Showing posts with label school life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school life. Show all posts
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Some Additional Questions
I recently had a discussion about Merage on my professional blog. I wanted to reproduce the discussion here because I answer a number of questions about Merage that you might be interested in.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Look Ma, All These Colorful Ropes!
We had our graduation banquet where we handed out the program academic awards. I earned the designations as a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (top 20% of business majors) and Dean's Scholar (top 12% of class). As part of the awards I got some colorful ropes to wear with my grad robes for graduation next Sunday. I don't remember us in Canada using fraternity names and colorful ropes to signify academic achievement, so I think it a U.S. thing. I still have no idea how to wear these ropes.I'm not big for these kinds of achievements, but I am glad I sort of justified the school's fellowship they granted to me by meeting their academic expectations. If there is one thing I was proud of, it was that I accomplished it without specializing in one area. My electives were widely spread out among Marketing, Finance, Strategy, and OB.
Last thing to note is that the Merage women dominated the academic awards despite being a relatively smaller proportion of the class. This did not surprise me because from my experiences the women were generally more motivated and driven than the men. They definitely earned their achievement and I hope the men took notice of what it takes to succeed in this world.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Yeah, I'm Distracted Too
After that last post, I have to admit I am distracted too. Now with a job offer in hand, I am going through the stress of having a thorough background check conducted on me (I don't think there should be any issues, but who knows what would raise a flag for them) and a drug test (American companies are pretty big on this drug test concept). I have a pile of paperwork to sign and I am trying to decipher the various medical, dental and vision plans - what they cover, how much they will cost.
Last week was dedicated to Lindsey and I looking for new places to live. Lindsey put a lot of work in walking areas and contacting landlords. This past weekend, we put a deposit on a place, have been approved, but now need to sign the lease. I don't want to say anything for fear of jinxing it, but the place is frick'in amazing! I will post more once it becomes a reality, but I can say if all works out Lindsey will no longer be an Orange County housewife.
But anyways, last week was exhausting and stressful viewing all these places and figuring out which one is best for us. The good news was that there were a wealth of places and we are ideal tenants (professional, no pets, no kids), so we had a great selection of places to chose from. Now, we can embrace the stress of preparing to move.
Last week was dedicated to Lindsey and I looking for new places to live. Lindsey put a lot of work in walking areas and contacting landlords. This past weekend, we put a deposit on a place, have been approved, but now need to sign the lease. I don't want to say anything for fear of jinxing it, but the place is frick'in amazing! I will post more once it becomes a reality, but I can say if all works out Lindsey will no longer be an Orange County housewife.
But anyways, last week was exhausting and stressful viewing all these places and figuring out which one is best for us. The good news was that there were a wealth of places and we are ideal tenants (professional, no pets, no kids), so we had a great selection of places to chose from. Now, we can embrace the stress of preparing to move.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Got an Internship at a Private Equity Firm
Almost contrary to my goal of slowing down my schedule this quarter, I have accepted an internship offer at a local private equity company. They may not have anything to do with technology companies, but they are in the business of evaluating, acquiring, and improving companies. This acquisition experience is very important for a career in business development. So I figured the opportunity was too good to pass up. It will also help confuse people when they see I had two internships in business school: one marketing, the other finance. So this quarter will be another busy one; especially when you consider I need to ramp up my full time career search.
Speaking of career search, I interview for a business development position at Blizzard Entertainment tomorrow; the makers of World of Warcraft. I hope it goes well. They are definitely a company that I would love to work for, but like many mid-size companies they are made successful by great individuals (not necessarily great degrees), therefore you need to sell them on your value as an individual. I am not sure if the timing is right for this position (they may want someone to start before I graduate), but it is a great opportunity to get my name in front of key management and build 'brand awareness'.
Speaking of career search, I interview for a business development position at Blizzard Entertainment tomorrow; the makers of World of Warcraft. I hope it goes well. They are definitely a company that I would love to work for, but like many mid-size companies they are made successful by great individuals (not necessarily great degrees), therefore you need to sell them on your value as an individual. I am not sure if the timing is right for this position (they may want someone to start before I graduate), but it is a great opportunity to get my name in front of key management and build 'brand awareness'.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
2007 Merage Golf Pub Crawl
Last night we had a Golf Pub Crawl through the Balboa Island area of Newport Beach. Yours truly crushed the competition by completing 9 straight hole-in-ones :) In all seriousness, the event was alot of fun and a great way to learn about the bars in Newport Beach and get to know our classmates. Thanks to Michelle for planning the event.
A second extended version with new pictures from Carl and Michelle Ring:
A second extended version with new pictures from Carl and Michelle Ring:
Monday, May 28, 2007
$5 Sake Bombs
Last Thursday, Lindsey and I joined some Meragers for $5 Sake Bombs and $5 sushi rolls at Laguna Beach's Mosun. This must be one of the best deals in Orange County on a Thursday night. The sushi is really great and the Sake Bombs can get you in trouble. For those who don't know, a Sake Bomb is essentially a shot of sake suspended over a small glass of beer with chopsticks. You pound the table causing the shot to drop into the beer which you then chug. Mosun gives you a flask of 3 shots of warm sake and a can of Sopporo beer for the $5!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
2 Quarter Down - 1 To Go
I just submitted my last exam, so my 2nd Quarter is done! This was a very challenging quarter due to breadth of topics and the copious amounts of group work. Spare time was at a minimum during this quarter. Thankfully, Lindsey has taken up dog walking and jogging which has reduced my guilt for not being able to spend as much time with her as she deserves.
Overall, I feel that I have learned quite a bit of new knowledge. There is so much information jumbled in my head right now that it needs some time to settle before it truly benefits me. Now the goal is to find an internship that will let me practice some of these new skills. The search is becoming very challenging, but that is the topic for a post to itself.
