history of >play), an interactive playground and exhibit hall where firms demonstrated some of their new games, products, and disruptive technologies. During lunch, we also had access to the >play career fair where we had the opportunity to talk to representatives from companies like Zynga (maker of the ever popular MafiaWars and Farmville), Sybase, and Yahoo!, among others.

Although I didn't get to attend the keynote speakers (volunteering during those sessions), I did get to check out the keynote panel (featured in the photo on the right) titled 'The Monetization Game.' They explored business model innovation through the lens of the gaming industry. Douglass Perry, the moderator, facilitated the discussion with Neil Young, CEO of ngMoco (maker of games for the iPhone and iPod touch), Kai Huang, Founder of Guitar Hero, and Peter Moore, President of EA Sports. It was an awesome discussion about the future of consoles, downloads, mobile games, subscriptions, and more (yeah, I'm a little geeky).

The day ended with a cocktail reception and time to catch up with some old friends. I am so glad I didn't miss this chance to check out >play and I can always come back next year as an alum :).

An ethical MBA

2009-10-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a great month for Haas – the Nobel Prize followed with a new #1 (North America) ranking from The Economist. At the same time, MBA programs in general are increasingly coming under fire for not doing enough to teach proper business ethics. In the popular press, at least, the MBA degree is becoming synonymous with "Me Before Anyone."

As a Haas student, I'm proud to say that this isn't the sentiment I've experienced in the program so far. In fact, it's been quite the opposite. My experience has been one in which the ethical dimension is pervasive, almost assumed, but never ignored.

To get a deeper understanding on where my feelings were coming from, I asked Professor Jo-Ellen Pozner, an expert in organizational ethics, to weigh in on the issue.

Dr. Pozner responded that while she thought that ethics in MBA programs was a critically important issue, “we at Haas have been talking about it for far longer than the span of the current economic crisis. In fact, ethical leadership is one of the core values at Haas.”

Pozner elaborated:

Situated at Berkeley, which has been actively concerned with ethical leadership for decades, the culture at Haas cannot but reflect the larger environment in which we operate.

Thus several of the core values at Haas reflect this commitment: confidence without attitude, not accepting the status quo, serving something larger – each of these values defines the culture which governs all faculty and student interactions, and are simply a part of “the way we do things” here.

As I said, this has been clear to me from the beginning. This is in stark contrast to what is being reported about other MBA programs across the country. For example, a recent CNNMoney.com article lists a suite of top schools changing their course offerings in response to current events. But not Haas – at least not this time around.

A little digging led to an article titled “Crisis in Corporate Ethics Becomes Top Priority for UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business,” from the Ascribe Higher Education News Service. The most interesting part of the article was the date: September 2002.

The article began: "Because of the widening ethics scandals that have rocked corporate America over the past year, the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, is launching a major expansion of its already significant activities in the area of corporate social responsibility and business ethics..."

Finally, I would comment that although these core values don't directly result in high rankings nor Nobel Prizes - perhaps they should. I personally feel that while rankings definitely played a role in my decision to apply to Haas, it is this simultaneous commitment to both excellence and responsibility that makes me most proud to be a Haas student.

Just Midterms

2009-10-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

I empathize with the first-years-- pretty tough with the cycle of fast-moving classes crammed together. I think I remember telling them to "enjoy their Summers" when we did welcome calls to new students. Now, I'm sure they're hitting the grind, but excelling nonetheless. Pretty amazing what you can do when you put your mind to the task. And certainly, the Class of 2012 is nothing short of amazing.

As for me, we just had a midterm in International Marketing, which was primarily a full written case analysis-- or as Prof. Azhar likes to call 'em, a "WAC"! The fun part is that as you dig into cases, they get more interesting and complicated. Whether it be distribution channels, marketing programs, pricing decisions, and questions about standardizing versus adapting to local markets, it keeps us on our toes.

No midterms for entrepreneurship. On that end, it just seems like a steady stream of deliverables, research, updates to the business plan and presentations. Definitely feel like you get the full business experience with it though. I'm sure my team would agree that we're meeting almost daily-- no easy matter when work, other classwork and extracurricular activites are involved. For those that say the 2nd year is easier, I'm not so sure just yet. Anlei reminds me that maybe it's tough to take entrepreneurship first up on electives. Still, I can't help but feel that it gives you a solid, round picture of building a business and see it as a nice first step (leap). Our foray is into CleanTech, which is a new industry to most of our team, further complicating the matter.

