Where in the World is the MBA Show?

Episode 49: Is Harvard Making Conjugal Visits?

It is September 7th and this is the MBA SHOW!

i am lieutenant MBA - Sean Bonawitz

and i am International MBA of mystery - Stav J. Davis

We usually save our Business-Porn section for the end of the show but this is just too huge!

What is it?

HBS is in love with Bernie Madoff!

What??

yes - the New york Times finally got HBS to admit that an "anonymous" professor is working with the Wall-street con on a case study based on this life.

have they got no shame??

I actually think its brave of them to look the root of the problem in the eye.

Well, to me it seems like a populist move. it smells bad.

Well, I think this is out of the box thinking of HBS part. In any case, I have the feeling a big storm is brewing around this story.

Anyway - on to our main topic: B-school branding vs. reality!

Many times b-schools brand themselves very aggressively around a certain message, but how does that message come out in practice?

Well, lets take a look at the recent hot topic of entrepreneurship. Many schools brand themselves as entrepreneurship meccas, but a new study published by poetsandquants.com may suggest otherwise.

They used 120 million linked in profiles to measure how many graduates of each b school actually went on to found a company. And the results are:

1. Stanford
2. Harvard
3. MIT-Sloan
4. Haas
5. Tuck

Wow. I didn't think of Harvard and Tuck as entrepreneurial.

yes. There are no surprises with Stanford and MIT, but HBS and Tuck are a positive surprise. on the other side of the scale we have Babson which only reached number 8 on this ranking and Kellogg which isn't even in the top 10.

Babson always emphasizes it's entrepreneurial direction, but this study shows it may be no more than a successful copyrighting campaign.

But then again - this study may be skewed too. You have to really look into the data to know the truth.

So - our tip of the week should be pretty obvious - don't listen to slogans! Go search for the raw quantitative data concerning your areas of interest! And don't rely only on one data point like this survey - because it may be flawed. This is your life - don't let people control it with creative branding.

So - Stav, what are you up to this weekend?

i'm going to try to license a patent for my startup. What about you Sean?

I'm going horseback riding in Maine!

Great! I am Stav j. Davis - international MBA of Mystery.

And I am Sean Bonawitz - Lieutenant MBA, and you've been watching -

THE MBA SHOW!!!

Episode 48: Strengthening Your MBA Core Term

Tom: It is August 31st and this is episode 48 of the MBA Show! I am TheRealTomRose.

Christina: And I am Christina Johnson! We have a great show today. We are here to celebrate the beginning of yet another MBA year by discussing the issue of CORE TERM (print).

Tom: The Core term, which in some schools can be spread over more than one term or even a whole year, is a horrid idea that means that your school is trying to cram business fundamentals into the first few classes you take.

Christina: Like what classes?

Tom: You know, basic accounting, finance, marketing, statistics, love making.

Christina: I think that is a wonderful thing! I sure need those fundamentals. I think this will increase my chances of getting recruited for an internship!

Tom: As a matter of fact, I have a quote here from a senior associate dean at Darden: ““These classes are vital to performing well in internships.”

Christina: I bet they are so much fun! Something so important must be a lot of fun!

Tom: Oh, you poor little MBAby (pronounced: em-bi-ey-bi = MBA and baby in one word, get it?). As a veteran, I can tell you that the core courses are designed to destroy your life and eat away at your sleep-hours like little Gremlins. It is definitely not fun!

Christina: So you mean there are things in the MBA that I will not like to do?

Tom: There are plenty of things, but this will be the first of them.

Christina: Come on, is it really that bad?

Tom: That really is up to you. The core classes alone are not that bad, it’s how you mix it with all the other stuff – recruiting events, social events, group assignments. You know what they say – you have to choose two out of three: sleep, social life or studying.

Christina: Oh, well. I better get into them books right away then! Tom, what are you up to this week?

Tom: (Fill in whatever). And what about you Christina?

Christina: (Fill in whatever). I am Christina Johnson.

Tom: And I’m theRealTomRose! Don’t forget to subscribe…

Together: You’ve been watching The MBA Show!!!

Episode 47: Why MBAs Can't Mention Their Past

Miro: Welcome to the MBA Show, We’ve got a new school year here in Cambridge,and we’re here some brand new eager, yet terrified first years!

[Pan]

I’m MiroKaz.
I’m The International MBA of Mystery.
I’m Lieutenant MBA.

Miro: We’ve got a special show for you today, celebrating the

We’re here today to talk about the issue of Personal Branding.

(1) MBA Tip of the Week:

[LESSON 1 SEGMENT]

We have some fresh MBA’s here. What is worrying you right now?

Stav: I’m worried about being pigeon holed.

Sean: Well, what did you do before school?

Stav: Well, I used to be a great engineer in my home country. I was like johnson from johnson&johnson. And that’s where i want to take it. medical devices, energy, web. Whatever. But my problem is that i got involved in film production too, and that’s what everyone remembers, because there are 100 engineers for each film maker.

Sean: wow. Filmmaker

Tip 1: You only get one thing.

Stav: Well, what if I’ve done two things?

Miro; No! You get one thing.

Stav: But, I used be the president of my home owners association!

Miro: NO. You only get ONE thing. The great thing is that you get to pick what that one thing is.

Sean: You know Miro, we just got done filling out multiple applications showing what multi-faceted, accomplished individuals we are. Are you suggesting we now reduce ourselves to a one-dimensional description?

Miro: I know it’s counter-intuitive, but you should NOT take credit for everything you’ve ever done. And you only get one message

[LESSON 2 SEGMENT]

Stav: Great tip. So what’s tip number 2?

Tip 2: Focus on the future, not the past.

Sean: I have a classmate who just completed a PhD in physics. But he wants to go into the entertainment industry. Obviously very different fields, but a PHD in physics!

