Mate, I C Bill

My Summer 2008 (Part 1) - orginally posted on July 27, 2008

2011-03-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

Last week one of my learning teammate sent out an e-mail summarizing what she's been up to with her consulting summer internship. It's good to know she's doing great and also has learned a lot. More than half of the summer is gone; it's great to stay in touch with everybody. So here's the story I'm going to share with my learning teammates and all other friends.

This summer I decided to stay in Philly to work on a software start-up project. The work I'm doing now wasn't 100% what was planned before the summer began. But as expected, there's tons of work to do. So far the focus has been on product prototype development including design iteration and dialogs with potential customers for feedback.

I've done lots of work on my own, but I'm lucky enough to get help from my friends in Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Philly. To speed up, I also learned to do some basic programming myself. It's really cool to see my codes do exactly what I want.

Yet for the most part on the non-technical side, I still have to figure out the answer myself. For example, recently the investigation of competitors' patent portfolio put my nerve through a roller-coaster ride.

Since intellectual properties are essential to any business, on my watch list there're a list of pending patent applications I've monitored closely. Two weeks ago I found one of them got its final rejection by the USPTO. Feeling a slight relief, I was curious enough to find out the cause for rejection. It turned out that an earlier issued patent was cited by the patent examiner to disapprove the patentability. As I read the earlier patent (unknown to me till that point), I became nervous because it claims some technical elements that could be critical to my product development. What next? Should we start thinking about licensing? How can we negotiate for a reasonable royalty rate? .... Fortunately soon I came to a great relief when I found this worrisome patent actually expired because the assignee didn't pay the maintenance fee! Aha!

Other than the above, I've adopted a new name for the business, filed filed corporation registration (LLC in Delaware) and contacted some investors and customers on the West Coast for my upcoming visit to San Francisco/Bay Area in August.

Not working in big corporation, I certainly don't have a chance for fancy retreats, city tours or other nice perks (which I don't even know what they are). I guess the only perk for Employee #0 (i.e., me) is extremly flexible hours. If I have to run some errands during the weekdays, I don't feel guilty to go. If I feel like working some more after a get-together with friends, I feel quite happy to stay up till past 2 am - I found myself full of motivation.

I split my time between home and the office provided by the Wharton Venture Initiation Program. Whenever I work at home, it takes me less than 5 seconds to "commute", i.e., from bed to desk. But in reality it usually takes me half an hour to wake up - not sure if this is a sign for lack of self-motivation....

I'd love to work non-stop, but I've tried not to lose too much work-life balance. I signed up for the student membership at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and I've joined guided tours including "Rhythms of India: The Art of Nandalal Bose" and French portraits. Last Friday evening my friends at Penn and I went to a free concert performed by Philadelphia Orchestra. It was phenomenal!

Hmmm, what else? Well, I shouldn't forget I've continued learning to dance Salsa. I took the weekly Salsa lesson last semester. But without practice, I forgot 95%, if not more! So this summer I practice every week with a friend whom I met at the class. With her very helpful feedback (like how to lead), I think I've made quite some progress, compared with last semester. Now I feel great!! :D

Entrepreneurial Gatherings in Silicon Valley (Originally posted on Aug 11, 2008)

2011-03-18T00:13:00.000-07:00

Since I came to the Bay Area last week, I've attended 3 networking events for start-up entrepreneurs. Even though I've heard many times about the entrepreneurial environment in Silicon Valley, it's really cool to witness such a high concentration of entrepreneurial gatherings and to meet many passionate entrepreneurs.

Aug 6. SF New Tech: "Widgets" (Product Demo)
Take-aways: 1) a platform technology has great potential; 2) an effective business model is still needed for popular widget platform providers.

Aug 7. Silicon Valley Association of Software Entrepreneur : "Raising Capital for Early Stage Technology Start-ups (Panel)."
Take-aways: Nothing dramatically new, but nice to meet many people during the social hour.

Aug 11. FountainBlue's High Tech Entrepreneurs' Forum: "Selling SAAS to the Enterprise."
The main event was a talk on SaaS sales aided by a panel of sales gurus. One of the panelists pointed out that no top business schools offer courses on sales, which, however, is such an essential skill to any company. I totally agree with him. Last fall, I went to MIT Sloan to participate in its MBA Sales Competition. It was an eye-opening experience. I definitely learned a lot, and I want to go again this fall.

The event tonight was held at a law firm. When I was about to leave, I bumped into an attoreny who was working late. I couldn't help asking him a burning question. He actually practices in the area specifically related to my question. The 10-min chat helped me greatly. Later I bought a bottle of Chardonnay to celebrate my joy.

Hello Cali! (Originally posted on Aug 5, 2008)

2011-03-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I flew to San Jose. I'll stay here till next Friday. The San Francisco Bay Area is pretty much the only place where I want to be after I finish my MBA next May. I love the start-up environment so much that the air even smells entrepreneurial to me.

