« February 2004 | Main | April 2004 »
March 31, 2004
UCSD men's basketball
Chris wanted me to post this.
UCSD men's hoops: Mission impossible? Coach Greg Lanthier was fired recently and six players quit the team (in protest? unclear). It sounds like the administration expects to build a quality program without putting up the cash for scholarships.
Posted by sam at 08:33 PM | Comments (1)
March 30, 2004
My Rob Ryan experience
Rob Ryan was the founder of Ascend Communications, a company he eventually sold for $24b to Lucent. I think he owned about 8% of the company at the time. He's at the school this week and next teaching a short class on the 'sunflower model', his technique for adding a new product every year at growing companies. I'm in the class.
This afternoon I was walking to his class and found him wondering around downstairs after guest lecturing for the undergraduate entrepreneurship class. I asked "are you looking for your next class?" He sort of nodded, so I started talking to him and led him to the classroom. He seems like a normal guy, like the rest of us except for well... he has a lot more money.
As they say, the best time to raise money is when you're not looking for it.
Posted by sam at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2004
In-flight internet
WiFi at 30,000 Feet. Boeing to test WiFi internet access on Luftansa flights. SAP execs throughout the world rejoice.
Wow, at $20 for a 3-6 hour flight and $30 for 6+ hour flights they're going to see huge adoption. I'd think about using it tomorrow on the way home.
Posted by sam at 02:57 AM | Comments (2)
Censorship in China
Wearing black in protest. China bans all Typepad sites - a significant and growing source of independent news and thought - from the country.
This brings up one issue about outsourcing that has mostly been neglected. Never mind the lost jobs and economic transition - imagine if the U.S. or the WTO were to require respect for basic human rights from any country wishing to trade with us. And I consider open access to information a basic human right.
Posted by sam at 02:51 AM | Comments (0)
Shannon
Congratulations Amy and Bill (and Julie)! Wow, the women are catching up in this family.
Posted by sam at 02:24 AM | Comments (1)
March 26, 2004
SV day four
Today 10 of us visited Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Battery Ventures. None of them have jobs, of course, so it was primarily informational. Much more interesting than the large tech companies of the first three days this week.
We met with partners at all of these firms and each gave us a very honest assessment of the vc industry, their firm and our chances of finding a job in the industry (zero). With only ten students it was extremely informal - all but Sequoia left the powerpoint for another day. It was interesting to see some of the philosophical differences between three successful vcs.
Posted by sam at 01:48 AM | Comments (3)
March 24, 2004
Silicon Valley madness
I ditched the school trip this afternoon and missed visits to Intel and HP. I've had enough and needed some time to decompress. Call it my four hour spring break.
These large companies were all starting to look the same: "We work hard but play hard too!" "We have a very entrepreneurial culture!"
I'm still feeling like the only b-school student in the country not interested in working 60+ hours per week after graduating. I just don't get it... is the ROI on your time really there?
Posted by sam at 07:10 PM | Comments (1)
March 21, 2004
Cell phone etiquette pet peeves
When I call your cell phone and do not leave a message, there is no need to call me back to say, "who 'dis?". If I wanted you to I would have left a message in the first place.
Posted by sam at 07:06 PM | Comments (3)
Some spring break
I flew into San Francisco last night, will be here all week for the Johnson School week in Silicon Valley.
Posted by sam at 11:08 AM | Comments (2)
B-school ethics classes
A Question of Ethics: How to teach them?:
“Everyone comes out thinking they're an ethical person," said one recent graduate of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. "And then all of a sudden you're working and there's money at stake."
...
The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley recently started the Center for Responsible Business, which includes seven new ethics courses. The program will require first-year students to visit executives in jail.
Wow, I wish we had the opportunity to visit execs in jail. How fun would that be?
Posted by sam at 11:06 AM | Comments (3)
March 17, 2004
Low productivity
When only a single five-page paper lies between you and spring break, it is extremely difficult to be productive.
Posted by sam at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)
Junk mail
If anyone with a tingleff.com email address is getting email like this (below), please ignore it. It's a scam of some kind or another. Believe me, there is no management of Tingleff.com and I haven't ended an email with "kind regards" since leaving SAP.
