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