I came here for several reasons. I'll attend several start-up networking events to see more what the community is like. Several meeting were scheduled with venture capital investors to talk about my venture development for their feedback. Although my start-up project is too early for VC investment at this point, I want to start building relationships now. And certainly I want to catch up with some friends whom I haven't seen for a while.

I'm staying at a classmate's place in Belmont. The night sky is beautiful!

VCIC - It's all about team work! (Originally posted on 11/23/08)

2011-03-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my team won the Wharton Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC)! We'll present Wharton to compete at the regional VCIC at MIT Sloan next March. Yay! :o)

We had 2 rounds. In the 1st round, we were given a business plan from a medical device start-up to assess. The deliverable included an executive summary (including the due diligence and investment decision) and a term sheet. Even if we decided the business wasn't VC-fundable, we would still submit a term sheet. In the 2nd round, we had 4 business plans ranging from mobile marketing/networking, solar energy to healthcare IT. In addition, we had the chance to hear the pitches given by each entrepreneur who provided the business plan. In the end, each team didn't only need to turn in the executive summary and term sheet but also did a presentation in front of the judges and other audiences (5-minute presentation and 10-minute Q&A).

As we celebrated the success, we all felt great about the effectiveness of our team work. To begin with, we put a great effort on building a team with complimentary skills and ended up with a McKinsey consultant, an MD candidate, a software guru, a healthcare expert and a material/catalysis Ph.D. and inventor. Before the 2nd round took place, we broke down the available time to major stages and shared the workload including the due diligence, valuation, term sheet, presentation, etc. The team was very collaborative. Everybody worked very hard. Different opinions were exchanged in a very constructive way. The team work was so smooth that it definitely contributed greatly to our winning.

Other than sharing the due diligence, I drafted the term sheet. Personally I'm quite happy with what I was able to do this time, because a year ago I had no idea about the subtlety in those clauses like anti-dilution, liquidation preference, etc. and now I can draft a term sheet acceptable to the VC judges. I guess my tuition didn't completely go to the sink. :o)

Sloan Sales Competition (Originally posted on 11/1/08)

2011-03-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

On October 18, two of my classmates and I participated in the final phase of the MIT Sloan International MBA Sales Competition.

This year the competition consisted of two phases. The first and screening phase was a 5-minute pitch on the phone to sell the private wealth management service of a bank to a wealthy family business owner in his succession planning. 3 top contestants from each school were qualified for the final phase at Sloan. The second and final phase included two rounds.

Round 1 was a one-on-one pitch to sell "American Express card service to a successful furniture store's founder and CEO who had been reluctant to adopt any card service". 15 minutes and no more. I wasn't quite happy with my own performance, but my judge, a Sloan alumnus who founded the Sales Club 4 years ago and currently works at Google, was very nice and gave me very insightful feedback.

Round 2 was a group pitch to sell "Basho Technologies' salesforce management software to Google". The team stayed up late the previous night to prepare for a deck and took the time to practice before the pitch. We played the roles of CEO, CTO and Sales Manager, while 3 judges played Google's CTO, CFO and Country Head of Sales. We got lots of questions from the judges including several which we didn't anticipate. But to our great joy, we did quite well and the group pitch was ranked No. 2 out of the 11 participating schools.

In the end, a 2nd year from Berkeley/Haas stood out of about 70 contestants from 11 business schools and won the championship (including a $3,000 cash prize). I'm quite happy with my performance, as my total score was ranked No. 5.

It was another great learning experience, and it was a lot of fun to meet students from other schools. Many thanks to the student organizers at Sloan. They did a fantastic job!

MIT Sloan Sales Competition (Originally Posted on 9/27/08)

2011-03-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

I just finished the preliminary round of the MIT Sloan Sales Competition. I scored 95 points (presumably out of 100). :P Hopefully I can make it to the final round scheduled on October 18.

Actually I participated in the same competition last year. It was such a great learning experience that I started to appreciate selling a lot more. No matter how well the market research is done, and no matter how elegantly the financial modeling is done, no products or services turn into value until they're sold. Selling is never done by sales people alone. But ironically, selling isn't taught at any top business schools. I'm glad Sloan has a strong initiative to build the sales skill among MBA students. The one-day competition was very well organized. Other than the competition, they've also got a Sales Club as well as a Sales Conference. Kudos to Sloan!

Last year, each contestant went through 3 rounds of competitions, each of which had something to sell, including server virtualization, solar panel and online community membership. In each round, it was a one-on-one sales pitch with a judge who played the role as customer. The judge is a seasoned sales manager or director for some company. The learning experience started right after the pitch, when a written feedback was provided. Understanding customer needs and building rapport with them are critical to the success in sales. Simply dumping the product features on the table won't go far. My judge's feedback was candid, practical and insightful. I was able to apply the learning instantly in the next round, which was reflected by my increased scores from Rd 1 to Rd3.

At the end, I was far away from winning any prize. (I didn't expect myself to win anything, anyway. One of my cohort mates eventually advanced to the National MBA Sales Competition and won the championship!) But it was a fabulous learning experience. Back when the school started, I blocked my calendar according to the competition's agenda this year.

