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Management Leadership for Tomorrow in 2011

Happy holidays everyone. I hope that you’ve been able to enjoy the holiday season so far and spend lots of time with friends and family. 2011 has been a great year for many of us, and we certainly have a lot to be thankful for.  I’m writing this message to put out a few facts about Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an organization I’m part of that also a good year in 2011. Not only did they continue to build the organization but more importantly they also helped a lot of people apply to graduate school and continue to work toward achieving more success than ever before.

In short, 2011 has been another successful year for MLT.  The organization is excited about accomplishments of fellows and alumni over the past year and looks forward to celebrating MLT’s 10th anniversary with you in 2012! Below are a few highlights from 2011 include:

• About 85% of undergraduate Fellows secured full-time jobs at graduation, compared to under 25% of all college graduates;
• Nearly 95% of MLT MBA Prep Fellows matriculated to top 25 business schools, receiving over $15M in fellowships/scholarships
• 93% of Fellows stated that participation in MLT has been a “life -changing experience;
• MLT expanded its Career Advancement Program, for mid-career professionals, to include 40 rising leaders; and
• MLT formed several new partnerships with leading organizations, including American Express, The Broad Center, Capital One, Genentech, Procter & Gamble and  Yum! Brands among others. CLICK HERE for their full list of potential partners.

In addition to that, John Rice also did well in 2011, as he was named one of Forbes Impact 30 Social Entrepreneurs.

In short, MLT is having a big impact and not just on diverse business professionals but also on business as a whole. And as a result of the success, MLT is looking forward to 2012 and continuing enhancing its engagement with fellows, alumni and the broader population next year, which will be MLTs 10th anniversary year.

Stay tuned in 2012 to hear more about what MLT is up to. And as always, don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions about MLT or any one of its programs. Happy to answer any questions you have.

Happy Holidays!

Kellogg Class of 2014: Congratulations on Your Acceptance!

To the applicants recently admitted to Kellogg’s Class of 2014, great work. Congratulations on your acceptance! Hopefully you are excited about the opportunity to learn more about Kellogg over the upcoming weeks. As a current student, I can’t say enough about how great the MBA experience is, not only because it’s fun and you meet lots of great classmates, but also because of the professional opportunities that you’ll have available right from day one.

But don’t take it from me, take it from the entire student body at Day At Kellogg (DAK) and get a feel for the experience yourself.  My fellow classmates and I will all be around to say hello and tell you anything you want to know more about. Likewise the admissions team and student admissions committee members will be working hard to make sure the weekend and the DAK programing is seamless.

This year, DAK 1 takes place the weekend of February 9-11, and the experience is going to be priceless. And no, not just because I’ll be a DAK section leader; but also because you’ll have the chance to attend a class with professors like Hennesey and Rogers; you’ll be able to meet more current students than ever imaginable, and you’ll also get to spend the evenings in Evanston and in the city with other admitted students. And no matter what you decide to do when you’re here, be sure to stop by and say hello. I’d love to hear what options you’re considering.

Best of luck with the rest of your applications. And best of luck with your final decision.

Kellogg’s 25th BMA Conference Website is Live!

Hi Everyone: Just passing along information about the 2012 annual BMA Conference. The 25th BMA Conference, “Standing at the Crossroads: Building on the Past to Execute for the Future,” will focus on the convergence of experiences and ideas that will enable the community to make smart decisions in their business and personal lives, and guide them down the correct path in the journey ahead. I plan to attend.  We look forward to having you join us at conference!

Hundreds of current and future business leaders joined us here at Kellogg at the 2011 BMA Conference less than one year ago. And we expect an even better turnout this year. The theme for the last year’s event was “The Real ROI: Maximizing Investments while Building Communities” and people such as John Rogers from Ariel Capital Management, Terdema Ussery, Dallas Mavericks President and CEO, Soledad O’Brien from CNN were all in attendance.

This year’s 25^thBMA Conference also will not disappoint. Fortunately, the website and registration page are now live! Likewise, the PANELS PAGE and the TRAVEL PAGE are also live. And they are being updated continually as we learn more about the event. We look forward to sharing more information with you as it becomes available.  CLICK HERE for the link to the website and CLICK HERE for the link to the Facebook page.

A number of my Kellogg classmates will be there, including me. Further, a number of Kellogg alum as well as students and alum from other business schools will be there too.

So what about you  … Are you coming?

Save the dates: 2/24 – 2/26.

Just Got Back from Kellogg Ski Trip 2011

It costs a fair amount of time and money to go on Kellogg’s annual Ski Trip.  But for nearly 800 Kellogg student every single year, it’s worth it. You get to have a blast with your fellow classmates right after final exams.  You get to hit the slopes on some of the coolest mountains in the United States. And you get to enjoy a number of fun activities every night with some of your best friends in business school. That’s what we did on Kellogg’s 2011 Ski Trip this past week.

As a bit of background information about the Kellogg Ski Trip: The Kellogg Ski Trip is the nation’s largest university group ski and snowboard trip across all business schools. Each year, 750 to 800 Kellogg students and significant others travel to a different ski resort, where we take over the town and create our own personal Kellogg ski community. And it’s one of the best events in all of Kellogg.

To determine who gets to go, you sign up sometime midway through the first quarter, in Mid October. The lodging signups were handled by an online website and are first come first serve. That means you have to know you want to go and sign up early before the trip sells out, which happens every year.  This year’s trip finished up in 20 minutes. And last year’s trip had so many people logging on during the first minute that the system got overloaded.

This year’s trip was in Telluride, CO. Another nice location after being in Aspen last year and in Vail the year before that. And what an incredible experience we had! Along with about 775 of my closest friends from the class of 2012 and 2013, we enjoyed a week long vacation on some of the best slopes in Colorado.

We traveled together from Evanston to Durango (or Grand Junction) and then drove to Telluride.  We formed groups between 5 and 10 and stayed in condos on the mountain with amazing views.  We hit the slopes nearly every day (I went out every single day). And in the evenings we commemorated the day of Skiing with Après Ski and then with nighttime festivities after that.  The trip as an absolute blast, which is why I went on the big ski trip both years at Kellogg.

But don’t worry, if skiing isn’t exactly your thing, there are still lots of activities for you to take part in. There are nightly theme events including the legendary 80’s party. We have daily après ski events, which were my personal favorite part of the trip. And there were daytime activities such as spa treatments, snowshoeing, food pairings, snow shoeing, and more for those people that didn’t want to spend the week skiing. And in addition to all of that, you can also just explore the city, hang out with friends at the base of the mountain, relax in your condo, or do whatever you want to do during the day. And you definitely won’t be alone.

