Life as an MBA student

Hey all,
Whew, it has been a while since I have updated the blog! Things have gotten a bit busy with the start of the fall semester and I let this slip! I am actually forced to write a blog-post for my communications class (15.280), but that is besides the point.
I have ten minutes to write this blog, so I'll keep it short. I think if I had to use one word to define the MBA experience I would use the word 'buffet.' I've used this term many times with myself and classmates as we learn to successfully (or unsuccessfully) balance juggling all of the demands we have on our time as MBA students. For instance, this past semester I have had to balance a few competing demands:

• 4 MBA core courses: Econ, Accounting, Organizational Processes, and Communication.
• 2 to 1 MBA electives: I was signed up for finance, added marketing, and then later dropped marketing as I determined that my class load was too high.
• 1 engineering elective: ESD.260 which is Logistics Systems. This is a great class for LGOs as we enter companies as operations/supply chain professionals. Right now we are learning about forecasting demand which is super important for most companies that manufacture products.
• 1 significant club activity: I applied for and was accepted to the DesignWorks seminar hosted by the MIT Sloan Design Club and Continuum Consulting. 12 of us from MIT Sloan have been selected to work on design projected in Cambridge with a local company! Sweet! 
• 3 other clubs I am involved in: Korea Club, Technology Club, and the Design Club. 

Classes have been very interesting and relevant to the business world. Andrew Lo is my finance Professor and I feel like I leave his class appreciating the world of finance more and more. Right now we are learning about fixed income securities and I talk to my LGO classmates about how the math is not difficult, but we feel like we are learning a new language every time we sit in his class. Chris Caplice is the primary instructor for Logistics Systems and he uses a very innovative style of lecturing wherein he has all 85 students in his class vote on different questions during class. For instance he offered up the introduction of the Ipod in 2001 and asked us what type of new product introduction it was. Most of us selected either a new to the world or another type. It is a form of quick crowd-sourcing of information and gauging the general knowledge level of the class. 

Business school intensity has really ramped up this semester compared to the summer semester. Even the other LGOs are fairly busy with classes at very different times and locations. I am trying to manage the buffet well so that I eat enough to learn all that I can, but not so much that I get sick! Last week was fairly intensive because the LGO '14s were all back in town for knowledge review. Most of them (about 30 or so of them out of a class of about 48) are on their internships and they came back in town to update the LGO staff and partner companies on the status of their internships. Interspersed were sessions with companies (networking) and other LGOs. All in all the buffet will not slow down for the foreseeable future! 

Please let me know if you have any topics you would like me to cover in future blog posts.

Trip to Digital Lumens

During the summer we (meaning LGOs) have made a few trips to local companies in the area. One of the companies that we visited was ENERNOC (see my classmate Maxine's post on the trip http://yangtothemax.blogspot.com/2013/08/enernoc-plant-tour.html).

We also went on a trip to visit Digital Lumens (DL) before the end of the summer semester (see http://www.digitallumens.com/). Joe (a former MIT Sloan MBA and the product manager at Digital Lumens) hosted us for our trip to DL. We learned about the founding of the company from one of the founders of DL. The founders came from Color Kinetics after the company was acquired by Philips. The first niche that the company found itself serving was in cold storage. DL's main product is a system of LEDs that are smartly controlled for industrial applications. In cold storage the lower heat out-put of the lights plus the smarter control of the lights led to a double savings for these customers.

In addition to a presentation by one of the founders, we had the opportunity to speak with their VP of sales and marketing. He told us that one of his biggest challenges was in defining his target customers. The titles of their customers ranged greatly from representatives, distributors, architects, facilities directors, etc... This is an interesting marketing and sales problem because DL really needs to reach customers that have budgetary authority in their companies. Often-times lighting and electricity use is not something that companies think through, so DL not only has to educate them about their products but also why these products would work for their particular use.

Lastly, we had a final session with Joe and a colleague of his that graduated from Cornell's MBA program. We had a chance to talk about careers in cleantech and startups. Working for a startup seems very worthwhile but it can be risky because jobs are not secure until right before graduation (at least for MBAs). They also gave us advice to network continually because we never knew where our next job would come from. As MBAs at Sloan we were humbled by the amount of time and attention the senior employees at DL provided for us. Thanks again DL!

Picture of Joe showing us one of DL's products. 

Another picture of Joe (Thanks Albert for taking the pictures!)