This morning at Starbucks they were giving out some free sample of their new instant coffee, Via. I had gotten a sample of it a few months ago and tried it again this morning.
My verdict is in, Via is not very good. Starbucks advertises their instant coffee as being as good their drip brewed coffee. This simply is not the case. Via definitely has the sort of burnt, stale taste of instant coffee. Via is a bit over-priced as well. An 8 ounce cup of instant coffee costs about about a dollar. That's practically the same price per ounce as Starbucks in store drip coffee.
However, Via does taste better than most brands of instant coffee I've ever had. I'd definitely take it camping with me but I can't think of when else I'd use it.
So final verdict: Via doesn't taste that great and is very expensive for instant coffee. As instant coffee goes, it's pretty good, but what does that really say?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Job Advertising Networks Generally Fail
It's now been about 3 years since we decided to start Personforce. When we first started, we had some idea about being a "Google Adsense for Jobs" or a "Ad Network For Jobs". After talking to potential customers, we dismissed the idea. Every few years though, a company tries to setup up this sort of ad network. There are a couple of reasons job ad networks are economically unsound ideas:
1. It's unlikely a job advertisement is the most lucrative use of ad space for a publisher. In fact, it's impossible.
2. Advertising to "passive job seekers" is a kind way of saying "advertising to people who have no interest in what you are advertising."
3. Cost per applications are very very expensive when you are advertising to people who have no "purchase intent" for what you are selling (your job opening).
4. An easier way to target passive job seekers is just to find their profiles on LinkedIn and message them.
These economic realities generally make it difficult to pull off an ad network for jobs.
1. It's unlikely a job advertisement is the most lucrative use of ad space for a publisher. In fact, it's impossible.
2. Advertising to "passive job seekers" is a kind way of saying "advertising to people who have no interest in what you are advertising."
3. Cost per applications are very very expensive when you are advertising to people who have no "purchase intent" for what you are selling (your job opening).
4. An easier way to target passive job seekers is just to find their profiles on LinkedIn and message them.
These economic realities generally make it difficult to pull off an ad network for jobs.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Virtual Gifts on Twitter - Twitgift.ly launches!
About 6 weeks ago, I came up with an idea for a lightweight Twitter application that lets people send virtual gifts to their friends on Twitter. I decided it might be a fun little side project to bring this to market.
Today, I launched TwitGift.ly, a site that lets you send virtual gifts on Twitter. It was a fun project to do on the weekends and learn more about Twitter, digital goodies, and viral applications. I'll keep you posted how it goes and maybe do some more posts about building the site and the developing the idea.
Perhaps the neatest part of TwitGiftly is you can use it to raise money for charities like LIVESTRONG, Donors Choose, Charity Water, UM Health and more. All you need to do is send a charity gift and all the proceeds go to the non-profit.
Today, I launched TwitGift.ly, a site that lets you send virtual gifts on Twitter. It was a fun project to do on the weekends and learn more about Twitter, digital goodies, and viral applications. I'll keep you posted how it goes and maybe do some more posts about building the site and the developing the idea.
Perhaps the neatest part of TwitGiftly is you can use it to raise money for charities like LIVESTRONG, Donors Choose, Charity Water, UM Health and more. All you need to do is send a charity gift and all the proceeds go to the non-profit.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Job Apps for iPhone, Android & BlackBerry
Oh my!
At Personforce we just launched our Mobile Jobs Platform. Basically we can help any job site take their existing website and turn it into an iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry app.
TechCrunch did a story on it here:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/15/personforce-launches-mobile-jobs-platform-to-develop-job-search-applications/
You can also check it out on our blog:
http://blog.personforce.com/?p=53
At Personforce we just launched our Mobile Jobs Platform. Basically we can help any job site take their existing website and turn it into an iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry app.
TechCrunch did a story on it here:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/15/personforce-launches-mobile-jobs-platform-to-develop-job-search-applications/
You can also check it out on our blog:
http://blog.personforce.com/?p=53
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
An iPhone jobs application from me
Silicon MBA readers,
Personforce and Next Mobile Web just released a free iPhone jobs application we think you like. The jobs app is called "High Paying Jobs". We're trying to help deliver high quality jobs that you can browse, bookmark, and apply to from your iPhone.
The application is totally free and hopefully will be useful if you're looking for a job.
Download it on iTunes here.
Let me know if you have any feedback on it. When the iPhone app platform came out, I was a bit skeptical if it would be useful for job search. Consider this an experiment as to whether iPhone jobs applications and mobile job search will be useful or popular.
Personforce and Next Mobile Web just released a free iPhone jobs application we think you like. The jobs app is called "High Paying Jobs". We're trying to help deliver high quality jobs that you can browse, bookmark, and apply to from your iPhone.
The application is totally free and hopefully will be useful if you're looking for a job.
Download it on iTunes here.
Let me know if you have any feedback on it. When the iPhone app platform came out, I was a bit skeptical if it would be useful for job search. Consider this an experiment as to whether iPhone jobs applications and mobile job search will be useful or popular.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
"Sponsored Definition" - Ads come to Twitter
This morning on my Twitter, there was definitely an ad labeled "Sponsored definition" for the iPhone ExecTweets by Microsoft (and federated media).