And no matter which sets of activities people took part in, we all ended with a great comedy show and a night of dinner (and drinks for some) downtown Telluride on the last night. We rode two sets of Gondolas to get there and got to see what it’d be like to actually be a local. In fact, my group even rode down with two locals.

But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. And just two days ago everyone headed out out. Some traveled back to Evanston on the group ticket and others took flights straight home, rather than stopping back in Chicago. But no matter which route you took, most people agree that this was definitely worthwhile. Not only because they got a chance to have as much fun as ever before but also because they got to do it with some of their best friends at Kellogg and with some of they new friends they met on the slopes.  I look forward to more times like this over the next few months in business school.

Private Equity at Kellogg

One of the most popular industries at Kellogg is the private equity industry. Not only does working in private equity offer a challenging career path but it also offers the potential to make a big paycheck. Especially for those who are good, make it to the top, and get carry at the firm. The problem is that the firms are very selective about who they hire and when they hire. So the question everyone has at Kellogg – how do you get into the private equity industry.

The private equity industry one of the hottest industries here on campus. Hordes of my MBA classmates look hard for opportunities to join top private equity firms. They start with firms such as Blackstone, KKR, and Bain Capital but explore a long list of other firms too. Some in Chicago but also lots in New York, the Bay and a myriad of other cities.

Many of the people recruiting for these jobs come from jobs in banking and private equity before school. Some work at funds over the summer. And others take Kellogg’s “Buyout Lab” class, that places them in a part time PE role for the quarter to get them more exposure and training.

In general, those who work at firms over the summer aren’t guaranteed an offer. In fact, it’s often not even an option. One girl I know never had the option. She had great performance reviews, got along well with everyone, and got stellar feedback. But in the end, she was told maybe reach back out to us next year to see where things stand.

Another guy I spoke with yesterday had to re-interview for his job, despite getting outstanding reviews for the summer. He even had to re-meet with the people that gave him the best reviews. But luckily he sealed the deal to go back full time. And a third person got a “maybe” and was asked to keep working throughout the school year to see if things worked out. So he spent 20 or so hours doing that in hopes to land a gig.

For some of these students, a Kellogg MBA ends up being their ticket into the PE world. One person I spoke with noted that their strategy was to identify connections from Kellogg (or prior firms) to specific funds and have discussions with them to see if there was a good fit with these funds. For others, Kellogg is more of a two year vacation. They have the experience and connections and now are happy for the opportunity to work less the next couple of years. After all, many of these guys were used to working 75 to 80 hours before school. And for some, it could be anything but a vacation if your job search takes longer than expected. One friend of mine got a PE job just days before the Kellogg school year ended last year.

A lot of these people tend to take a lot of the finance classes as it helps with their knowledge set, enhances their recruiting profiles, and puts them in classes with other people that have similar interests. And so as you might imagine some are also really good with Microsoft Excel.

In the end, there’s definitely a lot of buzz in the PE world. To get there, you have to learn the language (and learn Excel), take finance classes and recruit in a less traditional way than your classmates. You also have to be willing to face uncertainty and potentially not get a job offer. But on the other end of the spectrum, you could hit the jackpot and land a job where the earning potential could be limitless.

Volunteer at PrivateBank Food Drive at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church on 12/17

Hey Everyone, just a quick message to tell you about a food drive that’s coming up to in Chicago. It’s been going on for the past few years and my friend James from Chicago Booth is a long time volunteer. It’s been run for the past 15 years by his mentor, Bruce Hague, who is President of Commercial Lending at the PrivateBank. At the event, volunteers typically spend time starting at 6am unloading trucks of food and making food baskets for those who cannot afford to buy Christmas dinners. This year’s event will be next Saturday the 17th at 6am. Please see below for more detailed information about the event.

Below are few details about the event. Below that is a letter about volunteering. Hope to see you there.

Details:

The address of the church is 45th and Princeton, and secured parking will be provided.
Starting time is 6AM, on Saturday December the 17
My friend James Day from Chicago Booth is a long time volunteer

Letter:

For the past few years, The Private Bank and its employees have participated in raising holiday donations and collecting food for the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church located on the south side of the city at 47th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway. The money collected is used to purchase food and basic supplies for needy families in the community during the holiday season.

Last year we raised nearly $23,000 and received food donations in excess of $5,000. This allowed us to distribute 1,500 food packages to these families. A sample package would include various can goods, fresh fruit, potatoes and a frozen turkey. This year our goal is to raise $30,000 in cash and food donations to feed 1,600 families.

For those of you who participated last year, you know what a worthwhile experience it was to be a part of this process. Last year over 60 volunteers went down to the church at 6:00 a.m. on the day of the event, put together and delivered the packages to the homes of the recipients as well as to several shelters in the area. This is a truly rewarding experience and one where we can actively participate in giving back to our community. We would love for you to participate in this year’s event.

The date for the preparation and distribution of the food packages this year is Saturday, December 18. Participants will meet at the church beginning at 6:00 a.m. (you can come later, but need to be at the church no later than 8:00 a.m.). We should be finished by noon.

If you wish to donate funds and/or be a participant in this very worthwhile cause, please call Maureen Higgins at 312/564-1262 (x3-1262) or Adriane Schauf at (312) 564-6903 (x3-6903). Donations by check should be made payable to the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church and sent to either Maureen or Adriane’s attention (Chicago/120 South LaSalle).

In addition, many of these families are without warm jackets, gloves, mittens or scarves for the winter months. These items of clothing are also needed and should be in good condition. New toys for children of all ages are always needed.

Thank you for your consideration.

Excitement for Kellogg Skip Trip

At long last, final exams for the winter quarter/semester are finally over. For first years, it was there first time back in school taking exams again. So for many of them, it was a spring to the finish line the past few weeks. For second years, the academics were a bit easier. We took the right classes, finished a little early, and had a few extra days to relax. But either way, we both have one thing in common. At this very moment, we’re all on our way to ski trip.

Today is the start of what is going to be a great week.  As I’ve been mentioning in recent entries, the end of final exams has come, and that means that about 800 people here will be headed to Kellogg’s week long Ski Trip, which is in Telluride. And people are quite excited about the trip.

