karlitos goes MBA

siesta in Central Park

2008-05-02T00:47:00.005+02:00

One of the greatest things of NY is what newyorkers simply call "The Park". You can either jog (although it's mandatory to wear Nike and iPod when jogging), or bike or skate (during weekends traffice is shut out of the roads that cross the park), just walk around, or row in the lakes, or just lie on the grass and relax, enjoying spring (it's amazing how the trees and the bushes have blossomed in the past 2 weeks!).

We recently spent some time there, and here are the pictures, which as the saying go, are worth 1,000 words....

Some news on the blog....coming soon!!

2008-04-28T07:44:00.003+02:00

I'm working on moving this blog to WordPress....still in progress, that's why I haven't posted much lately.

some cool marketing techniques

2008-04-21T23:01:00.004+02:00

I just found this right outside our house...and I took a picture with my brand new iPhone (yes....after resisting, I finally gave up and got one!!). It emulates the "missing" board notes that people who have lost their kittens or dogs just hang on traffic poles.

One of the things I've been surprised with in the States, is the ubiquity of publicity, and how creative they can be in order to draw your attention (which is one of the most scarcest resources nowadays). One of the most active industries in the use of advertising is the healthcare/pharma companies, maybe because in Europe it is forbidden in many cases to advertise directly to consumers (unless it's for OTC - not prescription needed, drugs).

Together with this, it is funny to see commercials on TV of many different fast-food options (which sometimes are a bit different from reality), and the immediate after commercial is for dieting products, WeightWatchers (r), and miraculous drugs that can help you lose weight....which probably means that the target markets for those 2 types of product are the same (hey, does it also mean that if I have seen them, I'm also in that target market???). Sad...

Apart from all this, NY continues to be really cool. The spring has finally arrived, and Central Park is blossoming. The only bitter note is that time is flying, as usual: only 3 weeks to go before finishing my term here....and the MBA with it. My 2nd year project was handed in a couple of weeks ago, so once I'm done with NYU, it will be all over.

Oh, and on another note, last weekend I attended the 1st Spanish MBA conference. It was a great opportunity to meet with many other Spanish MBA students from other schools, network with them, and have some fun (after a couple of very interesting panels, I must say).

Will this be the future?

LBS R2 results are out: congrats!

2008-03-21T18:47:00.006+01:00

I hear that London Business School sent out last week the invites and results of their second round of applications for the Class of 2010 MBA. Congratulations to all those accepted.

If you were waitlisted, maybe you want to re-read my notes on waitlist management. Keep it up, and remember that not being rejected is already a success!!

Spain's stock market: utilities stocks up

2008-03-10T21:06:00.004+01:00

After the elections, the stocks of several utilities traded in the Madrid stock exchange, are going up considerably. This happens because the new government coming out of the elections has a very clear energy policy: no competition (basically: keep the status quo), and sale of assets to foreign (sometimes state-owned) companies. This all implies that a) profits will continue to be strong, and b) there is an acquisition premium priced into those stock levels.

I have little to say about the 2nd issue: as a freemarket supporter, I cannot condemn free sale and purchase of any asset, except for the fact that a free-market requires reciprocity, and it's not possible for anybody to launch an acquisition on a state-controlled utility in France, Italy or Germany.

I am more concerned about the 1st issue though. If the Spanish government continues to ignore that a competitive market is far more efficient than a regulated one, what is going to happen is that consumers will be (again!) the ones who will pay for it. And consumers=voters. I still don't get why a so-called Socialist government is so afraid of market competition in such a critical industry as energy.

Spain is supposed to be a model for other developed countries, because it has managed to create and nurture a local renewable energy industry with global players (windmill producer Gamesa, solar farm developer Acciona, etc.). What is less known is that the prices of energy in Spain are much higher than in the rest of the world, due to the subsidies towards all those "inefficient" energy sources, and to the nuclear moratorium, which forbides any company from building more nuclear plants.

Spain's economy: what's coming up

2008-03-08T22:10:00.003+01:00

I read in The Economist that its poll of experts has downgraded the forecast for economic growth in Spain to 2.4% in 2008, and 2.1% in 2009 (and some people forecast as low as 1.8% for this year and 0.9% for the next!!). Of course, the news have been largely ignored by all politicians in the campaign (Spain is having an election tomorrow, March 9th). Now this raises a few questions for me:

- Maybe the superiority of the anglo-saxon culture lies on how people rely/depend on hard data for everything they endeavor (politics, business, maybe even arts and culture). In Spain, politicians are known for spinning the data in their favor, if not to completely manipulate the sources of good data. And the press, even though technically "free", is very partial and contributes to this (some articles on the supposedly "quality press", when talking about both leaders of the main political parties, resemble the depiction of the "Great Leader" in "1984"). In both the UK and the USA, my impression is that people rely much more on impartial data when they take decisions.

Of course, a corollary of that thought is: how could I help change that?? I've always been very interested in education, and I think that's the only way that a country (society, economy, culture...) is able to advance. And by improving education I don't mean just throwing money at it, as the Spanish government has been doing lately.

- the second, and more critical, thought, goes to employment. If the Spanish economy is not able to create jobs at the same pace as people join the workforce while growing at 3.2% (1st quarter of 2008, with a net job destruction of 120,000 jobs), what will happen to the economy when it starts growing at 2%?? It is going to affect me and my friends, but especially it will harm the usual suspects: people in low paying, not very qualified jobs.

In conclusion, the perspectives are quite grim for the Spanish economy. Whoever the winner is in tomorrow's election, he shoul start working on minimizing the damage and getting the economy on the growth path as soon as possible. And if they use some real figures and hard data, that task will be much easier.

differences between home and exchange schools

2008-03-04T23:54:00.004+01:00

It has taken a bit long for me to write, because I wanted to post a long, researched article on the differences between home and exchange schools during an MBA. I am enjoying every moment of my time here in New York (who wouldn't!), and I strongly recommend the experience to anybody who is doing an MBA with an international profile. Here is how being abroad compared with my home London Business School:

- since I've accepted a job offer, I can focus on my academics, extra-academics, and the city itself!! This clears your mind from worries, and your schedule from the time-consuming job search. Coming on exchange is a decision that should be meditated (since it's to be taken around march of your 1st year), but if you think you'll get a job offer from your internship, or from the october milkround, go ahead!

- if you take a look at the euro-dollar exchange rate (and bearing in mind that my future salary is in euros!), you'll see why every time Bernanke goes out there and cuts interest rates, I smile...

- New York's weather is different than London's. It doesn't rain so much (although we've had some snow). It's also colder here (but you can easily solve that by wearing another layer, or turning on the heating).

Now, the US MBA experience is a bit different from the European MBA experience. US schools, in general (and God knows I should not generalize, but you can look at the BusinessWeek's rankings to contrast this). For starters, my impression is that students are much younger (maybe it's me who is feeling older in my 2nd year?). Also, they have less business experience, which makes class discussions less rich (still, American students tend to compensate this by being more outspoken). Also, even though there are a few Spaniards, Italians, and French among the students, there tends to be less diversity than at LBS.

Professors, on the other hand, are very good. I'm taking 4 full credit and 1 half credit courses, and I'm very happy with both the topics and the instructors:

- Valuation with Aswath Damodaran. A real valuation, and finance in general, guru. Doesn't get any better.
- Real Estate Operations with Harry Chernoff. An insightful professor and entrepreneur who has made a fortune in NY real estate, trying to share his knowledge.
- Venture Capital Financing with Roy Smith. Professor Smith has been Managing Partner of Goldman Sachs, and has been involved in a great deal of transactions involving start-up firms.
- Advanced Strategy Analysis, with Prof. Gonçalo Pacheco de Almeida, is a great course on some cool strategic concepts (disruption, critical mass, industry convergence, etc)
- Finally, my favorite is Competitive Strategies in the Marketplace, by Prof. john Cziepel. This course considers strategy from a military standpoint (who is attacking, who is defending?), is very applied and implies working on a case and presenting it to the class at the end of the term.

As during the rest of my MBA, you can see a combination of both Finance as well as Strategy courses.

Apart from the academics, the exchange is also an opportunity to do some more networking. The group of exchange students here in NY is very nice, and we do quite a few things together (among them , of course, going out for drinks and dining out!). And there are some interesting conferences and events at NYU, just like the ones at LBS, which allow you to interact with the broader business community of New York.

So, as you can see, there are some differences, as could be expected, but in general, I am very happy with the experience of coming here and living again in the US. And this city is great, I am actually starting to wonder what could I do to come back work here....;)

any troubled company out there?

2008-02-06T09:30:00.001+01:00

For my Valuation class with Damodaran, we have to select a company that we want to value, with certain characteristics. I have to value a troubled company, with negative earnings this (or past) year. It can be either American or European.

Since there are many companies that fit that profile given the recent turmoils, I was wondering if my readers had any suggestion. I have until the weekend to select the company, and will be accepting your suggestions until then. Thank you!

Microsoft buys Yahoo!?

2008-02-01T17:22:00.001+01:00

I wake up with the news that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has made an unsollicited bid for Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) at a price of $44 billion, or $31 per share. Let's see if I ever learnt something from my Corporate Finance and Strategy classes at the MBA. I think this is also a very good way of starting a new line of posts on current topics.

Yahoo! stock was trading at $19 yesterday. Today, after the announcement of the deal, Yahoo! stock has surged to $29, suggesting that the market is very confident that the deal will take place, and that this is the right price. Interestingly, when 10 days ago Yahoo! announced that it would make redundant 7% of its workforce (around 1,000 people), the stock climbed to $22 before going back to $19 after a couple of days, suggesting that the market did not believe this restructuring plan would do anything to improve Yahoo!'s profitability.

Let's take a look at Microsoft stock, then. It has gone down after the announcement, from $32 to $30.5. This implies that the market assumes that it is slightly overpaying for Yahoo! stock (the bid price represents almost a 60% premium over the trading price of Yahoo! stock in the last weeks), but not too much.

So, what does this all mean? In my opinion, it means that most probably we will see the advent of a YahooSoft. From a strategic perspective, this move makes some sense. Microsoft is a very well-run company, with interests in many business, out of which the online arena (whose revenues come, mainly, from advertising) are just one more. Microsoft's core profits come, let's not forget it, from domestic and professional software and applications (Windows, Office, etc.). Another big chunk of its revenues come from hardware (Xbox and other devices). And a fairly small bit comes from its online activities via advertising (MSN). And this is exactly where Yahoo!'s business is. Besides, Microsoft has had a lot of excess cash in its balance sheet. Lately it has started a big dividend and share buyback programme, but until then, basically it said that there were not interesting investment opportunities to use that cash for (some malign rumours affirm the cash was a provision to settle all the antitrust cases Microsoft is involved with).

