Hands-On Learning at Haas

Last night I joined 41 of my classmates for the kick-off meeting to the latest Haas@Work experiential learning project. Our project involves assisting a top-tier PC provider develop compelling connected service offerings to integrate with its PC's sold to consumers and small/medium sized businesses. It's an exciting project to be a part of, especially one with ambitious goals in terms of revenue generation and go-to-market time frame. As a career-switcher, these are exactly the types of opportunities I was looking for when I came to Haas. Our team got off to a great start in the ideation process and really set out a good game plan to be able to make insightful and compelling recommendations in just a few weeks. Stay tuned for more updates!

Symantec Tech Trek

When Vince and Matt asked me to write a guest post, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to share my experience here at Haas. This past Friday, roughly 15 members from the Haas Tech Club trekked to Mountain View, CA to tour Symantec’s corporate headquarters. While Symantec has grown to a Fortune 500 company with revenues exceeding $6 billion, the Symantec campus still has the energy of a start-up – ping-pong and fussball tables line the hallways and sand volleyball courts scattered around the campus get plenty of use.

While at Symantec, we toured a couple of their data centers dedicated to product development and R&D. I’ve been to a fair amount of data centers in my day but none as complex as Symantec’s. Symantec technicians support hundreds of unique hardware configurations and OS platforms to simulate each of Symantec’s customers’ infrastructures and environment.

Both the VP of Finance and VP of Symantec’s Storage and Availability Management Group (SAMG) provided overviews of the business and MBA full-time and internship opportunities available. Then we had a Q+A session with a number of Symantec employees working on the corporate finance and SAMG product management/marketing teams (many of whom were Haas alums!). Talking with Symantec employees, definitely gave us a better sense of what it is like to work at one of the world’s leading information management and security companies. I was very impressed with Symantec and glad to be a part of this Tech Club Trek.

Thanks Symantec and we look forward to seeing you at the December Consumption Function!

Guest posted by Tim Potter, MBA '11.

We Love Lucy

From the beginning of the academic year many of us female students and partners have been looking forward to the annual Women in Leadership retreat in Napa. (Sorry, guys - this is the one event of the year to which you're *not* invited!)

Our fabulous retreat co-chairs planned a jam-packed day of fun, including a raucous team challenge that included stomping grapes:
I couldn't help but think of this classic scene:


Only it didn't stop with grape stomping - in true MBA style, the team challenge also encompassed developing a wine-themed product idea and marketing campaign (e.g., "Cabernet Lingerie" or "Chardon-YAY" energy booster). Our teams presented skits during a gourmet luncheon - probably not surprising to learn that as the wine continued to flow, the presentations became funnier and funnier...

On the other side of town

One of the greatest things about Haas is not what goes on within, but what happens just a stone’s throw outside of campus.   I came to Haas to switch careers, with the goal of moving from consulting to technology.  There are plenty of ways to explore new fields, understand industry trends, and make alumni connections.  I’ve joined the Haas Technology Club and the Digital Media & Entertainment Club (DMEC), enrolled in speaker series, and plan to take classes in the Management of Technology (MOT) program. 

But let’s not forget that the Silicon Valley is in our backyard. And last Friday was a great reminder of this. With the Bay Bridge closed, a bunch of Haas students braved the crowded BART trains to the Virtual Goods Summit. The summit brought together leaders in this emerging space for conversations about the state of the virtual goods ecosystem as well discussed growth opportunities. Projected to be an $1B US industry this year, it's growing at an incredible pace.

Having walked into the conference with only a general knowledge about the space, I felt as if I was drinking from a fire hose.   I realized that much of what we discuss in class: demand curves, willingness to pay, price discrimination, and… even statistics are being used real-time by companies trying to monetize on digital content. The key difference is that shifts in policy don’t take months, years to bring change; change can take place in a matter of hours.  To dip into the pool of insight, check out a presentation from Bill Grosso, CTO and SVP of Product, Live Gamer.

I left the summit with a head full of information and had the opportunity to network with thought leaders in the industry.   Most importantly, the energy from learning about such a kinetic and growing industry made the 20 minute BART ride home seem to flicker by in 20 seconds.

Haas @ Virtual Goods Summit 2009

Vegetarians, avert your gaze for this post

A couple of weekends back, I found myself at the First Annual Haas Hog Roast. You gotta love anything labeled "First Annual" - it's quite cheeky in its presumption that the initial event will merit a reprise year after year... And yet, photographic evidence suggests that the Haas Hog Roast may indeed prove popular enough to endure in 2010 and beyond. To wit, before:

And after:

Note the BBQ pit assembled McGyver-style from rebar and cinderblock - now *that's* what I call leading through innovation. All this thanks to the ingenuity of the event organizers and the graciousness of the party hosts - kudos, fellas!

The Multi Club Firm Night

This week, several student-run clubs got together to sponsor the multi-club firm nights. The Multi-Club Firm Night is an annual career event hosted by the Haas Marketing Club, General Management & Strategy Club, the Digital Media & Entertainment, the Technology and the Sales Club. This year over 14 firms attended the event, including Adobe, Apple, Chevron, Cisco, Clorox, DelMonte, E&J Gallo, Ivelich Stone, Leapfrog, NetApp, Neutrogena, SalesForce, Sony, Symantec, Gallup and VMWare.

It was fascinating to see 2 vastly different companies just 2 booths apart - Apple, which beat Wall Street expectations this quarter, and Zynga, which probably beat its own expectations of how fast they'd grow.

It was a perfect opportunity for students to spend 1-1 time with company representatives, understand their unique propositions and get a feel for what kind of career they'd like to choose. For a high tech enthusiast like me, I truly enjoyed meeting all the companies that are revolutionizing our digital futures - Of course, I can't wait to be part of that revolution as well!

MBAA Elections are coming up!

Andrea (MBAA VP International) and I (MBAA VP Diversity) were tabling for the upcoming MBAA Elections, which is where 1st years declare their candidacy for various offices. Unfortunately, this meant we were unable to attend the Haas Talent Show info session that was happening at the same time. This is a REAL conversation from today.




I *heart* Andrea. Andrea is HILARIOUS.

3-2-1... Dodgeball!

Becoming a student again has been great. Still, student life still has its pressures and stress points. Further adding to the problem, my motivation to keep up a regular gym schedule has been lacking. Enter dodgeball. At the start of the year, my good friend Phil decided it would be nice idea to see if there was interest in fielding an intramural dodgeball team. Many of us thought it was a great idea that we ended up fielding two teams (Haas Hooligans and Hungry Hungry Haasies)! Every Monday night we play for 45 minutes against other teams from the Cal community. While some of these teams posses superior athleticism and spryness (read: undergrads), our experience and team cohesion more than makes up for it.