Dear user, the management of Tingleff.com mailing system wants to let you know that,
Your e-mail account has been temporary disabled because of unauthorized access.
Please, read the attach for further details.
Note: Use password [removed] to open archive.
Kind regards,
The Tingleff.com team http://www.tingleff.com
Posted by sam at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2004
Johnson in the news
WSJ.com: Business Schools Say Students Are Seeing More Job Offers [sub not req'd]. The article quotes a Johnson second-year ("'It's remarkably better,' says David Titus") and the director of our career management center.
Posted by sam at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
Tasty snack
Yes folks, this is a snack of peanut butter, cream cheese and raisins. And it was delicious.
The only thing missing was milk, which we're out of.
Posted by sam at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)
Spring snowfall
Maybe it is March 16th. Maybe it was 50 degrees last week, and I just might have spring break next week. But there's no way you'd know that from looking outside.
Those of us from the west coast all thought winter was over when the snow melted.
Posted by sam at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)
The apprentice again
Brush with apprentice - a blogger's chance encounter with the ever-friendly Omarosa [from Gawker thru Breean]:
Me, realizing that somehow I've ended up standing next to Omarosa: Hi.
Omarosa (continues to stare forward, ignoring me, remains silent):
Me (undaunted): So, did you learn anything?
Omarosa (glances at me, scoffs, looks away):
Me (even less daunted): I mean, you kind of made an ass of youself on national television. Did you learn anything from the experience? From watching youself?
Omarosa: F*** off.
Me: So, no then.
Posted by sam at 04:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2004
"Pouty Iverson"
Pouty Iverson shows why March Madness puts NBA to shame:
There could be no more telling juxtaposition of events than to have a petulant NBA millionaire throw a fit of ego on the very day that hundreds of college players, from mighty Kentucky to little Liberty, are preparing to throw their heart and soul into a series of games for which they will not be paid a cent. (All right, maybe a few of them are getting a buck or two under the table, but let's drop the cynicism for a moment, shall we?)
I don't have any skin in the game this year - I haven't had the time to follow college ball.
Posted by sam at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
Microsoft and the EU
Europe Supports Antitrust Ruling Against Microsoft: "the European Commission is expected to demand that Microsoft sell two versions of Windows to manufacturers of personal computers — one of them with Media Player stripped out."
Why do regulators continually focus on bundling like this? It's irrelevant by now and just about the least egregious of Micro$oft's offenses. Not to mention MS is right to complain that it 'hampers innovation.'
Posted by sam at 07:33 PM | Comments (0)
Webvan
I have a case on Webvan due for the first day of my operations class. How ridiculous is that? It seems like more of a marketing case than an operations case to me. The company estimated the online grocery market at $3.5 billion by 2002, that was their big mistake.
Posted by sam at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
Getting bored
Breean and I are both feeling a lack of motivation with our web sites. It's happened before and I usually recover after about a week. We'll see how she reacts.
Posted by sam at 06:26 PM | Comments (1)
March 10, 2004
Netflix
We signed up with Netflix yesterday. It turns out that we've been spending about $30 per month at Blockbuster Video since last December so the $20 per month at Netflix should actually save money.
The selection is great and they claim two-day shipping even out here in the boonies. We'll see how it works out.
If you're not familiar with Netflix, the deal is that you can have three dvds checked out at any time. When you finish one, mail it back (postage paid) and when they receive it they'll ship out another movie from your queue right away. For $20 per month. It's great for people watching a lot of movies or stuck with late fees all the time. Competition is heating up in the space and I'm curious to see if they'll survive.
Posted by sam at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)
Salads are healthy
McDonald's salad may be fattier than burgers. Unbelievable. There is no truth in the corporate world any more. Just PR.
Posted by sam at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2004
Babysitting
Do babies drink water? Breean says no. Why not?
We're babysitting for Felicia and Jason tonight. It's a new experience for two of us, at least.
Posted by sam at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)
"My class is clearly winning"
Warren Buffett's annual shareholder letter: "If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning."
Posted by sam at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2004
Shrimp Fantasia (serves two)
Adapted from Tofu Surprise, this is an easy and delicious meal for two best served over rice or with a baguette.
