Creating a quality business plan takes more time commitment than a couple all nighters on the weekends. I am not happy with this most recent iteration of the plan, the financial forecasting model is far to naive at the current moment. I have decided to save it for next year after I have more experience and more time. I also decided to go part time second semester senior year to give me the much more needed time when I need it the most. Tentative schedule is as follows:
Fall 2009
70-201: Professional and Service Projects
70-397: Venture Capital Investing
70-483: Advertising and Marketing Communications
70-485: Product Management
70-440: Corporate Strategy
70-637: Interactive Media Design Management
80-321: Causation, Law, and Social Policy
69-134: Beginning Golf
69-102: Weight Training
Teaching:
98-131: Progress with PowerPoint
99-101: Computing @ Carnegie Mellon
EB
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Damn it feels good to be a gansta
Today the results of the Apprentice project were revealed. For people who are not familiar with the Apprentice project, basically the class splits up into groups (there 7 groups in our class and our group had 7 members) and each group is given an envelope with cash (aka seed capital), and we have four weeks to make as much money as possible, with the total amounts submitted with cash on hand the last day of the 4th week. At the way end, all the groups pool their profits together, and the group that created the most value from the initial investment keep all the profits (with the seed capital + an investment return back to the professor). Some basic rules are that everything must be legal, and we are not allowed any outside investment in consumer durables, services, or cash.
Two days before the deadline we were hit with a twist, where groups were allowed to merge with or acquire a single other group. Teams that joined would be graded as one team, thus it was clearly beneficial to join with another group.
I've decided to re-invest a portion of my earnings into books to help develop my entrepreneurial skills:
Business Plans That Win $$: Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum
The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened
The Successful Business Plan, 4th Edition: Secrets and Strategies
and a fun one:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Lessons learned:
Poor group dynamics can be the Achilles heel of a project. It doesn't matter how talented the individuals in a group are because if there are poor group dynamics then they are unable to perform at their full potential. It's usually easier and more efficient when there is a single natural leader (if there's more than one leader, there could be excessive friction over disagreements).
Poor communication will lead to failure. Poor group dynamics will most likely lead to poor communication. Poor communication leads to poor logistics which leads to poor execution. Enough said.
Don't overestimate your revenues while underestimating your expenses. You hear it over and over again. Don't overestimate your revenues and underestimate your expenses. You never really know what it's like until you have a hands on experience with it happening. Everything always looks nicer on paper.
Be friendly with your competitors. Gauge the market situation. Know who you're going up against and how they're doing. More information is better than no information. Also, you never know when you might need their help and goodwill goes a long way.
Manage time effectively. Be wary of deadlines. Don't spend too much time brainstorming if it won't leave you with enough time for execution. Have an adequate plan but don't forget to get the ball rolling.
Have fun. If you aren't enjoying what you're doing then overall you won't be as motivated to do what you have to do.
I love life.
EB
Two days before the deadline we were hit with a twist, where groups were allowed to merge with or acquire a single other group. Teams that joined would be graded as one team, thus it was clearly beneficial to join with another group.
I've decided to re-invest a portion of my earnings into books to help develop my entrepreneurial skills:
Business Plans That Win $$: Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum
The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened
The Successful Business Plan, 4th Edition: Secrets and Strategies
and a fun one:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Lessons learned:
Poor group dynamics can be the Achilles heel of a project. It doesn't matter how talented the individuals in a group are because if there are poor group dynamics then they are unable to perform at their full potential. It's usually easier and more efficient when there is a single natural leader (if there's more than one leader, there could be excessive friction over disagreements).
Poor communication will lead to failure. Poor group dynamics will most likely lead to poor communication. Poor communication leads to poor logistics which leads to poor execution. Enough said.
Don't overestimate your revenues while underestimating your expenses. You hear it over and over again. Don't overestimate your revenues and underestimate your expenses. You never really know what it's like until you have a hands on experience with it happening. Everything always looks nicer on paper.
Be friendly with your competitors. Gauge the market situation. Know who you're going up against and how they're doing. More information is better than no information. Also, you never know when you might need their help and goodwill goes a long way.