Of course, investors will expect some synergies from the elimination of duplicate efforts in engineering, marketing, and so on. At the same time, there might be some increased cross-selling (like more integration of Yahoo!'s services with Microsoft's software products and platforms). Microsoft definitely believes there are, otherwise they wouldn't be paying such a hefty premium. Neither Steve Ballmer, nor Bill Gates (CEO and President of Microsoft, respectively) have ever shown desires to build an even bigger empire with the company funds, so the empire-building, size-for-the-sake-of-it classic motivation for M&A activity does not really apply. Looking coldly at them, they have been quite frugal in their expenses, actually.

The other interesting part of the deal is how it can affect its industry. Let's look at the competition, then, and see what this implies for them, and how have the markets reacted:

- Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been playing on a league of its own. It's better technologies make advertising in its platform much more targeted, and so advertisers have been willing to pay more for it. It has developed in short time a great number of different applications in order to drive traffice to its sites. However, that seems to have been slowing down recently, and so its stock is down 24% in the last 6 months. This deal can create a much fiercer competitor for them, and the market acknowledges this by driving Google's stock down from $565 yesterday to $520 today (8% loss in value).

- Ebay is another Internet powerhouse. Its revenues come from the fees people pay online when trading their products on Ebay's marketplace. The new situation should not affect it that much, at least not more than the troubles that it already has (its stock has been basically flat for the past 3 years). Its stock is up 7%, which is quite surprising, but might be due to other news (Meg Whitman, its current CEO, is stepping down and there is a new guy coming on board soon).

- Oracle is the second biggest software company in the world, after Microsoft. Its stock has not been afffected by this announcement, because they focus on coporate database software and enterprise resource management software (ERPs). Its stock is up 2%, basically the same as the Nasdaq index.

- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), another big software and hardware producer, has surprisingly not seen its stock move. It is as well an integrated software and hardware supplier (even more integrated than Microsoft). However, when you look carefully at it, its internet revenues come from other sources, mainly from consumers paying for audiovisual content acquired in their iTunes store.

- and finally, a big suprise. AOL Time Warner's shares (NYSE:TWX) are soaring 4.2% today (compared to around 1.2 for both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones). Why is this?? Basically, the market is repricing the AOL component of Time Warner according to the relative multiples of the Microsoft-Yahoo transaction.

So what is the conclusion?? I think the Internet-software-hardware-media industry is going to be revolutionized by this move. Competition is going to be fiercer, and consequently some companies will be more successful, while other companies will suffer. But it's probably an interesting time to follow it....

All right! I think Damodaran, my professor at NYU Stern, would be proud of this analysis....

blogging from the Big Apple!!

2008-01-31T22:10:00.001+01:00

Dear Reader,

sorry for not posting in such a long time. A lot of things have happened (job offers, 2nd year project trips, the Christmas break) and I have been pretty busy. The most important piece of news, as you can see from the title, is that we have moved to New York. And what a great place this is!!

I'm also starting to think that I should change a bit the general direction of the blog. Since my MBA is getting to an end, and there are very llittle new things about it, I'm going to blog more about current topics in management, technology, politics, economics, the arts, or whatever interests me.

Of course this does not mean I will not post any more advices for candidates and applicants. Actually, I am coaching a few candidates, and wish them all the best of luck in the upcoming results for R2 at the London Business School!!

...the pre-eminent global business school???

2007-10-17T23:34:00.000+02:00

I have been researching some flight ticket prices to go to LA in a couple of weeks for my 2nd year project, and came to think about the many places I've visited, and the great international exposure I've had since I came to London to study at the London Business School. In fact, the school pomotes itself as the "pre-eminent global business school", whatever that might be. I must say that I had a lot of international experience before my MBA (a couple of languages spoken, lived in 6 countries, visited extensively 35 countries, etc...). But I must say that the school has exceeded my expectations in terms of internationalization.

So, let's look at the evidence (and to all those from a certain other business school, you know who you are, I know your school is also very international. I'm not trying to prove the contrary, so stop flaming me! :)

- very diverse student and faculty body: Honestly, I had worked internationally before. That, for me, meant working with an Italian, a Pole, and a Dutch on European projects. Or with a Brazillian and a Chinese (suppliers from emerging markets). At school, I had to work with people with double citizenships, people who had lived in 3 different continentes, Indians, Americans, Mexican, Chilean, Chinese, and even a few Brits! Expand your horizons, dude!

- social travelling: allright, I have always loved to travel, and the past year has provided a lot of opportunities to do so. But I've been to so many places!! I went to France to ski, to Barcelona on a weekend with some classmates, to Japan with the Japan Interests Club, to France to play rugby at MBAT, to Mexico for a wedding...and of course quite a few times home, and to visit friends in Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris.

- academic travelling: yeah, you thought biz school was all about the books and the parties? On an academic sphere, I've been to Amsterdam to visit a flower wholesale market, I'm going to LA for my project (and I'll probably go there again in January), and I'm going to spend a whole term in New York, New York (OMG, I'm counting the days...if only I had a job offer already!!!). The opportunities for exchange are almost endless, depending on your interests, with exchange partners in practically all continents.

- career travelling: at London Business School we don't have to do banking treks like other schools do, because the banks do come from around the corner to see us ;). However, the increasing global reach of the school is patent also in the places where students go to visit companies. In my case, I went to Madrid (duh!) and Dubai (huh?). Some other people went to Hong Kong (on an Asia banking trek) and Silicon Valley.

Of course, I could mention also the cases, based on companies from all over the world, the regional clubs at school, that organize activities related to the relevant cultures, and especially Tattoo, the school's yearly celebration of diversity, and which this year took place just last saturday. We enjoyed food from all over the world (I crave for Korean barbeque ever since!), beautiful shows (the Spanish club brought in a flamenco show, but among many other things there were also Chinese dragon dances, Indian dances, Salsa, bagpipe players, and a Brazilian samba carnival parade!!!).

Was the fact that it is a very international school influence my decision of which business school to attend? Yes. Am I happy with the results?? Absolutely. Want more evidence? I have noticed that, whenever you ask any 2nd year exchange student (mostly from American, but in general from any other business school) what has struck them most about coming to London, they will undoubtedly say: "The diversity here at school. You can't compare it with what we have at home".

QED (for those geeks out there who read this blog)

milkround again: how to get a job in consulting?

2007-10-13T13:12:00.000+02:00

This MBA thing just goes so fast!! One week after starting off the 2nd year, and all the big recruiters are back on campus. It does feel a bit awkward to be in a suit all day again, networking in the Marquee and discussing with the classmates which companies offer the best possibilities.

One thing is for sure, when looking back. It is very noticeable how much I (we?) have changed since January, the last time we had to do this. I don't waste my time in cocktails anymore, and go straight to talk to the people that I'm interested in. I don't attend all company presentations, just those that I'm really into (choosing means giving up, the wise man said). And being over the I-banking fever is probably one of the best decisions that I have ever made: the resource reallocation that came after it (basically, using the time I spent on all those banking presentations to work on my applications for consulting firms) makes me feel so much more confident about my possibilities of landing a job in consulting.

Regarding the jobsearch, I wanted to mention all the resources that the School and the students make available for those interested in a career in consulting immediately after their MBA. I reckon there is a similar list for those interested in Finance, and even in Industry, but foir that you'll have to look into other blogs ;)

Company presentations: over 20 consulting firms, including all the top strategy houses, generalist consulting ones and several boutique/niche firms will be on campus, presenting their offices, their work and inviting students to drinks and nibbles during the subsequent networking sessions
Vault guides are available in the library, with information about the interview processes, profiles of the different consulting firms, salary comparisons, culture, lifestyle, etc...
The consulting club maintains several Case books to practice the cases, the most important way of maximizing your chances during the interviews
Again, the Consulting Club organizes Case study sessions run by consultants from different firms (usually LBS alumni) on campus, so that students can grasp better the art of cracking cases
Crack-a-Case sessions ran by 2nd year students, whereby people with past experience in consulting (be it pre-MBA or over the summer) interview interested candidates and test them on problem solving abilities. I have to say that it's a big commitment (I just spent 4 hours yesterday working on that), but I think it's probably very useful (and provides an opportunity to give something back to the School's community)

So, with so many resources, and after you've learnt to draw 2-by-2 matrices, the chances to become a consultant are quite high!

(to be followed after milkround)

Cherrypicking, a.k.a. signing up for elective courses

2007-09-28T19:18:00.000+02:00

Hi have just finished a course (block week, again what a great idea) at London Business School on "Strategies for Growth", and must say that I'm really happy. It's a fantastic course taught by a fantastic professor. He has developed a few concepts and frameworks for companies who want to grow the business, and the course was all about that: what has worked in the past and what hasn't, the role of the managers, the environment, the team, the investments bankers....;)))

It has made me think about my elective choices, reaffirming what I suspected: there are no courses, there are professors. So if you take an interesting looking course, but the instructor is not a good communicator, you'll get bored and not get as much from it as otherwise. In this case, the instructor is really one, IMHO, of the best professors at the school. Dynamic, a good facilitator and entertaining. Besides, he has taught this course several times and to different audiences (so he knows how students and executives react to the things he presents), and he uses mostly cases written by himself (so he can provide additional material, details about the different actors in the case, or just his own impressions).

Discussing this with other people, I have come to develop some recommendations for anybody when it comes to choosing elective courses:

- decide early on the topics that interest you. The earlier you do, the more information you'll be able to gather
- don't worry (let me repeat this: DON'T WORRY) about the supposed knowledge you'll need for a job you want in a bank, consultancy, or the like. Rather choose things that interest you, and remember that for some subjects, it might be the last time you'll ever have the chance to learn about
- make sure to dig into the syllabi, websites, prof's resumé, etc....
- talk to 2nd year students and alumni about the different courses. Bearing in mind that the most important component of a course is the professor, make sure that it's the same one that taught them!!!
- alumni (graduated 1-3 years ago) have a different view, because they can tell you also whether a course you thought would be uninteresting might become very useful for othe purposes (e.g. a job lead, potential investors for a venture....)
- in almost all schools it's possible to see the course evaluations, be it online or on hardcopy. They are there for a reason (other than to measure faculty performance)
- some clubs might maintain databases of electives evaluations for their members, with more comments than the "official ones". If you have access (because you are a member of that club, for instance), they might also be a good resource

Then it all comes to planning, bearing in mind the environment and some events: when are the courses offered, do the schedules conflict, when is the recruiting high season, am I going on exchange....but if you have finished your 1st year, building an optimization model for this one should be a piece of cake!!!

an excuse to my readers

2007-09-27T00:06:00.001+02:00

I just noticed that I had not been posting for a month. Dear reader, if you follow this blog, please accept the fact as a key indicator of how extremely lazy MBA students become during their holidays.

