Earn Up to 6,000 Starwood Bonus Points

FYI, a few classmates asked me about the Starwood Preferred Guest promo going on. Click on the link below to check it out and sign up. Props out to John for bringing it to my attention.

This one is a no brainer for us WEMBA West students: Link to SPG.com promotion

-Chairman P

Comparing Wharton Full-time and WEMBA Programs

Check out Anil's excellent post on comparing the full-time and WEMBA MBA programs at Wharton: link

-Chairman P

Wharton West Grand Prix Results: Ariel Wins the Race

After class on Saturday, Loren organized a 10 person Wharton West Grand Prix at Go Cart Racing in Burlingame. So we cruised down there after wine tasting and raced around the track! I think everyone agreed that it was very fun but very intense. Ariel took pole position from Jack in the last few laps to take over the #1 spot. The rest of us were stuck in a pileup!

Here are the final rankings:

1 Ariel

2 Jack

3 Ron

4 Loren

5 Enoch

6 Ken

7 Gagan

8 Judy

9 John

10 Sridevi

Some takeaways:

§ Great way to blow off stress! It was really really fun. If you get 20 people, then I think that they will make a custom track. The other fun thing we could do is to do paintball. Section 1 versus Section 2? I can think of some professors we might want to invite…:)

§ Wharton Competitiveness. As I was slammin’ Loren "The Crash Dummy" into the wall and passing Gagan aka "Ghost Rider", I couldn’t help but get some great satisfaction! Everyone said afterward that their driving on the road was a lot more aggressive than normal, which I’m not sure was a good thing. It was also funny how everyone tuned into the statistics and their rankings that they gave us after the race (see pics if you want to see the numbers). Takeaway: our competitiveness in class translates into the go-cart track too.

§ Need Bigger Helmets. They need to stock some bigger helmets for those of us with bigger heads. I was the only one who fit a size XXL white helmet. I was told that it was quite easy to identify me, as the helmets were colored by size.

§ Black Head Socks are In. What’s better than the ninja head socks? We should wear them to our next group presentation….

Here’s some pics that Loren’s fiancée Yung took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66499233@N00/sets/72157594464297598/show/

Out for now. For those of you who expressed interest in guest blogging, now is the time! So just let me know.

-Chairman P

Thoughts on Term 3, Weekend 1

Marketing 621: Taught by Prof. David Bell. This first marketing class of the core is an interesting, interactive .5 unit class whose purpose is to educate us on how to do marketing. The next class focuses on strategy. Bell has an interactive style that I really appreciate. We had two lectures in the first weekend: 1) Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning, and 2) Markets Analysis and LTVC (LifeTime Value of a Customer). Highlight of the class: Bell showed a funny video clip of Ali G and Donald Trump. It showed some of his pitches for ice cream gloves with some VCs. I think it's interesting how quite a few of our professors are starting to use video much more during their lectures, due to the availability of interesting clips and relevant content on the internet. It's an interesting trend in teaching that I personally like. It really drives home the point to be able to see what we are talking about in class.

Here’s a link to the Ali G / Trump video:

http://www.videovat.com/videos/1577/donald-trump-ali-g.aspx

Finance 601: This class is the core finance class for Wharton. We took a big picture, high-level view of the term and learned about Value Creation and Measures of Performance, using the Emerson Electric and Progressive Insurance case studies. Prof Percival is quite dramatic in his style, and he even slapped his own face twice in both sections to illustrate a point. (I was too slow to get a video clip…sorry) It was good to learn the intuition behind the DuPont model, and to learn the concepts behind MVA and EVA, two new acronyms to add to our MBA vocabulary. I was surprised to see some companies on the Top 5 and Bottom 5 lists in certain industries.

Quips and Quotes:

“And what is the problem wid ice cream? It drips.”

“All models are wrong but some are useful.”

“I think that Fortune has become the People magazine of business.”

“The time to be particularly worried is when you are doing well.”

“If I’m a lender, I like stable, predictable companies with fondle-able assets.”

Poker 601: There was a large poker game at the Le Meridian on Friday night in our study room that went until 4am. It was so crowded I couldn’t get a seat. But I hear Gagan hit QUAD Aces, and then Frank went “All in” on him….ouch! Bolaji has a picture of it that I’ll post when I get it…

-Chairman P

Field Report: Wharton West Coast Trek Sample

Thought I'd pass along my account of a day that I took to participate in the Wharton West Coast Trek, which concludes tomorrow. A few of our classmates will be missing the start of Term 3 tomorrow to participate.

