Marketing is getting what you want

In the last marketing class, Rashi said to us " Marketing is the most important class you will ever learn in business school because it is really about getting what you want in your life" He then showed us a chart with three circles on it: Company (that’s you), Customer (What you want) and Competitors (obstacles). Just like any company who is trying to maximize its market share by attracting more customers. You, as an individual’s, should always market yourself in a way so you can get what you want in from life. To do so, you need to answer the 4W's :

• Who ( You and the customer): you and your goal
  
• What (Product and price): your characteristics, capabilities , background, looks etc


• When, Where and how (distribution): know the right time and go to the right person


• Why (Communication): your pitch, story

Earlier I have posted a survey to get feedback from my readers on what they think is the core of marketing. The answer is value proposition (30% got it right!). What is value proposition? It sounds like this fluffy, big word that only marketers can understand. Rashi defined value proposition as benefit minus price. In order to increase your value proposition, you either lower your price by cutting cost or you increase your product benefit. What’s more sustainable and less likely to be replicated by your competitor? Increase your product benefit!! Why? Imagine you are after a girl and you have a competitor, say Mr. Nice. Mr. Nice’s value proposition to the girl is “I am neither smarter nor more charming (limited benefit) but I have very low expectations: As long as you are willing to be my girlfriend, I don’t care if I am the last on your priority list (low acquisition cost).” Unless the girl doesn’t care about the quality of her love life (go for price over quality), Mr. Nice will never get the girl. Get the picture?

So How can one increase your the "benefit"? Differntiate your self: Seek opportunities that will help you develop what makes you special and different.

Wall Street Career Trek

In MBA, most student's top priority is to find their dream job. Each MBA program spends tons of effort on career service to make sure that their students get exposure to companies and job opportunities. Recently Haas hired a new recruiting assistant director, Nichole, to be out on the east coast to promote the Haas name in Wall Street. One of the key activity for Nichole is to organize a wall street investment banking career trek. Curious about one of the most high paying job post MBA - A Wall Street I-bankers, I joined the trip with the other 50 plus Haas students.

In total we visited 9 investment banks. The format of these company visits was pretty standardized: A brief introduction of the bank by a director, panel discussion which consists several associates from various groups and networking time where you get interact with the bankers at a more personal level. From these networking events you can clearly see who is more commited /aggressive than others: Some go from banker to bankers and trying to spot potential candidate for informational interviews, others stands by the refreshment area to relax. In the beginning I didn 't know what to ask these bankers. I imagine they have no life outside work, overachievers who enjoys constantly been challenged by greater responsibilities and exposure, and probably think they are better than everyone else because of their big fat bonus. But as I network more and more, I begin to see the meaning behind all these company visit : It's really just to get the banker's business cards, follow up with a " thank you" note , and hoping they will say yes for an informational interview.

Informational interviews are quite common in the US. It is one of the best way to gather information about what's happening in an occupation or an industry. For some industry, like investment banking, they are actually conducted in quite a formal way such that it's almost like pre-screening : If the banker likes you during the informational interview, he might push your resume through the first screening process. So the more informational interviews you do, the more bankers know who you are thus the more likely you will be invited for an interview. One banker revealed that he did a total of 60 informational interviews before he was offered a summer associate position at Lehman Brothers.

I think in Asia informational interview is much less common. As a result, people don't know what they are getting themselves into or don't know what to say/do during the real interview because they have limited exposure to the job they are targeting. As a result, most people probably just go into an industry where most of their friends go since that's what they know the most about. In my view this is not the most efficient process- both for the job seekers and the companies. My advice is that no matter what job you are targeting, try to know as much about it as possible BEFORE the real interview. Be proactiveand thick skin: call up your alumni network, weak-tie relationships and friends of friends. You 've worked so hard to get to where you are today. There is no reason why you don't deserve the job of your dream.

What kind of person make it in consulting?