I even missed Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer (who is coming to campus next Monday) because I didn't check my email for 4 days, so when I did all the spaces to see him had been taken. Pity, the more I read about him, the more I would like to see him talk....and maybe I'll buy some of his products, he can be very persuasive...:P

Still, I will remain an Apple loyal....only 43 days to go for the iPhone launch in the UK!!!!

holidays are over....

2007-09-26T23:54:00.000+02:00

....and we're back with the MBA rush!!

The summer finally had to come to an end. My internship finished, and I departed rapidly to some well-deserved holidays in the Mexican Caribbean and Spain. Cannot say they were not a lot of fun and relaxing!! In Mexico we even attended the wedding of a classmate, and in Spain we divided ourselves between the beach, Valencia and visiting relatives and friends. Batteries are recharged (although one can never have enough holidays!).

So, after just 3 weeks, we are back to the school with a block week (a term-long course condensed into a single full-time week, a very nice innovation at London Business School). With the new schoolyear, the full-time recruitment season starts again. This means that in 3 weeks I'll be interviewing again, but this time for longer term commitments.

Therefore, it is important to develop the right strategy to look for a job. I am much more sure and confident about what I want from a full-time job. After the summer, I have had experience in the sector and know that could do well. A question that remains unanswered is, where would I prefer to work? London, despite being cloudy and rainy since I came back last Sunday, remains a very strong and attractive possibility. Madrid is as well interesting. My background also drives me towards exotic destinations in the Middle and even the Far East, albeit just for a few years.

And of course, one also needs backup plans...especially since, after the financial markets turmoil in August, there is growing uncertainty in the economy, which means nobody knows how many people they are going to hire. So stay tuned for the news!

new roof under our heads

2007-08-21T23:49:00.000+02:00

So, again moving day!! I completely agree with the statistics that say that moving is the 2nd event that most stresses people out, after changing (losing) your job and before getting a divorce. I guess that it's just another source of worries on top of the usual stuff, but it's quite a bit to juggle: my internship, preparing for the holidays and buying a night suit for the wedding we'll attend in Mexico, the summer networking events, social life in general and high guest season in London (why do they come to this rainy place, anyway?), starting to think about the full-time recruiting season, is quite a lot. Add all the hassles of moving, and you get my typical overstressed looks....

Luckily most of it is over (and I must say that it wasn't me doing the bulk of it). It's strange to see what has been our home for the past year almost empty. Tomorrow we'll move into some temporary accommodation with a couple of luggage, and when we return from our holidays in September, in time for a block week, we'll move into a sublet we got for the fall term.

Moving day is also the day when you go through the many materials accumulated during the year: papers, cases, handouts. You end up having to choose which ones to keep and which ones to throw away, since space is very limited. The whole process makes you reflect on the many things that have happened this year, the people I've met, the travels we've done...

The MBA2009s are already in London, looking for flats. Funnily enough, the temporary accommodation we got for the last 10 days of the summer, is the same place that we used for a couple of weeks when we first moved to London, while we were looking for a flat. I guess this closes the circle....will the next cycle be so exciting as this one?

Economic Uncertainty and the MBA

2007-08-16T12:40:00.000+02:00

I have spent some time recently trying to assess my full-time job options. The past two years have seen record-high employment figures for MBA students, particularly for those at the London Business School. Nevertheless, like everyone having taken a class in Macroeconomics knows, expansion cycles cannot last forever. Some hints are pointing directly to the cooling down of the economy. Luckily, an MBA helps understand and make informed guesses about what is going to happen next. Hereby my (completely amateurial, take it under your own responsibility) analysis:

The construction and real estate boom in Spain and the US are clearly over. The Euro Stoxx Construction Index is down 18% since May, and the Euro Stoxx Real Estate Index is down 45% since February. Property prices are stable if not slightly downward in the past quarters. Pretty scary, bearing in mind the sheer importance of both sectors in employment and household expenses, determining consumption.
The credit markets are drying up. Central banks had to inject liquidity into the system in order to bail out the global financial markets (and probably, most hedge and mutual funds that had bet on real estate related securities). Again a bad sign: much investment (including M&A) activity was propped by the availability of cheap debt.
The stock markets’ volatility is increasing, and the probability of a stock market crash is not zero any more. More and more analysts, central banks, etc. are warning the investors to me more cautious.

On the other side of the balance, the companies’ balance sheets (excluding construction and real estate) appear to be strong. Profits are growing, and so are dividends. Consumer confidence indexes appear to be high. Some sectors are still quite bullish (renewable energy, oil & gas, healthcare, technology, telecoms). General sentiment is that the expansion will continue for 6-12 months still.

So I wonder, are the markets forecasting the future evolution of the economy?

In any case, what is clear is that there is quite a lot of uncertainty about the future out there (and, from Finance I, uncertainty = risk = volatility).

Work in Progress...

2007-08-02T22:00:00.000+02:00

Yes, I know it's been a long time without blogging. I must say the last term was exhausting, with a vast array of papers and projects that I obviously procrastinated to the very last minute, increasing the stress levels to new records.

Also, my blog received an award. It was nominated for the "Best of Blogging" 2007 of ClearAdmit.com. So next time I have some free time I will try to upload the tiny cute logo that I got as a prize.

Now, it's been 6 weeks into my internship, and tomorrow we have the "Office day", where we will go somewhere outside London to play polo. I must say that I'm extremely happy with it. I find everybody in the office, and especially my project team, very nice, crisp and smart. We work relatively good hours, which means that there's nobody in the office after 7pm. And the projects I've been assigned to are really interesting and international: in the past weeks I've been in Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Overall, I think I'm enjoying enormously being a consultant, and I didn't find any of the negative aspects that people had warned me about: no big egos, no long hours, no "selling smoke". I'm doing some serious work, analyzing a lot of data, coming up with frameworks and preparing presentations and client workshops. So, in a 1-7 satisfaction scale (typical Marketing stuff) I'd rate my internship with an 8.

Moreover: comparing it with the rest of the people I've talked to (be it in consulting, banking, industry or other), I have only found one person as satisfied with his internship as I am with mine. Guess what, he's also a blogger...;)

My only complain is that you cannot call it a "Summer Internship", because we haven't had any Summer in London at all!!!

back online!

2007-05-16T11:44:00.000+02:00

Life has been extremely busy in the past weeks, and that has been the main reason why I haven't been able to post anything. Note to all future MBA students: distrust completely those who claim that after the first term, the workload goes down considerably. It doesn't.

In my case, I have been involved in all of the following:

- writing yet another application for an internship (alea jacta est)
- studying for a management accounting exam last saturday
- receiving visits at home over the weekend, with baby included
- working on the final deliverable of our MOB audit project (we audited a nice trendy Indian restaurant in Westminster) and Markstrat (where my team managed to recover and finish third after a really bad start)
- working on other papers: finance cases, accounting assignments, Operations Management simulation report paper...
- going to Dubai for the Middle East Career Trek, and visit some really interesting companies there!
- working on the preparations for the upcoming Spanish Career Trek to Madrid
- interviewing for a possible part-time project next year
- partying at the SANZA party with our South African and Australian classmates (and trying the kanguroo meat at the BBQ!!!)

All in all, I guess this has been one of the busiest periods of my life as a student. Now, in order to recover, I will leave tomorrow for Paris in order to take place in the MBA Olympics.

Wish me luck!

MBA applicant waitlist management advice

2007-04-19T00:54:00.000+02:00

A friend just told me that he has been waitlisted in his application to a top-notch MBA (the other school that he applied to dinged him after the interview), so here are some thoughts on how to manage the waitlist process:

- first and foremost, review why you want to do an MBA. Sometimes people are waitlisted because they don't have enough work or international experience, or because they don't manage to pull out a convincing story in their application. So review it!! Did you sound convincing? are you convinced that an MBA at this point in your life and career is the right thing?

- have a backup plan ready. Again, think of the different possibilities, along the lines of "what would happen if I don't get into school XXXX?" Check alternative schools' admission dates: some have pretty late rounds (visa problems might apply here, so the best strategy is always to start early with your applications!). Last year, my backup plan was based on some Spanish schools in Madrid and Barcelona that have a last round in late june (luckily I didn't have to use them! ;)

- consider the possibility of delaying your MBA for a year. In the midst of the application process, it is difficult to even think of this option, but better to be mentally prepared for an eventual ding that would kill all our options.

Once the above is ready, it is time to start the action. You have been waitlisted, so the door is not closed. What could you do to possibly maximize your chances???

- Be polite and don't lose your nerves. Send an email to AdCom reconfirming your interest in the school and its programme.

- network, network, network: most schools have outreach or ambassador programmes in which current students liaise with applicants. If you have visited the school already, you might know some of those: ask their advice and support! Most probably AdCom will take students' opinions into account.

- if you haven't done so yet, visit the school. Go for a drop-in session (usually monday or friday), try to meet with current students. It will boost your motivation, and most probably will help you (see the point above).

- Of course, if there are any changes in your career to date (e.g. promotion offer, change, increase in responsibilities, etc.) let AdCom know. Don't bother them by sending them a weekly email, but do send them a short note with the info, and reconfirm again your interest in that particular school and that specific MBA programme.

Even if you follow this advice, remember that it is very competitive and that there are many people who are rejected. Especially now: I heard that MBA applications are up this year 50% compared to last year, at least here in London. So it is very difficult.

However, the MBA application game is all about keeping your options open and maximizing your chances.

Karlitos in Translation (2)

2007-04-18T23:18:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Patxi for his wonderful Photoshop skills....

lost in translation: crosscultural impressions from an MBA student after visiting Japan

2007-04-10T21:34:00.000+02:00

So this is me in a Japanese hotel room, wearing a Yukata (Japanese pajamas) and looking completely lost. In fact, this was the case almost every night for the past 2 weeks. Japan is a great country, full of interesting places and people, but some things just look a bit different.

Hereby, my impressions about what's worth seeing and what has impressed me the most. Of course, these are my personal opinions, so take them with a grain of salt....:P

- Japanese food: it's amazing, tasty, fresh, healthy...however, there are many things apart from sushi that Japanese eat. And to be honest, some tastes (or lack thereof) require a certain "training". This is why, for instance, I wasn't able to appreciate all the different varieties of tofu that Japanese people eat. On the other hand, I haven't eaten fresher sushi anywhere in the world...yummy!

- Japanese onsen or hot springs: like most cultures (Scandinavian/Slawic/Russian with sauna and baths, Roman Baths, Turkish hammam, etc), the Japanese also had their own baths. They started out of necessity (for hygiene) and opportunity (there are many natural hot springs in the volcanic islands of Japan). In fact, the baths have a certain interesting etiquette, where males and females are kept separated, and enjoy fantastic settings: imagine an outdoor jacuzzi with hot water in the middle of a forest. I must admit that I got addicted!!