Right now, it is relaxation time. After a few errands this afternoon, I got eleven other classmates coming over at 4pm to play some poker and watch March Madness. At 7:30pm, we have an "End of Quarter" party in at Woody's Wharf in Newport Beach. Then tomorrow Lindsey, myself, and fellow Canadian Merager Jeff Williamson will be heading to see The Tragically Hip at the small and cozy House of Blues Anaheim! It is a well deserved bout of fun after a challenging quarter.
Overall, I feel that I have learned quite a bit of new knowledge. There is so much information jumbled in my head right now that it needs some time to settle before it truly benefits me. Now the goal is to find an internship that will let me practice some of these new skills. The search is becoming very challenging, but that is the topic for a post to itself.
Right now, it is relaxation time. After a few errands this afternoon, I got eleven other classmates coming over at 4pm to play some poker and watch March Madness. At 7:30pm, we have an "End of Quarter" party in at Woody's Wharf in Newport Beach. Then tomorrow Lindsey, myself, and fellow Canadian Merager Jeff Williamson will be heading to see The Tragically Hip at the small and cozy House of Blues Anaheim! It is a well deserved bout of fun after a challenging quarter.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Ending the Quarter in Style: Going to See The Tragically Hip
I've always wanted to go on a road trip into the United States to see The Tragically Hip in a small club. Now, I live in the U.S. and I have opportunities to see a wealth of bands in some great venues. Well, The Hip are touring and they are coming to Anaheim's House of Blues. The photo's make the concert venue appear to hold around 500 people. This is a far cry from the Air Canada Centre. Lindsey and I scored tickets and will be going the day after this quarters exams end. Perfect timing.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Group Work Influence
A major component of any on-site MBA program is group work. This is for a number of reasons: 1) it helps disperse the workload; 2) teams will be a big part of our future careers; and 3) five heads are better than one. I think the most important reason is number 2. We will be important members and leaders of our future employer's teams and group dynamics is an important skill to master. Practice makes perfect and business school gives you plenty of it.
Of course this is a learning process which can be very exhausting. Teams give individuals the benefit of multiple perspectives which will only make one's work better. Yet, individuals do not always see eye to eye and can stall the group process in its tracks. For the record, my group appears to very productive relative to other groups; we seem to need to hold less meetings while still completing the work at a satisfactory quality. Nonetheless, we will occasionally hit a roadblock and that's where good team dynamic skills become valuable. While I think we do a good job of discussing the issues then moving forward, occasionally I can dig in.
I think, as a lawyer, I am pretty well trained at listening to and considering all angles to an issue. I also understand that there is more than one way to tackle a problem, so I have plenty of gray areas and I am willing to defer to group consensus. That said, I also see areas where my gut and my mind says we need to go in this direction or we can not go in that direction; the gray becomes more black and white. It is not frequent, but when it happens all my skills are put to the test.
Now, you may say "Trevor, you need to compromise your position." I completely agree and that is why I have plenty of gray areas. What if the opposing side has less grey areas (people who come across as consistently unreasonable - this is not the case of my group) or where you believe with every fiber of your being that if you go this route it will have negative implications for your group or the project. Can you really sit aside and compromise? What if you did and your gut instincts were realized? There is no "I told you so" in this environment. If you knew it, you should find a way to get your view adopted.
Persuasion skills are of critical importance because a logical argument may not win the day because the person (people) on the other side of the issue have thought it through to a different conclusion. These people are highly intelligent and are resolutely convinced. It becomes a fight for the hearts and minds of the remaining group members who inevitably become overwhelmed by the intensity of the two sides. This is a delicate situation because if you aggressively argue your position and their eyes gloss over, they will want to find a compromise between the two positions (i.e., meet half-way). Given I have decided to dig in this may not be an ideal resolution. What do I do?
If I am able to foresee the issue before it happens, I have found it easier to prepare a better tactic to introduce my position to the other members of the team that will improve its chances of adoption by the group. I have done this successfully. Where trouble occurs is where I did not plan on this topic becoming an issue and I am dragged into a debate on the topic. Once heavy debate occurs glossy eyes are sure to follow. I have some new tactics I plan to try.
...And that is why all this group work is fantastic no matter the headaches. It is a safe environment to try out new persuasion tactics for the issues one feels deeply about. The MBA programs have it right when it comes to group work.
Of course this is a learning process which can be very exhausting. Teams give individuals the benefit of multiple perspectives which will only make one's work better. Yet, individuals do not always see eye to eye and can stall the group process in its tracks. For the record, my group appears to very productive relative to other groups; we seem to need to hold less meetings while still completing the work at a satisfactory quality. Nonetheless, we will occasionally hit a roadblock and that's where good team dynamic skills become valuable. While I think we do a good job of discussing the issues then moving forward, occasionally I can dig in.
I think, as a lawyer, I am pretty well trained at listening to and considering all angles to an issue. I also understand that there is more than one way to tackle a problem, so I have plenty of gray areas and I am willing to defer to group consensus. That said, I also see areas where my gut and my mind says we need to go in this direction or we can not go in that direction; the gray becomes more black and white. It is not frequent, but when it happens all my skills are put to the test.
Now, you may say "Trevor, you need to compromise your position." I completely agree and that is why I have plenty of gray areas. What if the opposing side has less grey areas (people who come across as consistently unreasonable - this is not the case of my group) or where you believe with every fiber of your being that if you go this route it will have negative implications for your group or the project. Can you really sit aside and compromise? What if you did and your gut instincts were realized? There is no "I told you so" in this environment. If you knew it, you should find a way to get your view adopted.
Persuasion skills are of critical importance because a logical argument may not win the day because the person (people) on the other side of the issue have thought it through to a different conclusion. These people are highly intelligent and are resolutely convinced. It becomes a fight for the hearts and minds of the remaining group members who inevitably become overwhelmed by the intensity of the two sides. This is a delicate situation because if you aggressively argue your position and their eyes gloss over, they will want to find a compromise between the two positions (i.e., meet half-way). Given I have decided to dig in this may not be an ideal resolution. What do I do?