The purpose of the trek is:"Student-managed visits to companies in various industries on the West Coast for the purpose of education and networking.". There's a big auction and students can bid points on the companies that they want. It's all managed and administered on the Webcafe website.

Here's some additional info from the fact sheet on the Trek:

• Audience: MBA 1st & 2nd years; WEMBA 2nd years (WEMBA 1st years if space permits)
• Trek Dates:Bay Area / So. Cal: Tuesday Jan. 2nd – Friday Jan. 5th
• Industries: Bay Area: Healthcare/Biotech, Technology, PE/VC, Real Estate, CPG/Retail, IB,
• IM, Consulting*; So. Cal: Real Estate, Healthcare/Biotech. Media & Entertainment, Consulting*

Some initial thoughts:

• The West Coast Trek is really good for getting a broad introduction into what it like to work in different industries and companies that are hiring traditional FT MBA grads. As an engineer, I had no idea what it was like to work in the traditional MBA-ish areas that I wanted to explore.
• I took a balanced approach to it, and selected one company in Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Investment Banking. The companies I chose were: Texas Pacific Group (PE), Morgan Stanley (IB/RE), and New Leaf Ventures (VC Healthcare). There were a lot of other types of companies and industries that I did not visit, but there are some WEMBA students who went to those. For example, talk to Loren if you want to know how the Bare Escentuals tour was! Alice went to Clorox.
• It was time well spent and totally worth it. I am glad that I did it as a first year student. It's on my must do list for next year.
• If you wait until next year to think about what you want to do after Wharton, it will be too late. Gotta start now. I'm really glad that I decided to participate prior to starting a new job next week. In talking to Zia, who's also in the same boat with a new gig, he also felt the same.

Here's my account of the day:
10:00am-11:45am Texas Pacific Group. We met in the lobby at 9:45am and then proceeded to head up to TPG's conference room, which sat about twenty people, all dressed in formal business attire. I ran into Zia in the lobby, so there were two of us from WEMBA Class32 there. Another comment: those FT MBAs sure look young. Heck, they *are* young! One of them asked me if I was Enoch Lee, who appears to be quite famous amongst Chinese women from HK in the FT program. Of course I said I wasn't, but that I knew him well. :)

12:00-12:45pm Lunch. Met up for some lunch with Zia, Enoch and Loren in the building where the next trek event was at: 555 California. All the investment banks are in that building.

1:00-3:00pm Morgan Stanley. We got 15 minute slots from a bunch of different groups: Corporate Finance, Financial Sponsors, Private Wealth Management, Fixed Income, Prime Brokerage, and Real Estate. It was a whirlwind tour of the different groups within MS. WEMBA students there: Alice, Ken, Peter, Richard and Jenn were all at the event.

3:00-4:00pm Rush out of Morgan to go get my car. Paid $27 for parking (ouch, but hey, its SF), and then sped down 280 to Sand Hill Road. Yeah, yeah, I went just a littttle fast. But I just made it down the Penninsula in time for New Leaf Ventures.

4:00-5:30pm New Leaf Ventures. Saw Masha and Haitao at the meeting, which was a Healthcare VC. Man, I thought they did some technology, but I was wrong. It was interesting to see their office in the same complex as Accell/KKR and Matrix Partners.

Takeaways:

• Sign up early. If you are a WEMBA first year, we get a total of ZERO bid points. Which means that whatever is leftover from the FT program and WEMBA second years is open to us. Not really that great.
• Get your best suit ready ahead of time. In my field, we NEVER wear a suit. I had to get mine altered. I must say that everyone was styling today, so much so that I almost didn't recognize some people. I am sure they didn't recognize me.
• This trek is very good and worth the time. I recommend it to all first years who are exploring what they are going to do post-Wharton.
• It would be even better to have a WEMBA only version targeted for more experienced job seekers. We should work with the Career Management office or Class 31s to do something for next year. At least we'd get auction bid points. If we try to do this, it would require us to start now.
• Most firms are only hiring a few interns and full-timers, and I'm sure it's really competitive. For example, TPG had 1-2 summer intern positions open.
• There are quite a few different types of investment banking jobs. It is not sufficient to say "I want to be in IB", you gotta know where in IB.
• Most people at the companies had heard of Wharton West. Some had not, so we still have some marketing and awareness to work on.
• Quote on working in IB: "Investment banks are coin-operated. Pay us more and you get better service."
• A shot on consulting careers from a former BCG consultant: "Consulting is for all those MBAs who don't know what else to do."
• Some quotes about working in VC, since I know many of us are considering it:

"If you want to work in VC, don't do it for the money. Go work for a hedge fund."
"Most of the conversations you have outside the firm are uncomfortable conversations. You say no 90% of the time."
"A VC job is about getting to no quickly."
"We don't build companies. We manage money."

