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Tips from a KPCB-backed entrepreneurial cover boy

10.30.2009 · Posted in News and FYI, Stanford MBA

Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, and Bing Gordon, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, dropped by Stanford to present a the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader series. Mark just got back from a press tour resulting in cover stories in USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Business Week and in the fashion section of the New York ...

Glide Floss changes your life forever

10.29.2009 · Posted in Product Review

I discovered Glide over dinner with the co-founder of Pong360.com. We discussed Net Promoter and I asked what product he’d most readily recommend to a friend: “It’s got to be Glide. Dude, it changes your life. You can never go back.” Curious, I bought some. Here’s what it looks like: Above Left: Cool Mint flavored ...

Sample MBA Application Questions

10.28.2009 · Posted in Funny

Disclaimer: Below is from a random email forwarded to me. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of this blog or its author. Thanks to F for sharing. Harvard: Of which Fortune 1000 company are you going to become the CEO and why would you pick that company? Wharton: Of which Fortune 1000 company are ...

~$40 of Free Stuff for MBAs with Bikes

10.27.2009 · Posted in News and FYI

First year Stanford MBAs get ~$40 of free stuff for registering their bikes for $3.50 at the Parking and Transportation building. Here’s what I picked up today:   Above (left to right): Set of bike lights (compare at $30), reflective leg band (compare at $10), my receipt for $3.50. No vouchers or coupons to deal ...

Fly like an Eagle Creek Universal Traveler

10.26.2009 · Posted in Product Review

Pros: Weighs just 2 lbs. Straps distribute weight wonderfully (particularly adjustable sternum strap). TSA approved for quickly passing checkpoints. Lots of pockets. Holds its shape well. Neat and organized look. Good quality for $120. Cons: No exterior water bottle pocket. More expensive than typical school backpacks. ...

How to Crash a Sergey Brin Party

10.25.2009 · Posted in Valley Culture

“No one would care, you should just come.” S was a CS grad student winding down a startup funded by a local billionaire who liked him and wrote a check. Despite the setback, he planned to start a second company in a few months. His invitation led to a Sergey Brin-funded get together for Stanford ...

Staples makes a Better Binder

10.24.2009 · Posted in Product Review

Next week, Stanford MBA students like me write midterm exams. To prepare, I spent several hours online and at the local Staples deciding what binders to buy for organizing my notes. Criteria: Be a useful “backpack binder”: Each week I haul my classes syllabuses plus weekly readings to class—about 250 pages. On Sunday I swap ...

Don’t be fooled by “Cloud Computing” buzz word

10.17.2009 · Posted in Tech

Ever needed to look smart talking about “cloud computing”? It’s easy to get confused by techies and marketers tossing around the term. They’ll twist and stretch it to fit whatever they happen to be selling that day. You need to know what the term really means. I think Larry Ellison put it best at OpenWorld ...

Condoleezza Rice assigns a lot of reading…

10.15.2009 · Posted in Stanford MBA

Condoleeza Rice teaches this week’s Global Management class at the Stanford GSB for first year MBAs. Her theme of “institutions and predictability” included cases on Microsoft and the EU, Google in China, Gazprom, and Dubai Ports World. That’s double our usual reading load, but the class arrived well versed and spoke at the top of ...