Manage time effectively. Be wary of deadlines. Don't spend too much time brainstorming if it won't leave you with enough time for execution. Have an adequate plan but don't forget to get the ball rolling.
Have fun. If you aren't enjoying what you're doing then overall you won't be as motivated to do what you have to do.
I love life.
EB
Monday, March 16, 2009
Interviews
So for the past couple weeks I've been in the talks with a couple recruiters and had a couple interviews for summer positions. This wasn't necessarily a new process for me, as I've talked to recruiters in the past, and been interviewed in the past as well. I want to say it's pretty much common knowledge that recruiters focus their attentions on Juniors, and since I fit that profile, I instantly had recruiters paying attention to me, some lining up next day interviews within minutes of talking.
Anyways, after these past weeks of interviewing with many different companies, one thing that stuck out to me was that the company I had originally set as my goal for this summer also gave me my most difficult interview. Most of the companies I had interviews with spent most of the time "chatting" with me, about my past accomplishments and other fluff I noted or talked about on my resume. It got to the point where if I was having a bad day, I'd look forward to an upcoming interview for a quick 30 min to 1 hour morale boosting session.
The week before I interviewed for Increo Solutions, the only company I aspired to work at this summer, I was a nervous wreck. I did the traditional "prep work" of scouring their website and every single press release or third party review of their work. I finished the interview not quite confident with how the interview turned out. I kept replaying that hour over in my head, reliving all the moments I "messed up", thinking about how I can improve myself. The interview itself was a challenge. Compared with interviews in the past, I want to say the caliber of an interview is a good judge of the caliber of the work you will be doing. Interviews in the past that have been well, not taxing on the mind at all, led to positions where my mind wasn't stimulated (aka boring jobs). Depending on what kind of job you are looking for, this may be suitable for you; however, for me personally, I want to learn this summer. I want to learn from hands on experience. I didn't want to be a part of a large firm working in the backroom providing support work, but not seeing where my work went.
I guess on a closing note, you can never be too prepared for an interview?
EB
Anyways, after these past weeks of interviewing with many different companies, one thing that stuck out to me was that the company I had originally set as my goal for this summer also gave me my most difficult interview. Most of the companies I had interviews with spent most of the time "chatting" with me, about my past accomplishments and other fluff I noted or talked about on my resume. It got to the point where if I was having a bad day, I'd look forward to an upcoming interview for a quick 30 min to 1 hour morale boosting session.
The week before I interviewed for Increo Solutions, the only company I aspired to work at this summer, I was a nervous wreck. I did the traditional "prep work" of scouring their website and every single press release or third party review of their work. I finished the interview not quite confident with how the interview turned out. I kept replaying that hour over in my head, reliving all the moments I "messed up", thinking about how I can improve myself. The interview itself was a challenge. Compared with interviews in the past, I want to say the caliber of an interview is a good judge of the caliber of the work you will be doing. Interviews in the past that have been well, not taxing on the mind at all, led to positions where my mind wasn't stimulated (aka boring jobs). Depending on what kind of job you are looking for, this may be suitable for you; however, for me personally, I want to learn this summer. I want to learn from hands on experience. I didn't want to be a part of a large firm working in the backroom providing support work, but not seeing where my work went.
I guess on a closing note, you can never be too prepared for an interview?
EB
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Tessaro's
Today for dinner I had the joy of dining at Tessaro's in Bloomfield, dubbed Pittsburgh's "Little Italy". Having arrived a little past 6 PM, the early diners were just getting settled, so waited around 10-15 minutes for seats to open up for us. I have read and heard many reviews of people raving over the pure bliss of eating a Tessaro's burger.
We were seated in a cozy corner booth with dim lights and a denim tablecloth. As soon as our waitress handed out the basic laminated menus, I tore it open to find the burgers before she could ask us for our drink selections. I opted for a medium rare cheeseburger (American) with a side of home fries. After another maybe 10-15 minutes, all the burgers arrived, served open-faced on soft fat buns with the basic rabbit food toppings of lettuce tomatoes and red onions and sliced pickles on the side. I opted out of mayo and mustard, as the burger should be juicy enough to not need the extra grease from the mayo, and I see mustard solely a topping for hot dogs or base for sauces and dressings.