If I am able to foresee the issue before it happens, I have found it easier to prepare a better tactic to introduce my position to the other members of the team that will improve its chances of adoption by the group. I have done this successfully. Where trouble occurs is where I did not plan on this topic becoming an issue and I am dragged into a debate on the topic. Once heavy debate occurs glossy eyes are sure to follow. I have some new tactics I plan to try.
...And that is why all this group work is fantastic no matter the headaches. It is a safe environment to try out new persuasion tactics for the issues one feels deeply about. The MBA programs have it right when it comes to group work.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
O.K., The Work Still Hasn't Levelled Out
I am entering the second week of mid-terms and the work is not letting up. This has been a real busy semester. When you combine it with the fact that this is when you really need to begin ramping up your Internship search, there is little time for anything else.
Last week, I completed two exams (Managerial Accounting and Marketing) and my small group handed in a detailed Case Study for Financial Accounting. This week its the Financial Accounting mid-term and my small group have two minor and one detailed Case Study due.
If that wasn't enough, my small group has two 10-20 page projects due at the beginning of March. For those interested about the projects one is for Organizational Behavior and the other for Marketing. For OB, we are examining a the motivational factors of employees in a company department whose numbers suggest there is a reduction in productivity. The goal is to identify the main factors that may contribute to this productivity decline through interviews and surveys and then make recommendations in a report. For Marketing, we are helping a technology startup with a disruptive technology create a marketing strategy. Specifically, we are trying to determine the best marketing messages to use to attract the innovators and early adopters who tend to embrace this type of technology before it becomes refined for mass market consumption. The projects are interesting, but the time lines and workloads may force the types of quality compromises that I hate.
But in the end, it could be argued that this is what an MBA is about. Overloading students with work (not necessarily highly difficult work) and let them weed themselves out by demonstrating who is best at prioritizing and assigning their scarce resources to the work that will give the most benefit. While top notch work is desirable for all, sometimes the paybacks will only justify a reasonable effort. At the end of the day I am trying to balance school, extra-curricular activities, a job search, and my family life (and not necessarily in that order). I think at certain times during the year, some things will have to take the backseat.
That being said, I am still holding my bi-weekly poker game. It is a great networking tool (for me and Lindsey) and a great outlet for some fun. No matter the workload, there always needs to be time for fun...
Last week, I completed two exams (Managerial Accounting and Marketing) and my small group handed in a detailed Case Study for Financial Accounting. This week its the Financial Accounting mid-term and my small group have two minor and one detailed Case Study due.
If that wasn't enough, my small group has two 10-20 page projects due at the beginning of March. For those interested about the projects one is for Organizational Behavior and the other for Marketing. For OB, we are examining a the motivational factors of employees in a company department whose numbers suggest there is a reduction in productivity. The goal is to identify the main factors that may contribute to this productivity decline through interviews and surveys and then make recommendations in a report. For Marketing, we are helping a technology startup with a disruptive technology create a marketing strategy. Specifically, we are trying to determine the best marketing messages to use to attract the innovators and early adopters who tend to embrace this type of technology before it becomes refined for mass market consumption. The projects are interesting, but the time lines and workloads may force the types of quality compromises that I hate.
But in the end, it could be argued that this is what an MBA is about. Overloading students with work (not necessarily highly difficult work) and let them weed themselves out by demonstrating who is best at prioritizing and assigning their scarce resources to the work that will give the most benefit. While top notch work is desirable for all, sometimes the paybacks will only justify a reasonable effort. At the end of the day I am trying to balance school, extra-curricular activities, a job search, and my family life (and not necessarily in that order). I think at certain times during the year, some things will have to take the backseat.
That being said, I am still holding my bi-weekly poker game. It is a great networking tool (for me and Lindsey) and a great outlet for some fun. No matter the workload, there always needs to be time for fun...
Friday, January 05, 2007
What am I reading over Christmas break? Part II
As I may have mentioned, I purchased two business-related books that I planned to read over the Christmas break. The second of these books is Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. This book is the must have books for new technology ventures (and for those who experience some success, but suddenly found new sales coming in very slowly).
In the past, I have read parts of this book, but never read the whole thing cover to cover. After finishing reading it, I want to kick myself. Numerous companies that I worked with back in London were hitting the chasm and did not recognize it or know what to do. I even remember mentioning to an owner of an extremely successful London company that they hit the chasm and should read this book, but I never took the initiative to read it then (in my defense, I was in the process of learning a completely new software and networking environment).
For those of you that are saying, "'Chasm' what are you talking about, Speirs?": when a new company is formed and offers a new, innovative piece of technology that would solve or improve some problem, they often work hard over a year or two to get that first sale. They may even get a second or more sales depending on the market and product. They all pop out champagne believing that they are soon going to dominate the market, but something happens. The next sales are very difficult. They are confused because they have some satisfied customer references, yet they do not move these new prospects. It is at this moment that they have arrived at the Chasm.
Across the Chasm are these new prospects who are not impressed by the current batch of customer references or the current marketing approaches. To be clear, these new prospects are the holy grail; they represent the path to solid profitability for the company. Many companies die at the Chasm because to cross it requires some radical changes about how the company operates. Crossing the Chasm gives these companies a step-by-step playbook on how to attack the Chasm. Must have for all tech entrepreneurs.
In the past, I have read parts of this book, but never read the whole thing cover to cover. After finishing reading it, I want to kick myself. Numerous companies that I worked with back in London were hitting the chasm and did not recognize it or know what to do. I even remember mentioning to an owner of an extremely successful London company that they hit the chasm and should read this book, but I never took the initiative to read it then (in my defense, I was in the process of learning a completely new software and networking environment).
