Archive for the ‘MBA’ category

NYU Stern Ranks Among the Top 5 Most Selective MBA Programs

August 13th, 2010

Stern recently published its MBA profile for the class of 2012 which will matriculate this fall.  The major admissions statistics remained similar with an average undergrad GPA of 3.5 and an average GMAT of 718 (up from 717 last year).  The stat that jumped out to me is that Stern’s selectivity is now down to an acceptance rate of just 13% of all applicants (down from 15% in 2008, and 14% when I applied in 2009).  While not all schools have released updated admissions statistics, based on a spot check of several top MBA programs, and a look at BusinessWeek’s B school comparison tool, Stern is now the 4th most selective MBA program in the U.S.

  1. Stanford GSB: 7% selectivity
  2. Berkeley (Haas): 11% selectivity
  3. Harvard: 12% selectivity
  4. NYU (Stern): 13% selectivity
  5. MIT (Sloan): 14% selectivity

Selectivity is a factor in most MBA rankings, which is likely part of the reason why Stern continues to rise in the MBA rankings.  Of course, this creates a virtuous cycle – as Stern ranks higher, more people apply, which makes it more selective, which helps it rank higher – round and round you go.  There are obviously a hundred other factors at play, but this is a good place to be for Stern (and for Sternies like myself).

Methodology Disclaimer: This is only directionally relevant as it’s somewhat of an apples to oranges comparison.  This analysis is based on a mix of data – some schools have reported their most recent class profiles, while others have not yet.  To compare Stern against other top programs, I looked at data for other schools in the top 15 rankings.  I checked the BusinessWeek tool, though that data is from 2008 and 2009, so it’s not completely up-to-date.  In order to try to get more recent data, I then looked at each individual B school website and updated the numbers for any schools that had more recent data.  After doing both, Stern came in at #4, though it could change when all of the schools update their most recent class profiles.  Other schools within striking distance include MIT Sloan (14% in 2009), Yale (18% in 2009), and Tuck (19% in 2009).  I would be surprised if Yale or Tuck displace Stern from the top 5 this year given the 5-6 percentage point differential from their acceptance rates in 2009 compared to Stern’s in 2010.

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Contour Venture Partners – Venture Capital Internship

August 3rd, 2010

Contour Venture Partners is a terrific early-stage VC firm based in New York City led by Bob Greene and Matt Gorin.  I first met Bob when he spoke to InSITE last fall about his career in the venture capital industry.  I later corresponded a few times with Matt via email when I applied for their internship last fall.  Fortunately/unfortunately, I had to later bow out as I accepted an offer to intern for Canaan Partners just before receiving the invitation to interview with Contour (I say fortunately because I was lucky to get the offer at Canaan, I say unfortunately because Contour is a great firm too).  About six months later, I had the uniquely interesting experience of later putting on my entrepreneur hat, and sitting on the other side of the table delivering SkillSlate’s pitch to both Bob and Matt.  While the meetings didn’t result in a check, they were extremely valuable as both Bob and Matt were extremely insightful, both asked great questions as well as offered welcome advice.  Based on my experiences with Contour Ventures, I would highly recommend this internship opportunity at the fund.

Position: Venture Intern (part-time during academic year)

Contour’s Profile: Contour Venture Partners is a New York based early stage venture capital firm that works with companies that provide technology enhanced products and services in the financial services, digital media and internet sectors.  The principals at Contour have a long and successful track record, having directly supported over 50 companies through numerous market cycles since the late 1980s.

Job Description: We are looking for a first or second year student to work with us during the academic year as a venture intern.  This is a great way to learn about the venture capital industry as the intern will have exposure to many aspects of the venture capital business.

The venture intern will work closely with the partners and will be responsible for various projects that relate to deal sourcing, company diligence, industry and sector research, financial modeling and database management.

