Check For $113 from Google

Even though it doesn't even make a dent in my tuition loan, it was nice to get a check for $113 from GOOG today for my blog for the past three months.

Here's my blog visit and page view stats for the past 12 months. I guess my recent increase in posting frequency has had a good effect...

-Chairman P

Survey of the Social Networks at Wharton West

By popular demand from those who voted on my blog poll, this post is my take on the various social groups at Wharton. We now have only four more class days and two more weekends to go. Plus a "Prom" in between. We're long past the early days of our cohort, which felt like starting college or high school all over again from a social networking perspective. But I write about the groups that have been formed since the early days of WEMBA.

I'd characterize myself as one of those people that is able to relate to a lot of different groups, perhaps because of my fourth generation Korean-American background. (And no, Loren, I am not a twinkie.) Or my interest in poker. Or red wine. Or perhaps getting the distinction as the guy who most often got the mean on the exams. :) Anyhow, please take these characterizations lightly, and if you are offended by stereotypes then don't read on....

Some of the main social groups at WEMBA can be characterized as follows:

The Smokers. These are the hard core, I smoke a pack a day types that stand outside on the balcony or by the front entrance to the building. I didn't manage to make it into this group, except for a brief stint while in Argentina when I had access to some Cubano stogies. After Wharton started, they smoked two packs a day (consumption increase!) and made RJR Nabisco very happy. You can tell them by the smokey smell.

Your First Year Study Group. The first year study group experience at B-School is like no other group experience; it's what happens when 5-6 Type As get into the room at the same time. One of days these someone should do a reality show on B-School study groups...now that would be interesting! There are various characters such as the Slacker, the "Total" Leader, the Socialite, the Genius, the Silent One, the Never Calls In Guy, the Traveller, the Millionaire, the Know It All, and the Procrastinator. Not all of these are mutually exclusive either. You'll find out.

The Drinkers. Party party party! These are the hard core alcoholic enhanced types that hang out at the Old Ship bar late at night. To be a card carrying member, you must do one of the following: know the bartender by first name, regularly skip Sat class to get a burger and beer in the morning, break a table while drunk, and/or drink the incredibly expensive Zain's Liquor fifths with a Red Bull in the back of class at the end of a Fri/Sat. These guys and gals have livers of stone.

The Various Racial and Religious Herds. I guess I can say this since I'm in the Asians group, but we do seem to have some groups that aggregate by race at Wharton from time to time. It's not too bad most of the time, except when there's too much yammering in some foreign language. There's the Asian-Americans (from the Orient) as well as the Indian Asians, the Latins, the Europeans, the WASPs, and the Jews. Oh yeah, and there's the Ebonics Society, founded by Clifton A. The Mormons are in there as well; I think we have four of them. There's SIX (correction from the original post; it was FIVE before) Koreans in our class, which I'm sure is some sort of record. One funny story that Nicole told me was that her friends that met some of us in Brazil were wondering why everyone at Wharton was Asian. I'm sure I'm forgetting some more groups here but I better stop before the slippery slope gets steeper!

The I Hardly Show Up Team. There's a couple of guys and gals that rarely show up for class. It never fails to amaze me that they managed to get through the program, but a few have proved that it is possible to miss lots of school and still graduate. This is NOT recommended for the average person, however. I think I made it to 50% of my undergrad classes but that didn't work for me at WEMBA. This team is either made of geniuses or huge donors to the school.

The Sports Fans. I'm a proud member of this one, having commished the Whartun32 Fantasy Football League the past two years. I also teach Golf 720. Azar has also run the NCAA Men's Basketball Pool the past two years as well. You will know if you are in this group if you are caught lobbying for Sports Management elective in Term 3. We weren't successful in getting it, thankfully, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The Runners. There's a group of morning runners that get up early almost every Sat to go for a run before class. Charles, dude, thanks but no thanks, I'll see you in class. This one was not for me. It was a popular group though, and if I had done it I would have reduced the weight gain portion of the Costs of Academic Distress. Doh!

The Scholars. There's a small group of competitive students that I assume are vying for the Palmer Scholar award. First term pretty much took care of me so I can't tell you from personal experience. You know you are member if you finish your assignments before the term even starts. 100% attendance at all the TA and office hour sessions are part of it as well, but if you qualify for that and get good grades then you might be something that starts with a B and ends with an R.

The Team. There are a number of Intel, Oracle, Cisco, and HP students in every class. Ours seems to have a high percentage of Intel and Oracle folks. Or at least when we started Wharton....hehehe :) Change that to "seemed", past tense.