On the flip side, November is the month where my 3rd class kicks in, and it's steadily approaching. I'm sure that'll add to the mix. And, we just started registration for the Mid-Program Academic Retreat (MPAR), so it's right on the horizon (Jan '10). But, the exposure to the team and the learnings involved have been well worth it.

Full steam ahead, everyone! I'm looking forward to the holidays and "fattening up" for the Winter.
-T

I'll Sleep Later

2009-10-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

This has been an exciting week for Haas in terms of awards and accolades. Professor Oliver Williamson won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. It's been 15 years since our last Haas Nobel Prize Winner, so it's amazing to be here as this is announced. Perhaps the best part is that he gets his own parking spot on the central campus (great perk). NL stands of course, for Nobel Laureate.Then later in the week, the Economist ranked Haas the #1 b-school in North America!

Both of these items are creating wonderful buzz on twitter and facebook as well as other channels, and I'm sure they're of great interest to the new admits that were at last Saturday's Diversity Workshop hosted by the Admissions Committee. Two of us from the Evening weekend program, two from the Full-time program, and one from the Berkeley-Columbia Executive program joined together for the student panel and answered some of your most common questions. The day had a full agenda including a case study, our student panel, lunch with current students, an alumni panel, and more. One thing about Haas that is really cool is that the students get involved in giving back to admissions and volunteering in other ways. For those of you interested in going to another workshop, there are two more coming up before the end of the year - the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender workshop and the Women's Workshop. More details can be found here: http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/community/diversity_workshops.html and sign up info is located here. You might even see a familiar face/name in the video about the workshops. I can say that I have a new respect for newscasters and other people who need to speak on camera.

In any case, the next few weeks of my life are fairly full. Like Deanne, I feel like I'm running around a lot; though not quite as far reaching as Deanne's travels, I'll be traveling a lot throughout the Bay Area and will be in Berkeley at least four times in the upcoming week- thank goodness for my parking pass. The third year is good with more time to go on campus to do some of the things we haven't had a chance to do, but at the same time, the trade-off is less sleep, but I'll make it up later - probably during Christmas break.

Life in the Fast Lane

2009-10-16T18:00:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back on campus for Berkeley-Columbia classes for 3 days. Life feels like its wizzing by pretty fast right now for a few reasons: firstly, this week has been crazy, between work, travelling to Berkeley, assignments due, attending classes its been very hectic. Secondly, I feel like I'm travelling a lot - out to the field for work, up the I-5 to Berkeley for classes, down to Santa Clara tomorrow morning for my M&A class and back to Berkeley for a BCEMBA class in the afternoon in entrepreneurship, over to New York in a few weeks for the next block of BCEMBA classes - and most excitingly, I got into the Dubai international seminar in January, so I've been planning my travels to Dubai in the past week. The third reason that life is wizzing by, is that I have 8 weeks left in the semester - my last semester of formal classes - wow how time flies.

So my advice to Tony and the other first years is - celebrate early and often! Celebrate all the small wins you can along the way, because you're going to need that to keep momentum. But also, I felt as relieved, happy and excited finishing my set of mid-term exams as I do now that I'm getting to the end of the program - its all relative!

Right now I'm on a break in entrepreneurship with Steve Blank - we're looking at the concepts of building a customer base for a new start-up, and have just heard from guest speak Sean Ellis who was the VP of Marketing for LogMeIn. I'm looking forward to a relaxing Friday night dinner following class, and catching up with my husband for a change.

Only the beginning...

2009-10-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

Whew! Those first ten-weeks, and along with them our first two courses, have flown by faster than I would have expected! At the same time, I feel as if I’ve been back in school for a year. Even back at week five, after we’d taken our first midterm, I recall thinking that my weekly schedule of making the trek to Berkeley from the Peninsula had become so routine, I barely think twice about it.

Additionally, I feel as if I’ve known my classmates for a long time. Some of that stems from Orientation, where the program staff put together a great weekend that got everyone mingling and sharing. I do think that my classmates have made a concerted effort to get together as often as possible though, whether it be after class or at a weekend picnic, we’re all very eager to get to know one another.

The camaraderie definitely helps make classes go by more quickly. There have been times when we were all feeling the pressures of balancing work, life, and school. Around week eight when two group papers and a final were looming over us, it also seemed as if work was coming to a head for many of us with the 3rd Quarter close rapidly approaching. So far though, I’ve not had to put the rest of my life on hold. Nor, does it seem, have many of my classmates. That said, it was nice to have a few days off from reading, homework, or group projects to prepare ourselves for the next wave.