• Strong personal presence, combined with compelling and professional presentation and communication skills
  
• Real thought leadership, combined with strong analytical and problem-solving skills (which includes both a quantitative and qualitative orientation)
  
• Personal leadership qualities, including an ability to manage people, drive change, and accomplish challenging goals both alone and with others
  
• The ability to work independently, while simultaneously being able to forge productive team relationships
  
• Business judgment and maturity, including the ability to develop a 'big picture' view and use it
  
• Intellectual curiosity
  

I copied the above text from one of our career service's presentation and I am actually quite surprised at how well they have synthesized the key attributes of a successful consultant. If you read these attributes carefully , you will quickly know that they are pretty generic and describe the key success factors in almost any industry. However, the thing that strikes to me is most is that our formal education doesn't really emphasize in any of them: It didn't encourage us to work in teams, it rarely gives us the opportunity to develop our leadership qualities and it's so result/grade driven that students find it no benefit in preserving the intellectual curiosity. I think the main reason is that the professors/teachers we had when we were in school are hardworking nerds themselves and they care much more about their research paper than personal development.

Don't be a nerd and seek oppotunities that allows you develop these skills

Getting involved in Haas mentorship program

One thing I am quite passionate about is helping prospect students to learn more about Haas so they can make better decisions. This is really one of the reason I started this blog. With this in mind, I decided to be a member of the Haas mentor program. Here is how the program works: The newly admit student will sign up to be a mentee in the program. Based on his/her background, the committee will assign a mentor to him/her. The mentor will answer any questions he/she may have on the student life at Haas and help to connect the mentee with the appropriate resource.

The goal of the program is to help the admit students understand what it is really like to be at Haas.( Yes, whenever I get involved in something, the first thing I think about is what is our goal? What are we trying to achieve as a group). Having gone through the process myself last year, I personally think the candidate can browse through school's websites, go to the MBA fair or even visit the campus but still don't have a clue what it is like to be at Haas. One of reason for this is because MBA is such an intense, intimate and personal experience that it's almost impossible to generalize. Haas admitted a total of 7 Taiwanese students this year. Each of us will provide a different perspective on the school because of of the activities we involve ourselves in. For example: Ashley is big on the non-profit, Gloria is focusing in consulting and I am all over the place- tech and investment banking. On the other hand, when you reach out to current students or alumni, ask what kind of school/club/career/networking activities he/she has been involved in so you know where the advice is coming from.

My marketing professor Rashi Glazer

Rashi is my marketing professor. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Stanford and now one of the world's leading experts on how information technology has and will revolutionalize marketing. In my view he is an extraordinary professor in many ways.

1. He truly cares about the students. One of the feedbacks Rashi received from speaking to the top CEO of the nations is that Haas students are too soft. So to train us to not be wishy-washy, he is harsh on us when we give the wrong answer or speak without clearly thinking it through. He gives nasty comments such as "This is got to be a joke right?" or "Never ever say that again in my class." or "If you say this again, I will have to fail you..." I can see some people are intimidated by his behavior, however, I think it actually increases the quality of our discussion. Moreover, he is now thinking redesigning the course (so syllabus, no preparation, students come to class with laptop and download the "case" from the WSJ) so students can be trained to think on their own feet. He firmly believes this is crucial in succeeding in today's dynamic business world.

2. He really knows how to think marketing strategically. Too often marketing becomes a set of tactics such as analyzing customer data, developing communication plan, designing promotion activities, dealing with the distribution/sales, working with the R&D and marketing research firms etc. But in fact it should be the part of the company's overall strategic goals. He once quotes Sun Tzu on the Art of War "All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." In many of the great victories in business, (eg: How Honda was able to steal market share from Harley Davidson in the US motorcycle market in 1970's) some were because the competitors have underestimated the ability of the upcommers and paid attention to only their tactics (product, pricing, promotion and channel execution)but not the strategy behind.

3. He is honest and authentic. I like his no bullshit, straight to the point, less is more attitude. He criticized how some of the faculty could not synthesize their core in 7 weeks (vs. 15 weeks) and how they don't take a stand when they teach a case because they themselves don't know the right answer. He believes if you cannot teach your subject in 2 hours, then you don't have a core. Now, here are my questions to all my readers. what do you think the core of marketing is? Please take this 2 question survey by clicking http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2277SZWXW7J. Btw, if any of you are considering launching a survey; this website is perfect for you. It's easy to use, free and convenient. We MBA students use the website a lot to help us with voting, deciding event days and provide feedbacks on school activities.