But don’t take it from me; take it from Facebook, which makes it easy to see just how excited people are. In fact, on my very first page right now, I see messages like “ski trip coming up!!!!”, “party bus to the airport…. ski trip is on”, “En route to ORD and Telluride – via party bus pumping house music. Sorry for party rocking…” were 3 of the first 5 messages on my Facebook Feed. And the next 10 are all the same. Messages such as, “I’ll pay someone to pack for me…”, “EXAMS ARE OVER!!! A week of skiing, parties, celebrations and MBA-poker up ahead in Telluride…!! #LifeAtKellogg” and many many more.  And it’s only 5am.

That’s because early in our Kellogg careers, we’re encouraged to work hard and do the best we can, which means the first quarter can be tough. So once that’s over, precisely the opposite approach comes out and people are ready to let loose and have little more fun.

First years really buy into this approach even more than second years. So they buy more ridiculous costumes for the trip. They purchase things like fog machines (which they usually can’t actually use given the altitude … silly first years). And they are preparing for the biggest party of their lives. Second years on the other hand, have a bit more realistic view of the trip. Ready not only for partying but also for skiing, and for being with out good friends again. But no matter which camp you fall into, it should be a pretty good time.

Either way, we have to get there first. From Evanston to Telluride. This morning, a few hundred people will be going with the bigger Kellogg group. So you bus to the airport and fly with the big group into Durango. Others went to CA first before flying in today. Others flew to Denver yesterday and are driving to Telluride from there. And my group, started in Bozeman Montana, drove to Salt Lake City last night, and will be headed to Telluride bright and early today. It will be a long day of travel for most but should still be worth it in the end.

Stay tuned to hear how Ski Trip goes. And in the meantime, check out this video for a sneak peak at the resort we’ll be staying at for the trip.

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Tradeoffs

Last year in Finance we spent an entire week discussing the efficient frontier. And it wasn’t the first time it came up in business school. In our MBA classes, we talk about the portfolio theory a lot.  The idea is that you can optimize the things you choose to invest in if you can figure out how to balance the risk and return. That you can think about what your tradeoffs are and make decisions possible to maximize profit. Well in some ways those same questions about tradeoffs happen here in graduate school.

In business school, I’ve come to find that a lot of people are constantly searching for that efficient frontier. The edge of the parabola where you can maximize risk and reward. The very tip of the Tangent Portfolio where you can look out over the edge and see exactly what’s happening.  In some cases you’re searching for more leverage and risk because you want to see if you maximize your profit. But in other cases you’re looking for less risk and more opportunities to take things a bit easier.

The concept is simple. At almost every given point in graduate school you have to make decisions. Decisions about what classes you want to take. Which jobs you want to apply to. Which professors to bid on. What clubs you want to join. And if you’re single, what guys/girls you might want to pursue. But in the end, you can’t do all of them. Maybe most of them, but not all of them. It’s impossible.

Instead, you have to figure out what combination of things works best for you. That is to say, which combination of things leads you to the best potential outcome based on your interests. The outcome with the most reward. The highest profit. And in MBA lingo, the best return on your business school investment.

In our case as MBA students (or JD/MBA students), we all measure reward and profit differently. For many of us, profit is a mix of both social and economic return. So mot only the jobs we get but also the friends we make and the reputations we build. It’s also about the activities we take part in, the experiences we have, and all the other things you could imagine are important.

As you might imagine, each student here values these individual elements differently, so you can’t just copy what someone else is doing. Some of us have a lazer focus on getting a specific job. Especially if we were unhappy in our prior careers. Others of us want to increase our networks, make more friends, or do more traveling. Others want to engage in academics since they haven’t been able to do that since college. And then there are some that want a mix of everything. That’s the group that I fall into.

And while these tradeoff decisions happen all year long, they become amplified during times like recruiting and finals period, when time is limited, and it feels like more is at stake than ever before. So in those cases, you feel the pressure. Pressure not only to make the right decision but also to do well and get a return the money you’re spending.

And you can’t get away with not making a decision.  Because if you don’t, you’re position on the scale automatically moves. You return goes down. The risk goes up. And you can feel yourself sliding. Moving toward the edge. About to fall off the side. And if you haven’t decided yet, at that very moment you’ll be forced to.

In short, there are a lot of tradeoffs in business school.

Business Cards in Business School

One thing we sure do get a lot of in business school is business cards. We start collecting them from future classmates before we ever step foot on campus.  We get them at company receptions and recruiting events. We get them on industry Treks and at coffee chats. And we get them from guest speakers when they come to class. And after getting hundreds of them just in the past few years the one question that lingers is, how useful are they?

I remember when I got my first box of business cards back in 2009. They were white, they had nice Northwestern Law and Kellogg logos, and they got most of us excited about using them to find great jobs while in school. So we put our cards in our wallets and sent out on a mission to give them out to the world. At least initially.

Soon after, many of us came to find that business cards have been a lot more useful to collect than they’ve been to give. We spend a lot more time talking to people whose cards we want than with people that want our cards. And we spend a lot of time in business school in the job hunt process, so we’re incessantly seeking out more information.

I’m in the final year of my JD-MBA program and collecting business cards has certainly been helpful. I’ve taken them plentifully and given many of my own away. Each one with a promise. The promise to follow-up. A promise to keep in touch. And a promise to connect someone I met with someone I know. Some of those were kept. Others broken. Others still lingering.

I’m reminded about how many cards I’ve collected because I just went through a stack of cards that I had on my desk. It’s been so interesting that I’ve decided to get the other stack that sits in my closet. Not only have I come across people that were great professional contacts but also some really interesting ones. Like the a Minister of Health in Nairobi Kenya. The Chief Marketing Officer of Fandango. One of the earliest employees at Redbox. And one admitted student I met at a business school admit weekend in Cambridge back in 2009. Unfortunately, I also found some expired movie passes in the pile which was a bit of a disappointment. I’d been looking for those for a couple of months.

In some ways, I’m curious how much longer business cards will last. Despite their usefulness for me and my classmates, today people use the Internet more than ever before. Not only is it faster than using a card but it’s also easier. You can search for someone on LinkedIn to find the information they need. And you can exchange Twitter handles and email addresses faster than phone numbers and at no cost. Even though it’s not the norm today, I can envision a day where it is the norm a few years from now.

