Thursday, June 30, 2011

Noisy Mouse

I guess I should have known that I would blog about you sooner or later. It was interesting how we met so randomly, and how you've affected me so much. What's more interesting is that you'll never ever read this - not now, not tomorrow, not ever. I hope that one day though, you will be able to understand what I write.

At this point in time, you want something else, you want what I can't provide. As much as I strive to accept that, I cannot feel but a pang in my heart to know that sooner or later we will drift apart as we have started to do so. You say you're busy with work, and I know that I'm no longer in Beijing now, but it's hard to feel assured when we're in such a complicated relationship. That when I know there is a long line of men waiting to win your hand.

I don't know what you want from me, maybe just a friendship. Then again, I don't know what I really want from you - except that I would like to be next to you, holding you tight.

Noisy Mouse. It was good while it lasted, you made me laugh, you opened my eyes - I can only miss you now. I hope that one day, we'll be able to understand each other, that perhaps, we might be at least, good friends, if not more than just friends.

I hope, that maybe one day, you will be able to read this, but I know you will never be able to read it.

晚安嘈老鼠,好梦,我想念你。。

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Bang - Shooting Star (Storm & Euphony remix)


Like a shooting star, across the midnight sky
Gonna to fly, just to be with you tonight

I really need you here to hold
Keep me warm when nights are cold
I wish I had you here to keep
Left me cryin in my sleep
I dont care how far I take a plane tonight
Just tell me where you are and everythings gonna be alright

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It's warm here, but so lonely. I wonder whether I'll see you again....

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Questions and Answers - CEIBS vs Tsinghua - Entrepreneurship

Hi,
I'm deciding between Tsinghua SEM and CEIBS. My goal is tobe an entreprenuer so my concern are the class experience, quality of classmates and professors. How are these areas compared to top20 school in U.S.? How good are Tsinghua entreprenuership electives? If u were me, which of the 2 school would you choose?
Thanks alot for your help

- Anonymous


Hi Anonymous

You caught me as I was thinking between going to sleep or playing poker. It's been a while since I've written anything, so well, I figured it would be a good time to address your question.


1. You want to be an entrepreneur.

There is no special business school that you go to that will turn you into an entrepreneur. By and large, all decent business schools will cover the basics that you need to become an entrepreneur - some finance, some management, some strategy, etc. What is probably important is what do you want to learn at business school that will allow you to become an entrepreneur.

If you're an engineer, then there's quite a bit you can learn at business school, if you're somebody with a sales/marketing and/or finance knowledge - you're pretty set. You do not really have to go to business school to become an entrepreneur. Actually, it's more likely that you will go to business school and then decide NOT to become an entrepreneur as you watch yourself blow away money on tuition fees, living costs, girls (or boys) and alcohol.

What's important is who you mix with. If I'm not wrong, perhaps maybe 10% - 15% of students will venture into entrepreneurship at any normal school. If you mix with people who want to go into finance, you might go there - or consulting, etc. There's a certain amount of pressure at school for you to get a "proper job".

But mix with the people who want to start something, and maybe, you might catch that bug as well. And hopefully, you will start something.


2. CEIBS vs Tsinghua for entrepreneurship

As I have not attended CEIBS, I don't really know. What I do know, is that I have a friend in CEIBS who is interested in starting a venture with me. So that makes 1 Tsinghua, 1 CEIBS. I also do know that there are a few others at Tsinghua who are interested in their own ventures as well as a few others at CEIBS.

What I do know is that at Tsinghua, there is a fairly large number of people who come from family owned businesses. Meaning, it's in their family to be entrepreneurial - so you might want to take that into consideration. I am told that CEIBS is full of professionals, so not that many might want to venture out and start something new (I'm assuming that if your family started something, they would support you starting something and you might actually start something).


3. Quality of classmates, professors and class experience.

Well, in terms of my class - the quality of classmates differ wildly. From people who do not really know anything, to people who are wicked smart. By and large, most fall into the grey area - they're good, but not stellar, but at the same time, not totally shit.

I've addressed professors before, but to rehash - Tsinghua has its fair share of winners and losers.

What I have been told that Tsinghua will be revamping the admissions process to deliver a higher class quality. Local Chinese applicants will be required to take the GMAT and selectivity will be driven down. This is probably to happen for the class of 2014. As for the class for 2013, I only know only but one person - and if you get a chance to know her well, you will consider yourself a lucky lucky man. :)


4. Entrepreneurship electives.

Entrepreneurship electives at Tsinghua are nothing spectacular. Like I said earlier, there are no classes that will turn you into an entrepreneur. It's an accumulation of what you know in terms of basics and your ability to think and act on what you feel will be a good opportunity. You could go to Stanford and come out a none-entrepreneur. Or Babson, which is apparently really good for entrepreneurship. A lot of it depends on you, not the school you attend. The core classes will give you a foundation, the electives will give you a framework, but aside from that... it's all you.


5. Choosing between CEIBS and Tsinghua.

I chose Tsinghua because I had the understanding that it would be more of an entrepreneurship school - given that it's seen as the MIT of the East, and has close ties with many venture capitalists. It is true that several venture capitalists have come and given talks at the school, it is also true that Tsinghua is in the "Silicon Valley" of Beijing. But getting money from them and having an idea is also really really hard.

On the other hand, my friend chose CEIBS because he felt that being in Shanghai would give him easier access to the economic pulse of China. However, having said that, he'll be doing his internship in Shanghai. He's pretty happy at CEIBS, although I will have a more thorough discussion with him when I see him next week.

Tsinghua has obviously a better general name. However, CEIBS seems to have better relationships with MNC companies. Shanghai is much nicer than Beijing, especially Wudaokou - but also much pricier.

Am I disappointed that Tsinghua didn't deliver on the entrepreneurship training? Well, I guess I learnt that it's not the training that makes you an entrepreneur, but it's what you want in life.

-

If you come to Tsinghua, I hope to see you and I hope you will have a good experience. Doing an MBA at Tsinghua, or maybe, China in general isn't the easiest thing in the world. There will be a lot of frustrations and disappointments. But coming to Tsinghua or CEIBS isn't really about the MBA - it's about being in China and being part of China's future. And that, is more important than which school you go to.

------

And last but not least, to the person in the class of 2013 that I know. It was good knowing you, I had fun.... :)

LMC vs U2 - Take me to the clouds above (Tim Dawes remix)

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