Lunch with Warren Buffett (2/2)

I would like to share with all my reader some of the most inspiring parts of Buffett's speech. He was much more friendly and approachable than everyone can ever imagine ( I think the picture on the left speaks louder than my word :-) )

1. Anything he lose sleep over: Nothing. He commented that the thing most people lose sleep over is leverage. He believes if you are smart enough, you don’t need leverage to get to where you want to be and if you are not, you’ll lose it if you leverage. Neither is good
2. Most important decision he has ever made: Who to marry. Want a marriage to last? Look for someone with low expectation ( haha…). No seriously, find someone who will make you better and bring out the best in you. This is same for finding a business partner or a job- Work only for people who you love and loves you back. Work for companies you truly admire
3. On the topic of relevant classes for investing in business, he commented that there are three things that one needs to know - How to think about the market ( Also Chapter 8 in the Intelligent Investor), How to value a business ( he advised to think of business like a farm) and Excellent communication - both verbal and written communications. Mr Buffet recounted his initial fear of public speaking and how he finally attended Dale Carnegie's course by paying cash instead of a check.
4. Key to happiness : Do things you have so much passion for that you will want to do it even if you are independently rich
5. Where and how he gets his value: Not from religious but from his parents. He doesn’t do things that will disappoint his parents or people he respects
6. It’s okay not be the person with the greatest potential but be the person who is going to get the greatest percentage of your potential

Today, I witnessed what truly makes a men great is not the size of his wallet, but the size of his heart.

Lunch with Warren Buffett (1/2)

This year I was lucky enough to have been selected to represent Haas to have lunch with Warren Buffett. To be honest I am not an enthusiast when it comes to investing. Yes I have invested in several mutual funds, get pretty damn good grades on my finance classes and developed strategy for several investment banks and brokerage firms while I was at consulting, I am still not that into investing. So you might ask what's my motivation for paying around $400 USD to see Warren Buffett, my honest answer is vain...yes I think it's cool to tell people I had lunch with Warren Buffett ( even thought it was with other 50+ Haas students)

Before the trip the investing club held an info session on Warren Buffett to prep us for the trip. I've also done some research of my own to know about this legendary investor. Here are some highlights:

• With an estimated current net worth of around US$52 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the second-richest person in the world, behind only Microsoft chairman Bill Gates
  
• After graduating from University of Nebraska at age 19, Buffett applied to Harvard Business School but was rejected. He later quotes "To tell you the truth, I was kind of snowed when I got rejected from Harvard."
  
• He believes in value investing. "If you aren't willing to own a stock for ten years, don't even think about owning it for ten minutes. "

Jibjab and >play conference

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free! was involved in promoting this new start-up located in LA during one of the largest digital media conference in the west coast here at Haas. It was one of the most fun thing I have done in years. I suggest all my readers to

1. Hit the above >play button above

2. visit www.jibjab.com and have fun making your own JibJab video

My platform for HTC’s VP of communications

One of my three goals at Haas was to take a leadership position. The first step is to get elected to one. I decided to run for the VP of communication for the high-tech club and here is my platform-

Dear HTC club members,

Whether you are interested in pursuing a career at tech or just a geek-at-heart, have or haven't worked in the high-tech sector prior to Haas, I believe it's the responsibility of the VP communication to get you connected so you can achieve your own career or learning goal at HTC. It's not only about just forwarding job/event/career information, it's about providing a good platform and network for you get the information that is relevant to you timely.
I am running for the VP of communications because I am passionate about understanding your goal and provide you with a customized HTC experience through 3 main communication initiatives:

• Launch the HTC "interest groups": The Interest Groups will bring together HTC members with an interest in a particular aspect of the technology industry through dinner/lunch events and targeted TECH 101 sessions in coordination with other clubs. The groups I plan to launch are Digital media (in coordination with DEMC), Consumer Internet, Network/Telecom, Internet applications, tech entrepreneurship (in coordination with EA), and Consumer Electronics.
• Launch the HTC "buddy paring program": Have the technical expertise but don't know much about marketing? Know the industry but need someone to practice tech interviews ? The buddy paring program aims to pair you up with another HTC member or other graduate students from other schools to enhance your learning experience. The paring will be updated regularity as your interest/needs evolves.
• Strengthen the HTC website: I propose to add features to our current website such as a forum to allow club members share their experience and exchange information, calendar of HTC's events by category and club member feedback survey .
  