- Service: maybe it's due to an incipient only tourism industry, maybe to the traditional Eastern hospitality, but we've always felt very welcome in Japan. And in bars, hotels and restaurants, people have treated us great!! Some people even stopped us on the streets, when they heard us talk Spanish, to ask where we were from. On top of it, it struck me that there are few incentives for waiters: Japan is a tip-free country, and the service is still outstanding. On one occasion, after buying a soda on a takeaway, the waiter came running after us to give us the 10 yen (ca. €0.07) change back.

- Urban planning (or lack thereof). Japan cities have nice skylines, however, some places are a bit claustrophobic. It just looks like an immense agglomeration of people, houses, offices and factories. Of course it might be due to the lack of soil, and it is partially made up for with the beauty of Japan's natural landscapes (like the ones around Mt Fuji in the Hakone area). But it is still impressive...

- Karaoke: much more fun than in the West, in Japan karaoke is done in a private room, with drinks. Shame is out of the equation: everybody has to sing. And, to be honest, our Japanese friends could sing, and quite well. Not sure it's genetic or just much more practice than the rest of us...

- the Japanese fan phenomenon: nearby big shopping malls, amateur singers and performers try to imitate their idols, usually some manga characters. Hordes of people surround them. Amazing show...

In conclusion: a fantastic trip, and a well spent spring break. I indeed recommend all MBA students around to take advantage of the fantastic travel opportunities they will probably have. In our case, the Japanese MBAs organizers of the trip had taken care of everything to the smallest details. I doubt I would have gone to Japan and had the same experience on my own, much less on a traditional touristic package.

blogging from Japan

2007-03-28T00:26:00.000+02:00

In my jet-lagged status, i can just throw a couple of lines from my "Lost in Translation" hotel room about how different Japan is from the West. We just arrived in Japan and were warmly greeted (in perfect Spanish!) by the officials at passport control and duties. The trip from the airport to the hotel was shocking: scalextric-type roads, very narrow streets, really high skyscrapers all around. Tokyo is a bit claustrophobic, I might say.

We tried to get out of the hotel and look for a restaurant, but in the Canary Wharf development that the hotel is, this proved a difficult mission. We discovered, however, that there is always a shopping mall around the corner in Japan. Sushi has been a great discovery so far: amazingly fresh, and really inexpensive!!

Today we'll head to the city centre....let's see what awaits for us there!

New York, New York!!!

2007-03-17T11:56:00.000+01:00

The results of the Exchange programme allocation are out, and I have been awarded a place to exchange in Stern, School of Business at NYU. So, I will be moving to New York for a term during the next academic year!!!

There were many things that attracted me to Stern/NYU, among them:

- high quality academic standing. At NYU there have been Nobel prizes like Severo Ochoa, Paul Samuelson or even the father of modern freemarket theory Frederik Hayek. Not only that, but the business school is the alma mater of Mr Alan Greenspan himself!!
- the possibility to enhance my knowledge in Finance, Marketing and Media, areas where NYU is one of the world's leading schools, and of course
- being able to live in NY, NY for 4 months!!

The school is located in Greenwich Village, in one of the funniest and most interesting areas of the whole Manhattan island. I cannot be happier!!

Of course, it will be sad to leave London, which is a fantastic place, but this will only be a temporary fling and I will stay loyal to my current hometown....I cannot help thinking, however, who would have told me that I would end up living in the city that never sleeps???

I am already meeting some exchange students from Stern next week, but any practical information on the school, the city, accommodation, etc, will be highly appreciated!!

Now there are many decisions upcoming: which term to choose (this is going to be like doing 'encaje de bolillos' with all the open options regarding electives, my flat in London whose lease expires in August, the search for a full-time job and for a second year project, etc). However, it's time to celebrate! WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

BTW, thanks to Patxi for letting me know about tinyurl, a great tool to avoid copying & pasting lengthy links over the internet. I wonder whether and how the guys who created it make money, though...

great weekend back in Spain

2007-03-06T00:55:00.000+01:00

The Spanish Club at London Business School (i.e., me and some other pals) just organized a great trip to Barcelona, my home town for the past 3 years before business school. It was fantastic to go back, eat at the same places, hang out at night partying in Luz de Gas and Sutton, enjoy the weather, and see a lot of people again. I even dropped by my old office and greeted my old fellow workmates, my former boss, and everybody. I was very happy to see them, even though some sad incidents has put the morale of the office a bit down.

One thing that surprised me is how lively the city was. Hordes of barceloneses walking around in the Ramblas, the Gòtic, the Raval or the Borne. Full restaurants and bars. Maybe I got a bit nostalgic, but to be honest, I didn't remember it that way.

In any case, congratulations to the people at the Club who put together a lot of hard work organizing a tapas night, a guided tour and a fancy dinner. I am sure everybody loved it, specially the ones who originally went to Barcelona for the IESE conference on Responsible Business but ended up joining our plans...

internship!!!

2007-02-21T17:19:00.000+01:00

It's been a pretty hectic 2 last weeks:

interviewing for many companies, trying to do well on crac-the-case type of interviews. It really feels like I improve with time. On the other hand, all this Milkround / recruitment process looks a bit random. Why did Company XXX call him and not me?? etc. I've heard some people comparing it to dating: I gave you 2 precious hours, and we had fun, why didn't you call me back?? The most important outcome, though, is that I already have an offer for interning in a London-based company this summer, so I can relax. I will continue looking for other opportunities, though: I am particulary interested in carrying out some short-period projects as a freelancer in the summer term

studying for the Finance exam (which turned out a OK exam: the highlight was one of our Brazilina classmates who received an SMS right after the exam telling him that he had just become a father, so he rushed out and skipped the traditional Windsor Castle post-exam pint-sharing). I think I did OK, and enjoyed the beers that night...

playing Rugby! Last weekend, the London Business School hosted the 3rd Investec Rugby Tournament, and I had the opportunity to play for the first time. It felt good!! We didn't win, but it was a lot of fun. Besides, it felt like a top-MBA, since the other teams were Harvard, Wharton, Columbia and Smurfit MBA students...

And of course, the other usual stuff: reading cases, doing some homeworks, going out, taking care of the house chores....

London Business School Interview Invites out!!

2007-02-13T12:44:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to all the applicants who got an invitation for an interview. You're almost in. Now, take your time, do your research and preparation, and stay calm. I suggest rehearsing (have found that it works also for internship interviews, as I am doing now).

Besides, do read the forums (like businessweek.com) and all the application advice out there. There are even wikis with some common interview questions.

Don't forget that your final objective is to become and MBA2009, and you're quite close right now!!

pearls of wisdom

2007-02-09T12:39:00.000+01:00

Just had one of my wisdom teeth extracted. In the middle of applications, interviews, presentations and the upcoming Finance final exam, I just flew to Valencia to go to the dentist. It all has gone well except for some nerves before the operation and a bit of uncomfort now.

Still, coming home feels good. It's been a really sunny day, some 16ºC (max is 22ºC, in February!!). Unfortunately, having the mouth almost paralised with the anesthesia means I cannot enjoy Spanish food as much...:(

Anyway, this gives me time to catch up with reading, start preparing the Spanish Career Trek to Madrid in May (which I am co-organizing), and continue getting ready for my many crack-a-case interviews next week. Any advice on how to solve them will be appreciated...

and there goes another application...!!

2007-02-06T00:43:00.000+01:00

yes, another one!! So far the internship search has not been very successful. Have some 3 interviews lined up this week, but if they fail....I still have not heard from any other firm!!

I didn't know this period was going to be this stressful. You see people on campus on suits, usually with sad faces (after pressure interviews). Don't know many people with offers yet, although rumor has it that some banks have already extended some.

Of course they told us that the so-called 'milkround' provides summer internships for only 30% of students....but one always thinks that s/he won't be in the other 70%!!!

So, have to come up with a backup plan. Industry companies, are you there?? the London Business School Summer Consulting Team is another good idea, although competition to get a position in it is at least as tough as for a position in a major consultancy.

Worst case scenario, I could explore some opportunities in Entrepreneurship...although that does not pay the bills!! Or just take a loooooooooong holidays and recover from all this stress :))))

on globalization

2007-02-04T13:16:00.000+01:00

My tailor made suit just arrived. For half the price of what it costs in London, I got it from a Hong Kong based tailor, in something like 6 weeks. They came for a weekend to a hotel close to school, took the measurements of all those interested, and now here we are with our bespoke suits. I have tried it and it really fits (it's the first tailor made suit that I ever buy). And I guess if I want further ones, I just have to email the tailor, since now he has my measures....

This makes me think again of how globalization and technology has changed the way business is made in so many things. The tailor had to fly in from HK, but beforehand we already had been assigned slots to be measured thanks to some website. We could check the status of the order online, and then track the package as it was travelling from the other side of the world.

Already in the 19th century people used China as a source of cheap fabrics (I think I read it already in some Gold Rush novels, that they used Chinese in China and in San Francisco as tailors). What has changed, however, is the lead times and the amounts of information available. The more information, the easier it is for such a transaction to take place.

Many people question the efficiencies of free markets. Carlos Salinas, former President of Mexico, was here to talk about the effects of the NAFTA agreement on his home country, which has been growing at slow paces since opening up its economy. Free markets are not the only solution for Mexico. Reforms, deregulation and change (in education, in entrepreneurship, in people's mentality) are as well necessary to be competitive in today's world. If 66% of university students in Spain want to be public servants, the Government should recognize there is a problem with mentality....

This is something my tailor (which is not rich) understood....

application overload....

2007-01-20T14:30:00.000+01:00

Dear Mr Recruiter,

I am a first year MBA student and I wanted to give you some advice, on behalf of (almost) all my fellow students. I really think that, for the next time, it would be much more efficient to set up a centralized application website for all milkround companies coming to campus.

As MBA students, time is one of our most precious assets. We shold not spend so many hours:

- researching your company
- adapting our CV/resume to the particular traits, skills and experience your company requires
- networking with insiders about the opportunities within your company, the prospects for MBA interns, etc, etc.

At least the 'common' part of the application (name, address, undergraduate university, etc) should be centralized, avoiding thousands of repeated entries in your recruitment databases and saving the MBAs hundreds of man-hours.

If you are interested in this idea, do not hesitate to contact me for further information.

Your sincerely,

k.

gadget for 2007

2007-01-16T23:23:00.000+01:00

I have to admit it, I'm into the virus. I already had a second hand (or was it third?) old powerbook, and I bought a brand new MacBook for business school. I have an iPod, and I have started to appreciate the simplicity of the things that Apple, Inc. (formerly Apple Computer, Inc.) does.

