A financial roasting...

Every week a group of 5 students stand up in front of our Financial Management class to present their analysis of the weekly case. This week was quite typical.

Watching our professor's face as they present reveals little about how he will react upon the conclusion of the presentation. His brow is furrowed. There is a frown on his face. As the presentation progresses, he scribbles madly upon the handout slides, they will soon be unrecognizable due to the sheer volume of ink.

The team works systematically through the slides. One after another they speak in front of the class. They look slightly nervous, but by now, they should know what to expect. The professor is never thrilled with the result.

Last week's comment, "I don't understand why you guys don't include more financials in your presentation. This is fundamentally a finance class."

This week's comment, "I got lost in the swamp of financial calculations."

What I like about our professor is exactly what most people hate. He is direct, to the point and says exactly what he's thinking. Today's gem of a comment during a particularly long-winded question, "is this a speech or a question?"

Our prof is hard to please, but then again, so are clients. Overall, I look forward to class, but I'm literally terrified thinking about the exam. But that is another story.

Talking about Family Business

We are talking about family business in class today! Hurray!

Case competitions - sleep or compete

Case competitions - a lesson in sleep depravation

A few weeks ago I signed onto a case competition team with a few buddies of mine. At the time it seemed like a great idea! 

1. I've never worked with these friends before, but I've seen them in action so this is a great way to test out team dynamics. 

2. Learn about a new industry and meet professionals who are experts within their fields. Amazing networking opportunities. 

3. Work on a real case thus put theoretical MBA knowledge in action. Semi-competitive, medium pressure, "real work". 

The reality come preparation day: 
Too tired 
Too busy
Too much apathy

This case comp was like all others. The assignment came out yesterday, but of course I was in back-to-back classes and meetings from literally 7:30 am until 10:30 pm. 

This morning, after a bright and early 7:30 am class, our group started on the case prep. It went s little bit like this: 

9 am - read case
9:30 - 11 am --> background research and analysis
11 - noon --> analysis
Lunch
12:30 - 4 pm --> brainstorm, argue and idea form
4-6 --> class
6-9 --> work on the deck
Dinner
9:30 --> flash of brilliance
9:30-midnight --> work on deck
Give up

Now I'm at home, going to take a shower and 4 hour nap, then wake, finish deck and get to school by 8 am to rehearse. 

Presentation is some time after 9 am and we'll (hopefully) make it to the second round, thus be done around 5. 

5pm--> team meeting

Home & sleep for 12 hours. 

A marathon of sleep depravation and eventual replenishment. Worth it? We'll see...