The HTC consists lot of members with different levels of experience, expertise and interests in the club. My vision is to bring the greatest synergy within the club and leverage external resources to meet your personal goal. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent you.

Being a leader

Leadership is definitely one of the most overly used word at any MBA program (Perhaps next to innovation and teamwork here at Haas..)Having grown up in a rather traditional, conservative, middle-class Chinese family, this word is by far the least word I would hear during my young adulthood. It wasn't until I begin working at McKinsey, an aggressive, merit-based, highly team oriented, yet competitive environment, Igradually learned and had to step up in many occasions to be a leader in three areas:

Thought leadership: Can you always stay ahead of problem-solving, Can you always think a couple steps ahead of others?

People leadership: Can you get your team to help you? Do you inspire or motivate your team members to work with you? Can you get buys-ins from your superiors?

Client leadership: Can you build credibility in front of your client? Do they buy-in your advice? Can you establish relationship that is well beyond the scope of the work with them?

Through these experiences, I gradually came to realize there are prerequisites in becoming a leader. It's not about knowing more nor being smarter than anyone, it's about the desire, the passion and the drive to see and make something happen. This internal desire is so overwhelming that you have the courage to take some risk and endure the hardship. But more than that, I define leadership as someone who can inspire others to act and you can NEVER EVER inspire others if you are always worried about not being perfect and making mistakes.

Like all other MBAs, there is so much opportunity at Haas to take on leadership position. Think what you are passionate about, challenge yourself to be a leader in the area and make an impact

Innovation and Apple case competition

Everything at Haas is about innovation. Not only do we speak about it, we live and experience it everyday through interacting with classmates, joining club activities, sitting in speaker series speeches and participating case competitions.

This Monday in my "Life as an Entreprenuer" speaker series class, I was deeply inspired by the speaker Judy Estrin. Before the speech I was struggling to figure out if I can ever be innovative. After the speech I became much more clear where I was lacking and what I should do in order to motivate others to be innovative.
So innovation, in essense, can be broken down into 5 core values.

• Questioning: inquisitive but not judegmental
• Risk-taking: A positive attitude towards failure
• Openess: Share with others
• Patience: but not passive
• Trust: but not blind faith

Innovation can only be nurtured not managed. It needs to be cultivated and free from measures.

To challenge myself, I entered the Apple case competition with my three other classmates. The case is about what Apple should do to with iPhone to repeat this success of ipod in a very different industry where the players are decades old, well entrenched and unaccustomed to rapid change? and How should Apple measure success with iPhone and its ecosystem? I have to say I really love the aethestic design and user-friendly aspect of iphone. Above all, it's just VERY cool to have one.

I am learning so much about this industry and having a lot of fun working with my classmates. Although sometimes it kills me when I work with people who goes off tangent without a clear structure, I know I have to learn to deal with it and be more patient in understanding other people's perspective. I understand in order to froster innovation, I need to be more patient and more willing to open my mind to accept different communication styles

Social alert

Every week, the social rep of the MBAA , Newton, would send out an email reminding everyone all the important seocial event for that week. What I absolutely love about these emails is it not only the fact that it makes it much easier for us to keep track of the social events, Newton would write an anecdote which highlights the true spirit of Haas. Below is my favoriate one:


9/11
First year cohort elections are in progress, and first years are probably learning how ridiculously collaborative a school this really is. Last year, I basically negotiated with Emily Walling and then ran unopposed for Axe social rep. The negotiation went something like this:

Me: Emily, we’re both running for social rep, but I think you should take the position.
Emily: Oh no, I could never do that. You be social rep. I’ll run for communications rep.
Me: Awwww, you’re such a sweetie.
Emily: Stop, you’re making me blush!
Me: Oh you. Have you gotten your textbooks yet? Here, take mine until yours arrive from Amazon.
Emily: You look tired, let me carry you to your next class.

As you can see, Haas is not quite a shark tank. We don’t just hug trees, we live in them.