Qualifications: 3+ years experience prior to graduate school at a startup, technology operating company, venture capital firm or management consulting firm
- Strong operational and entrepreneurial mindset
- Ability to work independently
- Strong work ethic and self-starter
- Excellent written, oral communication and analytical skills
- Exposure to startup and emerging technology companies
- Detail oriented
- Strong modeling skills
- Intellectually curious and strong ethical character
- Deep interest in venture capital
- Strong investment judgment

Contact: Matt Gorin, matt@contourventures.com

Good luck!

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Posted in MBA, New York, Venture Capital

NYU Stern Rises to #9 in the U.S. News MBA Rankings

May 9th, 2010

NYU SternI try not to place too much emphasis on the MBA rankings.  For one, I think it’s extremely difficult (or impossible) to accurately force rank schools based on quantitative data that is unlikely to effectively capture how ‘good’ a program is.  To that point, choosing the right MBA program is an extremely personal decision, and includes numerous factors that cannot be captured in any ranking methodology.

With that caveat in place, I do admit to looking at the rankings when they’re published each year.  Every MBA does (and if they say they don’t, they’re lying).  People in business school have too much ego not to care, and it’s too great an investment of both time and money to ignore where your program ranks (at least in other peoples’ minds).

Last night a friend of mine informed me that NYU Stern rose to the #9 position in the most recent 2010 U.S. News & World Report MBA Rankings.  My MBA ego was pretty pleased to see that (in case it’s not obvious, I’m poking fun at myself).  Stern had been solidly ranked within the top 10 U.S. business schools by other ranking publications (#7 in both the Economist and the Financial Times) , but had been floating in the #10-11 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings (arguably the most widely followed ranking) for the last couple years.

For me personally, the most satisfying aspect of the new rankings is that NYU Stern is now tied with Columbia Business School for the #9 spot.  Given that my girlfriend is at Columbia, and I work with a number of CBS students through my involvement with InSITE, it feels slightly better to be on more equal footing :)

2010 U.S. News & World Report MBA Rankings

1. Harvard

1. Stanford

3. MIT Sloan

4. Northwestern Kellogg

5. U Chicago Booth

5. Wharton

7. Dartmouth Tuck

7. Berkely Haas

9. NYU Stern

9. Columbia Business School

11. Yale

12. Michigan Ross

13. UVA Darden

14. Duke Fuqua

15. UCLA Anderson

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Posted in MBA, New York

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Presenting SkillSlate at Stern Innovates

March 29th, 2010

I was recently invited by my classmate and friend Yoni Argaman (new co-president of the Stern entrepreneurship club) to present my startup SkillSlate at the inaugural Stern Innovates event.  I was humbled to have been asked, and am very excited to formally unveil the first iteration of SkillSlate to the NYU community.  I’ll be joined by my colleague Bartek Ringwelski who is the co-founder and CEO of SkillSlate.

The idea of Stern Innovates is to provide exciting NYU affiliated startups with a venue to present and receive feedback on their ventures from members of the Stern community as well as from venture capitalists, lawyers and other entrepreneurs that will be in the audience.  Each event will also feature a successful entrepreneur that will share his story with the audience. Following the event, we will continue for post-event drinks at a nearby reserved venue (TBD soon).  I look forward to the event,  more details are below.

4:45 – 6:45PM, Wednesday, April 14th, KMC 5-50

Guest Speaker: Itzik Ben-Bassat, former VP at Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft) and the current Founder and CEO of GameGround, a local venture backed gaming start-up will review current business models in the gaming industry.

Pitching Early Stage Ventures:

1. Brian Rothenberg, SkillSlate
SkillSlate connects consumers with trusted individual service providers who charge a fraction of the price of established companies.  SkillSlate empowers the 16mm+ individual service providers in the US to market their services directly to consumers. A SkillSlate profile provides detailed professional and personal information including pictures, fees, and reviews, all with the aim of not only showing what the person does, but who the person is. SkillSlate puts these profiles together into a searchable, sortable directory where consumers can find service providers that fit their specific needs.