Also, I persuaded several classmates to join the competition. Maybe a proof of my improved sales skill? :o)

I'm going to Quantico!! (Originally Posted in Sept 2008)

2011-03-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wharton has leadership ventures scheduled for 2008-2009.

Although I ran out of my auction points for the Antarctica Expedition last winter, I signed up for the wait list of the U.S. Marine Corps Officers Candidate School Program at Quantico, VA.

Yesterday I was told I got in!!

"Getting More" - A Negotiation Bible by Prof. Stuart Diamond at Wharton

2011-03-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

Please allow me to introduce a very exciting new book titled "Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World". It is authored by Professor Stuart Diamond at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Did you ever feel frustrated by a tough negotiation? Did you ever wish you could have negotiated a better deal for yourself? I know I certainly did. I'm a chemist by training. For a long time, dealing with molecules was a lot easier than negotiating with people. I hated negotiation, partially because I didn't like confrontation and partially because I preferred "take it or leave it". Haggling was out of the question for a guy like me.

There are probably a few lucky people among us who were born to be super good at negotiation. Good for them! But for the rest of us, we can still acquire and improve our negotiation skill by building awareness and finding the right way of training ourselves. Whether you agree (or still decide if you want to agree), please read on. :o)

In my personal experience, taking the negotiation course with Professor Stuart Diamond at Wharton has totally changed my view of negotiation. From job search to relocation to my current job in venture capital investment, again and again his negotiation techniques helped me and my friends a big time.

- Two months ago, AT&T billed me $300 for my international roaming during a recent trip to Europe. With Prof. Diamond's negotiation approach, I ended up paying $30 only for the roaming.
- Four months ago, a friend was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol for speeding. Before she had to appear in court, I shared with her a couple thoughts borrowed from Prof. Diamond's class. The next day she told me her fine was significantly reduced from the original amount (by 50% as I vaguely remember).
- Fifteen months ago, my landlord agreed to charge me $500 less, after I convinced him I would bring a great deal of intangible value to his house.
- Two years ago, a classmate used Prof. Diamond's negotiation framework and got herself extra $20k for base salary.
- Of course, negotiation doesn't always involve $$. In Prof. Diamond's own case, he didn't force his son to brush his teeth but asked him which tooth brush to pick, blue or green. The boy felt empowered with the choice he could make and joyfully picked one - everybody was happy.

Professor Stuart Diamond is THE most popular professor at Wharton. His negotiation class has always been oversubscribed by the Wharton MBAs. Outside Wharton, he has been invited to teach at Fortune 100 companies across the world (such as Google, but I heard it could take a year to get a slot in his work shop).

Now you know THE BEST NEWS of this week - you don't have to go to Wharton or bid for those exclusive workshops to learn from Prof. Diamond. His new book "Getting More" is a negotiation bible that been distilled from years of real-world negotiation and teaching of negotiation. For $14.99, you can get a copy from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-More-Negotiate-Achieve-Goals/dp/0307716899/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t).

Yes, I'm shamelessly promoting my professor and his new book, because I've personally benefited from his class. His teaching has made me a lot more effective in both career and life. I ordered the book for myself as reference; I certainly want to continue improving my own negotiation skill. I'm positive you'll find Prof. Diamond's book helpful and insightful to your career and life too.

Thanks for reading.

Script of Final Speech for WHCP899 Advanced Persuasion Skills and Strategies for Communicating Change

2010-08-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I went to Mountain View for a friend's birthday celebration. She went to Sloan for her MBA, and we met a couple times during the MBA Sales Competition at Sloan and other inter-mural events. The catch-up reminded me of this blog, :P because I had wanted to post the script of my final speech for a communication course at Wharton. I founded the Wharton Sales Club and envisioned it would be a great benefit for MBA students to learn how to sell (not necessarily by taking a sales job) in any career path. Since my last post was about recruiting like a salesman, I wanted to share some more thoughts about "selling". So here it is:

Hello everyone, my name is "Mate, I C Bill". I’m a Wharton MBA, Class of 2009. For those of you in Class of 2010, 11 and beyond, what kind of skills do you want to improve the most? I’m sure financial modeling, market research, etc. all deserve to be on your list. And how about the skill of selling?

By the word “selling”, I’m not talking about turning every MBA graduate into a used car sales person. The sales education for MBA should focus on developing the selling skill that can be universally applied to any business and career needs, because essentially business is all about selling.

We come to Wharton for the best business education in the world and prepare ourselves for the next step in our career. Let’s face it – the whole recruiting process is indeed a process of selling! If the career management service can’t find your dream job, you need to do lots of networking to find prospects, in other words, companies which may have hiring needs. Then you try to set up a brief meeting or phone call to introduce yourself and understand their needs more. After the first meeting, you should try to get the second, or even third, fourth meeting, before you eventually close the deal and land the job.

Again, business is all about selling.

After you land your dream job, selling will still continue to be a key element of your career success. Lots of successful Wharton alumni told me how important selling is to their career.

