Another thing that excited me about the Fall semester was my course line-up. I didn’t take the popular G-lab (and travel to an exotic location in January) and had couple of courses that I could have lived without, but by and large I was pretty happy with my line-up.
It included New Enterprises with Howard Anderson and Bill Aulet – a recommended and a very hands-on course for any aspiring entrepreneur. In addition to several VC speakers, my team built a business plan for a patent pending prescription drug dispensing technology from MIT. Beyond the nuances of business plans, this provided another opportunity to learn about the pharma industry (after the Market lab project in the Fall’07) and all five of us felt pretty good about our pitch. We’re still in the process of securing IP and finalizing our decision to enter 100K this Spring…stay tuned.
Another one from Howard and Peter Kurzina is CEO Perspectives, where in one of the student is chosen as a CEO for a real life adversity a CEO faced, and s/he has to make recommendation to the remainder of the class (the Board members) in the presence of the real CEO. Talk about pressure! But learning was next nothing from real personal lessons.
I think a must for any Corp Fin enthusiast is Advanced Corp Finance from Kevin Rock (from Chicago). Beyond regular cases, he was able to distill important lessons from IPO, corp restructuring, or LBO, in simple and clear terms. Though still not clear whether he’ll be coming back to MIT Sloan, his class is lot of value add anytime in the future.
The highlight of my academic roster this semester was the class with Jack Welch. An experience of a life-time, our weekly sessions included discussions about his management style, the current economic crisis (and our take on these), the Presidential election (and it’s broader impact), and his life after GE. To top it off, the dinner with Suzy and him at the end of the semester that cannot be matched. Its too bad that they have decided to move to NYC next year and he won’t be coming back to MIT Sloan.
These courses further reinforced MIT’s motto of mind at hand, and provided me an excellent opportunity to hone my skills further in the areas that I am interested in.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Another half of the journey remains…
The fall in Boston is the time for leaves to start changing colors, people still enjoying the run along the Charles, and the new class of Sloanies arriving on campus! I was excited to be back for all of these, and my exciting courses, catching up with my fellow Sloanies, and also start thinking about recruiting.
As one of the pilots for the incoming class, we’re under-go a required one day training over the weekend, learn about our student teams, and then guide the incoming team through out the semester. I was the pilot for Indian Herons – a group of seven ‘10s and a fun bunch of people. It suddenly stuck, that last year I was in their shoes, year hence I’m finding new friends and talking about my MIT Sloan experience (no kidding, why I have been blogging! ☺) The first week involved mentoring the ‘10s on several team-building activities (it’s interesting to be on the other side and know details of the games a priori). I have to commend that this team did markedly better than my team when we’re in same shoes. Applications to MIT Sloan this year were up ~30% and the class size increased further.
It was also fantastic to see my fellow classmates after their summer experiences across the world. There was a good mix of us who loved our summer and a few who hated it. The current state of economy was weighing on everyone’s mind – on one hand, it provided us chance to pause and evaluate what we really want. On the other, it might also resulted in forced decisions. All in all, we’re in for another year of wonderful Sloan experience.
As one of the pilots for the incoming class, we’re under-go a required one day training over the weekend, learn about our student teams, and then guide the incoming team through out the semester. I was the pilot for Indian Herons – a group of seven ‘10s and a fun bunch of people. It suddenly stuck, that last year I was in their shoes, year hence I’m finding new friends and talking about my MIT Sloan experience (no kidding, why I have been blogging! ☺) The first week involved mentoring the ‘10s on several team-building activities (it’s interesting to be on the other side and know details of the games a priori). I have to commend that this team did markedly better than my team when we’re in same shoes. Applications to MIT Sloan this year were up ~30% and the class size increased further.
It was also fantastic to see my fellow classmates after their summer experiences across the world. There was a good mix of us who loved our summer and a few who hated it. The current state of economy was weighing on everyone’s mind – on one hand, it provided us chance to pause and evaluate what we really want. On the other, it might also resulted in forced decisions. All in all, we’re in for another year of wonderful Sloan experience.
Lessons from the summer…
The life as a banker over summer was fun, but also provided some personal lessons. I was further convinced of my likes and dislikes. One of the important ones was banking is not a full-time career for me (DB is a wonderful firm and people are good). I guess, my personal take is, instead of the mad rush, summer is a perfect time to experiment (even push one to limits) and learn something about a new career and (hopefully) yourself. London, and UK overall, has its own pros and cons. It is strategically well positioned to be in the center of economic and cultural activity in the Europe, middle east, and Asia; but by itself there might be some concerns (one of the statistics I came across was ~15% of country’s GDP is driven by financial industry).
I was wrapping my things, and boarding the flight to Boston on Saturday for preparations for the incoming class to start next morning. I am ready for the Fall in Boston.!
I was wrapping my things, and boarding the flight to Boston on Saturday for preparations for the incoming class to start next morning. I am ready for the Fall in Boston.!
