In the next 23 weeks I have planned to…

WEEK	Start	End	What

1	27-Mar	2-Apr	This Week

2	3-Apr	9-Apr	financing my mba: scholarships

3	10-Apr	16-Apr	financing my mba: credits

4	17-Apr	23-Apr	Raquels Bday

5	24-Apr	30-Apr	working & enjoying life

6	1-May	7-May	working & enjoying life

7	8-May	14-May	working & enjoying life

8	15-May	21-May	LBS Welcome WE, Javier & Ana V wedding

9	22-May	28-May	Hawaii, Kim & Dan wedding

10	29-May	4-Jun	packing and preparing moving out of usa

11	5-Jun	11-Jun	car and stuff selling

12	12-Jun	18-Jun	Raquel Graduates / EAD expires

13	19-Jun	25-Jun	starting now:

14	26-Jun	2-Jul	holidays

15	3-Jul	9-Jul	barcelona

16	10-Jul	16-Jul	usa

17	17-Jul	23-Jul	india

18	24-Jul	30-Jul	japan

19	31-Jul	6-Aug	moving to london

20	7-Aug	13-Aug	opening a bank account

21	14-Aug	20-Aug	job flat hunting

22	21-Aug	27-Aug	-- to here

23	28-Aug	3-Sep	1st week of classes

Not as stressing as FM’s next weeks, still I will need some planning.

How amazing is my friend Javier! A Stanford MBA 2007, he has published in his blog …y yo a California!!! his performance for a School show. He is making fun of being cold called. He has written the new lyrics (he is the guy with gray shirt).

Enjoy the video and have a few laughs, it is amazing!

The Economist this week carries a special on the challenges ahead for the mighty China: How to make China even richer

What a formidable challenge! I spent July 2004 backpacking in China and I was struck at how unequal was the society. There is so much misery in the rural areas! Trying to make these peasants even richer is an admirable goal. Actually, truth to be told, the main change in recent years is that now urban areas are richer than they ever were. How to make the peasants richer?

Difficult task, and The Economist has a clear suggestion for that:

Giving peasants marketable ownership rights, and developing a legal system to protect them, would bring huge economic benefits.

The article is really good, analyzing the pros, cons (Some officials also see collective ownership of rural land as one of the few remaining badges of China’s professed “socialism”) and possible route map to tackle down the project progressively, without hurry and without a pause, the way Chinese government likes to introduce changes..

Achieving a richer rural China, that is what I call an ambitious goal!

It’s become a bit of a cliche by now but the 24 hours we have is the same 24 hours that Thomas Edison and Mother Theresa had and that Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates currently have. As the old song goes “It’s in the way that you use it.”

Some useful advice on this post by Jon, How to Have a 36 Hour Day.

Nowadays almost every MBAer wants to be in Private Equity (see New York Sun, via Karibu) but of course not everyone can make it. You need connections, you need talent, you need to be an artist to spot opportunities…

Therefore, firms need someone special for that kind of position. Who is more special than Bono? Apparently no one, he is an artist and now he has become a member of the Elevation Partners Investment Team

Sand Hill Slave has a very funny post on this, with links to his profile and smart remarks about how weekly partner meetings might go.

Myself, I can only thing of Blade Runner: “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched a rocker become a PE partner…”

I hope they can create a lot of value! Good luck to Mr. Paul David Hewson in his new position!

…is almost second nature to me. Even on week-ends or similar, my body likes to be awake by sunrise. Maybe my schedule will switch because of circumstances or the MBA. But fundamentally, when I am on my own I am awake pretty soon, and without any caffeine.

For those of you who find waking up challenging, maybe this article on How to Become an Early Riser can be very useful.

The executive summary

The optimal solution for me has been to combine both approaches. It’s very simple, and many early risers do this without even thinking about it, but it was a mental breakthrough for me nonetheless. The solution was to go to bed when I’m sleepy (and only when I’m sleepy) and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time (7 days per week). So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5am), but I go to bed at different times every night.

