EMBA Survival

$29 fares on SWA

Just bought 8 round-trip tickets on SWA - $29 each way.  That's cheaper than driving by far, even cheaper than the bus.  Wooohooo!  With fares that cheap I could afford to make the round trip 5 days a week.  (I've met consultants that do this...)  The flight from San Antonio to Houston is only 50 minutes.

Rice business plan competition

This is one of the reasons I'm entering the Rice Alliance business plan competition:
http://www.wallstrip.com/2007/11/16/11-16-07-wallstrip-chat-robert-kalin/

Draw your own conclusions.  Here's the scoop: http://alliance.rice.edu/alliance/RBPC.asp

I have other reasons, you know, like boredom.   Cheers.

I've been studying the wrong foreign language

http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2007/12/04/book_jim_rogers.html

I heart Yodlee

Bank of America partnered with Yodlee to offer (for free) "My Portfolio" with their online banking.  I've been astounded at Yodlee's ability to integrate with virtually every financial service I use, non of which are with BofA.  When I log on to BofA, I see an up-to date personal balance sheet that includes all my cash, brokerage accounts, IRAs, my 401k, credit cards, and even  CapitalGroup's Master Retirement Plan.  I love it.  It keeps track of my frequent flyer miles.  Some people have even been using it to monitor their netflix queues.

financial models by headcount

I've seen head-count burn-rates calculated at a couple of places, but it's not the norm.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/10/financial-model.html

Scroll down to the bottom, in part II: lessons.  The number 1 take-away was Focus on headcount.  Granted, that won't work for all business models, but it is interesting how accurate it turns out to be.

save more, spend less

On Friday during the ILW (Intensive Learning Weekend) I gave a speech where I hinted that most people would probably need to save more than $19,500/year in order to have enough money to retire.  In other words, maxing your 401k and IRA contributions probably won't be enough for you.  One of my favorite bloggers recently made a similar point.

http://baris.typepad.com/venture_capitalist/2007/10/why-is-this-fam.html

stragey+business is forecasting a talent shortage in the oil and gas industry

http://www.strategy-business.com/li/leadingideas/li00011?pg=0

Paul Kedrosky mentions my employer in his blog

Cap Group is #3 on the list.  The company has done quite well over its 75 year history.

http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2007/07/17/its_good_to_be_2.html

If you don't read Paul, add him to your RSS reader now :-)

market turmoil - conversation with a trader up 4x norm

A friend of mine works at Kershner Trading in Austin.  I had a chat with him on Friday:

me: how is the credit crunch and the downtick rule change affecting traders like yourself?
halfdeadcat: oh my gawd it is so awesome
halfdeadcat: though, i've made most of my money long in the crashes
me: the market has been very volitile; i'm sure that's a good thing
halfdeadcat: get a low entry buy on a someone's panic out and flip it a few minutes later
halfdeadcat: heck yeah it is.  the whole office is making bank
halfdeadcat: I've already made twice as much this month as i have every made in any previous month here
me: congratulations!!!
halfdeadcat: thanks. and august is normally the slow month
me: oh, that's right, summer slowdown
halfdeadcat: yeah.  all the traders in ny head to the hamptons
halfdeadcat: it can't last though.   all those manhattan trophy brides are used to 3 weeks vacation in august
halfdeadcat: all those guys aren't getting laid right now
me: lol, mind if i tell the folks in my MBA program about this and name-drop your firm?
halfdeadcat: sure
halfdeadcat: feel free if they are interested in that sort of thing
me: i would think kershner would benefit from attracting some of the best and brightest from jones
halfdeadcat: point them our way

They are always open to new people, and they are very open-minded about their backgrounds.  Not everyone can trade, but good traders can come from all different walks of life.  Oh, and for the math-challenged; the 4x vs. twice comes from I chatted with him halfway through the month.  Could you go work for them and make 7-figures?  Yeap, it is possible.

Another reason why you want to get a high score on the GMAT: money

I wrote previously about one reason for getting a good score on the GMAT: the possibility of a free education.  The other reason is, of course, to increase your income by graduating from a top school.  First, I want to caution you against chasing money merely for money's sake - that won't lead to an increase in happiness.  Doing something you hate for a living will destroy your health and your sense of worth.  On the other hand, doing something you love for a living is priceless.  But let's assume that you, as I, would enjoy working in the post-MBA market.

Shawn Berry, a GMAT coach, makes a lengthy argument that getting into a top ranked school requires making a 700+ on the GMAT.  And his reason for why you want to do that is because graduates from tops schools tend to make a lot more money that graduates from lesser schools.  Keep in mind that Shawn is focusing on the traditional day-time MBA programs, not EMBA programs.  Still, I think the discussion is relevant to the latter type of applicant.

Also keep in mind that Shawn is selling his services.  He charges $10,000 for his personal 1-1 GMAT coaching.  As such, you should validate his case, because he obviously has a personal agenda at stake.  And you'll find supporting evidence if you search through the compensation stats at Financial Times.  I also found that the average placement in 2001 from my chosen school, Rice, was around $122k.  Not too shabby.  As you know, past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Good luck!