Beyond work…
Yes, there was a good life beyond work as well. I was able to hit the gym (pretty regularly, initially) and try to get my leg in the shape. Check out different neighborhoods in the city (another thing that is amazing of London is there are sub-pockets of different ethnicities living in harmony). We developed our favorite list bars and clubs in the area (St. Paul’s area is dead on the weekends, and one had to invariably head west when Fri evening hits). There were a good number of Slaonies in the city…it was wonderful to catch up with them, meet new perspective students, and childhood friends (even after ~20 years!). I also caught up on my reading (a couple of recommendations from the summer are The Post American World and Kite Runner). The thing I should probably have done more of is to venture outside London more, especially up north to Scotland. And yes, my wife was able to visit and get out of Boston. All the earlier explorations of the city came really handy ☺ and she did enjoy & fell in love with the land of Her Majesty!
On the desk…
Here it was, first day on the desk – after the usuals were taken care of, its back to business. Alright, what should I be doing? The staffer of the Industrials team and my Manager were on the road and guess, it was not clear to anyone what should interns be doing. At the same time, mood was pretty somber for the bank had recently gone through a recent round of layoffs and it was not super busy. Initially, it boiled down to having discussions with teammates about the deals / pitches in progress, and where an extra pair of hands were needed. Very soon I found myself in a middle of number of things – including doing a company / industry research, understanding the financing structure of a recently completed deal, and prepare sections of several pitch-books. And here I was getting a hang of how bankers work! Though I didn’t get a chance to work on a live deal, amongst several pitches (which hopefully will become mandates in 3Q/4Q), there was one in the Industrials sector that I saw from start to finish and made a proposal how to make one of the a largest public enterprises in the UK more competitive.
As late-July / August hit, the Euro cup, Wimbledon, and vacation period were coming on people’s mind. And it started to get slow as I was transitioning to the TMT team, but I was able to work on all three of the sub-sectors within the group (even as it was undergoing a recent re-org!). DB, this year, also implemented a summer project for interns, wherein we independently worked on a topic and make end of term presentation to the senior bankers. Mine was in Technology, focusing on M&A opportunities for a consumer electronics company. Beyond analyzing strategic and financial options, my recommendation to the team was this company might be a good fit for acquisition for a larger player (my understanding was this is how it was to be pitched after the study).
There are some preconceived notions about banking. At least, from my experience, the hours were manageable – my typical day used to be from ~9am to ~11pm. I would think, this can definitely get worse, especially, it wasn’t hitting vacation period or the macro trends were good. People have an in your face attitude and only care about work, but London office was pretty diverse (and people held on and respected each other’s diversity), there were a good number who were pretty cooperative and fun loving.
As late-July / August hit, the Euro cup, Wimbledon, and vacation period were coming on people’s mind. And it started to get slow as I was transitioning to the TMT team, but I was able to work on all three of the sub-sectors within the group (even as it was undergoing a recent re-org!). DB, this year, also implemented a summer project for interns, wherein we independently worked on a topic and make end of term presentation to the senior bankers. Mine was in Technology, focusing on M&A opportunities for a consumer electronics company. Beyond analyzing strategic and financial options, my recommendation to the team was this company might be a good fit for acquisition for a larger player (my understanding was this is how it was to be pitched after the study).
There are some preconceived notions about banking. At least, from my experience, the hours were manageable – my typical day used to be from ~9am to ~11pm. I would think, this can definitely get worse, especially, it wasn’t hitting vacation period or the macro trends were good. People have an in your face attitude and only care about work, but London office was pretty diverse (and people held on and respected each other’s diversity), there were a good number who were pretty cooperative and fun loving.
The summer in the land of the Queen
So this is not exactly summer, and I not in London. Yes, it’s a few months overdue – no excuses from my side. But this is a nice winter day in Boston and I am just wrapping my semester – a three-quarters of b-school journey is over! These past months have again reminded the importance of prioritization, and if there was more time (a wishful thinking!). Nevertheless, memories of the summer and most importantly, the just ended summer as still fresh. So, let’s roll…
It was a mid-June when I packed my suitcases for a move and the career as a banker. The economic crisis, though much severe in the US (at that time), was trickling its way east. It was an exciting time and I was looking forward to the new career.
I was housed in the furnished corporate housing next to St. Paul’s cathedral. The first few impressions of the area were – the history in the area (even the building I was in was ~300 years old and had survived the Great London fire!) and the cost (at least, back in summer, with dollar not as much as appreciated as it is now, the cost of basically everything was 2x), and the sports (yes, the real football, cricket, and Wimbledon!).
There were couple of Sloanies as bankers in Europe this summer, and both happened to be at Deutsche Bank (DB). We utilized the weekend before actual work, to get acquainted with the area, including finding the essentials (grocery stores, bars), understanding the tube system (why will anyone drive in the city?), and bit of sightseeing (including a walk along the Thames and a ride up the London eye – I was in awe to see the amount of construction and cranes through out the city). And well rested we were, for the first week.
There were a 14 of us in Global Banking (aka i-banking), 4 in real estate, and another ~30 in Global Markets (aka S&T) in the London office. After first day of mingling and sessions with the senior leadership, we’re off to the races. DB has a pretty good model of having two 5 week rotations and we’re asked pick our top four choices. I didn’t get one of my top ones, but knew that my summer will be Industrials and TMT groups. We’re able to establish first contact with our respective teams on the first day.