Now I'm on a mission: I desperately want an iPhone!!!! I watched Steve Jobs' Keynote at the last MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, and I fell in love with it. Contrarily to some of Apple's software (which I deem interesting and easy to use, but not really best-in-class for most needs), I think their hardware is superb. If I can afford it (fingers crossed, it's internship hunting season!! ;) I will definitely buy an iPhone.

So what makes this device so appealing???

1) Concept

It's pretty neat: integrate an iPod, a PDA and a cellphone. The iPhone is bigger than a regular phone, but smaller than a PDA. However, it provides the functionality of both. I have an HP iPAQ, but I rarely carry it with me: I don't want to carry too many things when I'm not on my desk.

I deem Treo phones (or any other smartphone) as complicated devices: just take a look at those QWERTY keyboards on a 2 square inches are. Some friends have XDA's from O2 (basically PDAs that you can also call with), but they are heavy and difficult to use. You need a stylus.

2) UI

This multitouch thing is one of the biggest breakthroughs: get rid of the stylus and keyboards, manage a computer with your fingers!!! It's analog to the way you usually use your normal cellphone. Brilliant. It's the ultimate pointing device....your fingers!! How come nobody thought of it before?? And have you seen how you can zoom in and out of pictures?? Looks like sci-fi!

Besides, add to it Apple's magic for simplicity of the user interface, great graphic design, not many taps to get to the most-used functions. Eliminate the complications, keep the most-used functions accessible and simple. It's what my grandma used to say, keep it short and simple!!

3) Basic Phone

It's not that special, but it has a built-in killer app: you can all people! Integrated with a nice addressbook and a nice "recently used" numbers, you can practically call anyone with just a couple of taps on the screen.

Visual voicemail (developed together with Cingular) will enable users to access particular voicemail messages without having to actually hear all of them.

OK, it's not state-of-the-art videocalling, but who uses that anyway? What many users want is just to call without having to read a big user manual. Apple has done it. Again.

4) Other neat things:

Push email (just like a Blackberry) if you are on a Wifi or EDGE coverage area, integrated Google Maps, a fully working HTML browser, bluetooth connectivity for headsets, some widgets (I don't really use them on my Mac, but it's a good foundation for future miniapplications), Photo & Video browser....4 or 8 GB of data can make this phone a nice companion for travel (question: can we disable the phone in order to use the other functions while flying? Usually cellphones are forbidden on board, but iPods and PDAs are not.)

5) Summary

I think this project shows that Apple does actually a lot of consumer research and usability tests before developing their products. They might not have a huge market share, but they are really profitable and have very loyal customers. There must be a reason for that somewhere!

Even if it's based in California, it's not a technology company. It's consumer goods. And it really does understand us, consumers, and what we want. Or at least it tries....

So, if you ever need to give me a present.....please, buy me an iPhone!!!

moments of truth...

2007-01-13T19:38:00.000+01:00

Last week it was used car salesman week. We had banks, consultancies, and big industry companies coming to campus to present themselves and try to attract the brightest minds of yesterday, today and tomorrow: MBA students. In the so-called milkround, companies tour the top business schools on Earth trying to lure students with promises of bright careers, high compensation packages, challenging workplaces, and so on.

Myself, I am trying to decide now what to do. Finance careers look interesting, but I lack any experience in the industry. An Investment Banking internship would, therefore, be a great way to learn more and also a door to enter as a full-time associate later, if I perform well. I am not 100% convinced that I can 'fit' easily in a bank, though. Moreover, the current bullish markets suggest that there will be a slowdown in M&A activity (or corporate finance activity, in general), which might lead many banks to cut back their hires in the near term. Pity, it happened in 2001 when I just graduated from engineering school, and it might happen now as well.

I guess the only interesting department where I see myself working in a bank is the advisory business. M&A or corporate finance. Sales & Trading or Capital Markets don't look so interesting to me. This makes the challenge of getting an internship even higher, since M&A is traditionally one of the most competitive careers.

On the social side, I must say that I was greatly impressed by several bankers that I met last week. In the networking events, the people from Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers appeared as completely normal human beings, and were very helpful with hints and tips on how to approach the upcoming recruiting season. I guess I wouldn't mind working with such bright, nice folks.

On another front, there have been few strategy consulting firms as well. Some did a terrible job in presenting themselves, appearing as disorganized and pretty chaotic. Others, however, looked really professional and appealing. Given my engineering/management background, I think this is also a very suitable career path for me. And it has a very big advantage: it is much easier to return to Spain, if I wished to.

So, it looks like it's the moment of truth...am I going to do NPVs or two-by-two matrices next summer??

flickr discovered...

2007-01-09T00:11:00.000+01:00

...and created an account, and, as promised, uploaded some pics from the santa pubcrawl. Don't hesitate to check them out here.

back in London!!!

2007-01-08T23:39:00.000+01:00

After 2 weeks of holidays back home in Spain, and a week skiing in the Alps (probably the only place in Europe with snow enough to enjoy winter sports), I am back in London. Back to cold weather (compared with the 18-20 degrees that I used to have in Valencia, although I admit those figures are pretty unusual), darkness after 4pm, rain and drizzles every hour, and business school!!

It is so-called Milkround time. This week, we don't have any lectures, just presentations by corporate partners of the school, followed by networking cocktails. Hordes of students fighting for airtime around experienced consultants, investment bankers and industry executives, in order to extract the ultimate application tips and exchange business cards. Interesting presentations, though. And a lot of application work ahead (business idea #x: how about a single application database for business school internships?? why do we have to fill up soooooo many online forms?? is there no way to just do it once???). Apart from that, I should start preparing the term work, review the five new binders and refresh Finance in order to be able to do the homework for next week.

On the personal side, it is strange to be home alone. E stayed in Spain (she really has a dream job....it allows her to really manage her time the way she likes), so I'm trying to arrange some dinners for this week. Don't feel like cooking at all...

PS: Feliz Año Nuevo 2007 a todos!!!

holidays, finally....

2006-12-21T20:49:00.000+01:00

It's been a really frenetic period....so busy, that I haven't blogged for almost 3 weeks! In all this time, a lot of things have happened: finals (all good), parties (amazing Santa Pubcrawl, I promise a full post with pictures from that party and from its follow-up, Santa on wheels!!), farewells (including cocido madrileño at Josete's, followed by an afternoon of mus cardgames and GTs)...and so, now I'm back home in Valencia enjoying my hometown, relaxing after all the stress, spending some days of doing basically nothing. One of the greatest pleasures on Earth!!!

It is also the time to look back (with no anger) and reflect on what the term has been all about. I thought there was no stress, but now that I'm not busy, I can see that it was full of activities. Academically, I have learnt a lot. Personally, I have met a lot of new, very interesting people. And professionally, I think I have learnt the most...all the presentations, club events, panels, etc. were there for a reason!! I know what I want now (more or less, these things are never dogmas....)

Now it's time to wish everybody a good holidays, some rest, merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and a Happy New Year 2007 that will bring you all the best. And for the R1 admits, congratulations, and good luck to all the applicants!!!

a day off....

2006-12-02T16:04:00.000+01:00

Accounting can wait. So can Strategy. I have decided to take a day off school duties. We started by cleaning and housekeeping (a much needed thing, especially since we'll have guests for the next 10 days), then I indulged in some aimless internet browsing, chatting with old friends over the IM, and now I'm going to go for a walk in regent's park before it gets too dark.

And later, i might swim a bit before joining the LBS Spanish Alumni cocktail & dinner.

I guess some times one needs a break in order to breath, and also a step back to reflect of what has been accomplished so far. In my case, I cannot be happier with the decision I took to do an MBA. Maybe I'm not working towards becoming a VC (since I'm not convinced about my future perfect career path yet), but I'm enjoying my time enormously. Maturing, Growing, Learning...

Finance done

2006-11-26T02:07:00.000+01:00

Finance exam is done, over, finito. A quite fair exam in my opinion, so we'll have to wait for the results to see how did everybody do in relation to the rest, since it's graded on a curve. A quite nice celebration afterwards: we headed to the Windsor Castle, the 'unofficial' LBS pub, for pints, tequila shots and laughters.

In the evening, after a nice (and very much needed!) nap, E and me went for dinner to ping-pong (delicious dim-sum restaurant in the Marylebone High Street area). After dinner we went for a great walk in the centre, doing some window shopping and enjoying London's beautifu l Christmas lights. We walked in the Bond Street area where there are so many luxurious shops, all nice (and apparently out of sight for poor students like me). All in all, a very relaxing evening...

Now, there are only 2 weeks left in the Autumn term, and 3 exams. 2 of them are take-home (Strategy and Managerial Economics), and 1 sit-in exam for Financial Accounting. I'm mostly worried about the latter (since my knowledge of accounting has always been quite limited), although after seeing the Finance one, I just think it will take study time to do satisfactorily well enough. Unfortunately, time is the most scarce of all resources...

a note on workload

2006-11-23T00:36:00.000+01:00

Before coming to the MBA, I read many times that the approach in all the top business schools is to throw more work at students than what is humanely (?) possible to do, so that people learn "the hard way" how to prioritize, manage time, and be more efficient. The rationale is, managers need to be very time efficient, and this is a risk-free environment to learn it. There are many urban legends about days until 3a.m. at school, endless assignments (mixed with study group dysfunctional behavior), and 500 pages of readings per week...

Well, this is a myth.

Maybe it's due to Al's theory that we MBA2008's don't have MOB (Managing Organizational Behavior) in the autumn term. And yes, I have heard that this course is very time-demanding, including a group project for an external company that requires a lot of field work.

Maybe I've already become very efficient, without even noticing it (although yes I've been hinted that I'm a bit stressed a couple of times, and I admit I was). I doubt this one, you can't change years of procrastination, disorder and bad organization in 8 weeks. Not to mention my love for oversleeping...

However, I must say that I'm pretty much enjoying my time. I enjoy courses (and attending them)
. I gave up pretty early on all the recommended readings, and focus on the case preparations and the assignments. And, even if I don't have that much free time, I still manage every once in a while to go out for dinner, for a walk, to Camden town, or even to Spain ;). Maybe the novelty keeps me energized...

The next term looks attractive already: MOB, milkround, trying to get an internship.....looking forward to it!

weekend review

2006-11-14T00:11:00.000+01:00

Finance assignment is almost over!! Who would have told me some months ago that I would be evaluating the financial feasibility of the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A-380 projects. Indeed, I have to say that it's really cool to do a case on products that raise so much media attention. And to deal with real, uncertain data, changing every other day (especially in the Airbus case).

But let me recap what happened over the weekend, since there have been quite a few things going on...

First, we had the Strategy Double Session last friday. This was a case on the Strategy of Dell. We had a lecture in the morning, starting at 10, and then the afternoon to prepare a 1000 words document. I must say that my group did pretty well, even though we got a bit of last-minute pressure (what pressure?). After that we rushed into the Windsor castle, the local pub, for a few pints, and ended up at a houseparty of one of my classmates.