Either way, if you’re in business school today, you should get ready to collect a lot of business cards. Hopefully one of them will result in a job. Though perhaps more important than what the result is, two years from now they’ll leave you with a few fun memories.

Good luck.

Stories > Numbers. A Webinar from the Art of Applying

It’s that time of year again, when MBA application season is in full swing. Applicants are starting to hear back about Round 1 interviews and admissions decisions. And Round 2 applications are just around the corner. So at this point, just about every applicant is looking for a competitive edge. A way not only be competitive for admissions but also to stand out and improve their chances of acceptance. Well fortunately, there are resources out there to help. And one great resource, Kaneisha Grayson,  is helping people is having a great webniar later this week.

Hey guys! Just a quick note that my friend Kaneisha Grayson and her admissions company The Art of Applying will be hosting a FREE webinar about its upcoming Story Over Numbers series on Tuesday, December 6 at 1pm CT. So if you’re interested in the topic, I recommend trying to attend. But even if you can’t attend, they will be sending out a video recording of the webinar to everyone who registers, so be sure to register even if you can’t attend.

In short, here is the scoop on the seminar, from Kaneisha Grayson herself:

The Story Over Numbers is a six week program designed especially for applicants whose “numbers” don’t quite fit the profile of their target schools.  The program includes 4 rounds of editing for 4 schools of your choice, essay starter worksheets to help kickstart and structure your essays, a private members-only message board where you can hang out with other applicants, and weekly Q&A phone calls. Story Over Numbers also includes amazing bonus material such as Kaneisha’s Word Count Weight Loss webinar, a free resume video review and lifetime access to the contents of the program. Sign up soon! There is limited seating for both the webinar and the exclusive Story Over Numbers program. You can register for the webinar and join the Story Over Numbers mailing list here.

While I haven’t actually done the seminar myself, I can say that Kaneisha is smart and also knowledgable about the admissions process. She did well in the process herself and when I met her last year, she had a lot of passion about helping other people be successful as well. So if you have a few minutes, sounds it’ll be well worth your time to see what the seminar is all about.

Best of luck in the admissions process!

Merger Article: Connecting the Dots. Steve Jobs 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford

With just one weeks before the end of the quarter and our departure for ski trip, most people here have very busy schedules. Most first year students have four exams next week, starting on Monday. Second year students are wrapping up projects and papers, and also have exams next week. And JD-MBAs are busy taking exams not just at Kellogg but also at the law school, where the final exam period is one week longer. But every weekend before finals week, an edition of the Kellogg newspaper (the Merger) comes out as a small distraction from studying. And for this edition, I was asked to write the piece on the one and only … Steve Jobs.

Just yesterday, this quarter’s Merger was released. Throughout this past Merger there were a lot of interesting articles, including one on internship perspectives from first years; another on the Marketing Competition, and even one on Fall Ball. For this edition, I was tapped to write an article about the great Steve Jobs. In some ways, it’s a tough task given so many articles have been written already. But just yesterday, my article came out.

See below for the article. And below that for Steve Jobs actual graduation speech.

Title: Connecting the Dots

Author: Jeremy C. Wilson

On June 15, 2005, only one day after taking the last final exam in college, I had the special privilege of hearing Steve Jobs deliver our commencement speech. I didn’t know it at the time, but that day Steve would go on to deliver one of the most memorable speeches in modern history. In addition to hearing more about the origins of Apple and his time at the company, we also had the thrill of hearing firsthand how the future “CEO of the Decade” navigated his way to the top and three lessons he thought we should remember for the future. I remember that June afternoon like it happened yesterday.

It was just about 8:30 am on Sunday morning. Since most people were moving out the next day, my fraternity brothers woke up early to get started on daytime “festivities” before the ceremony. By 9:00 am, graduating students were already dressed in their “wacky” costumes (think Ski Trip) and were headed over to the stadium. Families, friends and observers were waiting on the edge of their seats in the football stadium ready to begin.

At 9:30 am, the gates opened and the Class of 2005 raced on to the stadium field and indulged in their recreational activities. Nevermind that Commencement was only minutes away; and nevermind that Steve Jobs was on deck. For us, the Wacky Walk was one last chance to have some fun on campus before moving out the next day.

A few costumes stood out amongst the rest. Nine or ten people dressed up as the campus shuttle. About a dozen players from the women’s rugby team dressed in their championship uniforms. But perhaps the best costumes of all were the four iPods – all different colors and symbolic of the speaker that was about to come.

But despite those costumes, a lot of us didn’t fully grasp how big the moment truly was. We knew that Apple was a good company and that a lot of graduates went to work there after school. But that was it. We didn’t know that Apple would eventually become the most recognizable brand in the US. We didn’t know that Jobs would eventually be named the CEO of the Decade. We didn’t know that the lessons from his stories would be repeated for years to come. And we didn’t understand that the sickness he had contracted would persist.

But it all changed in the instant Jobs walked up to the stage. He thanked us for listening and gave what would soon be referred to as “The Gettysburg Address of Graduation Speeches.” A speech that would eventually be viewed over 12.5 million times on YouTube. And stories that would capture the attention of all the tens of thousands of viewers that day.

In his first story, Jobs talked about “connecting the dots.” He referenced how his biological mother put him up for adoption as a child, how as a student, he didn’t have a dorm room, so he slept on the floor in friends’ rooms. And that he never graduated from college but that coming to give that speech was the closest he ever got to a college graduation. But that looking back, he could connect the dots and see why some of those things made a difference for him along the way.

And in his last story, Jobs talked about death. He said that having recently approached death, he learned that you have to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. That “there is no reason not to follow your heart.” A message that resonated with most people in the audience.

And in that moment, I thought that I could be just like him. That I could come up with the idea for the next great startup. That I could run a $100 billion dollar company. And that I could risk it all to not only to do something different. And it wasn’t just me. Many of us did. We all believed the dots would eventually connect.

One of my classmates was quoted in the newspaper saying that the speech gave her a wave of reassurance. “I was graduating without a job in place, and I felt like a tremendous failure surrounded by all my overachieving classmates. But Steve made me believe that it would all be OK.” Another classmate noted that the speech caused her to change in careers from engineering to a Ph.D in history to follow her passion. And another quit her job at a Fortune company, drove cross-country and applied to film school. And today, all three seem pretty happy with the choices they’ve made.

Today, many people question whether Steve Jobs was a great leader or not. The first reaction after his death was “of course he was.” After all, he reinvented and grew an entire industry. He convinced the masses to pay more for a similar product. He created one of the fastest growing companies on the planet. All without having graduating from college.

