Life, Technology, fotochatter, and Bschool

it's been too long

2005-06-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I haven't blogged for awhile. Things have been way too hectic. Between fotochatter, and getting ready for the move to Philly, there just hasn't been time. I think I'm going to have to pick this back up once I'm nicely settled and enjoying preterm. I'm sure the next few months will give me plenty to blog about.

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

2005-06-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

I hate people sometimes.

be afraid...

2005-06-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

click here .. and prepare to be very afraid (you don't need to do the survey, just stay on the page for like 10 seconds). And it's not one of those screaming things, don't worry.

Why business school? Why now? (and for real this time)

2005-06-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well, finally a posting that's not about fotochatter. I do reserve the right to post about it entirely too much, just so you know. As the famous song goes, "It's my blog and I can write what I want to." Well on to the matter at hand.

It seems every bschool asks some version of the question "Why business school?". And it also seems that everyone (applicants, students, admit committees) all realize that this question is a sham. Everyone writes down some variation of their reasons, but no one gives a really honest answer, simply because the honest answers aren't really that exciting and usually aren't very politically correct. Rather than discussing whether there is any worth in asking the question in the first place, other than to stage a large fictional essay writing contest, I wanted to spend some time and answer the question for real, and be brutally honest.

My case is slightly unique. As an entrepreneur, an MBA is not nearly as helpful as it would be in the corporate world, Wall Street, or a consulting firm. In fact, I have been questioned repeatedly about my reason for getting an MBA, given my career choice. In thinking about it, there are a number of reasons I am getting an MBA, and quite excited to do so:

1. Sometimes I need a "real job"
I have been involved some type of entrepreneurial venture my entire career. However, during this time I have also done tours of duty in the corporate world, shifting my entrepreneurial ventures to the side. Strangely enough, I didn't hate it in corporation land, but one of my major difficulties was in convincing people that I could do more than whatever small box (usually technical) that my job description entailed. This has been a source of endless irritation and frustration. Not surprisingly, one of my major reasons for getting an MBA is so that I will have a better selection of roles to choose from for those times when I do have to have a "real job". Until one of my entrepreneurial projects hits it big, I will keep cycling back and forth between working for myself, and working for some company. An MBA (hopefully) will make the latter a little more enjoyable.

2. Why not?
I'm financially OK, and I'm not tied down to any particular area right now. I don't particularly like the idea of spending the next two years in the daily grind. If I could go spend them in a new place, meet new people, and have new experiences, why wouldn't I? Answer: Because it costs SOOOOOOO much. Well yeah, but it's not like we get to take it with us when we're gone. Besides, any budding MBA should know that as an entrepreneur I am probably not risk averse when it comes to spending a bunch of money on a hunch.

3. I will learn something
I don't believe all those out there who essentially say an MBA is worthless and that you gain very little in the way of real learning. I'm not quite sure why this degree in particular is singled out for such scrutiny, but I am positive that someone like myself will learn a great deal, especially considering that I do not have a formal business background. Also, I will be able to interact with many people who have no interest in entrepreneurship and are set on becoming bankers, or marketers, or consultants. While at first this may seem to be counter-productive, I think being surrounded by a diverse group of people will help to round-out my perspective on things.

4. Because it's Wharton.
This is probably a reason that most people won't admit, but being able to go to a top school is a big deal. Not only will you always get the recognition, but for many of us, this is the first time we will get to be in a "top" institution of learning. I won't even begin the debate over whether it's the best bschool, but lets just say it's certainly somewhere in the top 3 or 4. There is something that goes all the way back to my college days that wanted to do something like this, and it will be really nice to get to experience being “one of the best”. You can call it ego, or whatever you like, but, at least it’s the truth.

blogs and bugs

2005-06-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

We got our first english blog review today (not saying that english is superior in any way, just that I can understand it). And it was really, really good.

Unfortunately, we also discovered a bug in our registration process that would pretty much prevent most people from registering. So all in all, we've been working really hard to get people to a service where most of them would not be able to register :(

Life is funny that way sometimes. Well at least now it's fixed, but talk about a roller coaster ride of a day.

innovatrice!

