Long overdue update!!
This update has been due for a really long time - and has probably been the longest gap I have taken from blogging. Let me just say I have been really busy! While that is no excuse for not blogging, it helps me feel alright about not updating the blog. There are so many things to write about.
Private equity internship in India - Over the summer, after my internship in New York, I worked at a private equity firm in Mumbai for 4 weeks. The experience of working in a small firm is hugely different from that in a large firm. While the firm had almost $200 million under management, there were less than 10 people in all. The organization was super flat and I was able to sit in on the investment committee meetings every week. The Indian PE industry is exploding with some of the big American firms setting up shop (and many more waiting in the wings). I met up with some other students from US B schools either interning in India or looking for opportunities to work in the Indian financial services industry. Real estate/Private equity in India is beginning to look like the Silicon Valley in 1999. I will be back in Mumbai for a few weeks in December and am already looking forward to the experience.
Rest of India trip - The trip to India was a blast. Spent most of my time in Mumbai. Was able to squeeze in two weekend trips to Bangalore/Mangalore as well as a work related trip to Lucknow. I just wasn't able to get enough time in Bangalore. I long for those times when I could spend a carefree Sunday evening walking around Malleshwaram. Those times may never return!
4 weeks of Tuck - I returned to Tuck just over 4 weeks ago. I cannot believe it has been 4 weeks into my second year. A couple of weeks ago a T'05 told me that the second year will be the golden period of my life for a few years to come. I have accepted a job from my summer employer. I love the courses I am doing. I have a fantastic set of people as my classmates. The only problem is that I don't seem to have any way to get the clock to slow down.
This term I am doing a ton of non academic stuff. I am a student coordinator for the Alan Smith Visiting Executive Program. I am a teaching assistant for 2 courses - so I hold tutorial sessions after class hours. I am also a Study Group Leadership Fellow under the Leadership Development Program. I am learning golf, will be playing hockey and have done a couple of hikes already! The outdoors are beautiful at this time of the year.
My courses this term are just great. Real Estate has been an eye opener. The professor is just great and in almost every class we have the protagonist of the case speak in class. I am surprised by the strength of Tuck in this area. The real estate club has over 90 members. Considering that the total number of students across first and second year is less than 500, I take it as another sign that we are in a real estate bubble.
The Private Equity class has again beaten my expectations. The sheer quality & relevance of speakers is impressive. We have had entrepreneurs from successful companies, failed companies, general partners of VC's and PE firms as also limited partners all talking to the class. This is a class I strongly recommend to anybody with even a slight interest in the industry.
The high point of my 4 weeks at Tuck is a trip we did in September to Omaha, Nebraska to visit Warren Buffett. 50 Tuckies went down to Omaha to meet Warren Buffett. He spent almost 2 hours taking questions. Then he took us to Gorat's - his favorite steakhouse for lunch. People interested in getting his soundbytes as he got his bite took turns sitting on his table. Then we took pictures (5 at a time) with Mr. Buffett. After we had taken pictures, he just said 'I will see you later', waved his hand and drove off in his car (the license plate reads THRIFTY). His simplicity and perspicacity left everybody inspired.
Tomorrow is the Greener Ventures venture conference. I am participating in a sub-event where three teams spend the day drawing up a business plan to execute an assigned idea. The kicker is we are assigned a coach - the coach for our team built and sold a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars and runs his own venture fund. I am sure I will learn a lot by way of close interaction with him as we draw up the business plan.
posted by Tagad_Tale @ 5:12 PM
