Design Thinking

We started a design thinking course today. There was some interesting cultural dynamics as our professors are both German. Germans are generally stereotyped as rigid, structured thinkers. Design thinking is a flexible, iterative process. They did very well, even with…

Industrial Global Strategy

That’s the title of the new course I started today in my MBA program. The professor also teaches at Darden. His main thesis today was that the West world still massively under appreciate how much the future of industrial business…

Optimization

There’s a point in the Netflix documentary “Inside Bill’s Brain” where the director asks Bill what he focuses on, and Gates responds “Optimization.” That’s a powerful word from one of the most powerful men out there. I feel like I’m…

Changing Priorities

I started my MBA because I needed a break. After ten years of startups in Africa, I was burned out. Bad CEOs, broken deals, and a bit of corruption had worn me down. I’m still incredibly passionate about the African…

Does Location Matter in an MBA Anymore?

As MBAs have moved online since the COVID pandemic students have experienced significant changes in their programs. Being online has been a burden and a blessing for some. I’m speaking on a panel about some of the changes in Ed-Tech…

Commercial Behavior Changes During Covid

Yesterday I wrote about some of the personal changes in my life that occurred during Covid. On the the other side of the same coin are the changes going on in the commercial sector. Looking at the stock market, it’s…

Personal Behavior Change During Covid.

How has the Corona Virus lockdown changed behaviors around the world? In our household, we’ve started cooking far more, we’ve communicated better, and we listen to more music. We started Yoga, along with several other habits that didn’t stick. Our…

Where’s The Desire To Build?

Marc Andreessen penned a fantastic blog last week titled “It’s Time To Build.” As someone whose seriously considering starting a company after my MBA, this resonated strongly. The key take aways for me: The problem is desire. We need to…

What Is Snap Inc?

Here’s a paper I wrote for my Strategy class. It’s not as good as I wanted but there was a hard limit on words. Conciseness is important, I get it! I got a 73 on this, which is towards the…