This is clearly one aspect of Haas that exceeded my expectation

*This photo was posted on the 10/1 social alert

Surviving the First Week

When was the last time you have thought about your first week of a new experience? Your first week at a new company? a new country? a new school? better yet, a new relationship? First week is always the hardest, yet the most exciting and interesting. And just when you thought you got it, you quickly realized that there is much more that you did not know before. Isn't this what makes life ever so interesting?

So this is what I did during the first week at Haas besides preparing for the cases and the key takeaways -
1. Attended career marketing plan workshop: It's all about having a strong personal statement
2. Seeked advice from our career advisor: Do your research so you can ask sophisticated questions
3. Attended the IB workshop -guest speakers from Goldman Saches: The culture and work content of an Goldman associate is not much different from that of a McKinsey associate. Perhaps it won't be so bad to try to get a summer intern at an IB
4. Sat in "Product Management" speaker series: Passion for the product itself drives excellence. And 70% of people hate their boss
5. Participated the Venture Capital penal: When making a sales pitch to a large audiance, try to say something funny " I am just a regular guy trying to save the world"
6. Joined our Cohert for lunch and drinks at Raleigh's after the make up class on Friday: Peach Magirita are good. And there are cheap but good food by the student ID center
7. Had drinks at the bar of the week at Raleigh's and later to Blake's: Don't show up too late for the BOW
8. Meet up with my second year mentor: Don't wait until second year to get to know people. Do it at first year!! 9. Had drinks and talk gossip with the Taiwanese crowds: We are truly an awesome crowd..

Last but not the least, I finally got to settle in at my new apartment. I feel happy, prepared, excited about the upcoming week

Take risk!

One of my biggest weakest, which I did not came to realize until recently, is that I just don't take enough risk-either physically or mentality. Why is taking risk particularly important for leaders you might ask. My short answer to that is risk taking requires courage and courage inspires others to act. Not to say, sometimes life's greatest moments are when we take risk- climbing the Chinchen Iza at Mexico , riding on the airchair at Capri, Italy, my first 10 meter swim, the satisfaction after organzing the first Asian gathering. Afterall, life will only give us as much as we ask for.

A great article on risk taking

http://www.take-risks.com/pages/FstP2TakeRisks.html

O week 4,5/5

I’ve gotten quite a lot of attention from introducing myself as “ I have never gotten drunk before but look forward to the experience when I get to know everyone better” . Luckily, I have also gained valuable tips on staying sober and happy in drinking events
1. Don’t mix your drinks. Not only it will prevent you from blackouts but a really bad hangover the following morning
2. Drink water between drinks/shots
3. Eat very oily food before drinking
4. Take the aspirin the night before, NOT the following morning to prevent bad headache
5. Stop drinking/take a rest when you begin to feel it kicking!

I have been drinking and hanging out in the bar three nights in a row. I have to say although it might not be the most healthy mean of meeting people, it sure makes it much easier to connect with others since we feel relaxed with alchol. Not to say many relationships actually begins from here….

O week 3/5

Me and Soo Jin in blue spirit

Despite the fact that the Olympics game was designed more for Americans than international students , I enjoyed hilarous skits by all coherts , learning what ultimate freesbie is and actually playing it, cheering for our team, and meeting with other wonderful people from/besides my cohert. Like all things in life: get involved, get excited and remember to have fun

I love the feeling of winning and the seemly endless energy. G O BLUUUUUUUE!

http://picasaweb.google.com/agreystoke/HaasOweekOlympics .

O week 2/5

I found three things which really exceed my expectation since I arrived Haas-

1. Highly inspiring leaders were Haas alums to speak with us

" Hire the best people to work for you and just let them do their job"- Bill Jasper, CEO of Dolby

"The last thing on leadership is to focus on the people. 50% of my time is spent on focusing people" - Shantanu Narayen, President and Chief Operating Officer of Adobe

" No one will take you seriously until you are 35 years old" - Bob Haas, the Chairman of Levi Strauss & Co

2. Friendly and interesting classmates
They push me think things from other perspective, make me laugh, offer suggestions on my future career, listen to what I have to say about the consulting industry, encourage me to take risk and make me feel engaged and welcomed.