My first thought was wow. These buns are huge. The top bun was awkwardly round and I had squish it a little to get a first bite that consisted of both burger and bun. It worked out in the end, as the buns were able to sop up all the excess beef juice without getting excessively soggy and difficult to hold. The patty itself was perfectly cooked. A full half pound of loosely packed coarse ground beef. I'm not sure what blend they use (it has to be more than just chuck), but I want to guess around 75-80% lean, which is perfect in my book. The beef itself had an amazing texture and wasn't heavily seasoned. The beef itself tasted remarkably fresh and just the right amount of "beefy". I usually order cheeseburgers over hamburgers as the slice of cheese makes the burger more forgiving to being overcooked and dry; however, at Tessaro's, this was not the case. The slice of American cheese was perfectly melted and added the textural difference between the soft buns, the crisp lettuce, and the beefy patty. The lettuce and onions added additional contrast with their crunchy attributes, and the acidity from the two tomato slices balanced out the cheese. The soggy pickles were overshadowed by the red onion slices which offered not only a crunch but also a spicy kick, and I did not notice them at all.
The home fries were slightly charred, and tasted of butter. Delicious. I had half my portion "naked" and paired the half with the traditional Heinz ketchup. Honestly they didn't need the extra boost of flavor from the ketchup as they were amazing beforehand already. With the addition of the Heinz, the subtle tones of the char and butter were covered up, which was a pity.
Next time I shall opt for a naked cheeseburger with just the bun, patty, and cheese so I can enjoy the cheeseburger for it's simplicity. The addition of the rabbit food did offer a textural contrast, but it took away from the overall utility when I ate it, as I couldn't stop thinking about how healthy the burger was.
Tessaro's produces burgers that are definitely deserving of the title "Pittsburgh's Best Burger". I will most definitely return.
EB
We were seated in a cozy corner booth with dim lights and a denim tablecloth. As soon as our waitress handed out the basic laminated menus, I tore it open to find the burgers before she could ask us for our drink selections. I opted for a medium rare cheeseburger (American) with a side of home fries. After another maybe 10-15 minutes, all the burgers arrived, served open-faced on soft fat buns with the basic rabbit food toppings of lettuce tomatoes and red onions and sliced pickles on the side. I opted out of mayo and mustard, as the burger should be juicy enough to not need the extra grease from the mayo, and I see mustard solely a topping for hot dogs or base for sauces and dressings.
My first thought was wow. These buns are huge. The top bun was awkwardly round and I had squish it a little to get a first bite that consisted of both burger and bun. It worked out in the end, as the buns were able to sop up all the excess beef juice without getting excessively soggy and difficult to hold. The patty itself was perfectly cooked. A full half pound of loosely packed coarse ground beef. I'm not sure what blend they use (it has to be more than just chuck), but I want to guess around 75-80% lean, which is perfect in my book. The beef itself had an amazing texture and wasn't heavily seasoned. The beef itself tasted remarkably fresh and just the right amount of "beefy". I usually order cheeseburgers over hamburgers as the slice of cheese makes the burger more forgiving to being overcooked and dry; however, at Tessaro's, this was not the case. The slice of American cheese was perfectly melted and added the textural difference between the soft buns, the crisp lettuce, and the beefy patty. The lettuce and onions added additional contrast with their crunchy attributes, and the acidity from the two tomato slices balanced out the cheese. The soggy pickles were overshadowed by the red onion slices which offered not only a crunch but also a spicy kick, and I did not notice them at all.
The home fries were slightly charred, and tasted of butter. Delicious. I had half my portion "naked" and paired the half with the traditional Heinz ketchup. Honestly they didn't need the extra boost of flavor from the ketchup as they were amazing beforehand already. With the addition of the Heinz, the subtle tones of the char and butter were covered up, which was a pity.