The Nerds. We're at Wharton, so I think almost everyone qualifies for this in some way. But there are some extremely nerdy folks at Wharton, and these types seem to attract each other for Dungeons and Dragons night. We are talking outliers here. And if you know what one is before Stats class, then you might be one.

The Impressives. There are a few select people in our class that I admire quite a bit for their achievements, be it in business, as an entrepreneur, or in their personal lives. It really is great to get to know some of these really impressive people on a very personal basis. That's one of the truly great things about the program.

The Family Guys/Gals. These types don't socialize that much, usually bring their families to school, and are good old fashioned family types. There are lots of these in our class. Frank and Adam qualified after having twins in Term 3 or so. Twins are not recommended, but it can be done.

The Socialite-Gossipers. These types compare what everyone is wearing, who's hot and who's not, know the latest dirt, and are pretty well connected to what's happening after class. Usually single, although occasionally married, they are always ready for some sort of social event. These types have IM always running, are always getting text messages, and just are in the know. There is a fine line between being a socialite and being that guy/gal who shows up to all social events whether you are invited or not.

The Commuter Groups. This one is usually by geographic location. I'm in one of the carpools from the Penninsula area, and I meet up with 4-5 classmates to carpool to school. Saves gas, saves parking at the hotel, and the best part is the conversation on the way there and back. There are other groups: the SoCal airplane team, the South Bay carpool, and the Sacramento commute triad. Nikul just told me that the Sacramento guys only just figured out in Term 6 the optimal way to commute from Sacto after taking BART for 1.5 years.

The Poker Players. Texas Hold Em is the game of choice in our class. I'm a card carrying member, at least before I changed jobs. (For the story of how much changing jobs affects your time to play poker, I'll have to write another blog post.) You'll know the really hard core poker types because you will get email when they play on Facebook, particularly in class. My recommendation for WEMBA is to get a privacy screen on your laptop; thanks goes out to Kip who showed me how useful it was way back in Term 1. BTW, Gagan and Kevin seem to be the top Facebook poker players in our class based on the notifications. On a somewhat related note, I recently only just cashed in my PartyPoker.com chips and got a real check, believe it or not. I think I floated those guys about $500 for two years, which was an interest free loan. Just totally forgot about it while at WEMBA.

One last thing: Gagan and I both keep our chip sets at the Le Meridian in permanent storage, so you Class 33 and Class 34's are welcome to use them. We've both decided that part of our class gift is to permanently leave our poker sets at the Le Meridian for all time. The chips with the metallic centers are from me, Chairman P. The other ones are from Gagan. Just ask for the poker set at the concierge desk. Enjoy!

I'm quite sure I missed some more groups. Maybe I'll have Gagan create a social groups app online so that people can do it on the web....

Grades Available for MGMT 811 and MKTG 753

Penn Portal has our grades posted for Chalkin and Hutchinson's classes.

Now I Take the Career Leader Test! Doh!

The mad blogger stikes again! Only two more weekends and four more class days til we are done done done!

We're nearing the last mile. Not that I have ever run in a marathon, but I'm sure it feels like I feel right now: every step of the last mile is painful. I can't wait til it's over, especially after seeing my classmates last weekend do some cartwheels when they had finished. (Roger, I am jealous)

One thing to pass on: I just took the Career Leader online test through the career management office. Now I take it! Doh! Guess it's better late than never. I can blame not taking it either on laziness or not having a Class 31 blogger to light the way. Guess which one I chose? :)

The test took the good part of an hour and a half, and it was totally worth it. All web-based, totally cool. I wish I had taken it earlier! Wharton grads have three months after graduation to take it, so if you are reading this and haven't taken it, go check it out. Otherwise, it'll be too late. For you first years, go do it now!

There are three parts to it:
1. Business Career Interest Inventory
2. Management and Professional Rewards Profile
3. Management and Professional Abilities Profile

My results weren't surprising, which I guess is good.

Here's my results:

Best Career Matches Section:

Very High Match: Entrepreneurship (oh gee, really?), Finance in Corporate Settings (validates my major), Investment Management (shoulda paid more attention to Geczy...)