On the other side of the argument, some people suggest that Jobs was hard to work with. That he was too demanding and wasn’t always a team player. And that his laser sharp focus often time resulted in being stubborn and not taking opinions from his team. And that those are not the traits of the best leaders.

But no matter which opinion you have, I’d argue that none of that really mattered when we were listening. What mattered was that when Jobs told us his story about how he defied the odds and succeeded, everyone listened. Most were in awe. Others came to tears. And some were inspired to take action that very day. And in that moment, we could sense the untapped potential within each of us.

That’s the thing about great leaders. No matter what their weaknesses are, they best ones keep you inspired. They demonstrate a sense of passion that many people lose over the years. They convey a heightened sense of emotion that most people have learned to suppress in the corporate world. They have the audacity to hope that they can make a difference and make the world a better place. And they inspire others to feel the same way. So in some ways at least, Jobs was a good leader.

The end of the Steve Jobs era begs one question. Who’s next? Who’s going to be the next one to shake things up? Who’s going to start that business that revolutionizes an industry or the world? Maybe it’s you? Maybe it’s me? Maybe someone much older or younger? Or from another country? Hard to say for certain.

But one thing is for certain, that it’s quite possible that we’ve already heard them give a great speech. Maybe at your college graduation like I did. Perhaps during one of your Kellogg classes. Or maybe it will here at Jacobs in the OLC. Perhaps you just didn’t know it at the time.

Either way, keep your eyes open. Go to as many events as you can. And attend graduation.  Because you never know who the next Steve Jobs will be.

What Else Can I Do With My MBA? … See the Forbes Social Impact 30

The “goals” question remains a centerpiece of just about every single MBA application.  What do you want to do when you graduate? What is your career vision? How do you want to change the world? In business school, a lot of people go into traditional careers right after school. But today a greater number of people have broader career interests than ever before. Like coming up with a great startup. Joining a groundbreaking non-profit. And working with an innovative technology company.  And so that leads me to the one question, a lot of people are thinking about right now. What can I do with my MBA?

Hey Everyone, hope all of you are doing well.  As you know, I often like to spread the word, not only about things happening in business school but also about social enterprises, or entreprenerus, that are changing the world. Sometimes world reknowned organizations that you’ve all heard about but other times about up and coming organizations that are having a big impact on their local community. Well, earlier this week Forbes announced 30 entrepreneurs and organizations that are actually changing the world.

For the first time in Forbes history, they’ve decided to assembled an all-start group. A group that’s not only doing well in business but also having an impact on the world. In short social entrepreneurs. Forbes calls them the Impact 30, and they note that they defined a “social entrepreneur” as a person who uses business to solve social issues.

What’s interesting is that many of them are MBAs and many from the top programs you are all considering today. The two that stand out most for me today, are Andrew Youn from Kellogg and John Rice from MLT.

So without further ado:

CLICK HERE for the article.

CLICK HERE for a view of all the winners

CLICK HERE for a view of MLT’s John Rice (education)

CLICK HERE to see what Andrew Youn (Kellogg) is up to (Sustainability)

CLICK HERE for a view of Wendy Matter (education)

Preparing For Final Exams

Today is the start of what will be a long week here at Northwestern.  As I’ve been mentioning in recent entries, this is one of the busiest times for first year students.  The holiday season is kicking off and people just got back from Thanksgiving Break. Recruiting season is also starting to pick up, which has first year Kellogg students at events this week and next. And last but not least, classes are wrapping up, and students are finally gearing up for their first set of final exams.

At long last, it’s that time of year again at Northwestern. People just got back in town from the holiday weekend and are gearing up for finals period. And if looking at the calendar isn’t good enough for you, then you can also just take a quick look at Facebook. See what many of your JD and MBA friends are talking about.  I have over the past few days, and the number of messages is definitely up as more people are procrastinating now than they have all quarter. And many of them are talking a lot about their last classes and first finals.

But this time of year is no surprise to my law school classmates. In fact, it’s what they’ve been waiting for ever since August when classes first started.  So they’ll spend the next two weeks catching up on reading cases. Making outlines. Talking through the issues with classmates. And taking practice final exams. All in anticipation of that breakthrough moment that will change everything. That giant piece of information that opens up the entire class for us. That gust of insight that gives us exactly what we need to ace the final exams.  Though unfortunately, it almost never happens that way.

On the other hand, in business school, the process all happens more gradually, as MBAs have to learn a lot more on the way to finals period. First years have more assignments to complete and more team discussions to have.  They also have to think about recruiting activities now, even during the final two weeks of the first quarter. So not only do they have to learn but their time is also more limited. So they spend less time learning and more time on other things during the final two weeks.

But no matter which school you belong to, you’ll definitely be busy. Studying and learning, one concept at a time.  And as you study, you hope to hit a tipping point where you start learning more information more rapidly. And then you’ll eventually finish your first final exam. Then another. Then another. And at some point, you’ll be finished.

As a prize, law students go take two weeks to relax and rest up before another grueling semester of 1L. MBAs on the other hand will be heading to Telluride, CO for Ski trip (CLICK HERE for last year’s article on ski trip) to celebrate finally finishing up.

Either way, most people at Kellogg and the law school have a lot of studying to do. And eventually a lot of celebrating to do.  Stay tuned to hear how things play out.

More Than Two Years of Blogging

There’s been a lot of buzz on the Internet about blogging the last couple of days. In one post, Fred Wilson of Union Square ventures recently reflected on his blogging experience over the past years. Not only did he mention that he’s written over 5,600 blog posts but he said he might even be coming up on 10,000 hours of writing. Just yesterday, Om Malik put up a similar post. In the post he discussed his experience blogging over the past ten years and some of the lessons he learned from his 11,000+ posts. Well … given those posts, I wanted to look back at the last few years that I’ve been blogging as well.

Looking back, I’ve been blogging about two and a half years now. Objectively, two and a half years is a long time by almost any account. It’s especially long when you go through 1L and the first year of business school during that same time period, as those are two of the most demanding time periods you can experience.

But despite being busy, I always saw blogging as something that was worthwhile. Not only was it something that was fun but it also seemed quite useful.  It was a way to organize my thoughts and keep track of events. A way to think about the lessons learned during pivotal periods in the JD-MBA program.  A way to continuously improve my writing, as Fred and Erick suggested. And most importantly, a way to give back by answering questions and talking about experiences that a lot of people were interested in.