I know though that I’m getting really far ahead of myself in congratulating myself for finishing the first 10 weeks, which essentially is what… 1/12th of the entire program? And in the infamous words of a few of the 2nd and 3rd year students I’ve spoken to, I know it’s only going to pick up. “It hasn’t even started yet” and “Just wait” are only a few of what I’ve heard spoken. So I have no doubt that while it’s felt very manageable to date, that will be changing very shortly.

The Best Feeling

2009-10-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

Remember the high you get after the last exam of the semester? I have it now and it feels good.

I turned in my Microeconomics (ME) final take home last night and submitted the final paper for Leading People (LP) this afternoon. This officially concludes Fall Term-A.

So what did we learn? We learnt that even people who make completely crazy choices are considered to be rational as long as their preferences are complete and transitive - that's from ME. The LP class taught us that if you are not deliberate about building the culture within your organization, then the culture builds itself - and this is usually bad, m'kay? Of course we learnt much more than that thanks to our brilliant professors – Nancy Euske (LP) & Shachar Kariv (ME). We’ll miss you!

On top of that, our cohort got the weekend off – which means no flying today. Awesome, right? Today was supposed to be the in-class finals day. But since LP does not have a final exam, our ME prof gave us an option to go with a take home exam instead of an in-class exam. No guesses for what we chose.

I can feel a huge sigh of relief rippling through my entire cohort and from Facebook, I know exactly what they are thinking. Here’s what some of them had to say today.

Ankit says ‘The feeling after finals is incredible! Loving an awesome Saturday in Seattle :-)’
[Ankit is a fellow Microsoftie who also commutes from Seattle. I will write more about how we coordinate our travel arrangements in a later post.]

Lahary says ‘It feels good seeing the kids swim after all these weeks :) I'm realizing how much I miss my Saturdays…’
[Lahary is a Senior Program Manager at HP and has two kids aged five and three. She will forever have my admiration for the amazing job she does of juggling work, family, kids & school]

Sandeep says ‘Final OB paper and micro-econ finals done! Leaving civilization and driving towards the coast for some RnR at some BnB. Should I go north to Mendocino or go south towards Cambria. How indifferent am I towards them? What is my budget and can I use mixed Nash here. Darn, I need to get micro [out of] my head…’
[Sandeep is a Project Lead at Cisco and as you can see he already drank the ME kool-aid. You do us all proud, Sandeep!]

To my cohort, I have only one thing to say to you tonight - Enjoy the free weekend, Over-achievers. You deserve it!

I hope the rest of you are making the best of this weekend as well – and while you do that, I’m going to go watch the Netflix movies that have been laying unwatched all week.

Good night!
- S

This post was written while listening to ‘Blame it’ by Jamie Foxx

Hello World!

2009-10-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm Sonny and I'm new.

I'm going to walk you through the week I just had which was eventful to say the least.

It began with an invitation from Molly Kihanya (Senior Associate Director for EWMBA admissions) to join the Blog Squad which I obviously jumped on immediately. The first thing I did after joining the team is start reading blog posts all the way from the first one dated September 2007. I'm about half way through now and what really amazes me is how different each person's experience is even though we are all going through the same program. That's EWMBA for you - it is what you make of it. So that was Monday.

On Wednesday, Molly set up an information session for Berkeley Part-time MBA programs at Microsoft campus in Redmond (oh btw - I live in Seattle, work at Microsoft and commute on weekends to Berkeley for classes). I was on the student panel. Lots of people (around 30-40) - which means there is a lot of interest in the Haas programs - which meant lots of questions. Last year I was one of the people asking the questions - so it felt really good to be on the other side. I wish I hadn't forgotten to take pictures which I was planning to post here.

Then came Thursday when I found out that I'm going to move into a people management role at work. The only reason I don't want to say I'm super-excited is because of how overused that word is at Microsoft. So let's just say I'm super-duper excited. And could the timing be more perfect? I just finished the Leading People class also known as Org Behavior.

Speaking of the Leading People class, we had our final project presentations in class on Saturday. For the project we were asked to audit an organization (any organization), analyze a problem they are currently facing and then come up with recommendations to address the problem. The best part of the project for me was working with my team. It was amazing how well we got to know and adjust to each other's working styles given that we were all strangers when we first started seven weeks ago. Also - I completely agree with Aaron that the first term went by way too fast. You are probably tired of hearing how quickly the time flies when you are juggling work and school - so I won't say it (but it really does!)

Sunday was spent falling in and out of sleep in front of the TV - which helped me become human again.