2. Dan Leahy and Ben McKean, VillageVines
VillageVines provides a private marketplace where upscale service businesses discount specific hours when they have excess capacity. VillageVines provide businesses with a demand management tool to improve their utilization and enable consumers to book discounted appointments with high-end restaurants, clubs, spas, salons and events. Since discounts on VillageVines are only visible to VillageVines members and cannot be listed by search engines, businesses can discreetly tier their pricing structures to profitably serve more customers without cheapening their brands to the general public.

3. Adi Kalderon, PolySolar
PolySolar is a startup company based on an innovative technology in the solar energy field of Organic Photovoltaics (OPV). Developed at the Organic Electronics Lab at Polytechnic Institute of NYU by Professor Kalle Levon and Eduard Nasibulyn Ph.D., our OPV solar cells are polymer based and manufactured using electrochemistry techniques. This unique combination has enabled PolySolar to drastically reduce the overall cost and offer a solar energy source that is efficient, cost-effective, flexible, transparent and lightweight that can operate in low-light intensity and be applied to any shape or surface. With these competitive advantages, PolySolar’s OPV technology is targeted for the portable electronics market to offer a sustainable energy solution. The company’s OPV solar cells will allow devices, such as cell-phones and laptops, to recharge without electricity from grid power

Please RSVP to this event as seating is limited!

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Posted in MBA, Startups

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Peru is Amazing

March 23rd, 2010

I’ve been more than a bit quiet the past couple weeks between midterm season and more excitingly, spending spring break in Peru the past 10 days or so. I had an absolutely fantastic time and thought the country was truly spectacular as it exceeded all of my expectations. Peru was significantly more developed than I expected it to be, and the vastly varying climates, landscapes, histories, and ecosystems were incredible to see. We got the large metropolitan and beach experience in Lima, mountain beauty and historical Incan ruins of Cusco, and extreme biodiversity of the Amazon basin rain-forest in Tambopata.

The food was also excellent (had the best ceviche ever in Lima), and most importantly, the company of my classmates was tremendous. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend more time with friends that I already had but don’t see often enough, as well as make friends with some other truly exceptional people that I hadn’t met before the trip.

Below is my very favorite picture from the trip. We climbed to the pinnacle of the Inca ruins at the top of Pisac which is more than 12,000 feet above sea level. The 360 degree view of the Andes was indescribable, and something I’ll never forget.

Brian Pisac Peru

There is also a ‘best of’ photo album from everyone’s pictures.

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Posted in MBA, Travel

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David Rose’s “Confessions of an Angel Investor”

February 25th, 2010

David S. Rose at NYU SternLast night I was fortunate to see prominent NYC angel investor David S. Rose give his “Confessions of an Angel Investor” talk at NYU Stern.  I heard super-angel Ron Conway talk last semester, which I thought was amazing, so I was eager for David’s presentation as well.  I’ve been lucky to learn a great deal about early-stage VC investing through my internship with Canaan Partners, however, I didn’t previously know quite as much about the angel investing space, therefore I found these sessions to be particularly interesting.

David, who runs Rose Tech Ventures and is the Chairman of the New York Angels, shared some interesting facts about angel investing, and quite a bit of helpful advice for entrepreneurs.  I plan to do a couple follow-up posts about his talk, but I’m going to focus this post on the most important things he looks for in entrepreneurs (along with his commentary on each point).

Top 10 Things David Rose Looks for in Entrepreneurs

  1. Integrity – the #1 most important thing, “this is not bullshit, this is serious”
  2. Passion – there is a “positive correlation between passion to create something big, and success”
  3. Experience – [have you started a business before, even if you started and failed (prior failure has no negative correlation with later success)] – “have to learn by doing, until you’ve done everything related to starting a business, you won’t know how”
  4. Knowledge – knowledge of the market and/or business
  5. Skill – you have the skills to execute  and know how to hire people, market it, run finances, everything (or as much as you can).  Need a team that fills in all the functional skills that the business needs.
  6. Leadership – Can be formal or informal (ie: you were captain of your football team, you started a student club and ran it)
  7. Commitment – “This is not a weekend thing for you.  I need you to stay with this thing until it exits and I get my money back”
  8. Vision – You must have the vision to create something (this will keep you committed). “Apple’s in the business to change the world one person at a time”
  9. Realism – “I’ll bet on you to do it, but who’s your first customer?” Building up realistically (without crazy numbers), rational projections that you and I can believe, and how you can get there one person at a time.
  10. Coachabiltiy – “I want you to be coachable, I want you to listen.  If I suggest that you think about something, probably not a bad idea to listen and think about it because together I think we can build something special.”