2005-06-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, aside from being divertente we are also innovatrice. This is pretty cool. Now perhaps if someone would review the thing in English, I would be able to understand what's going on.

divertente!

2005-06-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well it's official, fotochatter is divertente!

I mean, I knew it was, but this just confirms it.

wharton is bad?

2005-06-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

I came across this article today (3rd on google when you type in "famous wharton grads"). It's a pretty biting condemnation of Wharton and its MBA grads. I don't know whether it's because I'm already invested (in the most literal sense) in the school, but much of the article didn't really ring true to me. I am a bit curious as to the intentions of the author, you never can tell what kind of backstory an article like this might have...

fotochatter is finally launched!

2005-06-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

It has been crazy but it's done...sort of. My semi-secret project is finally ready for its debut. fotochatter is born! fotochatter is a mobile social network (or mososo if you speak Wired) for image sharing. Basically, it is a free service that allows a user to narrowcast photos from their phones to the phones of all their friends and receive comments back on their phone.

The basic use case is as follows:

1. Jack sends a picture from his phone to his fotochatter posting address.
2. All ten of Jack's fotochatter friends get an SMS notifying them that he has added a photo (if they have this option turned on).
3. They view Jack's photo on their phones either via the fotochatter WAP site or J2ME(Java) application.
4. Some friends make comments on his photo.
5. 5 minutes later, Jack receives several comments (via SMS) on his photo, and can reply to each individually via SMS.

We just launched last night, and I use the term night loosely. In any case, it is there and we will be growing it on an invite only basis for a time. However, if you are reading this blog, you are obviously a discriminating and intelligent individual. If you would like an invite, drop me a note: fotochatter-at-gmail-com.

This will by my last project before school, so I hope all goes well. It will be interesting to see if this is the type of thing that people want to do with their phones, and if so, what the adoption of the service will be like.

what the heck?!?

2005-06-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

This isn't a blog about politics, and there are plenty of sources out there trashing America's methods in our current conflicts, but this excerpt from an article in time really blew me away.

"It may have been a measure of how detainees are treated that when Army Specialist Sean Baker played the role of an inmate in a 2003 training exercise, he says he was beaten so badly by MPs, who did not know he was one of them, he now has seizures. The Army is investigating the incident, and Baker has filed suit against the government, seeking damages for his injuries".

It may have been a measure...? What is everyone smoking?

what gives?

2005-05-31T00:05:00.000-07:00

I posted this ad I made for a fake apple product awhile back (the iFon), but I don't think anyone saw it. Perhaps it was before my three or four fans found me :) Anyways I just wanted to post it again and get some thoughts from everyone on it.

Apparently download speeds can be a problem for streaming from the above link. If this happens to you, just right click and do "save as". You can save it to your PC and view it from there.

half marathon

2005-05-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

half marathon equation

Well, I did it. I started running about two months ago and after a couple of weeks I decided I wanted to tackle a half marathon. I registered for this one last week, and somehow I made it through. It wasn't such a great day though. The thing is, they don't call their city Laguna HILLS for nothing. Don't forget that.

I left my iPod and extra water bottles at home, and barely got to the race in time. I performed wonderfully, finishing 1096 out of 1315. In case you are not too good at math, that means I SUCK :) Enjoy the photos posted from my phone using my aformentioned semi-secret project (with photoshop post processing, of course). Don't worry, I'm actually fairly happy with just finishing, and I have plenty of people giving me the obligatory "You are great for just getting through it!" lines of encouragment.

So now it's time to work on running a little faster and longer. In a couple of months, maybe a full marathon. But I better not forget my iPod again.

Almost done...

2005-05-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I have been a very bad blogger. It has been awhile since my last post. Thing is, I have been swamped in my new secret project thingy. Just one more week I think, then we can launch. I can release some details now... it's close enough. I'm working on a mobile to mobile social network for image sharing, and it kicks MAJOR butt (unbiased opinion). Stay tuned people!

