Monday, July 30, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
I miss my investment banker classmates
For those of you guys who are interested in interning in Investment Banking - I feel for you! Only a little bit though and here's why. The HOURS ARE BRUTAL during the Summer at least. My friends who are interning in banking work a crap load of hours. I definitely miss hanging out with them and in the beginning of the summer I would text them later and later to see if they were free. They were not free! Now, I don't even really text them to see if they can come out. My text messages now are more like "I miss you! I understand that you're grinding it out at work EVEN AT THIS HOUR, but I just wanted to remind you that I am thinking about you."
The way I think of the banking life may be different from what it is really. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't even want to text them during the day because I didn't think that they were even allowed to check their phones at their desks hahaah. I'm sure it's not THAT bad because I do get responses from them when I do text during the day, but I just know that they work an insane amount. Before business school I would think to myself "I COULD DO THAT FOR $XXX,000/YEAR) but after a year of B-school and having a better understanding of what they're going through, I know that I couldn't do it even for that amount of money.
Speaking of money - something that I haven't really talked about that much lately - let's just say that I have a new reality in terms of the amount of $ I should believe I should make. I'll leave it at that.
Summer: The Internship Years
It's been a while since I've updated one of these blog posts. Hopefully I haven't forgotten how to do it! It's like riding a bike right?!? hehe. I just want to give some quick updates on how much summer has been going thus far in the context of Business school.
A couple of weeks ago we had an event at the Cornell Club in NYC. It was dubbed a Trifecta event. Initially I wasn't sure why it was called this but I think I've figured it out. It was an event for Johnson Alums....Current Students.... AND the Incoming class. That seems like a plausible reason right? Yeah, we'll go with that. The event was HELLA fun because I got to see the members of the Class of 2011, many of whom I hadn't seen since I was a prospective student! I also got to see many of the members of the Class of 2012 who had just graduated. Again, I hadn't seen those folks in a while because I was already in Japan/Korea when they were in their final weeks in Ithaca.
There were also members from my class (Class of 2013) who were in attendance as well as a GREAT number of the incoming class (Class of 2014). I would say that my class had the least number of representatives because most people were still at their respective internships. With the event being from 6pm-8pm the chances of people, who are interning, leaving early to attend the event are fairly slim. I also didn't see that many bankers there from any class. That's how that business goes though right?
It was nice to see people from the incoming class and seeing their excitement. If you notice, I only refer to them as the incoming class haha... I don't want to give up my title of a 1st year just yet, so I'm holding on to that for as long as possible. I guess once they start math camp next week, I have to give up the title. Until then.... NO SIR.
Aside from the Trifecta event, I've been hanging out with my classmates a lot. There will definitely be another post about the transition from Non-MBA -> MBA friends because - at least for me - there is definitely a transition period. After work on Fridays, my default is to text my classmates to see what they're up to. That's not to say that I don't have any other friends in the city, but I've spent 8/9/10 years with them and only a "relatively" small amount of time (although collectively it's probably more) with my business school friends and I miss them.
When we go out.... we go HARD! I've been doing a lot of party hopping because for me it's the cheapest way to drink in the city. I also like to make sure that I nurture relationships with the 2nd years now that they are gone. We were more or less acquaintances at school but now that we're away from school, I just genuinely enjoy spending time with them.
I've got a busy week coming up because I'm flying to Lake Tahoe on Thursday for a friend's Bachelor Party. I am also going to be trying to watch the Olympics during every free second that I have. I am obsessed with the Olympics. But right now I want to write another blog post before I get uninspired. Stay Tuned!
A couple of weeks ago we had an event at the Cornell Club in NYC. It was dubbed a Trifecta event. Initially I wasn't sure why it was called this but I think I've figured it out. It was an event for Johnson Alums....Current Students.... AND the Incoming class. That seems like a plausible reason right? Yeah, we'll go with that. The event was HELLA fun because I got to see the members of the Class of 2011, many of whom I hadn't seen since I was a prospective student! I also got to see many of the members of the Class of 2012 who had just graduated. Again, I hadn't seen those folks in a while because I was already in Japan/Korea when they were in their final weeks in Ithaca.
There were also members from my class (Class of 2013) who were in attendance as well as a GREAT number of the incoming class (Class of 2014). I would say that my class had the least number of representatives because most people were still at their respective internships. With the event being from 6pm-8pm the chances of people, who are interning, leaving early to attend the event are fairly slim. I also didn't see that many bankers there from any class. That's how that business goes though right?