I’m not at 5,600 blog posts like Fred or at 10,000 posts like Erick, but I still agree  that writing here has been tremendously beneficial. In addition to making me a faster writer, I’ve also gotten better at telling a story, being more concise, and checking the background facts among other things.. And I’ve also gotten even better after writing so much during law school last year.

As I look back on the number of posts I’ve had, I’ve posted every 2 to 3 days over the past two years. This year, I’ll also write more posts than last year, though only by a small margin. And over the last two years, I’ve had a fairly even distribution of posts over the different months. There also doesn’t seem to be any trend to which months get the most posts. In 2009, I posted most in July. In 2010, I posted most in January and June. And in 2011, I posted most in March and November.

Here is a graph of my posts from 2011.

Here is a graph of my posts from 2010.

Here is the trend for the number of words per post.  And there is a very clear trend for my posts to have fewer and fewer words. This could be happening for a number of reasons – my own time constraints, better at writing more concise posts, shorter attention span of readers, accident, or all of the above.

Given how often I post as a student, I frequently get asked whether I’ll continue blogging after school. I definitely intend to keep blogging and I’ve been thinking a lot about how I should reinvent my blog if I do. Some people have suggested incorporating video content. Others, suggest more Q&A. And others suggest focusing on my professional field once I graduate.  I don’t know how it will evolve. But what I do know is that I do plan to turn up the volume in the next few months. Maybe like Fred and Erick, I’ll even start posting daily.

Thanks for the inspiration gentlemen!

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To see Fred’s post CLICK HERE

To see Erick’s post CLICK HERE

Applicant Question: Leadership Opportunities in Business School

In a recent email, I was contacted by one of my regular blog readers who is a potential applicant to MBA programs.  He asked me about the ways to get involved in activities while in business school. Specifically, he asked about how he might get involved in clubs, or organize study trips during the experience. In some respects this is a tough question because there are so many ways to get involved, so it’s hard to even begin to answer. But at Kellogg, people do get pretty involved, so I was happy to give him my take on things.

Before getting to the question, I’ll note that this is only one perspective, and others could have slightly different opinions on the matter.  After all, everyone has different levels of involvement at Kellogg and different abilities to handle multiple things at any given time. Likewise, I’d also say that I do my best to be one of the more active people on both campuses. So my propensity to get involved is high and my time to devote to any single campus is low. But that’s also typical of a lot of Kellogg students so I think I’ll provide a representative response. See below for the question. And below that for my response.

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APPLICANT QUESTION

Hi Jeremy,

As I already told you, I follow your blog from time to time (and I like it).

I was wondering ‘What are the ways in which an MBA student can contribute to campus and the MBA community’? When I think of myself, I would like to be a club president of a management consulting club, start a new club or organize a study trip. Additionally, is there something that you as a student miss on campus and that can be run/done by a student initiative?

I would really like to hear your perspective since you are there (on campus).

Thanks a lot.

Regards,

(Name)

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MY RESPONSE

Hi (Name)

Thanks for reading my blog and for your question.

In business school, many people love to get involved in clubs and in on-campus activities. In fact, most people do. The running joke in MBA programs is that most people get involved too much in the beginning and end up becoming overextended, as many of us get involved in too many clubs, go to too many events, recruit for too many industries and sign up for too many social events. As a result, some students don’t always have time to do their best work.  But either way, the point is, that there is no shortage of things to get involved in. And even thought it can all be very tiring it’s usually worth it.

One way that people get involved is by taking part in clubs. And in business school there are a lot of clubs you can get involved in. At Kellogg, there are nearly 90 student clubs to get involved in. You can take part industry clubs (e.g. banking, finance, marketing), social clubs (wine club, food club, etc), arts and services clubs, and also cultural clubs (Indian business club, Hispanic Business club, etc). The list goes on.  In such cases, students tend to get involved during the first year, as participants or as first year directors and then take on more significant leadership roles in the second year. In many cases, those positions are appointed by last year’s team and in other cases there might be a vote amongst the current members. Likewise, in some cases you run on a slate of leaders and in other cases, you run on your own. It all depends on the club.

A second way that people get involved is by being part of student government, which at Kellogg is called the KSA (e.g. Kellogg Student Association). To do that, you usually take part in student body elections at Kellogg  either during the very beginning or in the spring quarter.  For many people this is also fulfilling. Not only is it a way to give back to the school but its also a way to get involved in some very interesting issues and interface with many people in the Kellogg administration.

In addition to clubs and elections, many people also organize trips in business school. At Kellogg two ways that people do that are through GIM or for KWEST. I did both. For m GIM trip, we went to Kenya – it was the nonprofit profit trip my year. In addition to Kenya, others went to other places all over the world. As a student you can either participate or lead the trip and get very different yet rewarding experiences either way. Likewise for KWEST, you can also have a rewarding experience. As an incoming student, you have the opportunity  take part in a KWEST trip as your first experience on campus. And as a second year, you have the opportunity to take part as a KWEST leader and take 20 incoming students all around the world.

In addition to these, there are dozens (if not more) of other ways to get involved, organize, and lead on Kellogg’s campus. From nonprofit activities (e.g. Kellogg Cares) to experienential learning classes (G-lab) to things beyond the Kellogg campus, such as at Northwestern and in Chicago. There really is no shortage of ways to get involved. And that’s even for spouses and families who can take part in the joint venture club, and other similar groups on campus.

However, to the last point, I will caveat my entire post by saying that those who are married and/or have families often have unique experiences and have other things that demand their time. So I suspect that some of them might answer this question differently than I would.

But assuming you do have time to participate then it applies to you. And if does apply, then here’s my opinion on many of these types of clubs and roles.  If you have the time and interest and are  able to get a lead role in an organization, then chances are you should take it. Landing the group will probably earn you at least a little respect from some of your colleagues, give you more self-confidence, and give you experience organizing. It will also give you something interesting to talk about in future interviews, not only for clubs but also for jobs and anything else you do on campus. That said, the title usually doesn’t really mean much.  Instead, it means more to be able to work with other students and find a way to have impact as a unit.

Good luck in your pursuits.