Next time I shall opt for a naked cheeseburger with just the bun, patty, and cheese so I can enjoy the cheeseburger for it's simplicity. The addition of the rabbit food did offer a textural contrast, but it took away from the overall utility when I ate it, as I couldn't stop thinking about how healthy the burger was.
Tessaro's produces burgers that are definitely deserving of the title "Pittsburgh's Best Burger". I will most definitely return.
EB
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Talking (at the job fair)
I equate presentation at the Job Fair as the single most important aspect of the process of getting a job. Walking up to a recruiter and handing them your resume and then standing around idly is no better than emailing your resume directly to the recruiter with the subject "Please hire me" and no body text. If the recruiter is a current employee, manager, or director, what you show them is that you're passive and probably not really inspired. It shows them that if you were to work on a team or work under them, you will never take initiative; it shows them that you'll only be providing manpower and not much more.
Chat with your recruiter. He or she is also a person. They do more than just recruit college kids to their companies. They do more than just look at resumes all day. In many cases, they are recruiting directly to the department they work for. In all cases, they have lives outside of work. Show them you're a person too. Show them you are fun to be around. No one likes to work with boring people.
Don't talk about what's on your resume. Your recruiter can read. Don't state the obvious. Also, your resume is what makes you just like everyone else in the room with the same credentials.
Be different. I don't like to tell recruiters how I have a competitive advantage over my peers, I like to tell them how I have an attribute that puts me in a completely superior market. Figure out what makes you different from your peers and show it to your recruiter.
Don't lie. It's easy to lie or exaggerate your accomplishments. Don't lie if your recruiter asks you a question and you don't know the answer. It's ok if you don't know everything because you are only a student and they don't expect you to know everything. It's ok if your peers can answer some questions that you can't because you are different from your peers.
Be confident. It's easy to be confident if you truly believe in everything you say. Confidence is key. If you say anything with enough conviction, people will believe you. If there is doubt in your voice, recruiters can tell.
How do you tell if you're successful? If your recruiters legit writes on your resume then that's a good sign. If they're writing a list of random organizations you've been a part of, that's usually not a good sign. The ultimate test is when you leave. If they have business cards and hand you free swag instead, they've basically given you a consolation prize telling you "A for effort, but better luck next time."
Take this mindset and create your own delivery.
EB
Chat with your recruiter. He or she is also a person. They do more than just recruit college kids to their companies. They do more than just look at resumes all day. In many cases, they are recruiting directly to the department they work for. In all cases, they have lives outside of work. Show them you're a person too. Show them you are fun to be around. No one likes to work with boring people.
Don't talk about what's on your resume. Your recruiter can read. Don't state the obvious. Also, your resume is what makes you just like everyone else in the room with the same credentials.
Be different. I don't like to tell recruiters how I have a competitive advantage over my peers, I like to tell them how I have an attribute that puts me in a completely superior market. Figure out what makes you different from your peers and show it to your recruiter.
Don't lie. It's easy to lie or exaggerate your accomplishments. Don't lie if your recruiter asks you a question and you don't know the answer. It's ok if you don't know everything because you are only a student and they don't expect you to know everything. It's ok if your peers can answer some questions that you can't because you are different from your peers.
Be confident. It's easy to be confident if you truly believe in everything you say. Confidence is key. If you say anything with enough conviction, people will believe you. If there is doubt in your voice, recruiters can tell.
How do you tell if you're successful? If your recruiters legit writes on your resume then that's a good sign. If they're writing a list of random organizations you've been a part of, that's usually not a good sign. The ultimate test is when you leave. If they have business cards and hand you free swag instead, they've basically given you a consolation prize telling you "A for effort, but better luck next time."
Take this mindset and create your own delivery.
EB
Resumes (at the job fair)
Every Business major at CMU has to take a class called Business Communications (aka bizcom), which teaches them basic fundamentals of business writing including resumes and cover letters. In my bizcom class, I learned appropriate times to use different fonts and sizes, different paper weights and colors, as well as proper word choices to maximize the impact of my resume when handing it to recruiters.