Saturday I took the day off the MBA. My parents had come to visit, and I spent the day with them. We visited the Borough market, walked around that area, and discovered the new slides at the Tate Modern gallery. Unfortunately we couldn't try them out (there were hour-long queues!), but we did indulge ourselves in a nice expresso at the 7th floor café restaurant....incredible view of the Thames and most of London!!!

At night, we had something planned. Since also Esther's mom and sisters were here, we went alltogether for dinner. We don't like official mumbo-jumbo, and it was their first 'meet the parents' time, so we went to a very informal albeit great restaurant: the Busaba Eat Thai on Bird Street, very close to Selfridges. Great thai food, nice environment. We continued at our apartment with some chocolate cake and champagne (happy birthday, Esther!!), and then we headed to Rahul's party to say hi to the people and a couple of drinks.

Sunday I also took half-a-day off (apparently the Strategy stress had affected me more than I thought). I also walked around with my parents, paying the n-th visit to Camden town ma rket and discovering there are many shops I hadn't seen. There are many antiquity and furniture warehouses that are really worth visiting. I'm thinking of skipping the next IKEA visit and go to Camden instead ;). We then moved on to St. John's Wood, where we had lunch, and in the afternoon I went home to get my Accounting, Finance, et al. assignments ready for Monday deadline.

One thing is clearer to me now, after this weekend: I had spent too long in the Marylebone-Baker St. area. Of course I want to do well in the MBA, but "the truth is out there". London just offers anything to everybody....

short escapade home

2006-11-09T00:17:00.000+01:00

It's good to come home every now and then, even if just for a few hours....I am now in my old room, after having gone out for dinner with my parents and sister. Time goes in a different pace here.

Many things to do tomorrow, let's hope I can manage all....and then, back to London for our Strategy double session. Some second years have told me it's a crucial day in the MBA, because it's when groups have more trouble working together. I am confident we'll do well, though.

I miss Esther....

Weekend excursion: visit to IKEA

2006-11-03T22:50:00.000+01:00

Today, together with a couple of friends, we decided to take the car and drive all the way up to Wembley and visit the local IKEA. There is something about this company: consistency. One knows what to expect, and in fact, we found everything that we were looking for. I was happily surprised when we asked for home delivery (the 2m long shelves didn't fit in our car, which was already quite full) and I was told that it would take "at least a couple of hours"!!!! My God, this is delivery speed (compare it with the delivery speeds we had at my former employer in certain areas of Spain....).

When we were driving back in the A5, we found that a lot of Londoners were also in their cars, heading out of the town...oh yes, thy famous Friday afternoon Urban Exodus. In the middle of our conversation, however, we discovered that there was smoke coming out of the engine of the car!! Apparently, the cooling system was not working properly, and it got too hot. Luckily, we just refilled the cooling dispensoir and managed to get home. However, this is going to cost me a trip to the mechanic and some time without a car (and some couple hundred quid.)

But well, our flat at least now looks much more like a home....;)

wine & cheese

2006-11-01T00:53:00.000+01:00

The wine & cheese club is usually one of the most active clubs in any MBA....and I can understand why....hicks!!! I just came back from an event with 6 zifandels, 3 from California and 3 from Italy (the lat
ter are pretty strong ones, so be careful!!!). It has had some strange effects on Esther, who is currently singing some 80s' songs from her iPod....

Again, I proved that time stretches away when you are doing an MBA. I had classes in the morning (Finance and how to value risk in stocks), a meeting with my study group, some time for self-study Econ for the upcoming midterm test on thursday, I gave a tutorial to some classmates (since I am a bit advanced in that classs), attended a panel event about Business Development roles in Industry (truly interesting speakers from a variety of companies, from Microsoft to Sainsbury's), and enjoyed the wine & cheese event....and even found some time to blog!

One side note if you are thinking about what to do before your MBA. You can do like me old mate Chimo, sell all your stuff and start travelling. If you are in or around Paris, look for bargains at his website...good luck with your Asian experience, buddy! I'll try to
visit you in spring or summer term!!!

busy weekend

2006-10-28T16:02:00.000+02:00

It is true that the pace of the MBA is in fast-forward mode right now. Even though it's saturday, I have a lot of readings, a bit of studying for the upcoming Econ midterm, and a few assignments still to be finished (among them a very enlightening Finance assignment on the financial performance of Airbus' A380 project).

Of course, it's worse said than done. In reality, the assignments are not that difficult (at least for me, but I've heard that around quite a bit). And they don't really take that long to do. The readings are not (all) mandatory. And the exam is a 20-question multiple choice test, done in half an hour.

So, since we have a guest this weekend, I'll probably join Esther and her in their London sightseeing, and go to Notting Hill for dinner.

I love London....

great events

2006-10-24T19:08:00.000+02:00

If thinking about going to Business School, there are other things to consider apart from the academics. Location and Reputation is important, since it will attract great speakers and provide for great events where to get fantastic insights from real-world businessmen.

Monday, I had the luxury of attending the laund of the Institute of Technology at the School. It is a joint venture together with UCL (University College London), and the highlight of the event (apart from the presence of the Dean, the Provost of UCL, many professors from both institutions and a lot of CEOs of hi-tech companies) was a conference by Rajiv Dutta. CFO of eBay during some 5-6 years, later on was assigned as CEO of Skype when it was acquired by the Bay area auctions behemoth, and for the last month or so has returned to the States as President of Paypal. The topic was the influence of technology and innovation in business
, and his views were pretty interesting. The rate of change is increasing exponentially, so we should see many more advances in the next 10 years, almost as many as there were in the whole 20th century. A bit scary as well....he claimed he is being paid to think every day about the consequences of all this for his business.

Of course, the networking opportunities afterwards were very good, and I tried my best to master what people say is the best one gets out of business school: a network.

On the same page, but on a different topic, yesterday we had a panel including Niall Fitzgerald, former Chairman and CEO of Unilever. He shared his views on Corporate Social Responsibility, the Role of Business in Society, and Ethics in general. More great insights, and great networking opportunity on the reception afterwards.

Unfortunately, i had to run out of both cocktails because I had to meet my group for a Case Competition we are engaged in. But the speeches, and the people I talked to, were amazing.

tired of bad service

2006-10-24T18:42:00.000+02:00

One of the things that one sets up a blog for is whining. So, please allow me to rant a bit about my latest bad experience with a customer-disoriented organization: a bank.

I had to transfer funds from Spain to my UK account in order to satisfy the London Business School's fees. It is a hefty sum, not a small transaction. Well, even after ordering it more than 3 weeks ago, this transaction has never been executed. I am transferring funds between subsidiaries of the same "global bank" in Spain and the UK. And not only they don't execute the transfer (hey, isn't it about "pressing a button" somewhere??? I thought all this day-to-day processes are automated even in regional savings banks!!!!). What is worse, I keep calling their phone banking service and they keep telling me they don't know what went wrong, but that there's nothing they can do. They have not even called me once to tell me there's a problem, it was me who had to call and ask....

Bottomline: the funds haven't arrived yet and I will probably have to pay an extra fee to the School because of the delay.

My takeaways, then: don't believe the myth, there is no such thing as a global bank! And second, it is hard to deal with an organization when one has such little bargaining power (Porter dixit). Next time I'll pretend I'm a business to see if they get preferential service...

Epilogue: Had to file a complaint, and am still waiting for their reply

Question: anybody can guess which bank lacks the most elemental customer service???

a really long day....

2006-10-18T22:40:00.000+02:00

yesterday was a great day, albeit a bit long....here goes my schedule, for you (still) willing to apply to an MBA!!!!

6:30 alarm goes off. I try to stop it frenetically. However, I remember that I gotta get up.

7:00 after getting on my sport shorts and shoes, I get out of the appartment trying not to wake Esther up.

7:15 meet at Regent's Park for Rugby training.

8:25 exhausted, dirty and having been bit by all kind of morning bugs, I head to the gym's showers.

9:00 Finance class. Our Italian professor tries to explain our slow minds how to value bonds. Believe it or not, this takes 3 hours. But it's very interesting...

12:00 run to the cafeteria grab a sandwich, devore it, and head to the library to try to finish my presentation for the afternoon "communication skills" class.

14:00 Global Leadership Development Programme: Skills Development class. We have to practice our presentation skills. Our trainer will record us and give us feedback on pace, body language, eye contact, structure, etc. My Rugby Club presentation is funny and I manage to make people laugh at it.

17:00 class is over for the day. I run home to rest a bit and try to catch up on readings.

18:00 after a short nap, I finish the Managerial Economics case analysis and lay down my strategy for the Strategy case (how redundant can I be?).

20:00 cook dinner for me and Esther. Prepare a Spanish tortilla de patatas for the week.

22:00 make coffee and rush again to the School. The rest of the Spanish gang is there, we are meeting to prepare for the AT Kearney case competition. We analyze the case given to us, and prepare a set of questions to interview the consultants playing the role of the company's management team.

01:00 finish the case and go home. I still check e-mails and go again through the Econ case.

02:00 go to bed and fall almost imediately asleep.

jealous, anyone? I reckon that after this, I was destroyed....and still haven't recovered!

2nd week is over...

2006-10-14T14:48:00.000+02:00

And it's time for reflection about the MBA. Here it goes:

Courses

The courses are fine. The level of difficulty is not too high, at least not yet. Some professors are very good, others are not so good. But in all cases, the lectures are very interactive, with a lot of real-life cases, and mentions to applications in business life.

So far, I find most interesting my Strategy course. Not only the contents, analyzing different cases and trying to fit the managers' behaviour into some kind of framework. I really loved the materials used!! It's so great to be explained Porter's 5 forces through a video by Dr. Porter himself!! I already experienced this during our "UGM - Understanding General Management" course in the introduction term. We had a case about Apple, and were discussing what would we have done if we were John Scully, the CEO from 1986-1993. After bringing out many ideas, pointing out what Apple had done right and wrong, the professor just said "Ok, let's ask him in person!" and started playing a tape where Scully reflected in a Harvard classrom about his own mistakes, and the things that ickhe should have done differently!! Amazing...

About the other courses: Finance is also very interesting (applied and with lots of numbers, very engineery!). Accounting is a bit slow and boring, but I guess it will get more complicated as the weeks go. Ethics and Economics are necessary, but I must admit I need to gather motivation to attend both in a participative way.

Workload

This one is a tricky one. So far, it hasn't been very high. Only an all-nighter before the Stats assignment was due last Thursday. And I'm more or less keeping up with all the readings. This is a bit strange, because everybody was warning me that I wouldn't be able to do just everything. So I hope that the workload will go up in the future.