As Paul Getty put it

“My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil”

Now, I just have to strike oil…

Or nearby. This is a very rare happening, believe me. I saw it yesterday taking a walk after lunch. Check this picture snow 1 and the one from the SF Chronicle:

I just send an email to a friend (AAAA) with some tips on the interview, so I thought I might share it with my readers. Beside, I will put a very clear title, so thousands of search queries of future anxious applicants to London will land here!

Overall, my interview was an intense experience, and it was quite enjoyable because I had made my homework. The best tip I can share: Do as many mock interviews with MBAers as possible. As a foreigner (Spanish at the USA), I found them particularly useful to get used to some of the particularities of interviews in the USA. But the key point was to hone my answers and help me delivering my message in the most effective way.

Hi AAAA!

First things first: Congratulations on reaching the interview! This is a very good sign. Of course there is still a lot of anxiety and given it is a discrete outcome process, I know you will not rest until accepted. But most applicants never reach the interview stage. And if you are shortlisted it means your application is rock-solid and you are on track!

I am glad BBBB gave you my contact info and I will be glad to help you. I met her at a friend´s bbq and she was very articulate and intelligent. We had a great time talking about applying experience and situations.

By the way, where else are you applying to? Why did you apply to LBS?
I am definitely going to LBS, but always curious about people´s choices and backgrounds.

When are you interviewing? If you want to meet before, just let me know. I, as a a foreigner, went through many mock interviews and found them quite useful. And I want to pass on the favor, so let me know if you want to schedule a mock interview.

CCCC is not the same alumn I had. Actually I had 2 alumns, because one was right out of school and wanted to learn from the senior one. That lead to a very intense, job-like interview experience.

Tips (some might sound obvious, but I´d rather be redundant)
* Google CCCC, and plan accordingly. I cannot look him up, as I have no access to alumn network yet. But I found out online that my interviewer was an IBanker.
* Review your application. I was asked intensively about it. And even got interesting insights on my future business plan.
* Review what you will add to the school. And sell it shamelessly.
* You must be convincing on whether you would go to London if accepted. They will certainly ask about it.
* In case you don´t, read as much financial press as possible before the interview. I was asked about my company (Google) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and menaces. And also about macroeconomics and the impact of booming oil prices (I had the interview dec 05).
* Review your resume. I was asked about all kind of experiences in my background, like managing, hiring and firing people, leadership style…
* 5 min presentation was the easy part of the interview. But that might vary.
* Prepare “typical questions” on how to sell your application/history.
* My interviewers had thoroughly reviewed my application and knew my history. But yours might not. Be ready to deliver an elevator pitch. And an extended version if needed.

Given that I had a very intense 90min interview with 2 guys firing me questions (I believe the fact that there were two of them allowed little space for a pause, both wanted to question me at the same time) the presentation was very relaxing: 5 min to prepare the topic and 5 min to deliver it without interruptions or questions.

To sum up, do your homework and you should be good to go. Given my limited command of the English language, do not hesitate to contact me for any clarification or extra questions.

If you want to make a mock interview with me, I will be happy to help and reenact the kind of interview I experienced. Just let me know. Please keep me posted on your progress and decisions.

Best of luck,

Patxi

After TIME’s article on the Googleplex, today San Francisco Chronicle runs an article on Google’s cafeterias with beautiful pictures. Quote from “Now Google’s cooking“:

“We are not a typical food service group, flipping burgers and cranking out volumes of food,” says John Dickman, Google’s food service director. “We create menus with a thought and purpose in mind. Whether it’s your health, conservation or incredible flavors, we have become a purpose-driven culinary team.”

He is telling the whole truth. This is the best corporate cafeteria ever. Food is good and tasty and top quality. All the employees actually eat in-company and look forward to eating here, nobody has a preferred cafeteria outside of campus!

The incredible cafeteria would explain the extra 5kg I am carrying with me everywhere. Or why my abs no longer look like a chocolate tablet, now they are more big-truffle shaped!

My 80kg are ok for the US, but it is unacceptable for European standards. Before joining the school, I promise I will be back to 75kg! Corporate cafeteria, I will overpower you with my strong willpower!

Hasta los 75kg, siempre!