Miro: Great example! This person should brand himself as sports-management guy. Drop the physics thing. It’s amazing to have a physics phd, but if you don’t want to be remembered as physics guy - just don’t mention it.

Stav: So that’s tip number 2: Focus on the future, not the past.

[LESSON 3 SEGMENT]

Sean: Guys, I have to be honest, I really haven’t experienced this problem.

Stav: what do you want to do after B-school?

Sean: Management consulting.

Christina: BORING

Stav: Then how can you make your brand more interesting?

Sean: Well, I know this contradicts the previous tip, but I was a bomb technician in the US Navy.

Stav: [Excited.] Like “The Hurt Locker”?

Sean: Yes, just like “The Hurt Locker”.

Miro: Wait, wait, wait. You were a bomb tech and now you want to be a management consultant. [prompt for story].

Sean: Well Miro, the last time I was in Iraq, it was hot, I’m wearing the bomb suit, looking for this bomb on the side of the road, and all I could think about was becoming a management consultant.

Miro: Seriously?

Sean: Yes, I named my rifle “McKinsey”.

Miro: This is actually a great example of tip number 3, which is actually an exception to tips 1 and 2. IF YOU NEED A BOOST OF INTEREST IN YOUR CASE, YOU CAN TALK ABOUT YOUR PAST ONLY IF THERE IS TRUE AND CLEAR CLOSURE. if you were in the army and are now in b-school, it is obvious you’ve closed doors. Same thing If you got your PhD and are now in b school. It is clear you’re not going back and you won’t be pigeonholed.

Tip 3: Exception. It’s okay to mention the past if the door is clearly closed.

Stav: just a short disclaimer: all these tips are relevant only for new admitted students, who are bombmarded with many new people and introductions

Sean: But if you’re still an applicant - you are in a different position. You are being evaluated by professionals who know how evaluate your past wihtout pigeonholing you.

(2) Radar
Miro: Packing for my trip down south
Stav: i’m meeting with a web 2.0 start up, to see what i can do for them.
Sean: 2-day baking class.

Close:
International MBA of Mystery
Lieuntentant MBA
Miro Kaz

Should You Go To Harvard?

Stav: Welcome to the MBA show!!!!

I’m MiroKaz

i’m international MBA of mystery

[Miro & Stav intorduce themselves.]

Christina: And I’m TheRealTomRose!

Miro: So today we’re going to talk about pre-term. But first - Tom, do you want to introduce today’s headline?

Christina: (excitedly!) YES! Let’s get to it! “Should I go to Harvard?”

Stav: So there’s this guy who was admitted to HBS, but he’s arrogant enough to publicly debate his decision to accept the offer or not. He put up a website, Should I Go To Harvard.com, with two buttons on it and allows the public to vote Yes or No.

Christina: What? Why is he doing this?

Miro: Obviously, this is a publicity stunt for his startup! His press release mentions that he’s the CEO of CollegeBudget.com. The

Stav: As a mater of fact, I have a quote here from the CEO: quote: “I don’t consider this a publicity stunt.”.

[Group laughter]

Stav: Wait, wait, wait. I have another quote here. “It has been a meaningful way to get feedback.”

[More Group Laughter]

Christina: Well what’s the latest news with it?

Miro: This just in! Harvard just opened their own website: ShouldWeRejectThisDoucheBagOrNot....Dot EDU.

Stav: Seriously though, as of last week he had 25,000 votes. This seems to have been a good venture! But now - his domain reroutes to Harvard.edu

Christina: Well clearly he’s made a decision!!!

Miro: Well, that’s one possible explanation. I think someone has been receiving some pressure from the Admissions Committee.

(2) Jargon: Pre-term

Miro: Anyway, so - many of you are starting you MBA. Many schools offer some kind of “PRE-TERM”... For those of you who don’t know. Preterm is a special week of classes that occur before real MBA classes start. It’s a change to learn topics that you might not have skills in.

Christina: Yay! Class before class! This couldn’t get any better!

Miro: Are you going?

Christina: No (dead-pan face).

Miro: Why not?

Christina: Well I spent the whole summer going back and reviewing through my old economics notebooks, so I’m ready! I don’t need pre-term to learn the stuff again!

Stav: I hate pre-term for exactly that reason. I have been brainwashed to not participate in these things.

Miro: Are you going?

Stav: Of course! I’m not going to miss out on the strong american tradition of paying a bunch of extra money for something I have already paid tons of money for.

Miro: I have been to pre-term. I think that the value of pre-term has nothing to do with academics. It’s entirely a social event. A chance to meet people and start making friends.

(3) Business School Tip of the Week: Go to Pre-term

Miro: So what do you think about this?

Christina: Well you can never have too many friends! But what’s this thing I’ve heard about...like free-term.

Miro: Actually this is great. If it doesn’t exist, you can start a free-term program. It’s a better socializing experience. Plus, if you can teach one of the topics at free-term, you can build your brand of being a smart, capable person.





(3) Radar
Miro: Emma’s baptism
Stav: Pre Pre-term.
Christina: Movin in.

Close:
International MBA of Mystery

Will the US Downgrade Take MBA’s With It?

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/08/wharton-admissions-as-elitist-as-youd-expect/
http://www.stacyblackman.com/2011/08/08/evolution-of-the-executive-m-b-a/
http://bostinnovation.com/2011/08/05/hbs-grad-behind-viral-hit-leisure-diving-featured-on-tosh-0-thrillist-more-photos/

Welcome to the MBA Show.

Today we’ll unpack what the US credit down-grade means to MBAs.

[you creep up]

Ah! Who are you? How did you get here? This is a closed set. Security.

It’s me guys

Why the disguise?

I’m from over seas and I want to hide my true identity.

Ooh, that doesn’t sound like a good sign.

How do you feel about being an MBA?