I hope your week was as fun as mine was.

Until next time...
-S

This post was written while listening to 'I Gotta Feeling' by Black Eyed Peas.

Finals are here. Wow....that was fast!

2009-10-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

As a first year EWMBA student, I didn't really know what to expect from my first semester. I knew it would be busy, and tough....but what does that mean, really?

In our first year, we have 4 courses in the Fall and four more in the Spring. To make this work, we have two classes from Aug - October. My finals and class projects are all due this week. And then next Tuesday, we start two more classes which continue until just before Christmas.

The first half of this semester I was certainly busy. But I should be honest and tell you that I said, more than a few times, "Well, I'm busy but it's not quite as hard as I thought it would be."

I've stopped saying that now.

As my first two classes draw to a close, and all the deadlines became more real, I've had to shift myself into an even higher gear. And while the classes are intellectually and conceptually challenging, it is the pace of the material that is the greatest obstacle.

It's also been interesting experiencing how everyone in my cohort is dealing with their different work schedules. Every job has its own rhythms and deadlines, and we can only hope that these line up with the slower weeks of the MBA program. Some students sigh with relief when they pass an important work milestone, knowing they will have some breathing room in the weeks ahead. Others dash into class late muttering under their breath "...I got so slammed today at work - how am I going to make it through the night?" This work / school dynamic is an integral part of the EWMBA experience and I must say brings a new layer of relevance to the class material. We're all so busy that if the class doesn't engage us 100%, we'll make it known.

I need to get back to my network analysis paper. Next time I'll be writing about the business of ethics (and the ethics of business) here at Haas.

Power, Influence, Dating

2009-10-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks and weekends have felt like a whirlwind. So much has happened.

There was the usual work, sleep, and commute. And on the weekends, I found myself in Berkeley for a plethora of events. I went to the Building Your Brand seminar (Great stuff!) and walked away with a ton of things to do to help manage my brand.

As President of the Evening and Weekend MBA Association (EWMBAA), I, along with my fellow executive team members, hosted the Mid-Year EWMBAA Leadership Meeting (photos here at: http://www.haasewmbaa.com/). The meeting was packed with presentations from the Executive Team, Haas Alumni Network, and EW program office, followed by a breakout session where we ate yummy cake, and then more presentations by each committee to share their upcoming goals and plans for the fall semester.

And then last weekend, while juggling studying for midterms (yes, it's midterm time already for some of us), I attended another Leadership Development Series seminar. At this point in my time at Haas, I may be trying to soak up everything I can before graduation in May. This is no time for regret - I'm going to make sure I don't miss anything! This seminar was taught by Professor Cameron Anderson, one of the top professors in the area of Organizational Behavior. Cameron Anderson spoke about Power and Influence and discussed topics about scarcity and reciprocity. When things are scarce, we have a tendency to want it more. One study he mentioned tested toddlers who were given two equally desirable toys. However, once one toy was placed under plexi-glass, that toy became more desirable and these were toddlers who could only crawl - they couldn't even walk or speak. We had an interactive exercise where we discussed more concepts that affect our influence, and of course, one student asked whether or not these concepts worked outside the work world - specifically when dating. And fortunately for us, many skills are transferable. Indeed, these things do work when it comes to dating.

So for all you single folks out there, remember, business school concepts can be used in multiple facets of your life. Now doesn't that make it a particularly worthy investment? :)

Saturday in the Park

2009-09-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well - semester is well and truly back on, and everyone is busy as usual. Tim - I'm very jealous that you were at Taste of Haas, and I hope to meet up with Aaron some time - great food is one of the things that I'm very passionate about, and right now I'm tossing up between starting my assignment that is due tomorrow for leadership or baking some cookies... hmmm.. procrastinating. That is one of the down sides of being an out-of-town EWMBA'er, is that there is so much going on at campus and beyond that its difficult to get to. But I have to contrast that - when I was a local Evening MBA'er, I often couldn't make extra-curricular events because I was in a class, or studying for class, or catching up on sleep!

So this week I was back on campus for Berkeley-Columbia classes, and it was my first Saturday at Haas that coincided with the regular EWMBA Saturday classes. So it was fun to experience the Saturday feeling - eating lunch (which was provided!) in the courtyard, and chatting with old friends for an hour. The weather was great, and it was nice to have some time to chill out on campus for a change. I also spent some time back in my favorite armchairs in the library finishing assignments - it seems there's always something due.