As partner of consulting firm, you sell.
As senior executive at investment bank, you sell.
As entrepreneur, you sell your start-up ideas to VC investors.
As VC/PE partner, you sell fund-raising proposal to the LPs.
And last but not the least, if you’re on a date and if you want to get a second date, you really have to do a damn good job to sell yourself, right? :o)

See? Not only business but also life is all about selling.

I’m sure some of you might be thinking that the skill of selling is really reserved for only a few gifted people. It seems to be true some people are born to be good at selling, but for the rest of us, I believe we can learn and improve, if we start doing it today at Wharton.

Let me tell you my story. I was a chemist before I came to Wharton. I used to think as long as your chemistry is great, you can definitely wow the audience. Soon after I made it to Wharton, such mindset failed miserably. During my first year, I participated in the MIT Sloan MBA Sales Competition, and not surprisingly, my performance sucked. Of course your product won’t sell itself, just because you think it’s good. Understand the customer need and then make a sound value proposition! With feedbacks from the judge in each round, I was able to apply the learning to the following round and instantly showed some improvement. It was an eye-opening experience for me. A year later, I was so excited about the competition that I decided to go to MIT Sloan again. This time my total score was ranked No. 5 out of 70 contestants from the 11 top business schools such as HBS, Stanford, Chicago, LBS and so on.

If a chemistry geek like me can show some improvement of the selling skill, I’m confident you can do even better.

As Founder of the Wharton Sales Club, I’d like to invite you to join this exciting club. Our mission is to promote the MBA sales education and prepare you for your career success. Since the club was launched in November 2008, we’ve brought in professional sales trainer, successful entrepreneur, and even managing director from UBS to share their perspective on selling. We’ve also had the privilege to have Prof. Stuart Diamond as our faculty advisor. As you may know, Professor Diamond teaches negotiations and is the most popular professor in the course auction. In addition to sales seminars and workshops, we will also launch our sales competition and sales conference for you to gain hands-on experience and real-world perspective.

Let’s develop a salesman spirit, because business is all about selling. Wharton will be a great place for us to learn how to sell. Let’s get started now!

Venture Job Recruiting, A Salesman’s Approach

2010-07-05T12:29:00.001-07:00

VC is arguably one of the toughest jobs for MBAs to get.

Venture (“venture” and “VC” will be used interchangeably in my blog post) recruiting doesn’t have the luxury of structured process of campus recruiting. At most business schools, campus recruiting has been streamlined by the Career Management Office. Recruiters go to the campus, give information sessions, collect resumes, pick a bunch to interview, filter out some candidates and give the remaining pool a second-round, and finally make offers to the selected lucky few. But venture recruiting rarely works this way. In fact, I’ve never heard of somebody who found his VC job through campus recruiting.

VC is a people business. Since every venture firm is quite lean, the partners at each firm take their time to find the right fit. They want to get to know a person very well before bringing him/her on board. So networking is a critical first step for MBAs who’re interested in breaking into this industry. If there’s any tip that I can share, I suggest the candidate approach the venture job recruiting process like a salesman. Let me explain it here.

1) A salesman starts his sales process by casting a big net to identify prospects; a candidate needs to reach out to venture firms and make contacts as broadly as possible. Cold call is okay, but if a referral can be made by a mutual contact, at least one meeting is guaranteed.

2) Next, the salesman gets the first meeting with a potential client and tries to understand the client’s needs; the candidate should do the same and understand what a venture firm is looking for. It doesn’t matter how great your product is. If it doesn’t address the customer need, it’s useless. I met some peers who tried to get the venture job by labeling them as experts in the solar or wind space. It certainly helps by showing a strong interest and commitment. But since many venture firms have already built in-house knowledge in the solar/wind space, why do they want to add another solar/wind guy? Additionally, at such “first” meetings it is also critical to build a rapport with the prospect. People tend to do business only with those whom they like.

3) It’s important to have those “first” meetings, and it’s even more important to have the second meetings. Both salesman and VC job seeker must try to get the second (even third, fourth, etc.) meeting as they continue the process. As the customer need is better understood, it’s time to reformulate the value proposition and promote it to the audience in the follow-up meetings.

4) In neither process, the decision maker is likely to be an individual person. When you sell products/services to a company, pay attention to who are influential on the decision-making process. When you recruit for a venture job, you must make everybody at a firm feel happy with you, regardless of his/her role.

5) Iteration of Step 1 through 4: a salesman manages a pipeline of potential leads in both early and late stages, whereas a VC job seeker got to keep track of his leads in the same way. When you’re convinced that a customer (venture firm) has no way to buy your product/service (hire you), just say “thank you” and then move on.

6) Close the deal. No matter how many sales leads are in the pipeline, the success is ultimately measured by whether a deal can be closed. The analogy is just so obvious for the VC job seeker.