• We also got some great advice on searching for a job via networking.
• WEMBA suffers from not having career services locally on the West Coast. Those in Philly are at a distinct advantage. The school tells us that they are going to fix this; we'll see if it will help our cohort or not.

There were also a few social events during the week with Columbia and MIT. A group of Stanford FT MBAs was sighted walking around today as well. In addition, there was an Alumni Event tonight at Oola which I didn't make it to.

It's late and Term 3 starts tomorrow, so I'm out for now. But it is nice to think about the light at the end of the long journey we are on...

-Chairman P

Statistics Poem By A Delusionary WEMBA Student

UPDATE: Our class poet has revealed himself....Raghav!

Here's a little verse that I wrote down at the end of last term:

I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Maybe when I get a statistics high,
Richard Waterman taught me long ago,
"When p is low, the null must go."

-Found on the chalkboard of 5th floor room 529 after our stats exam last term. Talk to me if you want to know who the author is....

Heard on the Street Before Term 3 Starts

Happy New Year everyone! Where has all the time gone? It seemed like just yesterday that we were sweating it out with both the Macro and OPIM finals on the same day. Three weeks is too short for time off between terms!

A few updates before we start up again on Friday:

• Term 3 Starts Friday. Night classes start this term. As if we didn’t have enough time in class during the days! In talking with some Class 31s, I hear that this term is a particularly brutal one because of the extra .25 class we have in the evenings. If you are lucky enough to be in Section 1 like me, then we have our Communications class from 7:30-9:30pm three times versus the two times in Section 2. Talk about bad luck. Sandra better hook us up with a LOT of Red Bull.
• Wharton EMBA Blog Proliferation is Starting! My WEMBA classmate Anil has started his version of a WEMBA blog: Anil’s Raves and Rants. Check it out and go read his account of what we've learned in Terms 1 and 2. I've linked to his blog on the right for easy access. Scoreboard: Wharton West 2, Wharton East 0. :)
• GCP Trip: Alice has guest penned a most excellent account of the Global Consulting Practicum (GCP) trip to Chile. Alice has posted some pictures too. It looked like an intense and fun trip for our classmates (Alice, Raj, Jack, Guru, Zach) who traveled to Chile right after finals last term. (Zach, did you help the Sadhu in the airport?)
• More Blog Proliferation on the Way: There are some other bloggers in our program who have said that they are starting a blog in the New Year or that will be guest writing here. Some of you know that my much anticipated adverse productivity shock is coming very soon; I just took a new gig starting next week. Today is my last day in the Emerald City. I'm heading over to turn in my badge and laptop. :) Yeah!
• Social Events During the Holidays: Happy belated birthday to Nichole and Charles! I was out of town so I missed the celebrations. Also missed Eyal’s Hannukah candle lighting party as well, and others I’m sure. Feel free to pen a guest article or send pics.
• Wharton West Coast Trek: Quite of a few of us are signed up for the Wharton West Coast Trek, which is to promote networking and informational opportunities for Wharton FT students from Philadelphia as well as WEMBA West and East students. If time permits, I may post a recap later, as I’m planning to check out a VC, PE and Investment Banking company during the trek.
• Richard Wins Fantasy Football Championship. Through a series of late season "extreme makeover" trades to improve his team, Richard H has won the "Wartun32 FFL" league championship in NFL Week 16. (Lesson learned: don’t trade with a guy who used to work on Wall Street.) Congratulations to Richard! I hear that Kaiser is planning to block fantasy football HTTP requests starting next season though. The final results were:

Week 16 Results

Championship Game

Hail Mary (Richard) 168.9

Rock This Planet (Ron) 112.05

Consolation Game

The Cats (Nihal) 109.15

4th Place (Loren) 80.1

Toilet Bowl Consolation Championship

Adam's Daddy (Azar) 97.7

Wharton Westside (Adam) 94.75

§ Payouts Available. Payouts for the Wartun32 FFL are posted on our Yahoo Sports fantasy website. Lemme know how you want to get your $$$.