Next Saturday I start Mergers & Acquisitions - so I hope to meet up with Div. I have the morning at Santa Clara - my first time out there, so hopefully I don't get too lost, or caught up in the security there. Feels like being in first year again - not knowing where to go, not sure of the protocol etc. I'm flying up to Berkeley for the day - so have a flight at the crack of dawn, and will be back home in time for dinner.

The other exciting news for this week - the winter international seminar trip to Dubai has been announced and is open for nominations. A lot of third years are very excited about the trip - so hopefully there's enough spots for all of us. I'm looking forward to spending some time with old friends.

Well - see you all at Santa Clara on Saturday!

Deanne

Guest Speaker Heaven

2009-09-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hmm.. not sure if that subject title could be misconstrued. But anyway..

It's been a whirlwind few weeks in the new semester. As I mentioned in a previous post, numerous guest speakers in both of my classes. It's definitely kept us on our toes, but has been really intriguing to see how entrepreneurs and established C-level folks have done it.

In the past six weeks of class, we've had visits from:

Two Venture Capitalist Partners from Norwest Ventures (each with a plethora of experiences in the start-up world, and in executive management themselves)
A visiting professor from UC Davis Graduate School of Management, who spent many of his formative years with Disney Imagineering and his own start-ups
The head of InfoSys Consulting (Stephen Pratt), and
President of Yum! International (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.), Graham Allen

What is striking is that each have some strong similarities:

Ambition. That has to be a given for most of the high-risers in the business world.
Innate curiosity - aspirations to do something innovative and to push the limits.
That "track record of success" in their previous experiences. Not to say every venture was successful, but specifically, that they showed the drive and willingness to work on and improve upon everything they did and do.
Never forgot that they surround themselves with great people who are a big part of their achievements (build teams of smart people who complement their skills)
An incredible sense of groundedness ("down to earth"). Not only did they get their hands dirty to learn about their industries (and others), but they remain even-keeled despite their successes.

I'm sure there's much more to dig into properly, but for now, this'll have to suffice. Have a great week.
-T

Back and trying to get over the first year hangover...

2009-09-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

It’s officially autumn and we’re already a month into the fall term for the 2nd/3rd years. And I thought 1st year flew by :-)

I am a 2nd year student, used to be a Gold (Tue/Thu) last year although this year I have a combination of evening and weekend electives. Part of the reason for my switch is that work has become more hectic and I can’t take off early as often. I work with a South Bay based Hi Tech company as an engineer/technical manager. Another factor for this transition was that during the 1st year I found myself missing more than a few events during the weekdays. I am hoping to alleviate this with my weekend classes this fall.

Taking 4 classes in the fall, although it’s still a net of 6 credits. The good part is that the classes are staggered so that at no point of time I have to manage all four simultaneously. In fact I’ve only been balancing managerial accounting past few weeks. M&A and Risk Management start next weekend while Designing Financial Models won’t start for another 4 weeks.

I have also been involved in a few extra-curricular activities at Haas since my first year. I am a co-chair of the EWMBAA communications committee and am one of the editors of the eZine, the EWMBA newsletter. While I was apprehensive about whether I’d be able to manage this additional involvement during 1st year, in hindsight it was great to be a part of the thriving EWMBA student government. Folks involved in this effort work hard to make our experience as EWMBA students better. My colleagues find time from their busy lives and drive initiatives to improve our experience as Haas students, whether it’s academic or social or technological or …you get my drift. EWMBAA elections are around the corner and my suggestion to the first years is to try and get involved. At the very least, see if you can volunteer for one of the committees.

In one of my previous posts I promised to compile my top-n experiences from the 1st year. Here’s my top5 aha moments from the 1st year, in no particular order.

Communications Class: Experience of a life-time! This two-Sunday class was an ice-breaker and helped our cohort really connect with each other. Prof Rittenberg and his GSI’s were great.
Workshops: Haas Career Services organizes more than a hundred workshops over the course of an academic year. Some of these are soft-skill workshops (work-life balance) while others are hard-core quant/excel domain workshops like “Training the Street” focused on financial modeling for valuation/LBO/M&A etc.
Parties/Henrys/Jupiter/Bennigans: Our cohort had an end-of-the-year party in the city. Good old-fashioned bar-hopping/clubbing through the night. At various times we sneaked out to Henrys during the class break. Or shared a laugh after class in the South Bay shuttle and finally ended up at Bennigans at 11 in the night after a long day. Work hard, play very hard!
Course Projects: Almost half of my first year courses had group projects. Good opportunity to work with a diverse set of smart people. We accomplished a lot but more importantly built long lasting relationships.
Not just surviving, but smelling the roses: Work, school(academics+extracurriculars), partying, family(first-baby!), I’m glad to have not just survived, but enjoyed every moment of it.