Beyond that, our first week included a hands-on training session (all major banks outsource it) where we covered everything from cash flow, valuations, and LBO modeling (yes, there was constant supply of caffeine and cookies!). This was a fun bunch of people and personalities emerged through that week and the remainder of the summer. There were party ones (LBS people know how to party!), mid night oil burners (and sending emails to confirm who stayed the longest), and general conversationalists. I think one thing that was sinking quickly was that banking sector (and all of is,) was getting in the middle of the storm and in all of this DB was doing fairly well (by taking into account of write-down and diversified business model, which included Transaction (aka retail) Banking)).
It was a mid-June when I packed my suitcases for a move and the career as a banker. The economic crisis, though much severe in the US (at that time), was trickling its way east. It was an exciting time and I was looking forward to the new career.
I was housed in the furnished corporate housing next to St. Paul’s cathedral. The first few impressions of the area were – the history in the area (even the building I was in was ~300 years old and had survived the Great London fire!) and the cost (at least, back in summer, with dollar not as much as appreciated as it is now, the cost of basically everything was 2x), and the sports (yes, the real football, cricket, and Wimbledon!).
There were couple of Sloanies as bankers in Europe this summer, and both happened to be at Deutsche Bank (DB). We utilized the weekend before actual work, to get acquainted with the area, including finding the essentials (grocery stores, bars), understanding the tube system (why will anyone drive in the city?), and bit of sightseeing (including a walk along the Thames and a ride up the London eye – I was in awe to see the amount of construction and cranes through out the city). And well rested we were, for the first week.
There were a 14 of us in Global Banking (aka i-banking), 4 in real estate, and another ~30 in Global Markets (aka S&T) in the London office. After first day of mingling and sessions with the senior leadership, we’re off to the races. DB has a pretty good model of having two 5 week rotations and we’re asked pick our top four choices. I didn’t get one of my top ones, but knew that my summer will be Industrials and TMT groups. We’re able to establish first contact with our respective teams on the first day.
Beyond that, our first week included a hands-on training session (all major banks outsource it) where we covered everything from cash flow, valuations, and LBO modeling (yes, there was constant supply of caffeine and cookies!). This was a fun bunch of people and personalities emerged through that week and the remainder of the summer. There were party ones (LBS people know how to party!), mid night oil burners (and sending emails to confirm who stayed the longest), and general conversationalists. I think one thing that was sinking quickly was that banking sector (and all of is,) was getting in the middle of the storm and in all of this DB was doing fairly well (by taking into account of write-down and diversified business model, which included Transaction (aka retail) Banking)).
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What, if anything, would I have changed in past year?
As I started writing these pages and went down the memory lane and then came back to the present, I started asking myself, is there anything that I would have differently in this past year?
The past year has been a blast and I loved every bit of it. Yet given the choice to wind the clock and re-start, I probably would have done a few things differently. I would have -
- Been on more treks and gained even further exposure to new countries and industries
- Embraced changes in the energy sector and became more involved with the industry and technology changes
- Been involved in MIT’s entrepreneurial spirit as a participant (I will be coming to it in Fall 2008 and if you are passionate about a new idea and want to get involved, give me a shout)
- Come in with an open mind about career options and explored other industries further
- Planned to avoid getting hit by a car ☺
I had a great time documenting my experiences and asking the questions that I posed earlier to myself, again. I don’t have all the answers, but it’s a start of the journey and some ideas are taking shape. I don’t know if I will have all the answers before I graduate, but I sure am loving my exploration. I hope that you enjoy these pages, get some of your questions answered, and these trigger new thoughts in your mind. I will reiterate that I am open to suggestions and will be happy to engage in a further dialogue should something interests you.
So long from my side. I am off to pack my suitcases and board a plane to travel east. Stay tuned for more in the month of July from the other side of the pond. Cheers!
The past year has been a blast and I loved every bit of it. Yet given the choice to wind the clock and re-start, I probably would have done a few things differently. I would have -
- Been on more treks and gained even further exposure to new countries and industries
- Embraced changes in the energy sector and became more involved with the industry and technology changes
- Been involved in MIT’s entrepreneurial spirit as a participant (I will be coming to it in Fall 2008 and if you are passionate about a new idea and want to get involved, give me a shout)
- Come in with an open mind about career options and explored other industries further
- Planned to avoid getting hit by a car ☺
I had a great time documenting my experiences and asking the questions that I posed earlier to myself, again. I don’t have all the answers, but it’s a start of the journey and some ideas are taking shape. I don’t know if I will have all the answers before I graduate, but I sure am loving my exploration. I hope that you enjoy these pages, get some of your questions answered, and these trigger new thoughts in your mind. I will reiterate that I am open to suggestions and will be happy to engage in a further dialogue should something interests you.
So long from my side. I am off to pack my suitcases and board a plane to travel east. Stay tuned for more in the month of July from the other side of the pond. Cheers!
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