During the winter break of 2008/2009, I spent the first half working at my apartment in Philly and tried to connect with people at venture firms with practices in the Cleantech space. I cold called many people with an e-mail including my self-introduction (who I am, what I’m interested in, whether we can meet over coffee or lunch) as well as a resume tailored for the venture job. Other than cold call, I tried to get help from all my friends and former colleagues for a referral.

I don’t know whether it’s because my profile looked so good or it’s because people were less busy during the winter holidays – the latter was probably true. Over 80% of the people I contacted got back to me. I was thrilled. I worked with their executive assistants and set up as many meetings as possible. Then between Jan 3 and Jan 17, I had my first venture recruiting trip to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Before each meeting, I did a ton of homework to understand what companies a venture firm had invested in, what was new in the industry related to their investment or portfolio companies, the background of the person I was going to meet, and so on. In case someone wants to know the dress code, business casual should be fine.

During those meetings, instead of labeling myself as solar/wind/biofuel expert, I asked what was interesting to the venture firms. Many people told me it was energy storage (batteries for portable electronics, vehicle electrification, or grid applications). So I offered to do an independent study on the energy storage space. I framed it as a school project. Since it cost $0 for the venture firms, who would turn down my proposal? Moreover, the partners at Firm A agreed to work with me and discuss my progress periodically.

I took the “independent study” seriously. Besides digging out some market research to understand the overall market growth trend, I went through the grapevine and found people who’re regarded as THE experts on batteries at their companies (such as HP, Motorola, BYD, etc.). The primary research brought me a ton of first-hand insights. I also got a ton of help from my ex-girlfriend, who is a management consultant at a top consulting firm, to turn my findings into a PowerPoint deck.

Once I built this deck, it became even easier to have more meetings with venture firms. Who doesn’t like freebies? It was certainly mutually beneficial. As I made progress, it became quite natural to get the second and third meetings with venture firms in my recruiting pipeline.

During the spring semester in 2009, I flew once a month from Philadelphia to the San Francisco Bay Area. During each trip, I spent at least a week cruising back and forth on Sand Hill Road. It could be a costly effort – airfare, rental car, food and lodging, etc. I tried every possible way to keep my recruiting low-cost. Fortunately I had a friend at Google who graciously hosted me every time and took me to Google for free and tasty dinner. I was also introduced by a venture firm to a start-up for a couple hours of consultation. Rather than getting paid and taxed, I asked the start-up to cover my trip expense at the equal value. I also remember once while I was waiting for my 6am SWA flight at the PHL airport, a volunteer was called upon to give up the seat since the flight was overbooked. A couple hours of delay wouldn’t affect my meeting schedule on Sand Hill Road later that day, so I jumped out of my chair to take the offer – a $300 voucher which was very well used for a trip later on. Last but not least, my favorite cost-saving was spending my free time at the Menlo Park Public Library either working on my school project or preparing for the meeting with the next venture firm. The public library has free wireless, so why should I pay Starbucks to get online?

Between March and May, my networking effort led to interviews with four venture firms. I went through the process of meeting with every person on each of those investment teams. I was really impressed by all of them. I dreamed about becoming a member of any of those all-star teams. All that I needed was ONE job offer. And I really wished I could get it by the time of graduation.

To my disappointment, it didn’t work the way I had hoped for. It was a positive sign to see the great traction that I built with those venture firms on Sand Hill, but I just couldn’t close a deal. None of those four firms eventually hired anybody, because they all changed gear and had hiring freeze.

It wasn’t hard to understand this. Due to the economic meltdown in 2008/09, most venture firms couldn’t raise the next fund. Consequently, hiring another associate dropped to the bottom of every firm’s list, if not falling off completely. I told everyone whom I met that I appreciated his/her time and career advice and I also wanted to develop a long-term relationship no matter how my recruiting effort pans out.

And of course I needed to change my plan accordingly. When a customer can’t buy 100% of your stuff, can you sell a smaller piece that costs less but still meets some need? I called those venture firms which seemed to have liked me, “I understand what the economy looks like and I also understand you can’t commit to hiring a full-time associate. But if you have a small budget for a short-term gig, I’ll still be happy to take it.” Most people said they still couldn’t do it, but two partners at Firm A said they would think about it.

It was May. Summer already arrived in Philadelphia. It was time to wrap up business school. Along with 800 classmates, I graduated with my MBA. To be honest, the excitement was discounted, as I still couldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel. But I had already decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area anyway.

The choice was a no-brainer to me. The Bay Area has the highest concentration of Cleantech venture firms as well as an awesome start-up ecosystem. It’s also closely connected with businesses in China. Although it’s less relevant to me in the short term, I’ve always wanted to make more use of my Chinese background in my career. If I must bet the farm on only one location, it is the Bay Area.

I sold all my furniture, donated 15 bags of clothes and stuff, and shipped 18 boxes of books and other belongings. On May 29, I left Philly and started a cross-country road trip. California was the destination.

The road trip was lots of fun - a total of 33 days covering 6700 miles. When I arrived at Billings, Montana, I got on the phone with a partner at Firm A. She said her firm would like to have me for a 3- to 4-month gig and asked me when I would be available.