Applicant Question: Career Change from Sales and Startup to Private Wealth in Business School

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! This time of year, people are back at home spending time with friends and families.  Many of them are just relaxing. Others are students, taking a break from classes, before finals period. And there’s another group of people, that are using the break to apply to business school. They’re hoping next year that when they’re sitting at the table, they’ll be able to say that they’ll thankful for “getting in”. To make the a possibility for as many students as possible, I’ve been responding to lots of email questions this week. One question came from a reader that had a question about career changes in business school. 

In a recent email, I was contacted by someone I met during my BeatTheGMAT.com online chat series. She asked me about career changes in business school. Specifically, about how to move into Private Wealth Management (PWM) from her current career track. She noted that she had moved away from the path that she had intended so she thought that PWM seemed like a longer shot. 

I’l note that I didn’t recruit for the Private Wealth Management industry here at Kellogg.  Likewise, I also didn’t recruit specifically in the finance industry. But I do know a fair number of people that did, and I do still have a few thoughts to share on the topic. See below for her question, and below that for my response.

APPLICANT QUESTION

Dear Jeremy,

Thank you so much for your time and for the suggestion. If its OK, I have one more formidable challenge in addressing my application. I am from an engineering background, with 3 years of experience in sales – financial products, insurance industry. I have a very good record in performance and was in the top 10 of the region consistently. However, due to a stalled career and little growth prospects… i got bored and due to lack of further personal and professional growth..clubbed with a mandatory topological relocation.. I took up the opportunity at a start-up..as a Strategy and sales consultant…and have done pretty well here.

My challenge here is that my interest is in Private Wealth Management, that cropped from my exposure to financial products while with my earlier company. But however, my present industry is Advertising and marketing… so my biggest concern is how do I relate my goals and interest to my present job and validate my interest in PWM?? because the shift in industry and job role isn’t realy easy to connect to my goals. My apologies for the long mail– I just thought U should get a more or less clear idea about my background..to get a good advice from you.

Any insightful suggestions would be much appreciated…

P.S: On a personal note, I’d also like to know what would u have done had u been in my shoes?? 🙂

Thanks you in advance!

(Name)

MY RESPONSE

(Name),

No problem on the email. Happy to help however I can. So if I interpret correctly, you spent some time working in the sales and marketing space and currently work for a startup, but you want to go into PWM. after business school  Is that correct? If that’s the case, then even though you have a bit of work to do, the transition may not be as far fetched as you think. 

Before, I jump straight into the question, I’ll point out that your diverse background is certainly not a bad thing. In fact, having a diverse background is often times a strong plus. It shows you can succeed in lots of professional environments, that you can work well with all different types of people, and that you have variety of skills and interests that could translate across a number of employers. And one of those employers could very well be in the private wealth industry. 

Happy Thanksgiving. Here’s What I’m Thankful For

It’s hard to believe but this is my last Thanksgiving as a student. Reflecting back on my time here at Northwestern as well as my undergrad days at Stanford, it’s hard not to recall how many great classes, great job opportunities, interesting professors and best of all great classmates I’ve had along the way. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how lucky I’ve been to have the experience. And that leads me to what I’m most thankful for this year.

Ever since I started my blog (and graduate school) a few years ago, I’ve received quite a few emails from readers.  Many of them wanted tips or advice for selecting programs. Others had specific admissions questions. Others were visiting campus and were looking for someone to speak to while they were here. And some simply wanted to say thanks for keeping up my site.

I read every one of those questions and did my best to respond to all of them, though admittedly I think I missed a few.  In the course of all of this, I’ve come to find that there are a lot of people that want to go to business school and to law school, but that there are very few seats at these places. After all, there are only 230 seats at the law school and only 600 at Kellogg despite over 7,000 applications. More importantly, there are exponentially more people all over the US and world that want to go to great undergraduate universities, but a large majority will never have the opportunity to attend a 4-year university.

This has all come to an apex today, as education has become THE hot button issue, given the rise in education costs and decreasing number of jobs available given the economy. Even though this has have led critics to critique the value of education, I’ve learned firsthand that getting an education is still an incredibly powerful tool. A tool you can use to not only change your circumstances but also find the success that many of us were never raised to even dream about having.

More than 3 years later, after seeing all the opportunities I’ve had access to school, those words are even more true.  And that leads me to a few of the things that I’m most thankful for this year:

I’m thankful for having the chance to get an education and the opportunity to be enrolled in a great graduate program today. This is especially true considering where everything started (Youngstown, OH), as my access and economic means were significantly limited.  It was certainly not something that always seemed possible.

I’m also thankful for the opportunities I’ve had access to as a result of being in school. Great clubs, great organizations and great job opportunities. My goal is to continue to do what I can to help others from my community create those same opportunities.

I’m also thankful for my parents who supported me and pushed me along to pursue a better education. Sometimes it seemed hard but when I was young my parents made sure that I stayed on track. In large part, because they wanted me to achieve the things they never had the chance to.

I’m also thankful for my great classmates, many of whom are some of my best friends today. When you’re going through the fire in school, it’s always great to have classmates and friends you can count on and enjoy the experience with.

I’m also thankful for the JD-MBAs here in my program. Not only a really smart group but also a group where every one of us undergoes the same process. We have to take extra classes. We all have limited bidding points and multiple sets of emails to manage. We all have to move cities multiple times. And worst of all, we all have to get on the shuttle every day in the final year.

And finally, I’m thankful for the Internet, where we can I share this message with lots of people.  Not only is the net revolutionizing modern communication but it’s also helping democratize access to information for those who need access the most.

In sum, I’m thankful for education. I don’t take it for granted, and you shouldn’t either. The jobs we have access to, earning potential we can achieve, and most importantly the role we have the opportunity to take on in society are all a privilege. So we should treat them as such. We should use them as a platform. A way to give back to those that helped us. And a way to improve access in our communities. For every person that got into a great school,  there are tens of thousands in the US and millions other nations that would love to same chance. The chance to have our seat in school. To take the exam that we complained about afterward. To go to the classes we thought about skipping.  So let’s show the world we are thankful and that we were the right people for the seats.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hopefully it’s filled with family, friends, and most of all with lots of “Thanks.”

Applicant Question: What Qualities Does Kellogg Look For?

Every year, thousands of people apply to business school and apply to Kellogg. Senior managers looking to transition from one firm to another.  Former consultants and bankers looking to gain credentials to go back to their former firms. And recent graduates ready to gain access to more opportunities and take on the world. Despite their differences in backgrounds they do all share one commonality. They all want to figure out how to get in to business school, including Kellogg.