High Match: General Management (that's why they call me Chairman P, baby), Management of New Product Development (ok, I shouldn't quit my day job), Private Equity Investment (why oh why wasn't I awake in the RJR case?), Venture Capital (Raffi and Wessel's class are good if you want to head this direction), Class Blogger

Low Match: Rock Singer (tonedeaf), Professional Athelete (no hops, although fantasy football skills are high), Male Model (especially for hats)

To give you a feel for what you get, here are some snippets from my Career Leader Professional Report (sorry, too lazy to reformat the badly formed text, but you will get the idea):

Interests You have a notable interest in three core elements of business work:
Counseling and MentoringEnterprise ControlTheory Development and Conceptual ThinkingYou are strongly interested in Counseling and Mentoring, one of the elemental activities in business work. You enjoy developing relationships -- and people -- and view this activity as an integral part of business work. A strong interest in Counseling and Mentoring is often expressed through a desire to manage groups and lead teams. The emphasis is more on the "people management" side of things than on managing processes, projects, or strategy.
With this core interest, you're likely to be highly attuned to your company's mission and culture. You may also gravitate toward organizations that:
place a high value on worker developmentreward managers who focus their energy and the company's resources on personnel development"do good" through their products, services, and missionYou'll probably also prefer work environments in which you feel you're adding value to the business endeavor specifically through teaching, mentoring, and coaching fellow workers and others. In addition, you may feel pulled toward working for not-for-profit organizations at some point in your career.
You also have an elevated interest in Enterprise Control, one of the central activities in business work. You enjoy setting strategy and seeing it carried out. You want to have ultimate decision-making authority for complete operations; to make the decisions that will determine the direction taken by a work team, a business unit, or an entire company; and to control the resources that will enable you to actualize a business vision.
In the workplace, you'll enjoy activities like:
taking the lead on implementing important strategic decisions"owning" deals and negotiationsparticipating in meetings in which strategic issues are on the agendaleading project teamshaving full responsibility for the profit-and-loss performance of an enterprisebeing involved in all aspects of a business enterprise (marketing, finance, sales, operations, etc.)acting as a "rainmaker," bringing in new clients and customersThe "enterprise" you control can be big or small, or short- or long-lived. You might want to control an enterprise that you believe will exist for your lifetime or even beyond. On the other hand, you might prefer being in charge of much shorter-lived "enterprises"; for example, "doing deals" that you know will close in only a few months or weeks.
With a strong interest in Enterprise Control, you may be eager to run something now. You may find it difficult to be patient during the early stages of your career, when you're learning and proving that you're qualified to be captain of the ship. If you feel frustrated, resist the temptation to switch to another company too early. Impatience can get in the way of your success if you let it force you off your career path too soon.
Lastly, you also have a notable level of interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking, one of the fundamental activities in business work. Whether as a business professional or aspiring businessperson, you enjoy solving business problems through conceptual approaches, exploring abstract ideas and the "what ifs" of a business or industry, and considering broad economic and social trends.
You're likely to enjoy work activities such as:
developing economic theorycreating a model that explains competition in an industryanalyzing a company's competitive position in a particular marketdesigning a new process for product development or distributionconsidering the value proposition of a merger or acquisitionYou will probably be attracted to careers that provide opportunities to work closely with ideas. These may include positions in strategy and knowledge-management consulting or academia, and work in a "think tank." This is especially true if this is your only very strong interest.
Of course, having strong interests in Counseling and Mentoring and Enterprise Control and Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking doesn't necessarily mean you have the skills you need to succeed in a career in which those activities are a predominant part of the work. But people often develop abilities where their interests lie. So don't let a lack of training or prior experience as a coach, counselor, or mentor or with leadership activities or with theoretical work keep you from gaining the knowledge or strengthening the skills you'll need to express these interests.
Your interests strongly resemble the interests of entrepreneurs that distinguish them from other business professionals. This doesn't necessarily mean that an entrepreneurial venture you're involved with will succeed. Nor does it mean that you should run right out and start a new business. However, it does suggest that you would be happiest in an organization (or in part of a larger organization) that has a decidedly entrepreneurial culture -- even if you aren't the founder. (Many CEOs of entrepreneurial companies didn't set up those companies, but they are most definitely entrepreneurs.) Remember: There is no such thing as one "entrepreneurial type;" different entrepreneurs exhibit different styles in leading their organizations. Your interests are the single most important factor in your happiness and success. Organizational Culture You would feel most comfortable in an organization that places a premium on trying new approaches: "If it isn't broken, see if you can make it better anyway." People who work in such companies, departments, or teams are willing to take risks in the service of possible improvements. They're intellectually venturesome and greatly appreciate new ideas and creativity. These are typically relatively "flat" organizations, where a person's job title matters far less than the quality of his or her ideas. Your tendency in this direction is relatively strong, so pay close attention to this aspect of any organization you consider working for. For tips on how to examine an organizational culture in this regard, click here.
You would be happiest in a work culture marked by a spirit of cooperation, interpersonal sensitivity, a tendency to assume the best of people, and perhaps a degree of altruism in the organization's mission. In such organizations, departments, and teams, people tend to make decisions by consensus (when possible) and to minimize conflict and internal competition. Your tendency in this direction is very strong, so pay close attention to this aspect of any organization you consider working for. For tips on how to examine an organizational culture in this regard, click here.