It was nice to see people from the incoming class and seeing their excitement. If you notice, I only refer to them as the incoming class haha... I don't want to give up my title of a 1st year just yet, so I'm holding on to that for as long as possible. I guess once they start math camp next week, I have to give up the title. Until then.... NO SIR.
Aside from the Trifecta event, I've been hanging out with my classmates a lot. There will definitely be another post about the transition from Non-MBA -> MBA friends because - at least for me - there is definitely a transition period. After work on Fridays, my default is to text my classmates to see what they're up to. That's not to say that I don't have any other friends in the city, but I've spent 8/9/10 years with them and only a "relatively" small amount of time (although collectively it's probably more) with my business school friends and I miss them.
When we go out.... we go HARD! I've been doing a lot of party hopping because for me it's the cheapest way to drink in the city. I also like to make sure that I nurture relationships with the 2nd years now that they are gone. We were more or less acquaintances at school but now that we're away from school, I just genuinely enjoy spending time with them.
I've got a busy week coming up because I'm flying to Lake Tahoe on Thursday for a friend's Bachelor Party. I am also going to be trying to watch the Olympics during every free second that I have. I am obsessed with the Olympics. But right now I want to write another blog post before I get uninspired. Stay Tuned!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Still Living the Dream!
Hello everyone! I wanted to give a quick update as to some important events that have occurred these last 7 days.
First - Last Wednesday I stayed late at work to take a class at General Assembly called Deconstructing iOS. It was a class about Apple's iOS software and how best to create mobile applications that adhere to the Apple UI guidelines. The reason that I decided to take the class after work is because I'm trying to develop an idea that I have. Who knows, maybe this blog will turn into how I created a start-up after business school and became a billionaire!
Second - After the class, I went to meet two of my friends from MLT. I say from MLT but in reality, I know one of them from 2009 when we attended an NYU Starn Marketing Weekend as prospective students! We've come a long way since then! In any event, I met them down by Union Square as they were finishing up dinner. We sat and chatted for about 20 minutes. She now goes to Duke and here is the post from when she got in. My other friend goes to Columbia. He was actually my roommate at CTLS last year around this time. I think I wrote a blog post about CTLS.
Third - After meeting them for a quick chat, I went to the West Village to meet up with one of my best friends from school and one of his friends who also went to Columbia. I sat with them for drinks and just talked about everything under the sun. He was very interested in learning about my experience at General Assembly.
Fourth - On my way back from NYC to my house in New Jersey, I was on the bus wearing my CORNELL hat! I find myself always wearing Cornell apparel because I always seem to run into someone who went to Cornell either as an undergrad or graduate. There's an immediate sense of camaraderie when this happens that I wonder if it's unique to Cornellians. So yes, I was sitting on the bus with my hat and I turned my hear to look out the window. As I did this, I see someone notice my hat and then say "Did you go to Cornell?" I said that I am currently a student at Johnson and he replied excitedly with, "I'm in Dyson now!" For those of you who don't know, Dyson is the name of the undergraduate business school at Cornell.
We started talking about how we missed Ithaca and what not. He then asked if I knew someone by the name of XXXXXX. It was funny because he prefaced it with, "You probably don't know this person but do you know....." I said, "I probably do know them because it's a small school." So he said the person's name and to no avail I did know the person. The person is/was a 2nd year. Apparently they had a class together in the business school. After chatting for a couple of minutes, I told the student that he should give me his email address so we could keep in touch. He was happy to do so, so I emailed him last night.
Fifth - The weekend was an interesting one because it was one filled with me introducing my business school friends to my non-business school friends. On Friday, I was in Morristown, New Jersey because I have a classmate who is interning and living there. I also have an undergraduate roommate who lives and works in Morristown. I wanted to introduce them so that m b-school friend would at least have someone to go out to the bars with this summer when he isn't in the city. When we got to my Undergraduate classmate's house my b-school friend said "I want to know everything there is to know about Richard from undergrad." So the night had a lot of reminiscing going on!
Sixth - On Saturday, I was back in the city for a friends birthday. We were staying in a hotel in Soho and were partaking in some libations before we went out. As we were getting ready, I was inviting my business school friends to come out with us. It was interesting to see things come full circle. There were about 20 of us in the hotel room and there was at MOST 1 degree of separation between everyone.