And he threw in an 11th point that brings it all together:

Communication – “Show me that you can do all these things and convey all this stuff in a meaningful and convincing way.”

All of David’s above-listed points really resonated with me and are things that I am focusing on applying to my inner-entrepreneur.  If you missed his talk, you can check out a recorded version HERE (or stay tuned for more tidbits in later posts)!

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Posted in MBA, Venture Capital

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How Hard Is It To Get a Junior VC Job?

February 3rd, 2010

Want to be a venture capitalistMost of my classmates seem to understand that getting a junior venture capital job (pre-principal level) is pretty tough.  But just how competitive is it to get a VC job or internship?  I’ve seen some more qualitative information from sources such as the Vault Guide to Venture Capital stating that for any posted job opening, you can expect 200 to 300 applicants from all the top MBA programs.  While I believe those stats, I was curious to see if I could find any actual quantitative data on just how competitive the VC job application process is.  So I started poking around a bit…

A classmate of mine recently pointed out that Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest and most prestigious venture capital firms, is hiring a new analyst.  If you had to guess, how many resumes do you think they’ll receive for this one open position?  Six hundred and fifty you say?  If prior history is any indicator, you’re spot on.

On her blog, Sarah Tavel (a Sr. Associate with Bessemer Venture Partners) shares some fascinating metrics on pre-MBA VC hiring.  She provides the following data on the hiring funnel:

  • 650+ resumes submitted
  • 42 first-round interviews (~6%)
  • Seven second-round interviews (17% of the 42)
  • One offer (14% of the seven, but 0.15% of resumes submitted!)

Wow.  Those are some wild stats.

As an additional data point, I can also share some credible quantitative metrics for an unpaid during-the-school-year VC internship here in New York.  I do know that for one internship opening (with a top firm) that was only posted to a select few networks, they received more than 100 applications (resume plus a brief write-up on why you want to do it and why you’re qualified).  Of the 100+ applications, they conducted first round interviews with about ten people (<10% of applicants).  Of those ten people, they conducted second round interviews with just two people (20% of first round interviewees, <2% of total applicants) and extended an offer to one person (10% of first round interviewees, 50% of second round interviewees, and less than 1% of all applicants).

While the numbers look daunting (in fact, they are), I would bet that only 1/2 to 1/3 (perhaps even fewer) of the applicants actually fit the ‘profile’ that VC firms seem to look for (tech, entrepreneurship/start-ups, right schools, perhaps top consulting firms and/or banks, etc).  If you have the majority of those check marks, I would expect that you actually have a decent shot of at least being considered for the first round interview (once your foot is in the door, it’s yours to lose from there).  My observations have also led to my belief that most positions in VC are never even publicly open, but rather when venture capital firms do decide to hire a junior VC, it’s done through personal networks, recommendations from trusted people in the industry, and/or recruiting firms (I know several junior VCs who found jobs this way).

So the takeaway is yes, it’s tough, very tough.  However, if you truly want it, and have done/are doing the right things to get there (particularly networking within the industry), the odds are not insurmountable.  Good luck!

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Posted in MBA, Venture Capital

StartupAtWork Spring Speaker Series: 24/7 Real Media

January 30th, 2010

StartupAtWork is an initiative that I began helping out with last fall through my internship with Canaan Partners (Canaan is a sponsor, and the moderator Warren Lee is a partner at the firm). The organization hosts a series of events that feature prominent guests such as Ron Conway, one of the most prolific angel investors of all time (Google, Facebook, Zappos, Paypal), and Steve Hafner, co-founder of Orbitz and Kayak.com. The first session of the spring 2010 speaker series features two stellar speakers from 24/7 Real Media: David Moore, Chairman/Founder/Former CEO, and Mark Moran, Former EVP/General Counsel.  It is sure to be a fascinating story hearing how 24/7 Real Media raised funding, went public, nearly went bankrupt then ultimately sold to WPP Group for $650 million dollars.  The 24/7 Real Media session will be held Wednesday February 10th (5:45pm registration, 6:00pm pizza & beer, 7:00pm interview) at the New World Stages.