“How about July 7?” I suggested.

She agreed.

Deal.

[To be continued]

2010-07-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

Busy.

I’ve been busy since the start of my new job, especially over the last couple weeks. An investment deal has taken most of my time both at work and after work…. But I’m very glad about the learning curve in this process. Even better - the deal is expected to close soon.

Last Wednesday evening when I got out of my office building, I suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. What was it? I realized it was the same cool and crisp air that I had felt in the evening when I arrived in the Bay Area on June 30, 2009. Outside my car I had to pause for a minute to feel it more, and no doubt it really was the same. But besides the air, where did the rest of my memory go?

Lots of things have happened since a year ago. I have wanted to reflect on my experience. Now it is the afternoon of July 4. Before I head to a BBQ party tonight, let me continue the recollection of my journey since December 2008.

Why Cleantech Venture Capital (VC)

2010-06-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

VC recruiting for MBAs takes lots of work. Job offer isn’t guaranteed prior to graduation. So students need to clearly understand why they want to pursue a career in VC, before committing to this energy-draining process.

When I thought about my post-MBA career, I told myself I wanted to combine my technology foundation (Ph.D. in chemistry followed by R&D with four patents, management experiences, business strategy in emerging technologies, etc. at a Fortune 500 company) with business skills acquired through MBA. I believed this would be a good way to maximize the value-add to both a firm and my own career.

The Cleantech space has been growing so fast. The space became particularly exciting to me when I was doing my MBA. I believed VC investment in Cleantech would get the most synergy out of my background and skills. The job won’t only require deep knowledge of a given market but also solid understanding of technology innovation. I was confident I’m equipped with the skills to do it. Plus, whether it’s renewable energy generation or energy efficiency improvement, the opportunity in Cleantech VC will allow me to potentially make a positive social impact. That’s 100% in line with the value of my life.

But let me also make it clear - the VC career path has its own risk. Only some people start as Associate and eventually manage to become partner at a venture firm. For me, whether I’ll be able to turn a near-term Cleantech VC job into a long-term career path, I want this near-term experience to become a stepping stone to the next phase of my career, whatever and wherever it will be.

In the next couple posts, I’ll talk about my Cleantech VC recruiting experience.

Gotta Stop Procrastination

2010-05-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

I've been on my new job for nearly a month. I must say I really like it. The team is excellent, and I'm learning a lot.

But I haven't had a chance to post my VC job search story. I'll try to do it soon....

My job search in the post 9/11 period

2010-04-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

(This post is dedicated to my mother on her birthday, April 22.)

When I started my industrial job search in spring 2002, I knew the odds weren’t on my side.

Like other industries, the chemical space was hit really hard in the post 9/11 period. There were very few job openings. If there was any, it wanted folks in organic or analytical chemistry. My Ph.D. thesis research was in the field of organometallic chemistry, which was never considered “hot”. Whenever a job was posted online, I could imagine hundreds of applications, if not more, would flood in from highly qualified candidates with multiple years of post-doctoral research experiences and numerous publications. But I was merely a fourth-year Ph.D. student with nothing published yet. “Manuscript in preparation” repeated itself for each projected publication on my resume.

I was under the impression that it wouldn’t be cost-effective to surf job boards, submit application and wait for any luck to be picked for an interview. I got to do more to find my way out. To me, the only way was through networking.

During my Ph.D. years, I attended a few conferences. Each time I tried to meet with as many people as possible and talked about all kinds of topics such as weather, food, culture, school life, and of course chemistry. I always made sure to get their contact information and followed up with a “nice meeting you” kind of e-mail. By the time I started my job search, I had already built a small rolodex.

In spring 2002, I went through my contact list and e-mailed each individual asking for an informational interview on the phone. Almost everybody replied and graciously agreed to spend some time with me. Not surprisingly, none of them had any job lead. But I thanked them for whatever advice and information they could share. Then I continued to contact the next person.

Dr. G was one of those industrial contacts whom I wanted to talk to. As a world-class industrial technologist, his early-career innovation in the 1970s made a huge impact on our daily life today. Today he’s the CEO at a profitable renewable energy company in Southern California. When we first met at a conference in Ohio in fall 2000, he was a Senior Research Fellow at a large chemical company in the South. At that time I had no idea how our initial hand-shake evolved into something that transformed career and life.

May 13. I e-mailed Dr. G with a typical can-we-catch-up-over-the-phone sort of request. The message was instantly bounced back, “Dr. G was no longer employed at Company XYZ.” What?! I was quite puzzled, because I would never expect someone like Dr. G to be laid off. So I spent the following days talking to other people and soon found he joined a company called RMFS.