I love it! I’m not going to work for the next two years.

Why would would you be embarrassed about that?

Well, I haven’t told my friends I’m an MBA yet.

Why not?

They’re engineers. Being an MBA is the ultimate sin.

Okay “vaguely international MBA”, what are our headlines for today?

(1) Headlines: US Gov’t Credit Downgrade

As you know Standard & Poor’s recently downgraded the credit rating of the United States government. In case you don’t know, Standard & Poor’s evaluates how risky different forms of debt are. Until recently the US government had (and has always had the highest rating). They are saying that US goverment is now risker than it was last

That’s bullshit! US debt is the safest debt in the world. Down grading it is ridiculous. S&P is just looking for a way to indicate that something has happened, but I think they’re just hurting their own credibility at this point.

GE is AAA rated. Does that mean my money is safer with GE than with the US.

Actually, there is a separate rating for sovereign nations. So you wouldn’t compare the US and GE’s bond rating. You would compare different countries with one another.

For example, it would be interesting, to note all the other countries which currently have a higher debt rating than the United States:

Australia
Austria
Canada
Finland
France
Germany
The Netherlands
Norway
Singapore
Sweden
Swiss Confederation
United Kingdom
New Zealand

New Zealand! You’re telling me that I’m better off loaning money to Frodo Baggins than I am with the United States.

In my country, Hobbits are considered to be quite trustworthy.

So, Interest rates are about to go up. Althought, if you have fixed rate student-loan debt, then you’re solid.

Who’s going to give me a fixed rate student loans?

Well the US gov’t gives fixed rate loans.

Fantastic. That’s really useful for me. I got all my loans from the mother land.

It’s good. With the us currency about to collapse, or at least downgrade. soon, you’ll be albe to buy an MBA with one month’s salary. Unless we have to political will to fix this, and I think we’ve proven we don’t, the US economy is busted.

The old school US economy is busted. But I’m buying a ticket into the new world of innovation, and for that - an american business education is still the best and still worth it. There is a reason New-Zealand didn’t come up with Apple, Google and Facebook all emerging from the US and not from all the other AAA rated countries, including New-Zealand.

(2) Business Porn

Recent HBS Grad Brian Thorne, and his friends John Lewis, Alex Scott, Ed Foy have created the wildly popular website LeisureDive.com

This is guys taking photos of themselves jumping into pools in poses that look really relaxed and casual.

Four of the worst stereotypes of HBS grads all coming to roost at once.

White guys,
White names
no redeeming value
Summering in the Hamptons.

If they’re doing this as a joke, then this is great, but if they are deluding themselves into thinking this is a legit business.

I love this! This is one of the first sports where bankers have an edge. Finally an athletic activity where I can participate in business attire.

I hope these guys are self-aware. I’m pretty sure

[Showing Pictures]

Give me an example of a leisure dive.

I think it’s better shown with a picture:

One raised elbow

A killer leisure face

An item that indicates leisurely attitude (in your non-raised elbow hand). Some acceptable items include: Red Stripe, White Russian, Paperback novel, Croquet mallet

(3) Radar
Miro: Wife’s away
Tom: Scam condo tour for a mythical free cruise.
Stav: I’m writing a business plan.

Your Salary = Your Business School Ranking

We have a great show this week. We’re going to tell you how one tweet can get your a free MBA.

but first...

(1) Headlines: Forbes Ranking

Forbes released it’s rankings this week.

More rankings? I’m so sick of rankings I don’t even care... Who won

Harvard, but that’s just a control. If it’s not harvard at the top it’s obviously just a calculations error.

Otherwise people start to get suspicious.

As tired as I am of rankings, I actually really like the Forbes rankings.

Why?

They are based entirely off of salary earned 5 years after graduation. I like it because there is no subjectivity. Cold hard numbers. And let’s be honest. Salary is the best proxy we have to day of measuring the value of a person.

which brings us to this weeks’

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/08/04/winners-losers-in-forbes-2011-mba-ranking/

(2)Business Porn

Let’s find out, who’s making what, five years out.

Graduates of Harvard made an average of $230K 5 years after graduation.
Wharton grads made $225: and then things start ot drop off pretty substiantially.

They barely even cleared $200k. I don’t even understand why they get up in the morning.

The poverty stricken Stanford grads made a mere $205K which is down $20K from the same cohort two years ago.

Startup loving, west-coast hippies.

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/08/04/what-top-mbas-earn-five-years-out/
(3) The Tweet That Won A Free MBA
John Yates earned a a free MBA degree with just one tweet.

University of Iowa’s Tippie business offered students the chance at a free scholarship for creating a tweet on “What makes you an exceptional Tippie Full-time MBA candidate and future MBA hire?”

Tell ‘em what the tweet was.

“Globally minded (5) 
Innovative and driven (7)
 Tippie can sharpen (5)”

For those of you who are interested in profit, but not poetry, I should point out that that tweet was also a haiku!

[Someone does counts on hands] Globally minded

Ah the universal symbol of haiku interpretation

I love how he included a syllable count in the tweet. Because there is no way the admissions staff would detect haiku-ness on their own.

So how many tweets were there overall?

58.

What? Wow, applciations took the entire GMAT, wrote a full application and still couldn’t get their applications in early enough to write an additional 140 characters.

This should be a lesson to MBA applicants everywhere. If the admissions staff decides to hold a creative, out-of-the-box, experimental application stunt. You should definitely play along!

Because no-one else will.

MBA’s are so freaking conservative! Write a damned tweet! Good lord.

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/08/04/the-tweet-that-won-a-free-mba/


(3) Jagon: A-Player

Here’s a term you might have heard before that you’ll be hearing often in business school … and in banks … and consulting firms … and basically everywhere that hires MBAs.

An A-player is that top notch worker who does what it takes to get the job done. A-Players become the drivers of your business. They’re the people that you can’t let go. Or as I think of them … bankers.