…until later,

Div

New Haas student, new Life@Haas blogger

2009-09-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

It’s a very interesting time to be a new MBA student. We just passed the one-year anniversary of the date Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The effects of the events surrounding that day are still reverberating through the world’s economies, and many fingers have been pointed at the MBA creation process as part of the problem.

I just started the Evening and Weekend MBA program in August, and I’m halfway through my first two core courses (out of the eight we’ll take in the first year). So far, it’s been a great experience – with a pervasive sense of integrity and quality coloring all the classes and events I’ve attended so far.

My classmates in particular are a great bunch. It’s been a pleasure getting to know them over orientation, in my classes, and particularly through the group projects that are a central part of the curriculum. My background is slightly different from most of my cohort – but I have found everyone to be extremely open and excited by the various types of diversity present at Haas.

I applied to Haas in “Round Two” this winter and was accepted over the summer, which now seems like a world away. To anyone who is reading this blog looking for tips regarding the application process, I can only say: just be yourself. Sure, make sure your GMAT numbers are in the right range and all that other jazz. But beyond that, focus on making your application a true reflection on what makes you special and interesting.

As a first year student, I am often asked: Why an MBA? I am a bit of an outlier in my cohort. I am Executive Chef of The Sunny Side Café, overseeing our location in Albany on Solano Ave. and now opening a second location in Berkeley on the edge of campus. Previously, I worked as a research ecologist specializing in tropical ecology – during which time I studied for a Masters in Ecology at San Francisco State. The focus of my MBA is to bring these experiences together with an emphasis on sustainable business.

Everyone in my program appears to have a busy home and work life. For me, that means caring for my new daughter Pearl (11 mos old), working on my first book about sustainable food, and making time to spend with my wife Jenny.

OK, it's back to work for me. Tonight is dedicated to the group projects I mentioned (while my daughter plays at my feet).

Come back next week, and I'll let you know how it's going.

Busy week, new bloggers & a "Taste of Haas"

2009-09-14T17:17:00.001-07:00

Wow! Deanne has a crazy schedule. Now, I don't feel so bad with my 7 units.

A big thank you to those of you who applied to become first-year bloggers-- you're all a very talented bunch. It was a tough decision, but we welcome in three new first-year bloggers: Aaron French, Tony Hung and Sonny Chinthamani. I'll let them introduce themselves.. (coming soon)

This week has been a fairly hectic:

Sunday: Sent out notices to blogger applicants (again, big thanks!). Went to church. Afterwards, went to a few Napa wineries and ate dinner out there with my wife (family time is important). Great time out there..!
Monday: Work - including preparations/logistics for new people joining my team (good to grow). Afterwards, volunteered at CityTeam (a nice organization that helps feed the homeless out in Oakland). 10:30pm teleconference with Entrepreneurship project team to plan for this week's work. Drafted slides for homework.
Tuesday: Work. Went to join some friends coordinating a multi-faceted "appreciation" event for the upcoming Sunday. Went home at 10pm to do some homework reading.
Wednesday: Work (yes, we are EWMBA'ers). Afterwards, went to the Alumni-sponsored "Taste of Haas" Event: "An evening celebrating the finest of Bay Area food and wine offerings with fellow Bay Area Haas alumni," held at the SF Williams-Sonoma store this year. Many wineries (Peju, St. Supery, etc.), restaurants and food providers.
Today/Thursday and Friday: Work (getting the picture?). Plan to meet with Entrepreneurship Project Team again. These are the only nights to catch up on homework this week.. I miss Friday nights already again..
Saturday: Classes 'til 4pm (better than 6?). Meet with International Marketing project team. EWMBA Student Association meeting afterwards. Final logistics for the aforementioned "Appreciation" event on Sunday night..

As you can see, it's still pretty busy like first-year. However, a lot of the load is at least in part, self-inflicted in the second year. It's definitely continued to be fast-paced from the start. But hopefully, I can get focused and get down to it. Deanne reminds me that it could be worse, plus some of my fellow project mates are traveling all over the place, so no complaints! I definitely send my appreciation to project mates who have been patient and supportive during the busier times.

Here are a few more pics from "Taste of Haas" for your enjoyment. A couple of classmates (Chris Parkerson, Hali Burbige) and me; Squid salad, shredded beef sliders, and samosas were just a few of the tasty treats we enjoyed.