- So some of my friends who came had met my business school friends when they came up to Ithaca for my 30th birthday.
- Some of my business school friends had met my other friends from other business schools during the Reaching Out MBA conference back in May.
- Some of my business school friends had met the brother of one of my Sternie (NYU STern) friends when said brother stayed with me in Ithaca for his interview.
It was all very surreal. Everyone got along especially well! <3 them all!
Okay it's 6:50am and I have to catch the bus and head to the city. Adios!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
MBAs in NYC Facebook Group
There are a ton of FB groups that I have become a part of since starting my MBA. One of the most recent groups is the MBAs in NYC group. I'm not sure who started this group but has about 275 people in it. From what I gather it's all of us, now 2nd years, who are currently interning in NYC. In the group there are posts about apartments for rent...and random conversations.
One conversation that was started was by someone who is interested in start-ups. I've completely taken to this start-up life and had my interest immediately piqued as to where the conversation would go. We ended up planning a happy hour get together for those of us interested in Tech start-ups and Venture capital. One of the people in the group actually works at GA with me. This person doesn't work for Craft Coffee, but we definitely pass by one another on occasion throughout the days.
When we met up at Fiddlestix in the village we grabbed beers and then had to go through the obligatory introductions. For me this was a "Is this really my life moments?" to where I was sitting at a table with a classmate of mine, two folks from Columbia, someone from Chicago Booth, Tuck, and Yale. The fact that I was at a table with folks from those schools is not what I'm referring too... That wasn't my "Is this really my life moments?" but rather it was the fact that I was sitting at the table with these fellas talking about start-ups and VC. Never have I ever thought that I would find myself in such a position, but in hindsight, it's amazing that I never thought I would find myself in that position. That last sentence may not make a lot of sense right now but in time it will.
Interestingly enough as I was walking to this happy hour event, I crossed paths with my friend who helped me edit my essays the day before they were due a year and a half ago. Don't believe that that actually happened?
Here check the link for yourself - http://money9111.blogspot.com/2011/01/essay-madness.html The part where I reference my friend is in the last paragraph.
So yeah, I was on my way to this glorious meeting of the minds and I run into the person who I say helped me get into business school. Of course there was a whole team of folks ushering me along, but this friend of mine really helped me!
In any event it was at this happy hour that I realized that I cannot simply say that at Craft Coffee I'm in charge of Acquisitions because to people who have Private Equity backgrounds and/or those who are interested in VC, an acquisition means something totally different.
So yes... that is my sidestory from the blog post right before this one! :-)
One conversation that was started was by someone who is interested in start-ups. I've completely taken to this start-up life and had my interest immediately piqued as to where the conversation would go. We ended up planning a happy hour get together for those of us interested in Tech start-ups and Venture capital. One of the people in the group actually works at GA with me. This person doesn't work for Craft Coffee, but we definitely pass by one another on occasion throughout the days.
When we met up at Fiddlestix in the village we grabbed beers and then had to go through the obligatory introductions. For me this was a "Is this really my life moments?" to where I was sitting at a table with a classmate of mine, two folks from Columbia, someone from Chicago Booth, Tuck, and Yale. The fact that I was at a table with folks from those schools is not what I'm referring too... That wasn't my "Is this really my life moments?" but rather it was the fact that I was sitting at the table with these fellas talking about start-ups and VC. Never have I ever thought that I would find myself in such a position, but in hindsight, it's amazing that I never thought I would find myself in that position. That last sentence may not make a lot of sense right now but in time it will.
Interestingly enough as I was walking to this happy hour event, I crossed paths with my friend who helped me edit my essays the day before they were due a year and a half ago. Don't believe that that actually happened?
Here check the link for yourself - http://money9111.blogspot.com/2011/01/essay-madness.html The part where I reference my friend is in the last paragraph.
So yeah, I was on my way to this glorious meeting of the minds and I run into the person who I say helped me get into business school. Of course there was a whole team of folks ushering me along, but this friend of mine really helped me!
In any event it was at this happy hour that I realized that I cannot simply say that at Craft Coffee I'm in charge of Acquisitions because to people who have Private Equity backgrounds and/or those who are interested in VC, an acquisition means something totally different.
So yes... that is my sidestory from the blog post right before this one! :-)
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