(4) Business School Tip of the week:

A-players hire A-players and B-players hire C-players

Well, I haven’t been working out lately. so I would say that I’m currently employing a pair of A players down there.

No, what I’m saying is that really good people hire other really good people. Mediocre people, hire losers.

The idea here is that mediocre players are afraid to hire people that might make them look stupid, so they only hire people that they know they can intellectually dominate.

You only have to let one mediocre person in the door and its’ a downward spiral from there.

Can I have one??

No. Not even one.

Tom, I’m going to have to let you go.

Well if we fire all the C-players too, then it’ll just be an empty table.

Radar
Tom: 6-Flags.
Miro: Meditation workshop

Episode 43: Serving Up Hot Cups of Coffee Chat

What’s going on TRTR? Well MiroKaz, the recruiting season has officially started.

I was talking with an incoming student the other day and I mentioned the idea of a coffee chat, and he said, “What is a coffee chat”

[miro laughing smugly]

I realized, someone has to do something to help these youngsters out.

Well, I have a tip. (Something about beans)

Woah, there Joe Starbucks.

Contrary to how it sounds, the coffee chat has little to do with coffee, and is actually a formal part of the interview process.

Coffee chats exist for big firms only. They make employees available to students for brief chats about the company.

You’ll be signing up at your career center for a time slot with said employee.

It is often the first contact between you and the firm. (unless you happen to have been an info session already.) In the coffee chat, a rep will speak with between 1 and 3 candidates.

It will be billed as a casual conversation, despite the fact that

THE OPEN

Miro: Well, I guess we’ll get started with out him.

Consultant: Richus Exhausticus

Candidate: Whore-itus desperatus

[Miro sitting in front of glass wall speaking to imaginary interviewee.]

[Tom outside banging on wall screaming]



Tip: Don’t miss your sign up and get stuck with the 5:45 am slot.

Tell me about yourself...

Miro: So, tell me a little bit about yourself.

[Tom face:] Struggle to think, go crazy and spout gibberish.

Miro: At consulting co, we welcome people with diverse backgrounds.

Tip: Make sure you have well-practiced 30-second pitch for yourself.

Your turn to ask questions

Miro: Do you have any questions for me.

Yes, I have a great question for you. As a person who prides himself on client service, data analysis, and actionable results, (which you may have noticed are the top three bullet points on your website), I have often wondered how a person of your stature handles the logistical supply chain optimization in this increasingly global world. I’m particularly fascinated by techniques for applying the newton raphson method to facilities that have traditionally employed news vendor optimization. I think this is specifically important considering the rise of the BRIC countries and the shift of the world’s reserve courency away from the US dollar and towards the Chinese renminbi (or the ‘yuan’ as it’s colloquially called.) What I’m really trying to say here is, ‘Tell me about work life balance’.

Tip: Don’t be a dick, ask real questions.

The close

Miro: That’s very nice, but …

Tom:

And that’s when I realized I was on the wrong greenline!

And I’ll never eat that many hotdogs again.

And that’s really the only time my herpes have been a problem

Have you considered using a facial mosturizer

Which is why, I never ever play poker with a four fingered person

Seriously feel how soft my skin is

That’s how I found myself down at fraggle

Tip: You should end the interview
-Thank the interviewer for their time
-Ask if you can follow-up

-Get a business card

-Write a thank you note

It’s a week of top 10 lists here at The MBA Show

Title: The 10 Best Places to Work and the Most Expensive Places to Learn.
42-The-Top-Ten-List-Episode-Youtube
It’s top 10 week at the MBA Show. Tom and Miro review the best places for MBAs to work and the most expensive business schools in the country. Also, find out the easiest way to generate content for your personal brand.


(1) Headline: It’s a week of top 10 lists here at The MBA Show:

First up: The top 10 jobs for MBA’s.

This is a Universum survey:

Google
McKinsey & Company
Apple
Goldman Sachs Group
The Boston Consulting Group
Bain & Company
Facebook
Amazon.com
J.P. Morgan
Nike


http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/mba100/2010/full_list/

Google? That’s not a consulting firm, OR a bank. I don’t understand it...



Moving on.


(2) The top 10 most expensive private MBA programs.


Business School, Tuition & Fees,
1. Havard University (MA), $56,204
2. Columbia University (NY) $55,588
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), $54,009
4. Stanford University (CA), $53,118
5. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) (PA), $52,500
6. University of Chicago (Booth), $51,680
7. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL), $51,680
8. Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH), $51,000
9. Yale University (CT), $51,000
10. Cornell University (Johnson) (NY), $50,992


http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/articles/2011/07/19/10-most-expensive-private-business-schools

(3) The top 10 reasons to go to business school.

10. Education

9. Find a mate

8. The Experience

7. The Network

6. Getting a Job

5. Escape

4. Pedigree

3. Money

2. Money

1. Money


http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/mba100/2010/full_list/

(4) Jagon: Boilerplate

Boilerplate. Boiler plate is a slug of text that never changes. It is commonly used to refer to clauses in legal contracts that are used over and over again, but can also be used euphemistically to refer to things that are boring or un-original.


(5) Business School Tip of the week: Write top 10 lists

Radar
Tom: At the beach, in NJ
Miro: Clambake at my place

Not recruiting yet? You're late!

(1) Headlines: This week’s headline comes to us from viewers Brian Jones and Zach Cohen. Recruiting season has begun!

[Cheering, Whooping]

I love recruiting. I can already smell the coffee chats and padfolios greese.

Dude, you’re looking at the wrong month of your calendar again. Recruiting doesn’t start until september.

Not true my friend. Two major recruiting events have already happened.
In the last week:
Bain held a global info session and JP Morgan started up the MBA Advantage recruiting program.