May 30. Nobody had Dr.G’s new contact information. It was probably a dead lead anyway. But I felt I wanted to give it a try. I looked up the website of RMFS and went through its list of global locations. Given his technical role, Dr. G was unlikely to work at a production plant or sales office. And my best guess was he would still be in the US. Voila! There was a RMFS Technical Center outside Philadelphia with a main number listed on its web page. I called the number and asked to speak with Dr. G. Guess what? He was at this RMFS site. 15 seconds later, Dr. G answered my call with the familiar British accent. I was delighted to hear he remembered meeting me! When he learned about my career interest, he told me he just joined RMFS as Chief Scientist and, yes, he was building a team for a multi-million dollar project. In other words, HE WAS HIRING. Because of his busy schedule, we didn’t talk too long, but he said he would get back to me soon.

June7. My Ph.D. advisor came to my lab and told me he got a phone call from Dr. G for reference. I’m positive my advisor must’ve given some glowing words, because only 10 minutes later, Dr. G called to invite me for an on-site interview. I couldn’t believe I would soon have first on-site job interview ever!

June 23. I flew to Philadelphia and checked in at a Double Tree Hotel. By now, I knew I had fully prepared myself for the interview. I had a couple mock interviews. I did a ton of research on the company. I Googled all my interviewers and found many common interests to talk about, whether technical or not. Now that I had a chance for on-site interview, I wanted the job to be mine.

June 24. I have to admit I still felt nervous for my first and only on-site interview. Although I set alarm clock and requested wake-up call, I woke up by myself at 5:30am. It was a long day. My interview went from 7:30am through 5:30pm, which included a one-hour presentation, one-on-one interviews with seven people, lunch and more discussion with Dr. G. I didn’t feel being grilled by anybody. When I flew back to Chicago in the evening, I had a very positive feeling about this career opportunity.

June 25. I sent every interviewer a personalized thank-you note by mail. Then Dr. G called me in the lab, “7 out of 7 people gave thumbs-up!” Yes! Yes! Yes! I was really thrilled.

July 3. If I could get a job offer so easily, it would be too good to be true. Dr. G called me with an update that a management change just took place. The job offer wouldn’t be approved till the new director was appointed. So I restated my appreciation of the potential opportunity and stressed how interested I still was to join the team. Over the following three months, I exchanged e-mails and phone calls with Dr. G once a while. Meanwhile I did more networking calls and found another job lead with GE. (Of course I also had much fun during the summer time including participating in the Cherry Pit Spitting Competition.)

October 7. An e-mail came from Dr. G, "I just signed the offer letter. It is going FedEx and so you should receive it tomorrow morning by 10 or thereabouts." Finally it happened. Within an hour, I had called my parents and friends to share the news. I can’t remember exactly how my friends and I celebrated, but lots of beer was certainly consumed at the student pub that evening.

December 18. My Ph.D. advisor was pleased by my research work and had no problem with my graduation plan. I wrapped up everything and left for Philadelphia to join RMFS. It was my first job. A new chapter of my life started.

In retrospect, I’m so glad for what I did in the job search process. If I got sucked into the job board process, I’m still convinced I wouldn’t have hit any luck. If I gave up at any point during my outreach, I wouldn’t have reconnected with Dr. G for a very exciting opportunity. At some point, Dr. G admitted he was very impressed by the way I reached out to him. He said he never met someone else like me who landed a job with such self-motivation. Later on my drive and value-add certainly proved he made the right decision. :o)

Over the time, Dr. G has become a friend and mentor of mine. We have stayed in touch since we both left RMFS. He has always been supportive of my career pursuit. As of this very moment, we’re chatting on the G-Talk.

You never know until you try

2010-04-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

Starting from this post, I’ll talk about my job search related experience. I’d also like to share with you what I have learned so far. Let me begin with my resume.

Over the last couple years, my resume has been updated often. Sometimes I had to make a tough call which bullet should be replaced with a new one. But one bullet has remained untouched, which says “Dignitary Champion at the 29th International Cherry Pit Spitting Competition”. In fact, this has been my killer ice-breaker. Almost during every single interview, my interviewer would ask me what it was about.

So here’s the story.

It was summer 2002. My friends dragged me from Chicago to Eau Claire, MI for cherry picking. I was sort of reluctant to go, because I’d rather go to grocery store for cherries. But a driver was needed and I wanted to be nice, so I ended up cherry-picking for the first time (and only time so far) in my life. When we arrived at this farm outside Eau Claire, we saw a huge banner saying “29th International Cheery Pit Spitting Competition”. Anybody was welcome to sign up and each participant was provided free lunch. Did I say “free lunch”?! With my graduate student mentality for free food, I wrote down my name and thought I already made my day.

Don’t laugh. This competition isn’t a joke but serious annual event that dated back to the 1970s. It has hosted “athletes” from foreign countries – not only Canada but also Germany (and of course China in 2002). Each participant picks a cherry, eats the pulp and saves the pit. When it’s your turn, just spit the pit as far as you can.

My high-school physics teacher would definitely be proud of me, as I remembered very well that in theory a 45-degree angle is the best way to achieve a trajectory with the furthest distance. So I did.

41’8”!

No one else in the dignitary group beat this distance. The closest still came a few inches shorter.

I won!