For those of you that are saying, "'Chasm' what are you talking about, Speirs?": when a new company is formed and offers a new, innovative piece of technology that would solve or improve some problem, they often work hard over a year or two to get that first sale. They may even get a second or more sales depending on the market and product. They all pop out champagne believing that they are soon going to dominate the market, but something happens. The next sales are very difficult. They are confused because they have some satisfied customer references, yet they do not move these new prospects. It is at this moment that they have arrived at the Chasm.
Across the Chasm are these new prospects who are not impressed by the current batch of customer references or the current marketing approaches. To be clear, these new prospects are the holy grail; they represent the path to solid profitability for the company. Many companies die at the Chasm because to cross it requires some radical changes about how the company operates. Crossing the Chasm gives these companies a step-by-step playbook on how to attack the Chasm. Must have for all tech entrepreneurs.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
What am I reading over Christmas break?
There is a lot of free time over the Christmas break with the quarter system. Preparing for this, I pro-actively ordered two MBA related books before the end of the class. I just finished reading The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. The book addresses how even well-managed companies can not seize opportunities presented by disruptive technology.
Disruptive technology is improvements to current technology that are not sufficient for the current market, but could create a new (although less profitable) market. Established companies often ignore disruptive technology because their customers do not want it, the new markets are too small, and the margins are smaller than they currently experience. The problem is if the disruptive technology's capabilities improve at a greater rate than the demand of the established customers, at some point the disruptive technology will be adopted by those customers and the established firm will lose market share.
An example is Flash drives. When invented, the capacity of flash drives could not service the laptop industry, but they were ideal for iPods. As flash technology improves, it may develop the size and cost capabilities demanded by the laptop industry. Then, the flash drives will overtake the current 2.5" drives because flash is much more stable. Disruptive technology is not limited to hi-tech - discount retailing was a disruptive technology for the department stores. When first introduced, department stores wanted nothing to do with the low margins of discount retailing. The problem is that as the ability of the discount retailer to offer better discounts and move into higher quality goods, they are now supplanting the department stores from their traditional market as we can now go to Walmart to get a good blender.
This book is a classic and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in business. While there are the occasional detailed analysis, the book is written is a very easy-to-read style.
Disruptive technology is improvements to current technology that are not sufficient for the current market, but could create a new (although less profitable) market. Established companies often ignore disruptive technology because their customers do not want it, the new markets are too small, and the margins are smaller than they currently experience. The problem is if the disruptive technology's capabilities improve at a greater rate than the demand of the established customers, at some point the disruptive technology will be adopted by those customers and the established firm will lose market share.
An example is Flash drives. When invented, the capacity of flash drives could not service the laptop industry, but they were ideal for iPods. As flash technology improves, it may develop the size and cost capabilities demanded by the laptop industry. Then, the flash drives will overtake the current 2.5" drives because flash is much more stable. Disruptive technology is not limited to hi-tech - discount retailing was a disruptive technology for the department stores. When first introduced, department stores wanted nothing to do with the low margins of discount retailing. The problem is that as the ability of the discount retailer to offer better discounts and move into higher quality goods, they are now supplanting the department stores from their traditional market as we can now go to Walmart to get a good blender.
This book is a classic and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in business. While there are the occasional detailed analysis, the book is written is a very easy-to-read style.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
OC Christmas Party
On Friday, Lindsey threw a small Christmas party for our friends. Lindsey spent alot of time cooking up a plethora of dishes. People started showing up around 7pm and the last people left after 5 am. I was pretty spent and slept until 3pm the next day. At my age, a night like that makes the next day (and sometimes the day after) a complete write-off.
It is really great that we have met some really wonderful people in the area. These people have embraced us and we wanted to show our appreciation. We also reached out to a few other people who we knew were around after exams. Rudy, his wife Colleen, and their 4 month old child, Alex, came out. Alex could only party until around 8:30pm, so he and Colleen left early. We also invited Faris out. Faris's wife was back home and he was left here all alone. It was great to get him out. This was their first real exposure of some of the poker "animals" and they held up alright, but we will expect more of them their next time out (including Alex).
The evening started out relaxed with a lot of conversation and eating. Next poker was rolled out and the real partying began decimating our liquor cabinet. After the first group left, some die-hards remained to play a third game. Then, Christine, a Poli-Sci Phd candidate, wandered into our apartment (we leave our door open to keep the apartment cool). She certainly livened up the room as we tried to get her to acknowledge her hidden attraction to our friend Jeff. I think we spent the next hour trying to convince her, through a series of strategic poker hands, to take Jeff out on a date. As you can see from the picture we had some minor success (go Jeff!).
I think any party that goes on to past 5am is a success. Lindsey deserves the bulk of the credit for pushing for it and doing all the work. A note to my other fellow students: we decided against a mass invitation because our apartment could not handle a mass amount of people. Just with the people that showed up 3 wine glasses were broken and two speakers were knocked over (one on poor Tammy's head [seen on right with Lindsey] as she was passed out on our couch - she didn't even budge). We always try to bring new people over to our place, just in controlled amounts (and this strategy gives Lindsey and I a better chance to get to know them). Anyways, you can see the rest of the pics here.
Tech Coast Angels Screening Event
This past Wednesday, myself and two other members of the VCIC team were generously invited to watch a Tech Coast Angels (TCA) screening event. At the event, 4 young companies present before some of the members making the case about why they should receive angel investment funding.The event is a great opportunity to see how experienced investors grill entrepreneurs. For obvious reasons, I won't go into any detail about the presenting companies, but the four were from very diverse backgrounds. It was interesting to see the presentations from the investors perspective; learning what works and what doesn't.
