"In 30 days, my startup will be dead"

I came across this fascinating blog, written by an anonymous entrepreneur in the tech/web space who sought out Venture Capital to grow his project. His start-up is now about to fail:

My startup has 30 days to live

It's a really compelling read. There are lots of interesting insights, both about the business aspect of trying to grow a start-up, and the emotional aspect of being so personally invested in a failing project. You can't help feel for the guy! Here's a scribble from one of his posts:

I can’t count how much advice I’ve gotten on work life balance. You can try time management schemes, forcibly limit your working hours, and even tear yourself away from your mac for time disconnected. The thing is, none of this works for a founder. In my case, it’s because of a serious emotional attachment to my work.

I find it especially valuable considering how much time and effort I will be spending working with a start-up during my Entrepreneurship Project at IMD next year!

Event heads up - Info Sessions hosted by current IMD students around the world

Wanted to spread the word about some upcoming information sessions IMD will announced recently. Sounds like a unique opportunity to meet some of the current MBA students, who are off enjoying their summer break. They will be available in many cities across the world to answer questions and give their perspective on their year at IMD and their experience in Lausanne. Here's when and where you can meet them:

Date	Time	City
July 8th	18:00 to 20:00	Athens
July 9th	18:00 to 20:00	Tel Aviv
July 10th	18:30 to 20:00	Sydney
July 15th	12:00 to 15:00	Tokyo
July 18th	19:30 to 21:00	Hong Kong
July 18th	TBD	Buenos Aires
July 19th	19:00 to 22:00	London

Here is the link to the registration page in the IMD website.

Too bad there won't be any near me in the US. I would have enjoyed meeting up and with one of the current students.

While we're on the subject of ice hockey

I was reading a little more about ice hockey in Switzerland the other day and I came across a hilarious article about a Canadian hockey player that spent a few months in the Swiss League during the NHL lockout last fall.

"Canadian ice hockey star Tyler Seguin wowed fans while playing in Switzerland’s top league during the NHL lockout, but neat-and-tidy Swiss are also remembering him for his messy habits."

Here are some examples of this *shocking* behavior, apparently reported in Switzerland's most read online tabloid:

“The parquet floor was littered with coins worth 220 francs”

“He ... did not know how to operate the dishwasher... when he ran out of clean plates, glasses and cutlery, he bought plastic tableware"

"Coca-cola bottles, garbage and dirty linen lay scattered across the floor"

"... the cleaning company spent a full day tidying the apartment"

The horror!

Clearly the Swiss have earned their stereotype for being clean and orderly. As a bit of a neat-freak myself, I actually admire this aspect of Swiss culture. But I didn't realize messy habits could make headlines!

Here's a link to the full article:

NHL star branded as 'slob' in Switzerland

Notes from the Career Services Q&A with Claire Lecoq

Yesterday I attended the Q&A session with Claire Lecoq, IMD's director of Career Services. There was a lot of useful information about how IMD helps students in their career pursuits, the benefits of the IMD MBA to students and recruiters, and what students should be thinking about as they go into their MBA.

During the first part of the session, Claire gave a quick presentation highlighting some of the features of IMD's career services approach. For the remainder of the session Claire fielded questions. 

Both the presentation and the Q&A revealed some interesting themes about IMD's career services, and how to successfully maximize the benefits of the MBA when it comes to the job search career management.

See below for my best shot at summarizing the session.

The Blackhawks are Stanley Cup champions!

A couple weeks after I first moved to the US, back in 2001, some of my new dorm buddies in Chicago invited me to go watch a Blackhawks game. I knew next to nothing about ice hockey, but I figured it would be cool to go check out a new sport.

From the first drop of the puck I was hooked. I was so impressed at how fast the game was, how the players were so tough and yet so skilled, and how passionate all the hockey fans were. Hockey became my new passion, and I've been a dedicated Blackhawks fan ever since.

At that time the Blackhawks were the worst team in the league. In a way it was a good thing, because I could go watch games for a mere $8 with my student discount. But it was also a bad thing, obviously, because the Hawks lost a lot of games, and the thought of winning the cup seemed like a complete impossibility.

Well, last night the Blackhawks did win the Stanley Cup, for the second time in four years. What a thrill it is to see the your favorite team win it all!

Since this is a blog about my IMD experience, I suppose I should try to connect the Blackhawks and ice hockey to IMD in some way. The cool thing is, there is in fact a connection!