People

Most amazing part of the MBA. The classmates. From all possible backgrounds, countries, cultures, nationalities. Great class discussions! The professors, having worked in top universities, with top researchers. The alumni that I've met, working in top consultancies and banks, creating their own companies, managing non-profit projects. I've started believing the mantra that 'networking' is the most important part of your MBA.

Social activities

More than you can think of. We've had a few housewarming parties (hey, how did they get such huge apartments?), some class dinner outings (amazing food in London! last time to a great Turkish restaurant), of course all the sports (I've signed up for rugby and plan to join them on as many trips as possible). Some highlights: the Thames River Boat party last weekend, and Tattoo last night. The former, a night cruiso on the river with a bar full of beers and other drinks. The latter, a celebration of the London Business School's diversity. On campus party, free drinks, food from around the world, a samba batucada, an Indian dance festivall and much, much more. In two words: im-pressing!!

those poor MBA applicants...

2006-10-05T18:54:00.000+02:00

I just came to think that it was only about one year ago, that I started actually working on my application to the London Business School. Around one year ago I went for a long weekend to Paris, where I attended one of topMBA World MBA Tour forums. Apart from taking home a suitcase full of brochures, we rollerbladed by the Seine, had great French food and walked around le Marée, le Quartier Latin and many other great Parisian neighborhoods. Unforgettable weekend! But I digress...

I always had had in mind the idea of pursuing an MBA. Before the summer, I had discussed it with a few friends. But it was only at the beginning of october that I took a real step in the direction of the MBA. Now, let me join the hordes of current students who blog about the MBA application process and try to give some tips.

First, and most important: do your research and preparation. Mine included:

buying Montauk's book along with some GMAT preparation books.
following current students and other applicant's blogs. Some advanced schools have official blogs, like the one here at London Business School.
Reading the BusinessWeek MBA forums. Some schools give access to their forums, like Wharton.
diving deep on all the schools' websites and downloading programme brochures

This allows for understanding of both the application process (which is very similar for all schools) and for pre-screening the schools that interest you the most. It is also good for motivation, and to get a sense of aim.

Second, start thinking of the typical essay questions. Make sketches. Brainstorm. Meditate. Most schools ask about:

leadership and teamwork experiences. When were you in charge. When did you persuade, convince, advice, counsel, etc.
short-term and long-term goals, both professional and personal
things that you are proud of, and occasions when you failed
hobbies, voluntary activities, commuunity service. How you are and what you do when you're not working

After jotting down some ideas on this questions, answering a 'why an MBA is suitable for you now?' kind of essay should not be a problem.

Third, work early on the administrative paperwork: Recommendations, Transcripts, Official diplomas. It all takes time, and we want to focus on the parts of the application where we can have a bigger impact, so try to get them done as soon as possible.

Fourth, gather a group of reviewers around you. Friends who want to enter into an MBA programme. Your boyfriend/girlfriend. Your family. Colleagues (if you have told them already). They'll be there when you are tired of writing essays, and believe me, you'll need some moral support some time. The human factor is fundamental in the process. Your morale as well. There will be highs and downs. I can't be thankful enough to my girlfriend...

Fifth, take your time. Don't be stingy with it. If you have to give up a leisure weekend away because you have to work on your essays, do so. You are sure you want to join the MBA world, aren't you? It is not impossible to get into any top school. But you need to make sure that inspiration arrives when you are working.

Since I am so bad at time management, I will not comment on suitable dates for GMAT, TOEFL, recommendations, essays and the like. Just remember to focus on a few schools where you see yourself attending, and try to apply early. In my case, I worked by batches. Application to London Business School done, then move on to the application for INSEAD, and so on. Maybe other approaches are better, but this one worked for me and kept me busy while waiting for the results of the different stages.

Bottomline: you need to be focused and constant towards the next goal. As if it was just another work project!

So, I hope I didn't repeat that much what other resources say, and that it was useful for you. Don't hesitate to leave me a comment if you have further questions!!

Something looks... different

2006-10-02T20:20:00.000+02:00

The School is full of new faces. I have received some 15 invitations to attend kick off meetings of the different clubs this week. London is not sunny anymore. People are tired and hungover after the wild weekend. And my weekly schedule and to-do list looks pretty packed already...

Yes, dear friends! It's day 1 at the "real" MBA 2008 at the London Business School! We had a very insightful class with a very rich discussion on Ethics: how the pressure can push people to do the 'not right' thing, and all the consequences (cf. Enron, WorldCom et. al. in different penitentiary centres).

Still, morale is high. I hope it will help me to cope with what looks as a very demanding term...gotta run to finish a presentation now!

managing assignments

2006-09-22T18:05:00.000+02:00

One week to go before the orientation-september term is over! And still, assignments here and there, to give us a grasp of how it will feel like in 3-4 weeks, when we'll be in the middle of our MBA's first term.

So far:

finishing/polishing our CVs (with the London Business School house style), and giving feedback within the Study Groups
working on our Personal Development Plans (which "soft" areas we want to improve during the first year
reading the first cases for all our next week courses
a Business Strategy group assignment, and another personal assignment coming in tomorrow
a Business Communications online test

Apart from this, there is already quite a high email volume, a lot of presentations on different MBA competitions (I managed to join one of the consulting case competitions, but there is also a banking deal competition, venture capital competition, social venture competition...), the clubs are starting to be alive now that the 2007 are back, etc, etc.

Moreover, the social scene: I've been already to Oxford with Esther and to Cambridge with my Study Group, done a pub golf with the Rugby team, been to a couple of housewarming parties (and missed quite a few more!), started planning a few trips (skiing in New Year's Eve, Spain with our Stream, etc), and managed to do a bit of jogging, swimming, and rugby training...exhausting!

The bottomline is that the workload (correction: activity load, it's not a job!) is piling up, and there is a lot more to come. So far, I have got the impression that the day is much more productive here than in my previous job (maybe due to so many new things to do and try). However, everybody keeps telling us how stressful is it going to get, how bad it is, that we will break down in the middle of november, etc, etc...

Therefore, I have decided to take very seriously my time planning. All of your tips, dear readers, are welcome. And yes, I already have a PDA...and yes, I hope to manage some time for blogging as well!

Blogging with Impact

2006-09-21T15:59:00.000+02:00

It struck me yesterday while having the 'business communication' course on 'writing with impact', that I actually don't pay much attention to style, structure, or language while blogging.

I guess it's because the immediateness of this great means of communication. Right now, for example, I'm blogging from the quad garden in the School, thanks to the wireless network and my beloved MacBook. Of course, the fact that I just try to 'follow and catch' my own thoughts has a lot to do with the apparent chaos of my posts...and you don't need a NEO personality test to find out where in the order-disorder continuum I fall!

However, the workshop has had quite a possitive impact on me. I remember at work, receiving 50+ emails a day, and all requiring a lot of attention and action. So, from now on, I'll try to stick to the rules of business writing:

Keep it as Simple as Possible, but not more Simple than that
Structure your thoughts from more to less (inverted pyramid)
Think before you Write
Edit and Trim: most information you are writing is redundant!
Bulletpoints are acceptable!

Besides: You can make use of formatting to enhance IMPACT

I hope this rules will help me gain some efficiency in blogging, so that I'll be able to blog more often then!

time flies...

2006-09-14T21:33:00.000+02:00

Yeah, it does. It's been already 10 days without posting anything...and this time I'll have to make it short: there is a CV (resume fo rthe Northamericans) waiting to be finished, another assignment pending for tomorrow, and a case to be read....

However, I can't but reflect that this past week has been pretty close to my expectations. Even though the "real" programme hasn't started yet, and we are getting "soft" courses on Leadership and Teamwork, everything has been really interesting. Ok, there's business stats as well which is even a graded course, but I don't expect many issues from that one. What makes me feel really good is that everybody is so motivated! Example, for our Global Leadership course we were asked to make a short sketch, 2 minutes max, and people were coming up with incredible, very creative ideas. One of the groups even shot and edited a 4-minutes video in about 3 hours!!

The bar is raising...

Globalisation at the MBA

2006-09-04T19:03:00.000+02:00

I have been challenged by a friend of mine, and INSEAD admit, that London Business School is not really that internationally diverse compared to the programme he has been admitted into.

Well, I would expect him to make that statement only after having actually startied the programme next january... But of course, looking at the 'cold numbers', he might seem right. From the Fontainebleau's Institution website, we can read that there are 73 countries (nationalities?) represented at their programme. At London Business School, if I'm not wrong, there were 58 last year (MBA Class of 2007) and a few less this year (MBA Class of 2008). And in all their marketing materials it's clearly stated that no nationality makes up more than 12% of the student body. At London Business School, the most numerous group is that of North Americans, who in total (USA + Canada) make some 22% of the total class.

I can contend those numbers by stating that, on the other hand, there are more female students at London Business School, which might not add to the internationalism but does increase diversity a great bit. Or that even though there are less nationalities, being a smaller programme the class feels probably as diverse at London Business School as anywhere else. And yes, I can mention that most people (I think one third of the students) do take advantage of the opportunity of going on the International Exchange Programme and study abroad (priority given for people who want to go somewhere else rather than their home country).

However, my acquaintances know that I try to see things from an international perspective... I have lived in 7 different countries, visited other 30, and love to learn about other cultures, languages (myself I speak a few), traditions, gastronomies...and, in those terms, I cannot really compare one school to another, because all the data I have is my own experience here. But I have met many, many people in this School who are in the same situation. A lot of international work experience, a lot of travelling experience, a lot of different languages...the world is flat, and my classmates have experienced it first-hand!!

So, in that respect, and without any intention of offending admits / students / faculty / staff / alumni from any other Business Schools aroung the globe, I think that London Business School is probably the most international one.

PS: will have to go to Singapore and check how's the atmosphere there myself...

Feeling more oriented???

2006-08-31T14:02:00.000+02:00

Orientation Week is over. At least, after the rush for flats, bank accounts, mobile phones and so on, we got some academic stuff. Our first case study, presentations from the Dean, few Professors, some Alumni, current students, and Career Services. We met our Study Groups, and for the sake of privacy, I will not comment on them (although so far the impression has been great). We have also been assigned to our Streams, being D the one where I have fallen.

All in all, I think I have answered some 76 times to the question 'so where are you from?', about 47 'and what were you doing before coming to London Business School?', and 22 'so have you thought about what you wanna do after your MBA?'. I have probably met some 100+ people, putting a lot of effort to remember everybody's names and whereabouts. Since that is obviously impossible, I recommended everyone to go to the pubcrawls and meet me there :). So far, that is where the action has been. And according to the presentations from the Student Association and the current students, that is where the action is going to be (work hard, play hard....rings a bell from AEGEE times ;)

It has struck me, however, that all the people in the Student Association have roles in the Rugby Club. I was considering it (playing rugby), but will that mean that I'll have to get involved in the student-run administration of the School? Maybe the third time is in reality an assembly of school reps discussing academic and other issues?? Will have to check on that one....and still convince my partner that it's a gentlemen's sport.

short airport break

2006-08-24T14:09:00.000+02:00

Thanks God, there are still some free wifi spots on certain non-mainstream airports like the one in Valencia, from where I am writing these lines.