They can’t do that, there’s a moratorium.

For those of you who aren’t aware, Miro is referring to a mythical limitation on company recruiting which protects students from aggressive company recruiting events.

You can’t be telling me that the moratorium is BS

Well it’s going with or without you. You can sit this one out if you want. There will be plenty of interviews for startups at the END of the year.

Ahh damit.

So should incoming students freak-out?

That’s a great question. And we’ll answer it... In this weeks bonus content!

Check it out by subscribing to our newsletter at www.TheMBAShow.com

Sneak preview. Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll tell you what you do need to do in the bonus content. You can subscribe at www.TheMBAShow.com

J.P. Morgan MBA Early Advantage program
http://www.joinbain.com/apply-to-bain/recruiting-process/mba.asp

(2) Jennifer Fremont-Smith
Jennifer is a true serial entreprenur. She has founded a whole boatload of companies before getting a mid-career MBA as a Sloan Fellow and is currently the CEO the super-hot Boston area start-up Smarterer.

How may companies did you start?

Is the limiting factor was your interest?

Give us an example a company you didn’t care about?

Recommend for curent MBAs thinking about Entreprenurship?

How do you package yourself as an MBA?

Why go get an MBA?

Did theory pan out?

How will the job search look different in the future?

Is network not important anymore?

I thought there were people who played the game and people who didn’t? Is that changing?

We who are you are funded by?

(3) Jargon: Slipping the noose


(4) Business School Tip of the Week
Write a review of the product of a company you are interested.


What’s on your radar this weekend
Miro: Making Cheese
Tom: My wife Tracy’s birthday
Jennifer: My daughter Lucy's 8th birthday

INSEAD Reveals Its Secret US Invasion Plan

We have Great Show today.
Business school essays are about to get much, much shorter
and say goodbye to a relaxed summer before business school

But First: breaking news!

(1) Headline: The French are Coming the French are Coming

INSEAD Announces that they are invading the US and plans to offer a degree on US soil!

What kind of degree?

They won’t say

When are they opening the campus?

No timeline as of yet.

Well will they go indepenant or continue their parnternship with Wharton.

Unclear.

This is like academic vaporware.

Miro, are you listening? Our sovereignty has been challenged! They’re not setting up shop in one of our expendable territories such as Puerto Rico. We’re talking about the main land.

I’m not that worried. The whole point of INSEAD is that it’s international. as a commentor pointed out in the aritcle about this on Poets and Quants It doesn’t make any sense to get a 100% US INSEAD education. That sentence barely make sense.

Why would you take one Europe’s best B-schools and bring it to the U.S.

INSEAD is a great school with an amazing education. By coming to the US, INSEAD finally gets rid of the one thing that has been holding them back:

What’s that?

French People.

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/07/01/can-you-tweet-your-way-into-b-school/


(2) Headlines: Tweet your way to an MBA

University of Iowa’s Tippie School of Business is adding a new requirement to their MBA application: the Tweet.

It never ends. Am I required to friend their Dean on Facebook.

They are asking everyone to submit a tweet as part of their b-school application.
140 characters to answer:
“What makes you an exceptional Tippie Full-time MBA candidate and future MBA hire? Creativity encouraged!“

the question itself is over 100 characters.

The thing that makes me an exceptional Tippie Full-time MBA candidate and future MBA hire is … damn I ran out of characters.

The school is offering a full scholarship for the best tweet.
Wait a minute, the article says, “The school plans to ask five or so finalists if their tweets can be shared with others via social media and the winner will ultimately be announced on Aug. 4 on both Facebook and Twitter.

So they’re not actually tweeting the essays? Hahaha. They have finally taken the ‘social’ out of social-media.

God forbid a low quality tweet, escape the lips of an MBA candidate without prior review by an admissions committee.

(3) Jargon - Eat your own dogfood.

For instance, if you are a blogger at blogger you better be using blogger to blog your own blog … rather than wordpress

Huh?

So eating your own dogfood is when a company uses it’s own product. The rason this isn’t called feasting on your own filet migon. Is because you usually find out that your product sucks in a bunch of ways. But this way, you can make it better.

Let me give you a different example using my job.

Miro, you have a job? That’s amazing! How much to you make?

well, I have a start-up called Testive.

They’re not paying you anything are they.

It’s called equity! Its an investment in my future. Why can’t my father understand that?

So tell me about the dog food at Testive.

Anyway, we make software that we sell to test prep companies. So we started a subsidiary company that does test prepartion, just to be a customer of our own software.

You started an entire subsidiary company just to be a customer of your own product.

Yes

So how’s it going?

We were right. It sucks! But this is fastest way to make it great.

(4) Business School Tip of the week:

Do a pre-MBA internship.

Are you sick and tired of only having one internship during you MBA?

Do you wish you could destroy yet another summer with three months of work?

Want to invest your time on a project someone else is going to get the credit for?

Well look no further!

The pre-MBA internship. It’s like a regular internship, but it PRE!

Business week is covering students how quit their jobs in the spring before the MBA and spent the summer before they start school doing an internership.

As patrick henry once said: I regret that I have, but only 1 summer to give to Goldman Sachs First Boston, Singapore Branch.

http://www.businessweek.com/business-schools/a-farewell-to-summer-the-premba-internship-06302011.html

What’s on your radar this weekend
Miro: Tutoring
Tom: Coding Coding and more Coding

Your Salary = GMAT * 325 - $123,000

Find out the formula for predicting your starting post-MBA salary based on your GMAT score. Test Prep company, Knewton, released their analysis that every 10 points on the GMAT translates to an additional $3K in starting salary. Also Tom and Miro talk about what to do if your colleagues at your internship or new job are trying to undermine you.