Abilities You have a number of strengths, including:
Comfort with Risk: Takes risks when appropriate, isn't afraid to innovate and experiment.
Creative Thinking: Able to think creatively, generating new ideas and approaches to situations.Flexibility: Adapts easily to changing situations and is able to adopt new approaches when necessary.Gaining Trust: Inspires other people's trust.Sensitivity and Tact: Sensitive and tacful: promotes an atmosphere of good feeling and mutual consideration.Sociability: Socially venturesome and self-assured; forms new relationships easily and works to maintain them.Strategic Thinking: A strategic thinker: able to grasp the big picture and think long-term.Teamwork: A team player: cooperative, works well as part of a group.Work Ethic: Has a strong work ethic, willing to make sacrifices to achieve important goals.

Hope this is useful.

Until next post,

-Chairman P

Wharton Class 32 March Madness

Two thumbs up to March Madness on-demand.

I gotta say that March Madness on-demand on the internet this year has changed WEMBA. What was better than watching jerky streaming video clips of your favorite Cinderella teams during class last session? Kudos to the IT staff for not blocking streaming video access. And the profs seemed to like getting the updates of their favorite teams real time. Awesome! (Note to next year's class: get a privacy screen for your laptop).

My boys at UCLA almost bowed out to Texas A&M, but thankfully Kevin Love and Darren Collison came up huge down the stretch. With "Puke" (er, I mean, Duke) doing a choke job in the second round as a #2 seed in the West along with the early round upsets by Western Kentucky and San Diego, the Bruins are looking like they have a third straight run to the Final Four baby! Looks like a third meeting with Stanford in the Elite Eight.

After two rounds of the NCAA men's college basketball March Madness, here's the standings of the Wharton Class 32 pool:

Name	1st Round	2nd Round	Total
Azar M	49	24	73
Richard H	40	22	62
Amir A 2	41	20	61
Amir A 1	39	18	57
Guru Sr	37	18	55
Ron P	27	24	51
Mark M	32	18	50
Brian K 1	34	16	50
Michele F	28	20	48
Andrew T 2	32	16	48
Charles O	27	20	47
Andrew T 1	33	14	47
Peter W	32	14	46
Frank F	27	16	43
Nichole J	22	20	42
Eugene Y	24	18	42
Robert Y	19	22	41
Brian K 2	25	16	41
Zia R	22	18	40
Clay A	21	18	39
Adam B	23	14	37
Bolaji O	18	16	34

I'm guessing that Clay, Adam, and Bolaji are mathematically eliminated at this point.

Blogger Sighting in WEMBA Class 34

One of the things that they talk about in the management classes your first term is the concept of passing on the torch for the next-generation, aka succession planning. Not that I've done any succession planning, but I am really happy to say that another Korean dude has taken on the Class 34 blogging torch even before he has started! It makes me think it's in the Korean genes or something.

Here's the link to Dan P's blog (will also post a link on mine):
http://www.whartonblog.com/

One of the benefits that Dan will soon find out about is that everyone will know you before you meet them. I cannot tell you how many people have walked up to me in the past two years and asked "are you that blogger guy Chairman?". They even recognize me despite the picture with the shades on.

-Chairman P

Seven More Class Days in Sight...Thoughts of a West Coast Clock Watcher

Oh yeah, only three more weekends and seven more days in class before graduation! My friends and family say "wow it's gone by fast", but those of us in the program know far better. It has gone by quickly, but I feel really aged over the past 23 months. It's kinda weird realizing that I only have one more project and one more final to go.

Senioritis has hit us in full stride. Seems like there are a lot of pass/no-pass and audit options being taken. We have the end in sight and it feels good. Hint for the classes that follow: take a light load in Term 6; it's really really nice having less classes the last term. As a result, all of my faithful readers out there will benefit from my lighter load: I'm going to go out on a blog tear over the next month to impart as much wisdom for the good of the cohorts that follow us. A couple of articles that I plan on writing before it is all said and done:
* How to switch jobs in the middle of WEMBA and not explode
* Navigating the WEMBA social networks and cliques
* Elective selection from a Silicon Valley technologist's perspective
* Balancing family life, WEMBA, and work: The two-legged triangle

I've started a poll; please go vote for what you'd like to see.

It was Class Gift Fund Raising Night last Fri at Wharton West. We rented a bunch of Wii and Rock Band consoles, which was fun right up until I ate humble pie, losing my boxing match with Bolaji "Apollo Creed" and my tennis match Charles "The Ahn-ninator". Poof went my chances at winning a Wii.