I've had to come home for a couple of days to do some paperwork, and took the occasion to visit my parents in Javea/Xàbia (great resort for holidays! one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, and where time stands still, at least for me). I've had time to think about all that is awaiting me when I fly back to London (in a few minutes, if they don't delay it), and it's a bit overwhelming.

I guess it's due to not having had that much "resting" holidays. After finishing work on the 28th july, we had to organize the moving of our furniture from Barcelona to Valencia. On the 1st we already had a flight to Athens for our greek holidays (which were great, but maybe too 'active'). Then, a couple of days at home in Valencia to finish the luggage, and move to London.

So I guess all that activity is taking its toll now. I guess when the MBA starts on Monday I'll be ok, but so far, I feel that a bit more of rest would be what I had needed.

In conclusion, my advice to all future and current applicants: before the MBA, and especially if you are moving abroad for yours, make sure to take a couple of weeks of real, old-style holidays: not doing anything. As we say in valencian, 'sense pegar ni brot'.

getting settled

2006-08-21T12:43:00.000+02:00

Logistics as planned. I opened my bank account this morning (no HSBC like the majority of folks at LBS, but Citibank, since it allows for easier transfers between Citibank accounts in different countries), and faxed to the state agent all the necessary papers for the landlord. Hopefully in a couple of days we'll get the keys to our apartment, and can start moving in.

Apart from that, I'm off tomorrow back home to sort out a couple of things and visit the family once more.

It is amazing how time is alreadt flying, and the MBA programme hasn't even started yet! With all the arrangements, the pubcrawling, meeting so many new faces...days are really short! I guess it's a good start, and an indication that I'm already having fun and enjoying myself. This is one of the main motivations for me to come here, as well, so score!

and finally....here we are

2006-08-15T19:21:00.000+02:00

So, yes!! We finally made it through all the security due to the terrorists caught in London, and arrived to town. We have been desperately running after a flat, like the hordes of other MBA admits who, like us, have arrived before the starting of the classes.

Even, we have already met for our first informal pubcrawl...a lot of new faces, a lot of interesting people!! I'm really glad that I chose London Business School: it is as international a student body as it can get.

By the way, I'm running out of time...should go to the next pubcrawl which is about to start!! Let's leave the London Business School Library and move on!!!

last from Spain

2006-08-10T20:39:00.000+02:00

We just came back yesterday from our great (remark: really great!) holidays in Greece (thanks, Katerina, Aliki and Matina!!). Just unpacked and set up a couple of washing machines, and tomorrow we are supposed to move to London!! Of course, if those terrorists (and the fuzz that they have generated) allow. Thanks God the police and security forces stopped them before they could attack.

I guess next post will be from London....can't wait!! Even though I have felt a bit of anxiety lately, it is due to the change that is coming up in my life; I'm not at all questioning whether I took the right decision. I did. But i'm stressed because of moving abroad again, all the logistic arrangements (phone, bank account, and yes, flat!), leaving my job to become a student again...well, I hope that at least the logistics will be so easy as they have been for Angie!

(side note: acceptance letter from INSEAD just arrived. It can't compete against London Business School though)

Apple's appeal

2006-07-31T20:03:00.000+02:00

...is huge! I just received my new white MacBook. God, this is a machine! It's gorgeous, very elegant, incredibly fast, easy-to-use....I'm so happy I finally made up my mind!! In principle, this laptop should accompany me throughout the whole MBA in London.

I think I can partly understand the feelings of the hordes of mac fanatics who continuously buy their products, and do proselitism about the brand and the products. Besides, you really feel treated differently than a normal Dell or HP buyer. There is a taste for detail that does not exist with other computers.

I think that I will anyway install also windows XP on it....God, it's even compatible!!

lodging: (temporarily) solved!!

2006-07-09T13:07:00.000+02:00

Yes!! Thanks to the London Business School Portal, I arranged some temporary lodging. It will be just a room close to the school, that we will use as basecamp for our flathunting activities during August. Pffffui, I breath now!!

On the other hand, Esther and me already spent part of this weekend packing all our stuff. Books, CDs, all kind of items that we have been collecting during the past months, all have been put in boxes. It is, I must say, one of the most stressful activities I have ever done. Packing _all_ your belongings looks like a cyclopean task before you start. Luckily, divided among 2 it's much easier...but anyway we are heading out now to a nice resto in order to compensate ourselves for the efforts ;)

open points decreasing....

2006-06-20T23:02:00.000+02:00

Work is piling up (finish projects, pass on knowledge, do your normal day-to-day job and yet another dozen conference calls....) but we are already starting to get organized about our moving to London project.

Ticket has already been bought! This means we will be arriving August 11th, and have some good 2 and a half weeks to enjoy London before classes start. Needless to say, there will not be much time free for leisure given all the paperwork pending. And of course, the #1 priority is to find a proper flat. So far, I am looking for temporary accomodation (hey, if you know about any sublets available during August don't hesitate to drop me a line at my inbox!!).

Before flying to London, we have decided to pay duty to the advice and dedicate 9 days to photosynthesis in Greece. Couple of days in Athens and Patras with some old friends, and the rest in a beautiful island still TBD (we don't like planning our holidays too much).

Moreover, we are launching a moving sale, so I will start experimenting with the very successful business model of eBay. At the time being, just check the available furniture here.

Of course, much other time is devoted to watching the matches of the WorldCup...The red fury is not giving such a bad impression as usual, and people are even starting to get excited about our possibilities...we'll see, I think I still belong to a more skeptic kind.

Anyway, good luck to you all, football fans around the world!!

fee paid, and 1001 other things to do before moving to London

2006-06-03T18:30:00.000+02:00

After some time without posting (even after announcing i'm leaving the job, the stress and workload levels are quite high :), I am back on the blogosphere.

Yesterday I received my fee payment confirmation. Now it's done, I have officially confirmed my attendance. It feels great. I am in. No way back.

The last 3 days I went to Italy to some meetings at my employer's European headquarters. I couldn't help feeling a bit weird there. The last time (in quite some time) having pizza at Della Motta (Premiata Pizzeria, really the best pizza in the world!), the last time meeting with many people with whom I have had to work in the last two years. The last time (for work) in Varese, small provincian town a bit north from Milano.

Apart from all this, I have started compiling a list of the oh-my-God-they're-so-many things to do before leaving Barcelona for London. Here are the main points:

- sell my car
- sell my (our!) furniture
- pack the rest and bring it to Valencia
- post a comment on Angel Angie's blog and thank her for linking my blog (edited: done!)
- arrange some holidays (hey, any hints?? thinking about Greek islands in the beginning of August...)
- go to the dentist and to the oftalmologist
- arrange financials (oh, those scholarships....)
- throw a farewell party in Barcelona :)
- throw a farewell party in Madrid ;)
- throw a farewell party in Valencia ;P
- start researching London's real state market for apartments to let in the LBS area
- work until the end of July (with 1 week holidays 17-24 July)
- catch up with some pre-MBA readings
- visit as many friends as possible
- ............ <----- dear reader: feel free to post any suggestion here

Oh, and of course, keeping this blog updated!!

Cordoba!!

2006-05-28T12:58:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I went to the "Feria de Córdoba". A nice, andalusian, party weeekend. The group was nice: my girlfriend Esther (being hold in the picture), me, and another couple from Madrid, best friends with Esther.

Cordoba was the capital of the Muslim kingdom of Al-Andalus, and its historic centre has been awarded Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The nicest part of the weekend, to me, was to walk around the Jewish Quarter ("Juderia"), getting lost in its narrow streets of white houses.

But not only that!! Cordoba, like most of Andalusia, is best known for its "tapas" and laid-back attitude. People will go at noon to a bar or terrace and have a couple of cold beers with some snacks, like this awesome 'tortilla española'....yummy!

Of course, the night was 200% party mood. We went to the area of the 'Feria', were the different associations, university schools, bars and nightclubs, the townhall, the political parties....the "All Cordoba" had their own hut, their own music, and a bar where everybody could get drinks.

Of course, in the South of Spain, every second song is a 'sevillana', so we started practicing in order to be able to teach everybody at London Business School how to dance them...

All in all, a great weekend. The only downside, maybe, is that we had planned it for the same days when the Admits Weekend was taking place in London, with all my future fellows there. But at least I managed to relax after all the stress from the application process, scholarship applications, farewell from my employer....and get some energy for the whirlwind of activity that is going to start now, planning the move to London at the beginning of August!!

On a side note, I completed my application to a few LBS scholarships. The awards will be going out by mid June, so a lot of uncertainty about my financials until then.

scholarships...

2006-05-18T19:59:00.000+02:00

Uff....never thought that after the whole application package, the scholarships applications look even worse!!

Once again, look for diplomas, transcripts, recommendation letters, prepare essays, go to the courier and send urgently (25 minutes before the courier closed: a new record!!!).

Anyway, for the moment it's been sent! Next week, more to come. This weekend, although there's the Admits Weekend at the LBS, I had already planned to go to Cordoba for the Feria ....so, a lot of partying and relaxing after the good news of last week!

Olé!

I'm IN!!!!

2006-05-16T00:29:00.000+02:00

The word is out, finally....I'm IN!

It's a great feeling, when you get that blessed email...and just by reading the subject line, you already know that it brings the hoped for news: an admissions offer.

I cannot say but that I feel really relieved. Now I can concentrate on scholarship & funding, and on managing my departure from my current employer.

Now it's time to party, though! Write you when the hangover goes away....

/c

off we go

2006-05-06T19:25:00.000+02:00

ok, looks like after so much blogreading, so many forums at businessweek.com visited (and contributed :), so many essays, the reference letters and the waiting....i guess the only thing that I was missing was to have my own MBA blog!

So, here I start it. I will chase my thoughts and follow them, about everything and anything. I guess, since now it's time for admissions still (I don't have an admission yet!), that most of them will be MBA-related, but I can't assure you that I will not blog about anything else: travelling, friends, politics, books, or whatever!

Just to give you the scenario: I'm waiting for the confirmation from LBS (that should come next friday at the latest), and I am just about to send my application to INSEAD for the Jan 2007 admission round. On the job side, I just received an offer to go to Shanghai with my company and be an internal consultant there. So, in any case, I will soon be leaving Barcelona, the place I live now with my girlfriend, and my current job, running the Supply Chain of a major home domestic appliance manufacturer.

I'll keep you posted! (hey, i never thought about this sentence in a blog....funny!)