Ingredients:: 2 six-ounce packages of cooked small shrimp (I like EcoFish), one orange bell pepper, some snap peas, some sliced pineapple and seafood seasoning.
- Heat the shrimp on high in a small amount of olive oil with seafood seasoning, draining occasionally.
- Add the bell pepper and peas cut into bite-size chunks and cook briefly.
- Add the pineapple and cook very briefly.
Posted by sam at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)
Gladwell 2.0
Wired: Warning: Blogs Can Be Infectious:
"There is a lot of speculation that really important people are highly connected, but really, we wonder if the highly connected people just listen to the important people," said Lada Adamic, one of the four researchers working on the project.
Sounds like Malcolm Gladwell. He distinguishes between influentials ('important' here) and connectors, who listen to influentials and spread their ideas.
Posted by sam at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
Unintended consequences
Interesting piece in the journal on the changing face of stock research [sub req'd]. One consequence of the separation of investment banking and research is that research now has to pay the bills. Can the average joe pay for it? I think not:
At the big Wall Street firms, the focus increasingly is on white-glove service for investment institutions. At Credit Suisse First Boston last week, analyst Ivy Zelman played host to 20 trading clients at a private event at the Detroit-area offices of Masco Corp., a maker of building products. Portfolio managers from clients such as Alliance Capital Management Holding LP and TIAA-CREF got to question executives of Masco and one of its customers over dinner. The next day, they drilled down into operations with division chiefs.
The WSJ thinks we're still better off than when i-bankers owned the analysts, and they're probably right.
Posted by sam at 05:40 PM | Comments (0)
Clinton speaking at Cornell
Former President William J. Clinton to speak during Cornell's 136th Commencement weekend May 29-30
Posted by sam at 07:57 AM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2004
National Peanut Butter Lovers Day
Breean just told me that March 1st is National Peanut Butter Lovers Day. Apparently all of March is Peanut Butter Lovers Month. Rock on.
Somehow I don't think I could possibly increase my peanut butter consumption at all though.
Posted by sam at 09:02 PM | Comments (1)
March 02, 2004
iPod me, baby
So I've finally decided that I can't wait any longer. With some of my tax return money I'm going to get an iPod. Woo-hoo! Don't tell Sallie Mae!
But I can't decide what to say with the free engraving. Any ideas? Here's a few of the best Breean and I could come up with:
iRock, therefore iAm
(my current fav)
Ithaca is Gorges
(local flavor)
The sun'll still shine
But the night is on my mind
(from a Tribe Called Quest song)
2 legit! 2 legit!
2 legit 2 quit!
(mc hammer)
I fought the law
and the law won
(learned the song from my 3rd grade teacher)
Party all the time!
Party all the time!
(Breean's favorite)
Posted by sam at 08:44 PM | Comments (4)
More from Bush News
President George Bush and the Gilded Age [from 0xDECAFBAD]:
During the last economic recovery period of March 1991 to April 1993, a 10% increase in GDP increased manufacturing jobs and service jobs 3% and 5.9% respectively. However, for the present economic recovery since November 2001, a 10% increase in GDP is increasing manufacturing and service jobs only 0.7% and 0.9% respectively.
Just to keep up with her population growth, the U.S. needs to create about 230,000 jobs a month. If the U.S. wants to employ the 3 million unemployed workers thrown out of work under the Bush Administration, the U.S. would have to create a lot more jobs monthly. Last month, however, the U.S. only created 115,000 jobs. President Bush has now abandoned his earlier declared promise of "creating 2.6 million jobs by the fall of 2004."
...
At Harvard Business School, thirty years ago, George Bush was a student of mine. I still vividly remember him. In my class, he declared that "people are poor because they are lazy." He was opposed to labor unions, social security, environmental protection, Medicare, and public schools.
To him, the antitrust watch dog, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities Exchange Commission were unnecessary hindrances to "free market competition." To him, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was "socialism."
Posted by sam at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
To all the MBA applicants out there
If any of my five readers should ever decide to attend b-school, please, for the sake of your classmates and yourself, take some writing classes. That's all I ask.
Derrick and David - I'm talking to you!
Posted by sam at 10:26 AM | Comments (3)