-Chairman P

Guest Blogger: Alice Talks Global Consulting Practicum

Props out to our guest blogger Alice, who sent me this summary of the one week GCP trip to Chile. The company where the study was done is confidential and under NDA. -Chairman P
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Check out pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/citronbay/sets/72157594362820136/show/

As part of GCP tradition we visited Chile, our client's country, in the week before Christmas.

We Like Sheraton

We settled in a B&B like local four star hotel in the beach resort town Vina Del Mar, where our partner university (UAI) is located. Soon Guru found out that his room was just the size of a walk-in closet. A single bed barely fits in. With his arms open Guru can touch both ends of the wall. We all had a good laugh. Lucky for me at least I got a king-bed.

Later on Marianne discovered that just a stone's throw away there lies a much nicer hotel with breath-taking ocean views from EVERY guest room - Sheraton! Though too late to change the lodging plan, the nostalgic Wharton Executive team paid a rather emotional visit to our SPG member hotel. Yes if you'll ever visit Vina Del Mar, our vote for the choice of the hotel is –Sheraton!

Top Reasons To Go To Chile

Our driver+tour guide Fernando obviously was very experienced. Half an hour after getting into the van I learned from Fernando all the highlights about Chile (Well, a lot of them having to do with Chilean women):

1. Contrary to conventional thinking, Chile is a liberal country. Why? Because Chile elected Socialist Michelle Bachelet, a 54-year-old single mother and pediatrician as its first female president. Imagine if Hillary lived in Chile! She would have kicked Bill out and could have won the presidential election already!

2. According to Fernando, the women to men ratio in Chile is 2 to 1. Lucky guys!

3. Chile has its own version of Hooters restaurant! And it's called "Cafe with Legs"!!! What an artistic name!

Fernando was only willing to give us a glimpse of the restaurant so I stood outside and took one blurred picture of a 'Santa' dressed "Cafe with Legs" lady. Don't worry; you will NOT miss it in my album.

4. Fernando was particularly proud that Chile had no divorce laws...couples are bound not by contract, but by faith. (Well this has changed recently.)

5. Chile is full of valleys and mountains; beaches and deserts. From the modern city of Santiago to the nature's love Patagonia, it's suited for a wide variety of interests and activities.

6. At this point you probably don't care about economy any more. But worth honorable mentioning is that Chile is actually one of the most developed and fastest growing economies in Latin America. In 2006, it became the country with the highest nominal GDP per capita in Latin America. To quote the impressed Raj, "It will take India 5-10 years to reach this level!”

A True International Team

The combined Wharton-UAI team has 10 members, coming from 8 countries:

From Wharton: India, China, Finland, and USA

From UAI: Dominique Republic, Panama, Ecuador, and Chile

And if I count spouses and faculties I'm sure the number of represented countries will double. Thus every working day we experienced a round of meetings in United Nation. Though it was chaotic at times, I was impressed by the UAI team's high working spirit and intellectual level.

After a few days Marcela and Jose became my buddies. Three of us would sneak out after lunch and drove deep onto the winding streets of Vina Del Mar's hill side. We'd stop by at Marcela's house, the President's summer palace, and take a snapshot at the 'Flower Clock' - symbol of the city. The international round table was terrific, but secretly I was longing for the road trip on Marcela's 80 something stick shift Honda with her Bond Girl like driving style. After all it was peachy early summer and we were in a flower garden beach resort town!

Vina Del Mar & UAI Campus

Vina Del Mar - the beach resort city feels much like a small Spanish town. Vintage. European. A little paradise. Our partner school, UAI is located only a few miles away. As a matter of fact our 'war' room in one of UAI's buildings got a million dollar view of the whole beach front.

Somehow UAI reminded me of California's Pepperdine University and the story about Larry Ellison's son. It goes like this: Larry's son was 18 years old and was deciding which university to go to. In particular he was choosing between Harvard and Pepperdine. The son then went to Larry for advice. "Of course Pepperdine!" Larry said.

Following Larry's wisdom we Wharton team offered to swap with the UAI folks for one semester....guess what? To our disappointment Vina Del Mar still beats San Francisco...none of the UAI folks wanted to take the offer! (Well, admittedly UAI is one of the best Universities in Chile, but still, we are Wharton + San Francisco! Oh that hurts. )

So here you go, with a week immersed in Chile, Vina Del Mar, Santiago, and UAI, we're back in whole. Happy New Year!

-Alice