Step 1

2005-05-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

It begins...
Well, the first concrete step in my slightly secret project has been taken. I officially dropped the server off at the colocation facility. A couple more weeks, and it will be ready for its debut! ... Then I take over the world, of course.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

2005-05-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

If you are ever feeling bad, consider this... A brief visit to the page bearing the name of my online alias prominently features a pig’s butt!

Join the pointless revolution...

2005-05-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well, now that iceman has done it, and I have done it, I think it's officially a useless online trend now. So come one, come all, join the pointless revolution. Post a faceless/headless picture of you in your prospective bschool paraphenalia and let me know, I'll link to it from this post. We'll make a collage or something; it'll be fun.

Why you ask? Please see the title of my post...

Take My Money.. Dammit!!

2005-05-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

I just checked my bank account, and despite the fact that I sent in my check three weeks ago, and my status changed to "matriculate", Wharton has still not deposited the check. Now of course, if they would continue to do this for the next two years it would be great, but for some reason I just want the pillaging of my savings to commence. No point in delaying the inevitable.

Robot Camel Jockey

2005-04-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

In case you've been wondering why the Arabs haven't been making too much progress as a society, it might just be because we use our resources to do things like this.

Getting in to Business School

2005-04-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have been asked a few times over email if I have any advice for getting into bschool. I am certainly no authority, and I can't really offer a complete guide, but I figured perhaps my two cents might be a small piece of the puzzle and help people in their research. Below is an exerpt of an email I wrote as an answer to someone who emailed me; if it helps anyone else, that would be great.

"... As far as my application, I think the essays were the most important part. My GPA is quite low for the top schools (bottom 20% of admits), and my GMAT was higher than average (top 20% of admits), so I think they balanced each other out. I would say that if you have been out of school for sometime, the GMAT is slightly more important.

My work experience was good, but not anything extremely unique; I had experience running my own small company as well as evidence of advancement in a large corporation.

Plenty of people will give you advice about the essays: 'Be true to yourself' and rather unhelpful things like that. I would simply say that you have to write the essays keeping in mind the fact that the admissions committees have to read thousands and thousands of them. Being unique and interesting is key. My goal was for them to be able to think of me as "the guy who did such-and-such" and all know who they were talking about.

Basically, you want them to be able to describe you uniquely in a sentence after they are done with your essays. So each essay needs to add something, even a single word, to that sentence. Think about it. It is much better to be 'the techie guy who likes to go running in the middle of the night and struggled to help a loved one after an illness' than to just be 'another software developer who wants to go into consulting'. Now I know neither of these sentences describes me or you, so the question is: What will your sentence be? Everyone is interesting and unique in some way. How do you want them to think of you? Your essays should form a coherent story that builds that sentence in their minds..."

Books

2005-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

I read a few books on the way to and from the welcome weekend. The first was Ultramarathon Man. Honestly, I wasn't sure how it would be. After all, the only thing that could possibly be more boring than running 200 miles would have to be reading about it. But I was very pleasantly surprised. The book is very well written, and extremely inspirational. I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs a little push in life, whether for exercise or otherwise.

The second book was Good to Great. Now, I must admit, I'm not a big fan of the "best selling" business book genre. I did find some worthwhile ideas in this book, and although I think it was a bit longwinded, it proved to be a decent read.

There was one more book, but I doubt anyone really cares for my review of Little House on the Prairie, so I will spare you the details.

Welcome Weekend

2005-04-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from welcome weekend in Philly. My wife and I had a wonderful time and we were able to do all of the things we needed to, from renting and apartment to getting to know the Philadelphia area. After meeting everyone there, and spending time in the city I am confident that Wharton is the right place for me. So now it's all about wrapping things up here, and then we're off!

genious

2005-04-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

a bear and a treadmill... brilliant!

What, me worry?

2005-04-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

The process of getting into business school is fully of worry. I worried about whether my applications would be done on time. I worried about the quality of my essays. I felt awful after I first submitted them simply because I worried I had missed something. Then, in order to decrease my worry, I promised not to read them after they had been submitted. After all, nothing could be gained from that, right? Then I broke my promise and read them all (several times.) I worried that my recommendations would not get in on time; I worried about the interviews. And of course, I worried about whether I would actually get in. After I got into Kellogg, I worried about Wharton and Sloan. After Wharton, I just worried about Sloan.