After the section on resumes, I remember walking into the job fair thinking I was hot stuff with my resume on 32 pound Ivory 100% cotton with 3 different fonts and 4 different sizes. Being a prospective Finance track at the time with the typical CMU Business mindset of money = success, I lined up at all the big name banks waiting to for chance to be one of the lucky sophomores to be plucked up and pour coffee for the investment bankers who were too busy to get their own coffee.
I got torn up. No one really cares how heavy your paper is, or how many fonts you used on your resume. Yeah, it looks nice, but it doesn't show your capabilities as a Business major (or whatever major) in anyway whatsoever. You can put a bag of crap in a gift box and wrap it nicely with a bow, but in the end it's still a bag of crap. Congrats, you are good at wrapping gifts. I still have my 100-pack of resume paper that I bought two years ago. I haven't touched it in one and a half years.
If a recruiter has been at a job fair looking at resume after resume after resume, they'll eventually stop caring about what's on your resume. In the end, everyone who walks up to them has basically the same credentials. Everyone is a Carnegie Mellon student, most are studying majors related to the industry they want to work for. Most have taken the same classes and done the same extra curricular activities.
Resumes are definitely good to have, but don't put too much weight on it. If you're at a job fair, and a recruiter spends the entire time reading your resume, you've failed right there. You've missed out on the opportunity to let them know who you really are and what you've really done. At the end of the day, the only thing on your resume that really matters is that the recruiter wrote down how amazing you are, and how they'll move you on to the next round.
EB
Fun fact: I lost 5 points on my first resume because I had a bad email address; my school assigned email address contained the letter "L" followed by the number "1", which looked confusing on paper. I changed my email so fast.
After the section on resumes, I remember walking into the job fair thinking I was hot stuff with my resume on 32 pound Ivory 100% cotton with 3 different fonts and 4 different sizes. Being a prospective Finance track at the time with the typical CMU Business mindset of money = success, I lined up at all the big name banks waiting to for chance to be one of the lucky sophomores to be plucked up and pour coffee for the investment bankers who were too busy to get their own coffee.
I got torn up. No one really cares how heavy your paper is, or how many fonts you used on your resume. Yeah, it looks nice, but it doesn't show your capabilities as a Business major (or whatever major) in anyway whatsoever. You can put a bag of crap in a gift box and wrap it nicely with a bow, but in the end it's still a bag of crap. Congrats, you are good at wrapping gifts. I still have my 100-pack of resume paper that I bought two years ago. I haven't touched it in one and a half years.
If a recruiter has been at a job fair looking at resume after resume after resume, they'll eventually stop caring about what's on your resume. In the end, everyone who walks up to them has basically the same credentials. Everyone is a Carnegie Mellon student, most are studying majors related to the industry they want to work for. Most have taken the same classes and done the same extra curricular activities.
Resumes are definitely good to have, but don't put too much weight on it. If you're at a job fair, and a recruiter spends the entire time reading your resume, you've failed right there. You've missed out on the opportunity to let them know who you really are and what you've really done. At the end of the day, the only thing on your resume that really matters is that the recruiter wrote down how amazing you are, and how they'll move you on to the next round.
EB
Obligatory Introduction
Hey guys. If you are reading this, that means you either use to read my posts when I blogged solely about my cooking adventures, or you found me via facebook. I've made some promises to start blogging again, and thus I've re-dubbed this blog "Passion Fruit" with the purpose to delve into the two things that are always on my mind:
Business. It's all a journey. A incredible experience. Sometimes fun, sometimes rocky. It's good to be looking for the end, but don't walk by and forget the pretty daisies on the side. Until I reach my end, I'll write about my daisies.
Food. You may eat to live. You may live to eat. I'll be writing about what I'm living to eat.
Now why "Passion Fruit"? I'll let you think of all the subtle puns.
EB
Business. It's all a journey. A incredible experience. Sometimes fun, sometimes rocky. It's good to be looking for the end, but don't walk by and forget the pretty daisies on the side. Until I reach my end, I'll write about my daisies.
Food. You may eat to live. You may live to eat. I'll be writing about what I'm living to eat.
Now why "Passion Fruit"? I'll let you think of all the subtle puns.
EB
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