After watching the event I have a few preliminary tips for entrepreneurs seeking investment. First, answer each question as directly as possible. There seems to be two reasons entrepreneurs do not answer the question they are asked: 1) they want to dance around the issue; and 2) they misunderstand the question. In the first case, the entrepreneur is not fooling anyone. These investors have "been there -done that" and, even if he should fool them, there will be due diligence later on that will catch up with him. IMO, the second case may be worse because if the investor asks a question and the entrepreneur answer addresses something else, that is bad. If the investor cuts him off and brings him back to the initial question and the entrepreneur still answers something else, it can be an indicator that the entrepreneur can't focus on the issue at hand. How can an investor be confident that when a issue arises in the company that the entrepreneur will cut to the heart of the matter and address it if he can't answer a direct question?
Second, have a plan and understand your weaknesses. The worse thing an entrepreneur can do is to fluff up the weak areas. The investors will see them and if he continues to assert it will not be a problem, you will lose all credibility. There is no shame to say that you need help in an area and make that part of your plan for use of the investment funding.
Finally, really think if you need angel funding. While we all want to believe our business is design for hyper growth and greatness, some businesses are not meant for the angel/VC route. Once you go this route, an angel or VC will demand a hockey stick-like growth curve and an exit in a very short time frame. An entrepreneur must understand if the market of his business can accommodate that growth or that exit time-frame. Some markets are designed for slower growth. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it will lend itself to growing itself through revenues and thus avoiding the need to dilute equity to the outside investors. The main point is that if the market will not deliver the growth rate or exit time-frame, the entrepreneur will soon find himself with some upset partners and he could find himself removed from the company.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Exams Are Done!
Yesterday, I finished my last exam and my project management group did its final presentation. I am officially done for the quarter. The exams were challenging, but I find that they really give you a lot of time to complete them. For example my accounting and stats exams were 2 1/2 and 3 hours respectively and IMO a fair time would have been 1 1/2 and 2 hours. Someone made a fair point that the additional time may be granted given the large proportion of international students and other students who do not have a numbers background. I am probably too much of a hard ass.
Kudos need to be doled out to my study group who made it easy to complete our assignments on time with meetings scheduled well in advance and professional discussions that always moved us forward. We seem to work well together. While we aren't the best of friends and hang out on a personal level, we do come together to get the task completed. We are still improving as a group and I am pretty sure we have not yet reached our potential. More Kudos need to go out to my project management team. I was the only 1st year in a class full of 2nd years and they welcomed me into their group. While the project wasn't the most memorable, we were able to punch it out and I expect we will get a good mark (An "A" maybe...).
I am now faced with over a month until next quarter begins. While I would like to reach out and start making some company contacts at my target companies, I fear that the Christmas season may make this difficult. I do remember one entrepreneur who told me he was very successful making sales contacts during Christmas because the workers would always be in the office, but they tended to be bored and were more willing to talk during an unsolicited phone call. I will let you know if he was right.
Kudos need to be doled out to my study group who made it easy to complete our assignments on time with meetings scheduled well in advance and professional discussions that always moved us forward. We seem to work well together. While we aren't the best of friends and hang out on a personal level, we do come together to get the task completed. We are still improving as a group and I am pretty sure we have not yet reached our potential. More Kudos need to go out to my project management team. I was the only 1st year in a class full of 2nd years and they welcomed me into their group. While the project wasn't the most memorable, we were able to punch it out and I expect we will get a good mark (An "A" maybe...).
I am now faced with over a month until next quarter begins. While I would like to reach out and start making some company contacts at my target companies, I fear that the Christmas season may make this difficult. I do remember one entrepreneur who told me he was very successful making sales contacts during Christmas because the workers would always be in the office, but they tended to be bored and were more willing to talk during an unsolicited phone call. I will let you know if he was right.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
First Quarter Evaluation
It is hard to believe we are at the end of the first quarter. I thought I would give my assessment about the quality of classes and student life here at Merage. I am doing this before finals, so that I am not influenced by my results.
Classes
I have been very impressed by the classes and by the professors. The professors enjoy sharing their topics with students and make great efforts to communicate their subjects in a simple manner. While all teachers have been very good, I want to highlight our accounting professor, Charles Shi. Professor Shi has done a phenomenal job communicating the sometimes tricky concepts of financial accounting in an easy-to-understand manner. In my opinion, it is even more impressive when you take into account that english is not his first language. While the communication is great, it is Professor Shi's dedication to refining his methods of explaining difficult concepts. While many teachers just show up and read from a text book (especially for first year classes), Professor Shi demonstrates a great desire to modify his teaching methods to best communicate his subject to his students. It is this effort for which I applaud him.
Student Social Life
Every Thursday there is a two hour social where the Student Association provides some free drinks and snacks. It is a great way to end a week of classes and hang out with your students. I think at each social I am able to connect with at least one student that I had not met before. Thursday night is always pub night; it is usually good for at least 20 students to show up and have a good time. Recently, one of our students has pushed for an additional Tuesday pub night that has mixed success depending on the students workload. The point is that there is always something to do. The drawback about the UCI area is that you must drive wherever you go (cab is only an option for the obnoxiously rich). But once you accept that you must drive, there are a number of fun bars to visit.
The people are great. I must state that if you are moving into the area, you must make assertive efforts to meet new people and continue to socialize with them. Otherwise, as many are from the L.A.-OC area, it can be difficult to break into their everyday lives. I have made a very conscious effort to socialize, such as the regular poker game, and it has paid off in spades. Lindsey and I are developing a wonderful group of friends.
Extra-Curricular Activities
If you find yourself with nothing to do at business school, you need to seriously evaluate yourself. Too many activities is the common theme of business school and time management will help reap the rewards. The activities are run by committed students, staff and faculty and an argument can be made that each would enrich the traditional MBA student. Merage is similar to most schools with its wealth of E-C options.