(B) We have Great Show today.
We’ll quantify your worth based on your GMAT score
And discuss what to do when your team dismisses you as ‘just another MBA”

(1) Headlines: 10 pts on the GMAT worth $3000

Knewton CEO Jose “Giant Hands” Ferreira just released a video looking at starting salaries based on your GMAT score. Knewton found, you will earn an additional $3K for every 10 points in your GMAT score.

Here at the MBA show, we have looked at Jose’s data and created a handy formula you can use to determine your self worth.

[Show formula] Your salary = 325 * GMAT - $123,000

So, how are you doing Miro?

Well, let’s say, that I’m not exactly meeting expectations.

How so?

Actually, I took my starting salary, plugged it in and figured that I should roughly have scored a 380 on the gmat.

For those of you who have already taken the GMAT, we find this is a helpful tool to figure out how much you should be making.

you know this can only serve to make most people feel terrible about themselves.

That’s what we do here at the MBA Show.

Okay, let run some of the numbers

For a 500, $40K.
If you have a GMAT score of 700 your salary should be $105K

For those of you with big eyes, you can expect to break 100-grand when you hit 690.

Another neat way to use this is to figure out whether you should go to business school at all.

For example, suppose you’re currently making $60,000. Plug that into the formula, and you’ll see that you need to score at least a 570 on the GMAT, just to make it worth it to play the game at all!

So, how did Knewton figure this out?

Apparently, there is very high correlation between GMAT score, the school you attend. There is also a strong correlation between the school you attend and average starting salary.

Interestingly, the best-fit line, notably under-predicts salaries at the high end. Basically the people at the top get more than their fair share of the pie.

Let’s face it, anything else would simply be un-american.

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/06/22/ten-gmat-points-equal-3000-in-starting-pay/

Jargon - Breaking the MBAs
Companies I’ve worked at.

Wide-eyed and busy-tailed MBA is managing a company veteran.

The MBA says: In my operations class I have this amazing piece of analysis that will help us synergize backward-overflows. All it will take from you subordinate is just three weeks of work!

What happens?

As it turns out, someone who has worked at the company longer than you has many options for discouraging you, disuading you, embarassing you, undermining you, etc.

This is what we call breaking the MBA

Which brings us to our
Business School Tip of the week: We’ll be looking at what happens someone tries to break the MBA.

I will be suggesting ways for MBA’s to fight back.

Dazzle your subordinates with powerful MBA jargon. Such as using a runge-kutte approximation instead of the newton-raphson method.
Watch how quickly you will be made to look like an idiot in front of your boss when your subordinates respond in kind with industry and company jargon.

Explain to them that YOU are the boss.
Laugh at them

Load your subordinates down with meaningless, un-fulfilling tasks until they relent.
Don’t do those task

Schedule a meeting to discuss our relationship and certain challenge that I have been facing as an MBA.
Fail to go to meeting because you are playing foosball with the CEO

Fine, fine I give up! What the hell am I supposed to do with you god damn it!
Just acknowledge that I know more than you.

Fine. You know more that me. But, my business card is embossed.

What’s on your radar this weekend
Miro: 4th of July Staycation
Tom: I’ll be watching the fireworks from the MIT sailing pavilion.

How To Beat The New GMAT

Dave Wilson, President and CEO of the company that makes the GMAT explains the new Integrated Reasoning section to Tom and Miro. He also suggests why it's worth taking a hit to your social life in the first semester of b-school.


Dave is turning 70 this weekend and will be riding his bike 70 miles for TeamMBA, a brand for student volunteerism in business schools:

Join dave on his ride now here:
http://teammba.gmac.com/about/daves-70-70-70-ride.aspx

What To Do When You Hate Your Internship

Many MBAs are starting their summer internships, and many of them have discovered they are miserable. Miro & Tom talk about what to do if you are one of them ... and some tips for business school deans on the job hunt.

We’ll provide Resume tips for business school Deans lookin’ for jobs
and talk about what to do if your Internship sucks

(1) Headlines: John’s Hopkins Dean Resigns

Yash Gupta has resigned abruptly as Dean of John’s Hopkins Carey School of Business. Gupta was the founding dean of the business school which was created in 2007. He left before his first class of full-time MBAs even graduated.

Big vote of confidence to those students Miro!

Students weren’t too sad to see him go. In the past 6 months his name came up as a finalist in 3 different university president or provost searches.

It’s always awkward to run across your Dean’s resume on Monster.com

An what a resume it was! We have a link at the site. The dean compiled a 41 page resume of his accomplishments.

I love this thing

I know you do Tom. I have come up with highlightst hat I think you will enjoy.

As the inaugural dean, I have been
charged to create a unique program that can leverage the strengths of Johns Hopkins.

That’s it? For a 41 pager, I would have expected something a little more concrete. For example, you’d like to see some numbers in there so you can get a sense of what was really accomplished.

“Graduated 0 full-time MBA Students”

“I have developed very strong relationships with Maryland legislators [sic] I have used my visits to Annapolis to share our vision for the Carey School with them, and have received an overwhelmingly positive response.”

Received overwhelmingly positive response.

Applied for consulting position with McKinsey. Received “Overwhelmingly positive response.”

Did you get that job?

If I had gotten the job, wouldn’t I have just said so?

[Cut away to McKinsey: Someone takes resume from job applicant and files is into one a bin labled “Overwhelmingly Positive Response” which is immediately adjacent to “Actual Job Offers”.]

To strengthen ties in the school community, I introduced Dean’s coffee sessions for faculty, staff and students, respectively to provide a venue for participants to talk directly to the dean.

This isn’t really a resume. It’s more like a calendar that has been exported to Microsoft word. Went to grocery store, And, received overwhelmingly positive response.

So, I’ve spent some time with this monster, and I think I can boil these 41 pages down to 1 message:

Please let me out of Baltimore! Seriously, have you seen the wire. It was based on reality.