In a recent post on BeatTheGMAT.com a person asked me about just that.  In short, they wanted to know what Kellogg loos for. Her full question was: “When you interview a first year candidate, what qualities do you specifically look for ? How do evaluate ‘fit’ for Kellogg?”

In part, this is a tough question because there are so many moving parts to an interview and so many possible answers here. And it was also tough because I had very limited time to answer the question, given I was on a chat forum. Maybe just two or three minutes. That said, I did have a few thought to share. See below for my response. And below that for her counter response.

And also be sure to check out BeatTheGMAT.com and BeatTheGMAT’s Kellogg Wall for similar question on MBA admissions.

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ORIGINAL QUESTION

When you interview a first year candidate, what qualities do you specifically look for ? How do evaluate ‘fit’ for Kellogg?”

MY RESPONSE

Great question. First, I’ll note that everyone’s interview is very different, so you can’t necessarily predict your interview experience. That said, there are a few things that Kellogg likely assesses candidates for. I’ll provide three here:

1) Culture. The Kellogg culture is vibrant, fun, and high energy. People also spend a lot of time working in teams here, so the ability to show cultural fit is key. While there’s not one specific way to do this, focus on being yourself, on demonstrating how you like to work in teams, and on being personable.

2) Communications skills. Because spends so much time in teams and focused on leadership development, people here tend to be very good at communication skills. So high energy, ability to tell a good story and convey a message, things that are not only important here at Kellogg but also professionally after school is over.

3) Being well-rounded. As a general management school, being well-rounded is also important. That means displaying a high number of interests and skills. A propensity to work on a number of different business issues rather than just being a finance person or a marketer. And the ability to work with a large number of people. Further, if you work hard during your day job but area blogger, singer, dancer or anything else, make sure to discuss those things. You’ll likely be better off.

APPLICANT RESPONSE

Thanks Jeremy.. big fan of your blog.. I also hope to create a blog which is as organized as yours by next year..once I get thru one of my top choice Bschool..

MY RESPONSE

Thanks for the follow up message. Blogging takes a lot of work, but for many is well worth the time. Feel free to let me know once you get started. I’d love to have a look.

When to start worrying about classes?

A week or two ago, a good friend had just received the results of her midterm exam. I don’t know what her final score was but she clearly didn’t do as well as she wanted.  She was wondering what she should do to make sure she does well in the class. She asked me, How long before I should start worrying? Should I start preparing for the final now? And does the midterm really matter? All good questions, especially because I don’t think there is a real answer that works for everyone.

First is the obvious answer. “You should NOT worry.”  Most people would tell you that in business school, grades aren’t all that important so worrying isn’t worth the effort. They’d ensure you that most of the time grades don’t make a difference, as recruiters often don’t ask about them. they often don’t come up in interviews, and they often don’t fit into any of the applications you might consider submitting.

Similarly, you’ll also hear that in business school people won’t put in as much work for the rest of the class as they might if they were in law school or a PhD program.  So because the competition might not be as stiff, you shouldn’t worry because you still have plenty of time to figure it out all out.

But putting all of that aside for a second, let’s assume that grades are important for you and that people will try.  Then, the next question that comes up is the one she actually asked. When, should she “worry”?

My first response is, You should NEVER be WORRYING.”  The psychologist’s argument would probably be  that worrying is a waste of time. That it’s not a useful way to improve performance. It also often doesn’t change the outcome in the end. And that instead, it makes you jittery and distracts from you from other important things you have to get done.

That said, my response my be similar to that. I’d say that you should do your best not to worry, but that you should be thinking about them, given there are only a few weeks left.  So figure out how to channel your energy appropriately.

In business school things are busy.  So you have to think about things early. For class, that means making sure you don’t keep falling behind. Getting your hands on all the handouts and printouts. Organizing the concepts not only to be printed but also in your head to better conceptualize the class. And thinking about if you need a tutor. This all before you even start learning anything.

After that, then you have to schedule time to spend reading and learning the material. Schedule time with a classmate or tutor. And schedule time to see the professor if needed. And then schedule time to learn it on your own again before the exam.

So given that, my answer is the same – don’t worry, because worrying will slow down the process. Especially, now you’ve got lots of other things to do before you can even study.

That said, I know some people that never “worried” or “started thinking”  about the content until the final week of the quarter.  And others until the final days of the quarter. And they still got A’s in the class. This happens a fair amount of the time in business school. But it’s not the most common case.

Either way, don’t worry. Just think about the timeline that works best for you, and take action accordingly.

Good luck.

Another Class on Entrepreneurship

An interest in entrepreneurship has led me to take another entrepreneurship class at Northwestern next term.  As it turns out, it’s one of the most popular courses is Northwestern. It’s Kellogg’s NUvention program, which is interdisciplinary class that brings together students from the Kellogg School, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern Law and the Feinberg School of Medicine. As you might imagine, this interdisciplinary class looks like it will turn out to be pretty interesting.

The premise of NUVention is to allow students to work with companies that are creating and launching viable businesses, so students can experience the entire entrepreneurial lifecycle.  Starting from ideation to concept, and moving to prototype and business plan, students have the chance to see what it means to create a real business. And the best part is that you work on them in diverse teams.

Teams from many of Northwestern’s programs come together for NUVention. We get to work with law students on patent research and other legal issues; engineering students on design and development; Kellogg students on market research and business plan development, and PhDs from other schools as well.

Personally, I’ll do be doing the NUVention Energy option, which means our project will be related to clean technology. There other two options are NUVention Medical and NUVention Web. As you might suspect, I had a really strong interest in the Web class, but unfortunately the timing of the class prohibited me from taking it.

My NUVention Energy class will take place next quarter. Just two weeks ago, I met the other six people that would be on my time. One other law student, two Kellogg students, two McCormick students, and one graduate student from the School of Arts and Sciences.  And then me,  joint JD-MBA student.

Before next quarter begins, we’ll all meet up to get to know each other better. In fact, I’m taking the lead on organizing that meet up as we speak.  At some point soon, we’ll also take on different roles for the team. Someone to work on legal issues. Someone to work on technology. Another person to run the business model. Another to work on sales and marketing. And then likely one project manager.

And in a ten week course, we’ll go from concept to business plan, and then present our findings to the company. Our project is about coming up with a business plan for a Chemical Agent Detection device, and it seems pretty interesting so far.

Stay tuned to hear more about how the class goes next quarter.