Here's some pics from the event:
http://flickr.com/photos/15155043@N00/sets/72157594298526216/show/

But after I got KO'ed by Bolaji (he called it a TKO but got quickly corrected), I got some redemption at the POKR 899 table, where I went runner runner kings on Gagan and took down a $70 pot that I really didn't deserve to win. Better to be lucky that good! Call me river boy.


-Chairman P

Flickr Badge Contains Best of WEMBA

My contribution to the slideshow effort that Anshum is doing for the "Prom" event on 5/5 is now online: I've compiled a bunch of "Best of WEMBA" photos in the Flickr badge to the right of this post. They contain various photos I've taken over the course of our time at Wharton, from Term 1 until now (Term 6).

Enjoy!

Props Out to Ballot 2.0

Gagan's "Ballot 2.0" is hilarious way to create new categories for the class awards voting that is going on right now. Major props out to the Gagster for producing this Web 2.0 ish website. Dude, hope you didn't get carpal tunnel while writing the code!

Update: Just spoke with the Gagster, and Ballot 3.0 is on the way with faculty and administrators...



-Chairman P

Be Careful to Wear the Wii Strap! Also, What is a Mii?

Here's a link to what can happen to your TV if you don't use the safety strap on your Wii:
http://www.wiidamage.com/

I think that Len would approve of the name of this website...pretty self-descriptive.

Since Sean doesn't know what a Mii character is, here's a link that mimics the UI for creating on on the Wii console itself:
http://www.miieditor.com/

Rock Band, Anyone?

Hey WEMBA32s,
Our class gift committee is hosting a "Wii Off" night, where there will be a video game competition and evening of fun, food and drink to raise fundraising awareness. It starts at 7pm on Friday 3/7 at Wharton West.

There will be three Wiis, two Playstations with Rock Band on them, and a presentation on why we want to try to beat WEMBA East32's contribution amount of $40K in pledges. Malika tells me to watch out for her uppercut. Azar's tennis superserve will be hard to beat. And I hear Sean is a bowling alley machine. As a special incentive, I'll give a special award for the best Mii character!

Our class participation goal is 100%, so think about what you are going to be pledging.

-Chairman P

Golf 720, Anyone?

GOLF 720 Syllabus

Department: Wharton Sports Management
Course Instructor: Chairman P
Course Units: .5 cu
Target Audience: Current second year students in WEMBA Class 32.

Course Theme: Golf for the Executive MBA

Course Description:
The objective of this course is to enable students to develop the mental approach, skills, and knowledge of the fine art of schmoozing your customer on the golf course. We all know that we will sign that big deal down the road on the golf course. Yet our school does not have a single class in this subject! One of the big downsides of WEMBA is that it doesn't allow for enough golf time in between classes, so this course is designed for the student golfer to blow off the B2 slot for one morning in order to get in the only round of golf during WEMBA. I'm sure there are enough non-golfers to record an audio recording of the lectures.

Let's hope our professors lend a sympathetic golfer's ear to the cause. If either of them golf, we have an integrative negotiation opportunity here boyz! But even if not, I highly encourage you to consider this once in a WEMBA event.

Since we are a West Coast school, a special focus will be placed on Silicon Valley style venture fund raising for seed and Series A capital. Topics such as: dressing for golf credibility, fishing for strokes 101, what not to wear to the country club, and deal maker etiquette will be discussed. (A special lecture from Donald Trump on golf course financial management was originally planned, but the bro wouldn't return my calls. Go figure.)

Course Schedule:
This course has only one meeting planned for Term 6. Advanced students can opt to take an independent study elective for Term 7 for an additional 2 cu. See me for more details. I'm thinking the British Open Rota or Pinehurst might be a good option. Please give me a good reason to go on a second international trip!

Date:
Friday, March 21: 6:30am-11:00am.

Venue:
TBD. We are considering Presidio, Harding Park, Stanford, and Half Moon Bay. If you have input, lemme know. Bring your sticks to class that weekend for those of you from out of town. If there's enough interest, perhaps we can head out on Sunday March 23 as well.

Non-Disclosure Policy:
Of course, the Wharton golf score non-disclosure policy will be strictly adhered to. We will not disclose how many strokes you took out there. However, all students are required to abide by the Code of Conduct for honest counting of all strokes. No foot wedgies allowed! :)

Attendance:
Attendance is strictly mandatory for this class.

Wagers?
Let's say we'll be creating a large pot so you can put yo money where your mouth is.

Signups:
Send me some email as soon as possible to reserve your spot by this Sat. I'm gauging demand now....

-Chairman P