Orange County
Three words from a transplanted Canadian: "Paridise on Earth". The scenery and weather of Orange County is wonderful. It is December and I am still wearing a light shirt and sandals. The waterfront areas are scenic and beautiful. The beaches are gorgeous. Sure as you move inland, Orange county gets very generic and "suburb-y", but who says you need to live there? I think if I am fortunate enough at the end of my program to have a number of job offers, the one that allows me a quick commute from a waterfront area would be received preferentially. [Quick Edit: Today is December 3rd and it is 83 F or 28 C - How are our Canadian Friends?]
Final Thoughts
So far Merage has exceeded my expectations. The area has provided an almost too comfortable lifestyle that makes you never want to leave. Finally, there are always something to do if you are willing to drive.
Classes
I have been very impressed by the classes and by the professors. The professors enjoy sharing their topics with students and make great efforts to communicate their subjects in a simple manner. While all teachers have been very good, I want to highlight our accounting professor, Charles Shi. Professor Shi has done a phenomenal job communicating the sometimes tricky concepts of financial accounting in an easy-to-understand manner. In my opinion, it is even more impressive when you take into account that english is not his first language. While the communication is great, it is Professor Shi's dedication to refining his methods of explaining difficult concepts. While many teachers just show up and read from a text book (especially for first year classes), Professor Shi demonstrates a great desire to modify his teaching methods to best communicate his subject to his students. It is this effort for which I applaud him.
Student Social Life
Every Thursday there is a two hour social where the Student Association provides some free drinks and snacks. It is a great way to end a week of classes and hang out with your students. I think at each social I am able to connect with at least one student that I had not met before. Thursday night is always pub night; it is usually good for at least 20 students to show up and have a good time. Recently, one of our students has pushed for an additional Tuesday pub night that has mixed success depending on the students workload. The point is that there is always something to do. The drawback about the UCI area is that you must drive wherever you go (cab is only an option for the obnoxiously rich). But once you accept that you must drive, there are a number of fun bars to visit.
The people are great. I must state that if you are moving into the area, you must make assertive efforts to meet new people and continue to socialize with them. Otherwise, as many are from the L.A.-OC area, it can be difficult to break into their everyday lives. I have made a very conscious effort to socialize, such as the regular poker game, and it has paid off in spades. Lindsey and I are developing a wonderful group of friends.
Extra-Curricular Activities
If you find yourself with nothing to do at business school, you need to seriously evaluate yourself. Too many activities is the common theme of business school and time management will help reap the rewards. The activities are run by committed students, staff and faculty and an argument can be made that each would enrich the traditional MBA student. Merage is similar to most schools with its wealth of E-C options.
Orange County
Three words from a transplanted Canadian: "Paridise on Earth". The scenery and weather of Orange County is wonderful. It is December and I am still wearing a light shirt and sandals. The waterfront areas are scenic and beautiful. The beaches are gorgeous. Sure as you move inland, Orange county gets very generic and "suburb-y", but who says you need to live there? I think if I am fortunate enough at the end of my program to have a number of job offers, the one that allows me a quick commute from a waterfront area would be received preferentially. [Quick Edit: Today is December 3rd and it is 83 F or 28 C - How are our Canadian Friends?]
Final Thoughts
So far Merage has exceeded my expectations. The area has provided an almost too comfortable lifestyle that makes you never want to leave. Finally, there are always something to do if you are willing to drive.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Speaker Events At Merage
I wanted to take a moment to discuss and recognize the wealth of speaker events during an MBA program and specifically at Merage. As I mentioned before, extracurricular activities can stretch a student pretty thin, but they are only the beginning. During the school year companies want you to help them, students will plan outside social events, you will go to community networking events, and there will be numerous speakers speaking about numerous topics. I am a sucker for a good speaker, even if it isn't in my desired career direction, because I can usually learn at least one lesson that will benefit me in the future. I am going to highlight some memorable speaker events I have attended since I arrived.
The Boys at Wahoo's Fish Taco
Wahoo's is a chain of fish taco franchise in California and Nevada who are known for their underground marketing. Wahoo has always sponsored the extreme sports scene and punk rock shows as their main forms of marketing. This has helped them gain vast numbers of contacts in these related fields (music, movies, sports apparel manufacturers, etc.). This caused them to get loads of freebies which often just piled up in a warehouse. Enter Ed who is an amazing visual genius (see the logo) who got started in myspace very early on. One day Ed suggests that he give away some of their freebies on his myspace page. The response was overwhelming. He started contests of tell me or show me why you deserve X freebie and he would get responses from all over America. Wahoo uses this as a form of underground marketing. This alone is very cool, but it gets better. Because of the community Ed has built on his myspace page, other companies come to Wahoo to do joint give-aways! For example, new band +44 is releasing its new CD and the record company asked Wahoo to do a myspace giveaway. Or when the movie "She's the Man" was released they did a promotion giving away two passes to the L.A. premier of the movie. Wahoo's myspace marketing is not pervasive, it is always in the background. So kids New York want to go to Wahoo's Fish Taco despite never seeing a franchise because it is always tied to this cool stuff.
John Palmer, President of Southern California Region of Verizon Wireless
John Palmer presented in Merage's distinguished speaker series talking about strategic innovation. While his talk sort of outlined Verizon's history which most of us knew, he did give interesting details about the initial struggles of finding a common brand for a company that was comprised of a merger of a number of different companies. He also talked about how a Verizon needed to rely on a strong engineering team to decide strategic technological investments.
As a Merage Fellow, I get invited to a pre-reception party for select guests, sponsors and the speaker. It is a great networking opportunity and I was able to meet a number of interesting members of the Orange County community. I was very flattered to have our dean take me and another Merage Fellow to introduce us to John Palmer as "one of Merage's star pupils". One of those cool unadvertised perks of being a Merage Fellow.