But the fact is, I was not alone in my worrying. A quick look around the online chatter in discussion groups and blogs reveals a whole collection of aspiring students, all united in their anxiety. And it is not simple anxiety. We have a whole online culture built around it. We b-school aspirants do not simply worry like normal people. No, we have to know everything. When would they release the interview invitations? Had anyone received one yet? What percentage had gone out? What percentage of people who get an invitation actually get in? What if you don’t get an invitation? And the list goes on… There are excel sheets and probability models galore. Many people probably did more work analyzing the process than they will in their stats classes next year. So why do we do this? Perhaps we feel that knowing everything that we possibly can will somehow make us feel better. Of course, it does not.

And what is funny is that when you think of a successful business person you certainly don’t envision someone worrying about every move and detail. In fact quite the contrary; the archetype of the business mogul is that of a decisive maverick, unafraid of risk, bravely navigating through the waters of uncertainty ahead.

And the thing is, I’m not really a worrier by nature. I’ve done plenty of things without really over thinking them. I’ve quit high paying jobs to go start small companies. I’ve invested thousands of dollars in ideas simply because I believed in them. I did not agonize over those decisions; I decided and I took action.

I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t know what it is about the process of applying to school that seems to bring out this behavior in so many of us. However, there is certainly something to be learned from it. There are going to be plenty more things to worry about over the next few years. When should we move? How much should we pay for our apartments? How are we going to pay for our degree? And then there are the classes and grades. And what about internships? There will plenty of things to agonize over. So, I just want to remind myself, and anyone who stumbles upon this, to take it easy over the next few years. Most of the stuff we will be worried about is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Let’s all take a collective chill-pill and just roll with punches, and try to actually enjoy our time. Because honestly, at the end of the day, it’s not worth all the headache.

By the way, does anyone know what percentage of married students move their furniture with them across country? I’m worried about the cost.

2005-03-28T13:37:00.000-08:00

It starts at the top, but by the time you leave it is has eaten all the way down through your wallet.

and the winner is... Wharton!

2005-03-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

So I have decided on Wharton as my future school! It was a really hard choice, and after visiting both Wharton and Sloan, I had a lot of thinking to do. In the end, it was really the people and classes at Wharton that swayed my decision. The classes I sat in on at Wharton were very fast paced, and everyone was involved, interested and sharp. The professors were engaging and even a little bit scary :) Who knows, maybe I just sat in some superstar classes, but something tells me that most of what goes on there is pretty high quality. So, I'm set in my decision, and now I can move forward with all the trouble associated with actually moving and getting started over there.

Ripped off... a bit

2005-03-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

Seems business2.0 came up with the same idea that many of us had about what apple should do next. Their concept of the new iPhone graces the cover of the current issue. Ony difference is I had a commercial... and a cooler spelling. More here.

Verification Complete

2005-03-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

I got this today:

..

Dear Applicant,

We are happy to report that the Kroll Background Screening Group has successfully completed your Wharton School MBA verification and look forward to seeing you at Preterm!

MBA Admissions Team

...

Whew! I don't know why I was stressing so much about it, but I was... just having one more thing that could possibly go wrong before school was annoying. Perhaps it was because of the unconventional setup at my latest "employer". (It was a startup people, it's not anyone's fault, it's just the way it is.)

del.icio.us

2005-03-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

del.icio.us

I'm currently obsessed with this site. I plan to use the API's for a project I am working on right now. More to come on that in the next days and weeks...

where to go.. where to go..

2005-03-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

I know I should have decided by now, but I'm still torn on where to go. For some reason Kellogg fell off my wish list, and I don't really know why. Something about it just doesn't appeal to me. Of course, I say that as a person basically ignorant of all the school has to offer. Don't know why but the two that I am really going to have to pick between are Wharton and Sloan. And for a techie with a seriously entrepreneurial slant, it is going to be quite a choice...

Here we go

2005-03-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well, here is my first post in what I hope will be a long series. Plan for plenty of info on what's going on in my life, in bschool, and in whatever crazy project I happen to be working on.