Enjoy!
- Tim

The 1/8th Mark (of Year 1)

2009-09-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

Week five is officially done! Or as I like to think about it, the first half of the first class of the first semester is completed! A small (okay, tiny) accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, but an accomplishment to be sure. I and my fellow classmates have survived the initial onslaught, the unknown, which really was a large part of the anxiety before school started.

Sure you can speak to current and former students, read blogs and articles on how difficult (or easy) the work/life/school balance is to maintain, but until you get a taste for it yourself, it was this vast unknown. I knew was going to shape my life for the next three years, but in what way it would shape it, I didn’t even have a clue. I just knew what everyone told me: It was going to be rough.

With a fair number of classes under my belt, I now feel myself settling into a rhythm. Tuesdays and Thursdays do prove to be very long days, but classes are not so frequent or so long as to be completely exhausting. I don’t want to understate how large of a time commitment it has been… two nights a week in class, several more nights studying, and the occasional Saturdays, but it has been manageable.

It has helped that the professors actively work together to ensure that there have been no overlapping deliverables/midterms, a true testament to how thoughtful they are when it comes to understanding that we are balancing full-time jobs, friends, families, and a life.

I know the work-load will only get heavier though. Thus, while I’m still at a point where I am comfortable with the balance of time between school versus everything else, I know that challenges lie ahead as group projects starting to ramp up, and time-commitments needed for teams increase.

Who Am I? What Am I?

2009-09-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not exactly having an identity crisis, I sorta am. I decided to sign up for a Leadership Development Series Workshop titled: "Stand Out: Build Your Brand." It's being taught by William Arruda of Reach Communications Consulting.

To prepare for the workshop, participants have been asked to fill out a survey and send the survey to peers, friends, coworkers, and family to identify our brand traits to help create a profile. One of the questions asks - if s/he were a car, what type would s/he be and why?

All of my respondents haven't completed the survey, but there is a strong leaning towards various dependable Japanese sedans, some with leather seats (as noted by some respondents). I'm looking forward to finding out how all of this fits together when I take the workshop. For now, it's certainly a fun conversation topic and something to ponder.

Game Day!

2009-09-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

Berkeley was consumed by the energy of the first football game of the year today. Given I had a midterm review session scheduled on-campus Saturday though, I had a convenient excuse to head to campus to join in the festivities.

As an undergrad, I would have shied away from the chaos and crowds associated with a football game-day. It was just another event on-campus, after all. I took it for granted that there would be another game next week, or perhaps next year. Now though, commuting to campus takes much more of an effort.

Also, I get the sense that football games were not as large of event on-campus those days. While still stirring up an air of excitement, it seems to me it was on a smaller scale. It’s true that I’m now surrounded by people who are much more passionate about the game than I was before, and I’ve followed Cal football for a much longer period of time. More importantly, however… well, the previous five years in which I was a student were not exactly Cal football’s glory days. Now, with hopes of a trip to Pasadena in January, campus just feels energized.

Studying certainly was a challenge in this setting. While I managed to squeeze in a team meeting and a study group at a café after the review, the first football game of the year was not far from everyone’s minds. It didn’t take long for conversation to move from economics to the game, leading to perhaps the inevitable comment, “We really should be holding beers while we’re talking about this.”

A quick stroll to Raleigh’s (or whatever it’s called now) and we were in the back cheering with the crowd as people yelled, “Hey Alumni, Goooo….”, “Bearrsssss!” etc etc. Maryland fans tried to have their say, but were drowned out fairly quickly. It was chaotic, it was fun, and I loved every minute of it. Go Bears!

Back in Black

2009-09-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well, its Labor Day weekend - and some people may be at Hog Island Oyster Company (I wish I was there!), I'm on campus back into my Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA classes for the Fall. The BCEMBA's have a brutal schedule! But I'm also dreaming of the end of semester and my trip home to Australia (hence the ACDC reference for those of you who didn't catch it). It seems the semester is flying by already, and my 3 weeks of summer break are a distant memory. And like Anlei, I feel like I have a ton of reading and preparation to do and I'm behind already. I think I destroyed an entire old oak grove printing out all my reading for my first few classes.

