A whirlwind weekend.

Wow, the weekend is already at its sunset! And I haven't touched my books since Wednesday evening, I just realize!
To name a few events that happened this weekend.. A "Bend it with Bhangra" party last night, after which I hit the bed only at 3.30am, an exhausting 2 and a half hours of salsa today (remind me never to do a marathon session like this one, EVER), a good Tamil movie after a long time (Panchanthanthiram, still got us all laughing even though we were all watching it some Nth time!), some placement related work (describing the companies we want to work with, getting our mini profiles in place, etc), some ELP stuff still pending to be worked on tomorrow, an assignment due on Monday morning, and lots of reading to catch up on!
Last afternoon, there were a couple of seniors from Microsoft here on campus. We had an informal session with them. It was good. They reminded us, that we needed to work more on our weaknesses, than our grades, if we didn't care for the consulting positions. Sigh! So easily said. I don't care for my grades as long as I can maintain myself just above average.. Why that criterion I've asked myself? I guess, it's more of for personal satisfaction. I guess I don't want to end up feeling dumb! My confidence might take a good beating! So far, I've managed that quite decently. What's odd about it is the fact that I don't even put in half the effort that most people are putting in! Sometimes it bothers me when people who studied wayyy more than me score less than me.. 'cause it just isn't fair to them. I feel guilty a lot of times. However, on the other hand, this sometimes turns into some sort of a confidence bolstering event. We got 3 exam results in the last four days, and I scored well above average in 2 of them and just above average in one more. Now, that probably explains why I haven't touched my books since Wednesday.. a sure indication of complacency setting in!

And so, now here I am, kicking myself awake to catchup on the readings for the term so far.. but as you can plainly see, all it seems to have done is increase my urge to blog!

I love the first weekend of every term!

I see a pattern emerging in students' behaviour here at ISB. Every term has 6 weeks..
Here's the pattern I see..

Week 1 : Do some odd homeworks here and there. Don't study too much. First weekend, party time, movie time, sports time, etc. All "theme" days happen during this week.
Week 2 : Sometime around the middle of the week, sinking feeling of upcoming mid-terms sets in. Homeworks are ramping up!
Week 3 : CRAM CRAM CRAM for the exam which typically happens on Friday

Phew, got through the mid-terms! Friday evening party!!!!
Can now afford to take a day off on Saturday.. Oops.. actually, assignments due on Monday.. Start slogging for that

Week 4 : Still playing catchup with homeworks and pre-reads. Somewhere towards the middle of this week, some mid-term grades come out. Uh-oh, screwed the exams.. Gotta atleast make up in the end-terms. This weekend, ISB typically looks like a grave-yard.
Week 5 : @#$%@#$, what the heck, exams are up again on Monday and Tuesday.. I just figured I have 2 subjects totally untouched. PANIC!! CRAM CRAM CRAM! ISB looks like a nuclear war zone. Only some odd insects can be seen outside here and there, this week.
Week 6 : Monday and Tuesdays exam. Tuesday night party time again! Wednesday, place is deserted with people flying out! Odd junta like me stay behind and enjoy the resort!

Week 7 / Next term's Week 1: Refer Week 1 of previous term!

Third Term In Full Swing

It's been 3 days exactly since 3rd term began and everything is in full swing already! The pace of the term has already hit me hard. The 4 subjects we have this term are Corporate Finance, Entrepreneurship, Operations Management and Management Accounting for Decision Making. We've already turned in 2 homeworks and have 2 more due tomorrow night. Throw in a healthy dose of placement related work and you've got mayhem happening. I just turned in a thumbnail profile for the Student Hand Book which will be provided to prospective hiring firms. How the heck do you fit your entire profile in 60 words?? Tough job! But anyways, its done.

In the meanwhile, my ELP is going full swing. We have finished our initial round of interviews with the founders and senior managers of the firm for whom we're doing a market study. We have an idea of what is now expected from us. Now to chalk out a project scope and get on with it!

More time crunch follows!

ELP & PAEV

ISB's Experiental Learning Program is sort of like an internship. Companies hire MBA students from ISB for projects that have scope in the real world. This allows the company to get things done for much cheaper, and also scope out the students. This program is highly in demand among the students here at ISB. More so for the people who're looking for a shift in careers.
Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture (PAEV) is a course offered here at ISB which is also highly in demand. The course involves learning how to formulate a business plan, solidify it, make pitches to venture capitalists, etc. This is one of the more popular electives on campus.

Both courses have 1 credit and are graded and count for graduation. Both are supposed to be heavy load courses. Somehow, on some gut instinct I've ended up registering for both. Hopefully I won't get too screwed!!

Final Strat!

And here's what finally happened. We ended up 2nd. Hoorah! We kicked some serious ass in the final round! Doubled our contribution!!

Best places in the US to live in..

CNN money's 2006 list of 100 best places to live in the US is here.

CNN Top 100: Best places to live in the US

Every year for the last 4 years, North Carolina or Colorado has figured in the top spot. I'm sure glad to have lived in both places. Hopefully, India will figure in such a list very soon!

1/4th

Good news! 2 days from now, I'm 1/4th an MBA. I'll be done with two terms out of the eight here at ISB!

Bad news.. There are 4 killer exams between now and then. I'm an optimist. I'll be back as soon as I get the bad-news out of the way!

Microsoft's iPod killer?

Rumours of Microsoft's iPod Killer are all over!!
Apparantly, it is rumoured that Microsoft will attempt to lure iPod customers away by offering to give them the non-iTunes versions of the songs they've already bought.. FREE!!

Related Links:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/06/microsoft-planning-wifi-enabled-portable-media-player-working-o/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/04/cringingly-blurry-pics-reveal-microsofts-ipod-killer/

EDIT:
It is now official. Microsoft is set to launch this player by Christmas this year. Financial times (ft.com) carries an article on this.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e6bd5f54-0cf0-11db-84fd-0000779e2340.html

Better Strat!

HA! Bumper returns this decision in Markstrat! 6 decisions down. 1 more to go. We have managed a good turn around from our initial horrible performance. We are now 3rd out of the 18 contendors. My group and I are damn kicked about it! The topspot is still way out ahead. Let's see. Markstrat has been the most interesting I've done so far at B-School. Here's a small indicator of our performance so far.. the stock index of our company O. Now gotta hang tight and make one more good decision!

The pink line is the performance of my company!


Previous related posts : Bad Strat, Come Back Kids.

TiE-ISB Connect 2006

The TiE-ISB Connect 2006 dates have been announced. Sept 20-22nd. This is India's largest networking event for entrepreneurs and investors. This event should encourage all the people out there who have brilliant business ideas, but don't know where to go for capital funding! All the big Venture Capitalists in India will be there looking for the next big business idea.

Click here for the TiE-ISB Connect 2006 official site.