The whole cherry-picking trip suddenly became really interesting. The crowd cheered for me. I was awarded a medal, a plaque, a $25 gift certificate and a box of produce. (It was more than free lunch!) A teenage boy asked me for autograph. I was even interviewed by some news paper. Wow, I felt like celebrity for the rest of my tour at the farm.

When I told the reporter why I signed up and how little I expected to win, a lady who listened to the conversation made a comment, “you never know until you try.”

Almost eight years has gone, I’m not sure I can replicate my success in cherry pit spitting, but I still recall this scene and one single line “you never know until you try”. I always made it clear to my interviewers that this is the key take-way from such a fun experience, despite my unchanged reluctance to go cherry picking.

You never know until you try.

When I reflected on my experiences, I know this is 100% right.

If I didn’t try, I would never have earned my Ph.D. from a top university in the US.

If I didn’t try, I would never have found a job during the post-9/11 crisis in 2002.

If I didn’t try, I would never have made it to Wharton for my MBA.

If I didn’t try, I would never have had a chance to land my dream job at a top-tier venture firm.

In our life and career, there’s nothing wrong to have a little ambition and set the goal high. Our endeavor doesn’t always guarantee a successful outcome. But without even trying, we will simply go nowhere.

Getting this job offer is exciting, and I feel proud of myself. But this is just another step along the way. I know I won’t stop trying.

So what do you think? Time to get a bag of cherries and start the pit spitting practice? :o)

Note: According to the Guinness Book of Records, the record distance of cherry pit spitting is 95 feet and 6.5 inches (29.12 m).

Finally I got my dream job

2010-04-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

In December 2008 when I made up my mind to pursue a post-MBA career in Cleantech venture investment, I turned down a job offer from a Fortune 100 company’s global leadership program. Instead I hoped that I would secure a venture job by graduation in May 2009. But due to the economic condition (duh....), venture recruiting was much tougher than it was in the previous year. No venture firm in the Cleantech space was hiring any post-MBA associate. The entire experience ended up taking 16 months, during which I had:

• 200+ networking meetings and phone calls (I really lost count after a while),
• Connection with 100+ venture capitalists,
• 4 trips from the east coast to the San Francisco Bay Area in Spring 2009 before I moved here anyway,
• Full interviews with partners at 4 venture firms which all seemed to like me but eventually didn’t hire me or anybody else due to hiring freeze,
• 2 consecutive paid gigs with top-tier venture firms, and
• 1 job offer at last for a longer-term (whatever it means) position from my dream venture firm in the Cleantech space.

I must admit it was a lot of work.... I'm soooooo ready for a break before the start of my new job.

Alternative Careers in Science: Leaving the Ivory Tower

2008-07-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Recently I ran into several interesting conversations about career development with my friends. They either just got Ph.D.'s or are close to finishing. While we shared a lot in common in our grad school experiences, I was glad to recommend a book they haven't read, because it was the book I wish I had a chance to read six half years ago when I left graduate school.

The book is titled "Alternative Careers in Science: Leaving the Ivory Tower". Each chapter was written by an accomplished professional who has a Ph.D. in some scientific field and has also successfully developed his/her career outside industrial/academic research. A short list of their alternative careers includes:

Investment banking
Venture capital
Sales
Science writing
Business development
Start-up
Patent law
Tech transfer
Consulting
Public policy
....

Because of challenges in research projects, slower-than-expected progress, or poor professor-student relationship, etc. , the Ph.D. experience can be miserable to some people. If you really hate your Ph.D. program, you should consider quitting as soon as possible. No matter how many years have been spent, sunk cost shouldn't be part of the calculation. But the tough part is you might have all sorts of constraints preventing you from quitting school tomorrow. So you have to think about what you want to do after getting your degree and what you should do between now and then in order to get what you want.

Ph.D. programs often appear to focus on preparing students for academic career. After all, most graduate students (esp. those in science) are funded through Research Assistantship from their advisors. The top priority is produce publications, which can take years of hard work, leaving little time to pursue other interests. However, a rigorous Ph.D. training still gives students a great opportunity to develop various kills for their future careers, e.g., analytical skills, leadership, communications, to name a couple. In reality, Ph.D. graduates do get job offers from investment banks and consulting firms where their solid skills are appreciated.

How about career paths other than banking and consulting? The first benefit from "Alternative Careers in Science" is you get to know what options science Ph.D.’s can pursue. The book lists a broad range of possible career paths with a nice sneak peek into the job responsibility, life-style and most importantly, how the dots were connected in each author's own career development. Before getting to know what you really feel passionate about, it's always helpful to know what possibilities exist and how to turn such possibilities into reality.

Because most authors earned their Ph.D.’s at least ten years ago, "Alternative Careers in Science" is unlikely to avoid the difference in requirements between now and then. Nevertheless, this time factor shouldn't discount the book's usefulness. As the book brings great career awareness to you, it’ll be your job to do more homework and figure out what you like and how to get it.

Good luck!

P.S. You can buy the paperback of "Alternative Careers in Science" at Amazon or look up at Google Book Search, although I'm not sure if Google Book Search has every single page of this book.