I've decided to take a heavier load this semester to get as many classes done as I can, and hopefully not take any classes in the Spring. So I'm taking Executive Leadership and Advanced Entrepreneurship in BCEMBA with Berkeley professors and Pricing with a Columbia professor. Plus Designing Financial Models that Work and Mergers & Acquisitions on the weekends in the EWMBA program. I'm excited about going to New York for my Columbia block in BCEMBA in November after the fun I had there in the summer. Plus I'm planning a trip over the Thanksgiving break, and travelling home to Australia for Christmas, and hoping to get into the International seminar over the winter break. Wow - the next 4 months look really busy! Plus I'm trying to fit work, some time at the gym and some time with my husband in somewhere....

While the second years may be getting excited about the international seminars, I know many third years are thinking wistfully about their few remaining days at Haas and finishing early through the winter international seminar - so everyone is going to be vying for spots on this trip.

It is nice to be back on campus, enjoying coffee from Cafe Strada, catching up with old friends, seeing the program staff again (and missing smiley Tim) and enjoying some fabulous (and a little warm) weather in Berkeley.

Labor Day and closure for Add/Drop

2009-09-04T11:58:00.001-07:00

Will make this a quick one, before the Labor Day Weekend. Classmates and I are ready and willing to enjoy our first break (already) since the start of the new school year. I, for one, will be up past Point Reyes, visiting the Hog Island Oyster Farm some time this weekend. I'm salivating already.

Anyway, as a second year, it was my first time going through the Add/Drop Process (that spans the first few weeks of the semester).

It's amazing.. I went from having a set of two classes (plus, a 1-unit course - not started yet), but ending up with an entirely new set of two separate courses. I was really having a hard time choosing for my afternoon set between two classes actually (and trying to keep up with the workload for both, just in case). But then I realized I wanted to take a third course-- which is the one I ended up with. Now, I have to play a little catch-up for that class.

The bottom line is there were several options that I was interested in, and in the end, I got the courses that I wanted. All's well that ends well. Peace and calm.

Not sure if it will be that smooth (or chaotic) for the next semester, but definitely excited as both of my current courses have a lot of affluent guest speakers from the field.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend, everyone!
- Tim

Twitter and Life between Days 3 and 4 of classes

2009-08-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

First, it's good to see that Haas is making its presence known on Twitter via Dean Lyons.
http://twitter.com/richlyons

There are a handful of staff that are also tweeting out there, so now you have one more way to know what's happening at Haas!

It's a cool Sunday afternoon (relative to yesterday's 100+ degree weather - thank goodness for air conditioning and ice cream), and I'm realizing how behind I am in school work. Elective classes officially started last Wednesday. I attended my first class last Thursday night - Managerial Accounting and have several practice problem sets to do (one from last week and one for the upcoming week), plus at least four chapters to read.

Tomorrow night, I'll be attending my Competitive Strategy class. I just logged into bSpace (our online system that houses lecture notes and cases) and realized I need to get cracking on the case that we'll be discussing tomorrow.

People talk about senioritis in your third year. For now, I'm more excited to see my friends and catch up on what everyone has been up to during the summer. One thing is certain though, the next nine months are gonna be packed with lots of events, assignments, and activities, and looking back, I'll probably wonder how it all went by so fast.

1st day as a 2nd Year

2009-08-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

It's good to be back.

I've been sticking with the weekend classes for now, as it fits with my current work schedule. A lot of familiar faces as I returned to class last Saturday, and it has been great to catch up. Tough to do so in those Summer months spent focusing on work and all the friends and family who haven't seen us during the crunch of first-year.

The middle year has been different from day one though, as previously mentioned:

Many of my old cohort have switched to evenings only, due to the classes they've selected or timing with work. And, of course, one misses seeing their familiar faces. Props to Axe '11!
On the flip side, with the mix of electives, we're sure to meet new people in our own classes, in both the 2nd and 3rd years. New buddies to share in the experience.
While the 1st year's are super busy with the grind of core courses, they are enthusiastic as ever. They inject even more life into the bustle of our Haas courtyard (and we steal some of their coffee).
Add/Drop period for electives has many people racing about to check out the latest and greatest classes available. Electives are all about choices, and even though we've just begun the new year, it already seems like b-school is flying by with all the thoughts of which classes to choose for the upcoming semesters and to fulfill all our educational/experiential desires.
Best of all, our elective classes end at 4:00pm (versus 6), so our day isn't completely killed, and we can study, hang out or the like. In our case, many a classmate ended up at Henry's, where we used our happy hour to catch up further and talk about plans for our upcoming class projects.

It's been a wild rush of blood to the head. It's back to studying and preparing for cases once again and the juggling act, though tempered by less units. And already there's a buzz stirring about the Mid-Program Academic Retreat (MPAR) and upcoming International Business Seminars.

Time to get back in gear!

- Tim