3. The enjoyment of being surrounded with tech/digital media
I may never learn how adobe software works nor the actual value-added of each party along the broadcasting value chain, but I am fascinated by how crucial it is for these companies to stay creative and innovative. Most importantly, it's the people that really counts

Although there were some mediocre workshops, I know as long as I have these three things, the rest is not important anymore.

Four Rope Course

I had a good time during the four rope course today although I did not complete any of the high rope challenges. I am not sure when I will or ever will overcome my fear of hights, but I do know that I will never forget the encouragment that my rope team had so generously gaven me today

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do

Go smoky bear!

more pictures on http://www.jordanandkaren.com/events/haas2007-08/ and http://picasaweb.google.com/agreystoke/HaasSaturdayRopesCourse

Strength finder

In almost every personal help book, you can find at least one chapter centered around " know your goal", " find your passion", " have a purpose in life" , " know what you want". But the truth is, although many people know they want to be successful one day, not many people know what they want in life, especially us MBAs.

Here is my thoughts on how we can find what we what in a three steps process: ( always three!)

• Realize you can never be perfect and it's okay to not be perfect ( so you can focus and prioritize)
  
• Free yourself from other people's expecations/view/comments ( so you can be truly honest with yourself)


• Know your own strengths and weakness ( so you can combine your talents with your desire to make it more powerful)
  

Tonight I finally got a chance to discover what my top 5 strengths are from an online test (www.strengthfinder.com) They came out to be:

Achiever: People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and workhard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Activator: People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Learner:People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

Retrorative:People who are especially talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.

Communication: People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

So is this me- a person who is not afraid of the hardwork that needs to be put in to work with people in solving problems and puting solutions into action as long as during the process I can contineously improve?

This is a bit too serious for me to accept..

What respect mean to you

In today’s communication’s class, we were asked to speak about respect- what it means to you, how you feel when people don’t respect you etc.

I was intrigued by the topic but had difficulties in articulating it. It’s such a big word that it can mean as little as simply listening to other people’s perspective to as grand as appreciating what others have done for you. As I spoke on the topic, I realized sometimes how I still don’t give people the respect they deserve:

I jump into conclusions too quickly
I cut people off
I cared more about the answers to my questions than what the other person want to say

I get impatient when people can’t process information as quickly as I do
I look down on people who are too naïve or idealist ( although I used to be one of them )
I don’t give them enough credibility for the things they do for me

Then there’s Yuska’s perspective on respect:

For me, respect is essential in three ways:
· To build any type of relationship, no matter it’s family, friends, colleagues relationships , you need to have respect to have that bonding
· Without respect, you cannot develop nor improve yourself. This is because we will continue to improve ourselves in order to become the person we respect.
· To be respected is one of the key needs of human- We all want to be respected by others

I thought it was very very well said

Networking

In US , especially true for US MBA programs, puts a lot of emphasis on networking. As the matter of fact, one of the top reason why people decided to come for business school is to expand their network. Even if you are a shy, not a big social person, it's still important to have the following categories of people in your network :

· Mentor- Usually someone more senior than you, may be in or outside of your workplace. This is win-win relationship with this person since he/she also recognize your future potential.
· Sponsor-They are usually way more senior than you are. They get you in meetings which you would never have the chance to get into and give you the exposure you need
· Cheerleader-Your biggest fan, always reminding you of your greatness.
· Coach- Always looking forward, they are usually more risk tolerant than you and they push or urge you to do things
· Peer/friends-A safe space where you know people will not judge you.

Who are you missing in your network? Go actively seek for them.

Innovation

Essay #3. At Haas, we value innovation and creativity. How have you demonstrated these qualities in your professional or personal life?



This was the hardest essay among all my mba essays. I am thinking maybe it's because through most of my life, I had hardly been rewarded or benefited from being innovative/creative. My three years at West Lafayette is probably when I was most innovative- I ran my first business of selling lemonade and candy to kids at playground; I started an girl-bunding club ; I did door to door selling of the girl scouts cookies; I had my first and perhaps the only birthday party; I made my first book summary collection. I was action-orientated, energetic and highly motivated sinceI was only ten.



So I wonder if I relax more ( who cares if the idea is not perfect, it's only a summer camp..) , constrain the rebellious child inside me ( How will this idea ever work?), innovation will not be so far away

1st day of class...sort of..