The StartupAtWork speaker series is intended to help foster entrepreneurship in the NYC tech community by bringing in successful entrepreneurs and investors who can share their experiences and impart tangible learnings on the attendees. While the event is invite-only, the vast majority of attendees are entrepreneurs, people working at start-ups, and students interested in the startup/tech space.  It’s a bootstrapped event (though there is free beer and pizza) where a lot of great contacts can be made and ideas can be shared.  In case you missed the fall series, you can view some great video clips of the sessions.

If you’re interested in attending this invite-only event, more details are here, and please contact me (form at the bottom of the page) to request an invite.

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Posted in MBA, New York, Startups, Technology, Venture Capital

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Your Online Presence: Putting Your Best Foot Forward

January 20th, 2010

It’s summer internship interview season here at NYU Stern, and my fellow MBA classmates are roaming the halls looking sharp in their suits with polished résumés in hand.  Everyone has spent countless hours crafting their ’stories,’ conducting mock interviews, and casing with fellow students.  I’m fortunate to go to school with some exceptional people who I know will do well in this structured recruiting process.  But what about for those of us who are not pursuing the traditional post-MBA routes of investment banking, consulting, or a management role in a large corporation (among others)?

Several students like myself are opting for less structured career paths in fields such as venture capital, startups, or tech companies that may not recruit at NYU (if they formally recruit at all).  While I believe that putting your best foot forward, both offline and online, is important for just about everyone (especially so you don’t end up Facebook fired, dumped or evicted), I would argue that it’s even more so for those of us in the ‘non-traditional’ bucket.  I would expect that people conducting their career search primarily through networking, or applying to jobs cross-country, are even more likely to have someone seek them out online to learn more before deciding whether to accept an introduction, or to pursue a geographically remote job candidate.

Last month Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures spoke to the NYU Entrepreneur’s Exchange Club about VC and working at startups.  One thing that really struck me is that Union Square Ventures doesn’t really review formal résumés when looking at new analysts/associates – they say “point me to your online presence.” Wow.  That’s partly what got me moving in creating this blog (that I had planned for so long but had never really gotten around to).

Even if other firms aren’t this explicit, you can bet that recruiters or people who are making hiring decisions are Googling you, or looking for you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube or the myriad of other social media outlets.  Fortunately you have a lot of control over what surfaces on these sites and with a little work, can put your best foot forward with the content that places you in the best light for anyone seeking you out online.

I plan to do a series of follow-up posts highlighting both basic and more advanced tactics on building and shaping your online presence.  Stay tuned.

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Posted in MBA, Technology, Uncategorized

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Apply to InSITE!

January 15th, 2010

InSITE logoOne of the best experiences thus far in my MBA career has been my participation as an InSITE Fellow.  You can read more about what we do on the InSITE website, but essentially it’s a small group of NYU and Columbia Law and Business students that consult with startup companies as they seek first round VC funding.

We help to refine their business models and nail down their VC pitches to a point where we feel comfortable putting them in front of any VC.  We take on five companies each semester, and at the end, we hold a pitch event where the companies pitch to our venture capital sponsors.  There’s good coverage of the most recent December pitch event here.  InSITE also provides other awesome opportunities such as a career night to network with InSITE alumni in various corporte, startup, and VC roles, as well as speaker events such as last year’s talk by Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures.

Okay, I’m done with the ’sell.’  Hopefully you see the value and choose to apply.  Check out InSITE’s recent blog post for deadlines more info about the application process.  Good luck!

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Posted in MBA, Startups, Venture Capital