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/05/24/the-b-school-dean-who-didnt-want-to-be-dean/
http://www.csv.vcu.edu/dev/provostsearch/pdfs/Gupta_CV.pdf

Jargon
The Say/Do Ratio

Remind me of what the Say/Do Ratio actually is.

It’s the ratio of things you say you’ll do, to the the things you actually do.

Ideally, you want to keep your say/do ratio as low as low as possible. That means minimizing what you promise, and maximising what you do do.

Some people call this under-promise and over-deliver.

What should the say-do ratio ideally be?

Well, it depends on the situation.

For example, if you say you’ll meet your friends at 6pm, you want try to keep those promises as close to 100% as possible.

Otherwise you’ll experience credibility collapse.

Shouldn’t we just keep the number as low as possible all the time?

Well, no, in government contracts for example, it is standard industry practice to under bid, typically by a factor of about 10:1. If you bid 1 to 1, you’ll quickly be out of business.


Business School tip of the week
Hate your internship? Congratulations!

This doesn’t sounds like casue for celebration

MBA’s, many of you out there are just starting your internships and for many of you, you are not liking it.

Are you sure this is good? This sounds like a disaster.

Compare the idea of a bad internship with the idea of having a bad job. One of the great things about the internship, is that it’s guaranteed to end in 2 months. Hate your intersnship? Congrats! You have just run a successful experiment.

It will probably be hard to appreciate right now.

Avoiding a terrible life-long career by discovering you hate it iearly with an internship is one of the main values provided by b-school

So, what do they do now if they hate it?

The first thing you want to figure out is whether you hate the industry, or you hate the culture of your specific firm. It may be that your job is bad because of the jerks you work with, or it maybe that your industry is full of jerks!

Tease: If you’re stuck in an internship you don’t like. You’ll want to stick around for our bonus content, where we’ll go over some specific steps you can take to help make it right.


What’s on your radar this weekend
Miro: Going to the Provincetown film festival.
Tom: Kim Harves is getting married. Congratulations Kim and Mark.

A Very Special Graduation Message

This week, a very special address to the nation's graduating MBAs.

Which business school is toughest to get into?

(1) Our Guest

Stacy Blackman

http://www.stacyblackman.com/

(2) Jargon

Boil The Ocean

(3) Business School Tip of the Week

Behave Yourself!

In business school, all sex is sex in public

The authors of Case Studies and Cocktails discuss how to gracefully get through business school. From sex with classmates to excel tips, Carrie Shuchart and Chris Ryan, have published the definitive guide to surviving and thriving in your MBA program.


(1) Authors of Case Studies & Cocktails
Carrie Shuchart
Chris Ryan

http://www.casestudiesandcocktails.com/

Buy Case Stuides and Cocktails on Amazon

(2) Jargon: Leverage

(3) Business School Tip of the Week
(A) Be Open to anything
(B) Color Code your Excel

2011 MBA Jobs Report: Salaries are up!

The 2011 GMAC jobs report is out. MiroKaz and TheRealTomRose discuss which metrics have gone up, and which have gone down. Also, learn how to build your resume in three easy steps.

(1) Headlines: The 2011 Jobs Report is out!!!

[Very excited]

Everything is up!!

What’s up doc?

Average salary is up to $91K from $89K last year
The average b-school salary increase was 73% over pre-b-school salaries.

That makes my wallet feel nice and happy.

Last year 32% of MBAs had jobs in March. This year, 54% of MBAs had jobs in March.

[Math on paper] Miro: If this trend continues, by the time the entering MBA class graduates in 2013, 98% of them can expect to have six figure job offers in March.

[miro reaction]

That means they’re basically guaranteed to get jobs.

Both: Woooooooah.....

[Realization] Wow, if everyone is going to have a job after graduation,

This changes everything! Now that we’re all guaranteed to get high paying jobs...

- I can finally stop focusing on studying around the clock and go out drinking on weeknights

- I can take out $100k in student loan debt that we didn’t need in the first place!

- I can use loan money to pay for lavish international sailing vacations in the Caribbean!

- I can go out for expensive dinners and act like part of the elite.

- Instead of insisting that all money be poured into our education with can throw a shit fit at any noon meeting that doesn’t have a catered, non-pizza lunch

- I can pay $150k for a piece of paper that frankly my parents wish were a law degree.

- I can finally pay our share of the class gift! Woah woah, let’s not get crazy here. That’s $50 a year you know.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/61afa41c-7aef-11e0-991a-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1MeAPjzAR
http://poetsandquants.com/2011/05/10/class-of-2011-more-job-offers-higher-starting-pay/
http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/blogs/entry-detail/?blog_id=1461&entry_id=13295
http://www.gmac.com/NR/rdonlyres/7EFAF983-BEA9-4A6C-B7BE-7E01B1D94D80/0/2011CRS_SurveyReport_WebRelease.pdf

(3) Jargon: Fractional Jet Ownership
Minimum 5 year contract
1/16th of a Jet is 50 hours of flying a year
at least $400K to get in plus about $250K a year plus $1500/hour

Buying a jet costs an average of $5M and $1500 an hour plus a full time crew.

http://www.netjets.com/default.asp

(4) Business School Tip of the Week: Build your resume bullets
Think of your summer internship from a resume point of view.
You’ve already got the top line. You know what company you’re working. Now it’s the time to work on the bullets underneath.

Start strategically planning your summer based on what you need to achieve to have credentials coming OUT of the summer. You need to get staffed on good projects NOW.

What does good project mean?
MEASURABLE OUTCOME

TIME FRAME THAT YOU CAN INFLUENCE

Size where You can have an impact.

BONUS CONTENT: HOW TO GET STAFFED

5) What’s on your Radar?
Miro: Old friend coming into town. an acutal journalist
Tom: Flying to a caribbean. I’ll be using USAir’s fractional seat ownership program.