Luis Villalobos, Founder of the Tech Coast Angels
Luis Villalobos is a great entrepreneur who helped build the largest angel investing group in the United States (and I guess the world). Angel investors are people who invest in very early stage companies typically before Venture Capital is interested. Where I was from, Southern Ontario, angels are not very common. Companies were often self-financed through growth and a company was lucky if they found one angel. That angel would be very careful about who he invested in because he would assume alot of risk.
Tech Coast Angels help share this risk by uniting all of the area's angel investors. The administrators of the Tech Coast Angels would vet any new business proposals and pick the best to present before its membership. During the presentation the members may grill the entrepreneurs. At the end of the presentation each member decides if he wants to invest in the company. An "investment" would be $25,000 with the goal of have a set number of investors wanting to do the investment that would hit the financing goal of the company.
Afterwards, in addition to the financing, the company would gain the contacts and expertise of its members. A win-win proposition for all involved that really helps launch a number of companies in the area. This would be an idea I would be interested in bringing back to Southern Ontario. Our angels are not united and I believe that is a key reason we do not see the same tech company activity as we see in California.
Luis, was incredibly interesting and I could listened to him for days. He discussed a number of case studies of his past experiences and common entrepreneur mistakes. Incredibly valuable talk, but much too brief.
The Boys at Wahoo's Fish Taco
Wahoo's is a chain of fish taco franchise in California and Nevada who are known for their underground marketing. Wahoo has always sponsored the extreme sports scene and punk rock shows as their main forms of marketing. This has helped them gain vast numbers of contacts in these related fields (music, movies, sports apparel manufacturers, etc.). This caused them to get loads of freebies which often just piled up in a warehouse. Enter Ed who is an amazing visual genius (see the logo) who got started in myspace very early on. One day Ed suggests that he give away some of their freebies on his myspace page. The response was overwhelming. He started contests of tell me or show me why you deserve X freebie and he would get responses from all over America. Wahoo uses this as a form of underground marketing. This alone is very cool, but it gets better. Because of the community Ed has built on his myspace page, other companies come to Wahoo to do joint give-aways! For example, new band +44 is releasing its new CD and the record company asked Wahoo to do a myspace giveaway. Or when the movie "She's the Man" was released they did a promotion giving away two passes to the L.A. premier of the movie. Wahoo's myspace marketing is not pervasive, it is always in the background. So kids New York want to go to Wahoo's Fish Taco despite never seeing a franchise because it is always tied to this cool stuff.John Palmer, President of Southern California Region of Verizon Wireless
John Palmer presented in Merage's distinguished speaker series talking about strategic innovation. While his talk sort of outlined Verizon's history which most of us knew, he did give interesting details about the initial struggles of finding a common brand for a company that was comprised of a merger of a number of different companies. He also talked about how a Verizon needed to rely on a strong engineering team to decide strategic technological investments.
As a Merage Fellow, I get invited to a pre-reception party for select guests, sponsors and the speaker. It is a great networking opportunity and I was able to meet a number of interesting members of the Orange County community. I was very flattered to have our dean take me and another Merage Fellow to introduce us to John Palmer as "one of Merage's star pupils". One of those cool unadvertised perks of being a Merage Fellow.
Luis Villalobos, Founder of the Tech Coast Angels
Luis Villalobos is a great entrepreneur who helped build the largest angel investing group in the United States (and I guess the world). Angel investors are people who invest in very early stage companies typically before Venture Capital is interested. Where I was from, Southern Ontario, angels are not very common. Companies were often self-financed through growth and a company was lucky if they found one angel. That angel would be very careful about who he invested in because he would assume alot of risk.
Tech Coast Angels help share this risk by uniting all of the area's angel investors. The administrators of the Tech Coast Angels would vet any new business proposals and pick the best to present before its membership. During the presentation the members may grill the entrepreneurs. At the end of the presentation each member decides if he wants to invest in the company. An "investment" would be $25,000 with the goal of have a set number of investors wanting to do the investment that would hit the financing goal of the company.
Afterwards, in addition to the financing, the company would gain the contacts and expertise of its members. A win-win proposition for all involved that really helps launch a number of companies in the area. This would be an idea I would be interested in bringing back to Southern Ontario. Our angels are not united and I believe that is a key reason we do not see the same tech company activity as we see in California.
Luis, was incredibly interesting and I could listened to him for days. He discussed a number of case studies of his past experiences and common entrepreneur mistakes. Incredibly valuable talk, but much too brief.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Thursday Night Poker
As a means to regularly socialize with my classmates I started up a regular poker night. Every second Thursday me and 7 other students head out to our place for a few hours of friendly poker. The timing works great because on Thursday, between 4-6pm, we have a social hour were the students gather outside the business school and have a few beers. When the beers dry up, then we hit my place for poker and pizza. Since we usually do not have class on Friday, Thursday evening is a regular "pub" night for Merage. By the time poker is over, we are ready to have a good time.
Lindsey enjoys having the company at our place. She gets along well with the players. So far, one of the players' wives Lindsey likes has come over to visit while we play giving Lindsey some company. This is becoming Lindsey's big social event.Last Thursday was our third event and it seems to be quite popular as I have had a rolling waiting list to get into the game. Who would have thought MBA students would like to competitiveness of poker??? We play a straight up Pot Limit Texas Hold'em until one person remains. In the first two outing James proved to be the dominant player, but this week he met his match. Wakeem proved that alcohol can make you a better player as James was stonewalled trying to read Wakeem's blank face (primarily because of the level of alcohol in Wakeem's system). Wakeem took down the giant to win first place and become the new champ!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Named to the Merage VCIC Team
Every year incoming business students faces a similar extra-curricular delemma. There are so many interesting extra-curricular activities to do, but to try to do even half of them threatens the student with being spread very thin. Even worse, as all students get more out of their activities if there are more participants, the student's new colleagues lobby him to participate in more activities. It creates a environment where it can be difficult to set limits and say no.