One thing I realized about going back to school after having worked for awhile is that you became so much more realistic and selective on what you wanna learn. You only take interesting, inspiring notes that help us see things in a way we never thought before ( But I still take boring notes just so I don't feel so guilty about searching housing on craiglist during class...)

Today in the math class, I kept thinking to myself-
1. What does market equilibrium have to do with increasing profits?
2. Is there any company care to analyze the revenue and cost curve of a product to determine the produced quanity?
3. MR=MC--> one of my favorite equation in economics but who would applied it to determine its production level?

On the other hand, I enjoyed the communication class quite a bit. Quite insipirational.
" Leadership is about who you are to inspire others to act"
" It's the first impression that last "---> I am a bit skiptical about this..it depends on the depth of the relationship. It's a negative slope function where the more you get to know a person, the less impactful the first impression

I find the small exercise fun and relaxing and that I am really good at judging people -It's a middle child thing!

Mission statement

One thing I have always loved, ever since I was a kid, was reading

It was hard to not love reading growing up with only books

-No barbie, No video game, No toys

Because I loved reading, I cannot help wanting to one day publish my own book

But what will it say? Why would people buy it? and what format will it be?

Even if I have my own book on my two years at Berkeley, what will its main theme be?

How I managed to balance between school work and relationship?

How I achieved the goals I set for myself before business school?

How I spent 2 years of my life trying to figure out what I wanted to do?

How I came to find my true passion?

What lessons will I learned at Haas?

or just simply provide my perspective of an MBA life?

Maybe it will have categories- friendship, competition, pleasure ....(no romance though..)

Maybe it will be in a column format like sex in the city

Maybe it will have several charcters representing different sterotypes of MBA students

Maybe it will be organized by bullet points

Maybe it will just be in a dairy-like setting

Whatever it is, I will not stop writing!

Mommy

Here I am...waiting for my flight to SF at HK airport..I miss mom very much already

不從甚麼時候開始就發現媽咪有返老還童的趨勢 (a sign turning into an adult..)


媽咪真的很可愛
是個很知足的媽咪
是個對物質生活沒有太多的慾望的媽咪
是個連吃飛機上免費的泡麵也可以很開心的媽咪
是個固執但對小孩有超強包容力的媽咪
是個不多想樂天的媽咪
是個愛孩子勝過愛自己的媽咪
是個獨立但沒有安全感的媽咪
是個要求完美且嚴厲的媽咪

在我心裡一直有個畫面驅動著我努力的向前, 就是當我功成名就, 我能讓所有人知道, 如果沒有我母親就不會有今天的我 (雖然很多時候我一而再的讓她失望與難過) 因為媽咪在我很小的時候就告訴了我, 如果要成功, 就要走別人不願意走的路, 養成了我吃苦耐勞與自律的性格且無條件接受的支持我

I only hope she is proud of me as much as I am proud of her

2 days before heading Berkeley

And I still haven't finish packing...I have been on too many business trips that I know I can pack in three hours if I need to.

This week have been just saying goodbye to my close friends ( no big farewell party), spending more time with mom and yes, trying to confirm my housing. It took quite an effort to get so many people to rent this beautiful Eco house but I am sure all the effort will be worthwhile.

Everyone who has or hasn't been to MBA are all telling me to just enjoy myself. However, I will never forget advice that Eric and Stephan gave me ( I love receiving good advice as much as giving them.. ):
A. Write down your three goals- 1. to learn to be a better leader. I want to trying to be a leader who can lead a team to accomplish something with impact. I know I need to be more open-minded on opinions while forcing an issue through with credibility. I need to take more risk.
2. To learn how to evaulate a company/deal with numbers and find an interm that is finance related ( evaluating the return of a project etc) 3. to develop a hobby (glof? wine tasting?) 4. to know everyone in the program and network as much as possible
B. take courses that you really enjoy ( want to try the human resource course as suggested by Vincent) and don't do the Chinese thing- hang out with people from various background

Just writing these goals alreayd make me super excited. Everyone says I will have a great time at Berkeley. I will because I know there will be no other time in my life I can be as laid back as I will in the next 2 years.