How to Raise $1.8M in VC While Still in Business School

Vanessa Green explains how to raise VC money while still a student in business school. Also, women out number men in grad school ... except in MBA programs ... despite 10 years of recruitment efforts.




We have Great Show today.
Vanessa Green will tell you how raise $1.8M in VC funding
All, while still in B-School

Remember to subscribe to us on iTunes.

(1) Headlines:

50% of Graduate students are women.

We did it! We won. Wooo hooo. Yes yes yes yes yes.

*Bing* Excluding business schools

[deadpan] Oh ….

But enrollment of women in business schools has increased from 25% to 35% in the last 10 years

We did it! We won. Woo hoooo. yes yes yes yes yes.

*Bing* Only at the top 10 business schools.

Son of a bitch!

But … Overall, MBA’s are now 30% female

That is terrible! 10 years we’ve been investing in this. That’s 5% over 10 years. If you look at the statistical error, we may not have moved at all.

Recruiting women is tapped out. That has been pushed and pushed and pushed. We have reached the limits of what push can do and now we need pull to take over.

At this point, fewer women are applying to business school simply because the marketplace isn’t offering enough attractive jobs.

GMAC’s annual survey
Women send 20% more resumes for ½ the job offers that men receive.

Well that explains that. Based on those stats, the number of women going to b-school should be going down.

But check this out: In China, 63% of GMAT test-takers are women.

I’ve got it. I know how we can increase the number of women in business school! Become Chinese.

Tom, I’m an entrepreneur. I’m trying. Believe me, I’m trying.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/may2011/bs2011054_151720.htm
http://poetsandquants.com/2011/05/07/why-more-women-become-lawyers-doctors/
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/28/why-do-men-outperform-women-at-harvard-biz-school/
http://poetsandquants.com/2011/03/02/women-the-mba/

(2) Interview: Vanessa Green

Intro: If you’re a woman thinking about going to business school and you’re looking for a role model, look no further than our next Guest. Vanessa Green created her own job. Actually, she created four. She raised $1.8M in VC money from Venrock and Paytech while attending B-school full time!

There are advantages to being a man in entrepreneurship. There is a stronger culture of women supporting men married to their jobs. There isn’t a strong culture of men supporting women married to their companies.

Can you start a company and have a family too?
Would you raise money during school again?
Didn’t they pressure you to drop out of school?
Who are your cofounders?
Three guys. Course 6. PhD’s.

When did you decide to do this?
Vacation.

Why didn’t you give up after 28 firms?
The ball was always rolling.

The momentum really built after we got our first term sheet. We ended up with three. We had to force it in the end.

People won’t give you a term-sheet unless you force them to.

I pitched over 30 firms. You don’t just pitch once.
Wear heels, put hair down.

What was the most painful thing that you gave up?

I’m good at reading people, assessing situations. Memorable.

What is the difference between men and women entrepreneurs.
Women are more passionate about their project, but men are motivated by making money.

My office is right by school.

I have prioritized school.

Setting expectations on the company side is really important.

They asked you to change your voicemail message?!

(3) Jargon: Vesting
Earn you share over time. Vesting is the schedule that you earn your promised shares on.


(4) Business School Tip of the Week: Find a Team
B-school is a great opportunity to build a team. Having the right team is the most important thing.

Remember to subscribe to our newsletter.

The Best and Worst Careers for MBAs in China

Meng Xing explains which MBA careers are golden in China, and which ones will leave you feeling like a failure. India sets off a land rush of American university satellite campuses. And find out why you’ve been emailing your Chinese friends using their last name.

We have Great Show today. China is taking over the world and India is hoping the world will take over them. The Split Internship, everyone is doing it.

Remember to subscribe to us on iTunes.

(1) Headlines: India invites colonization

Well, that’s a nice, refreshing change of pace

India has passed the foreign universities bill. Allowing, FOR THE FIRST TIME, foreign universities to grant degrees on Indian soil.

When asked for comment, the Dean of Wharton said:
[Both] Caching!

I think we’re basically looking at a land rush here.

Wharton isn’t going to miss out on THAT satellite campus opportunity.

My money say that Wharton is going to be the first school with boots on the ground over there.

Not so fast!
[briefcase that says Miro’s School of High Priced American Education]
I know after the show is over, I’ll be heading out there myself to claim a stake.

Sarcastic: What are we going to do with out you on the show.

I’m sure I’ll be out of business by next week’s show.

Oh, right. Because of the brand issue. It won’t make sense to open a school in India at India prices. It only makes sense if you can charge a premium.

And in a few years I think Indian Business School is going to run them all out of business . Within the decade, ISB will be competing for the best candidates in the world with top american schools.

No way! They need basic managers, not MBAs!

Exactly that’s what an MBA provides.

American MBA programs are where you go to get an elite job like Banking, Consulting, or Trading.

So you’re saying the MBA doesn’t actually train you to DO anything?

No, it teaches you the greatest American trick in the world: use other people’s money to make MORE money!

Dude, your next boss is going to be skypeing you from Bangalore.

http://www.coolavenues.com/b-schools/b-school-profiles/indias-business-school-faculty-crisis


(2) Interview

Name card: Xing Meng

1st year at Sloan. Born in China. Moved to US at 3.5yrs. Moved back to china at 6yrs. Moved back to US at 14yrs. Went to Berkeley for undergrad. Moved to Hong Kong at 21 to work at JP Morgan. Came back to Sloan at 24yrs.

(3) Jargon: Meng Xing.
Chinese names are written with the last name first.


(4) Business School Tip of the Week: Max 5
Don’t sign up for more than 5 different extracurricular activities at one time.

Remember to subscribe to our newsletter.

(5) What’s on your Radar?
Miro: A finance test, an accounting test, etc.
Tom: Mother’s Day
Xing: Skydiving