This week I learned that I was named to the E-C activity that I had identified as my first choice, the VCIC competition. The Venture Capital Investment Competition is where business schools send one team of students to compete against other business schools. In the competition the teams act as a venture capitalist, evaluate real entrepreneur's business plans, interview the entrepreneurs, and make recommendations to real venture capitalists. As UC Irvine is relatively new to the competition and doesn't quite have the brand power of a Stanford or Haas (yet), it has to compete in a wild card round where the winner will advance to the regional competition against the aforementioned schools.
Given my experiences on the side of the small, struggling entrepreneur, I am excited to learn more about the venture capitalist perspective. I am honored to be selected for the Merage team. The team consists of five students. The quality of team is impressive, so I am anxious to learn how we will stack up. As I mentioned this my first choice of E-C activities, so even if I don't do anything else this year, I will be happy.
This week I learned that I was named to the E-C activity that I had identified as my first choice, the VCIC competition. The Venture Capital Investment Competition is where business schools send one team of students to compete against other business schools. In the competition the teams act as a venture capitalist, evaluate real entrepreneur's business plans, interview the entrepreneurs, and make recommendations to real venture capitalists. As UC Irvine is relatively new to the competition and doesn't quite have the brand power of a Stanford or Haas (yet), it has to compete in a wild card round where the winner will advance to the regional competition against the aforementioned schools.
Given my experiences on the side of the small, struggling entrepreneur, I am excited to learn more about the venture capitalist perspective. I am honored to be selected for the Merage team. The team consists of five students. The quality of team is impressive, so I am anxious to learn how we will stack up. As I mentioned this my first choice of E-C activities, so even if I don't do anything else this year, I will be happy.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Mid-Term Update
2 down - 1 to go. They were good exams - fair. I am not a big believer that exams tell the truth of our knowledge, but I certainly have fun with their challenge. The class averages of the exams have been above 80% (its funny that law school's policy with overachievers (at least Canadian schools) is to beat down the overachievers and bell them up, and the MBA (at least this American MBA) policy is to let the overachievers overachieve and bell them down later (this is another topic).
After going through Law school without buying many books, it is amazing how doing your readings help you when testing your knowledge of a subject. I am not too concerned about marks. I need to keep a 3.0 average (as a canadian I can honestly say "what the hell does that mean? A's, B's, 80%, 70% anyone?"), but at this point I do not feel my fellowship is in jeopardy. Just a guaging point to see if I am on track.
After going through Law school without buying many books, it is amazing how doing your readings help you when testing your knowledge of a subject. I am not too concerned about marks. I need to keep a 3.0 average (as a canadian I can honestly say "what the hell does that mean? A's, B's, 80%, 70% anyone?"), but at this point I do not feel my fellowship is in jeopardy. Just a guaging point to see if I am on track.
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I have a few questions about Merage, and was hoping you can give me some honest answers. I've spoken with adcom staff and student ambassadors, but wanted to get another opinion. :)
1) How was the job placement this year? Did most students get jobs of their choice?
2) Do you know what the average starting salary was? I was surprised to discover that the average starting salary for Merage students in 2007 was almost $20K less than schools with the same ranking..
3) What is the job placement like for the Bay Area? I eventually want to move back to the Bay Area, but it seems like most Merage students stay in the OC. So, just a little concerned.
Your input is greatly appreciated! Oh, and major congrats on graduating and scoring a cool job!
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Thanks for you kind words.
Some honest answers to your questions.
1) Job placement was tougher this year due to the economy. I think we may be
lower than last year for placement before graduation, but I expect we'll be
equivalent for placement after 3 months. The interesting thing about hiring
this year was that despite the down turn there were a number of very high
profile jobs posted - so companies are still making strategic hires at
Merage.
2) Average starting salaries are a distorted measure used by ranking
systems. It is difficult to talk about average starting salaries without
first talking about the job type. As an example consulting generally pays a
higher salary due to the life demands it puts on its employees (so schools
who produce a higher ratio of consultants will have their average salary
inflated). While I don't necessarily think 20K lower is correct, you are
right to note that salaries from Merage are generally lower than similar
ranked programs. This is because a high percentage of its students remain in
Southern California. Salaries in the OC are often subject to what I call the
"lifestyle tax". Because it is such an attractive area to live, there are
more candidates for jobs, pushing down wages. This "lifestyle tax"
artificially lowers Merage's average starting salary. I hope you get my
drift why I say the average starting salary is a skewed school indicator. I
will say as a person who grew up with humid summers and cold winters the
lifestyle is wonderful and I am willing to accept the "tax".
3) Interestingly, this year we have a number of students going to work up in
the bay area (5-10% of the class). The companies range from start-ups to big
companies like HP. Last year, we had a student get into google. I won't say
trying to find a job in the bay area is easy. You will be mostly on your own
and will need to actively network with people in the area starting now if
you want to go back with a great position. I suggest find conferences that
suit your preferred industry/job function that are hosted in the bay area.
That raises the chances of people from the area attending. Then network and
stay in contact with those people. The conferences worked out real well for
me this year (I had three solid job opportunities arise) and I recommend
start doing it as a first year.
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Great tip about starting early with networking! Where can I find these industry conferences? Any tips?
Also, I am seriously considering studying abroad for a quarter (something I always regretted not doing in college). Do many Merage students study abroad? Would studying abroad for a quarter put you behind other students (in terms of job search/accumulating enough credits to graduate)?
Thanks in advance!!
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To your follow ups:
1. You can track down conferences by reading blogs in your field of
interest, tracking down professional associations of field of interest, or
often if you have a target company they will highlight which conferences
they go to on their web page (or just do a google search).
2. Many students do a study abroad and it is a fantastic experience. You
will be behind on job search if your primary field of interest is consulting
or working with a large company with an established MBA hire program.
Otherwise job search doesn't ramp up until February onward. I used my Q1
Year 2 to ramp up my networking in order to hit the ground running in Q2.
Good luck.
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