When I clicked on it, it opened up my iTunes (somewhat annoying). I can only assume this has to be an ad? Is this the end of the free advertisements for Twitter apps?
When I clicked on it, it opened up my iTunes (somewhat annoying). I can only assume this has to be an ad? Is this the end of the free advertisements for Twitter apps?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Using Adsense to test your business model
There has been a lot written how entrepreneurs can use Google Adwords to verify whether customer demand exists for their products. Even before you have a product built, you can write a text ad and pay to have it displayed next to search results. If people click on your ad at a solid clip, you have a good sense whether customers are interested in what you are offering.
Another interesting tool is to use Adsense to test your business model. You can use Adsense to answer a simple but important questions - is there money to be made in what I am doing? All too often, entrepreneurs start a social network, blog, or site where there is literally no way to make money. This is a little diagnostic to help avoiding that. Here goes:
Put Adsense on your site. Observe the eCPM. If the CPM is high (say greater than 5 CPM) this is a good sign. If you have low CPM (say less than .5 CPM) this is a bad sign.
The eCPM of your site tells you two important things. First, are you in an industry where there is money to be made. You might not understand yet how to make that money, but someone out there is willing pay for traffic and therefore they know how to make money.
Second, the eCPM tells you whether your vistors have "purchase intent" for something. If they are coming to your site to read an article, message their friends, or write a post, they probably don't have purchase intent for anything and will exhibit a low eCPM. If they are looking for real estate, browsing car prices, or looking at electronics reviews, they will tend to have an higher eCPM.
If you are getting a very low eCPM, I'd encourage you to think very critically about the industry you are getting into and your prospects for making money. Your site could become massively popular, but your business could still be a failure. Your business model will feel like you are squeezing blood from a stone.
In short, you can use Adsense to determine industry profitability and whether you are attracting visitors that might want open their wallets. This does not mean you should use Adsense as your primary business model. Making decent money from 3rd party advertising (even at a high CPMs) requires a level of traffic that most sites will never achieve. However, if you are achieving a strong eCPM, there is a good chance eventually you'll figure out how to make money.
Another interesting tool is to use Adsense to test your business model. You can use Adsense to answer a simple but important questions - is there money to be made in what I am doing? All too often, entrepreneurs start a social network, blog, or site where there is literally no way to make money. This is a little diagnostic to help avoiding that. Here goes:
Put Adsense on your site. Observe the eCPM. If the CPM is high (say greater than 5 CPM) this is a good sign. If you have low CPM (say less than .5 CPM) this is a bad sign.
The eCPM of your site tells you two important things. First, are you in an industry where there is money to be made. You might not understand yet how to make that money, but someone out there is willing pay for traffic and therefore they know how to make money.
Second, the eCPM tells you whether your vistors have "purchase intent" for something. If they are coming to your site to read an article, message their friends, or write a post, they probably don't have purchase intent for anything and will exhibit a low eCPM. If they are looking for real estate, browsing car prices, or looking at electronics reviews, they will tend to have an higher eCPM.
If you are getting a very low eCPM, I'd encourage you to think very critically about the industry you are getting into and your prospects for making money. Your site could become massively popular, but your business could still be a failure. Your business model will feel like you are squeezing blood from a stone.
In short, you can use Adsense to determine industry profitability and whether you are attracting visitors that might want open their wallets. This does not mean you should use Adsense as your primary business model. Making decent money from 3rd party advertising (even at a high CPMs) requires a level of traffic that most sites will never achieve. However, if you are achieving a strong eCPM, there is a good chance eventually you'll figure out how to make money.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Does Craigslist make $96 million in profit?
The AIM Group is estimating that Craigslist is doing about $100 million in annual revenue. Given that you can physically count the number of paid listings on their site, I take this to be a solid estimate of their revenue.
The more remarkable fact is that Craigslist achieves this revenue with only 30 employees. They've built a product so compelling that they don't need any sales and marketing to achieve this revenue. Customers just show up and hand them money. If you assume a fully loaded average wage of $130,000 per employee, that comes out to a cost base of only $4 million.
So is Craigslist making $96 million dollars in profit? This leaves a heck of a lot of money to pay dividends to it's owners (and the government).
When I first started Personforce, I met with a former senior exec at Monster. The advice he gave me was try to be more like Craigslist and less like Monster. His point was that running a sales force is expensive and pushing a product that no one is excited about is not fun. Instead, build something that is so unique and compelling, it sells itself. Who wouldn't want to run a company with 95% net margins?
The more remarkable fact is that Craigslist achieves this revenue with only 30 employees. They've built a product so compelling that they don't need any sales and marketing to achieve this revenue. Customers just show up and hand them money. If you assume a fully loaded average wage of $130,000 per employee, that comes out to a cost base of only $4 million.
So is Craigslist making $96 million dollars in profit? This leaves a heck of a lot of money to pay dividends to it's owners (and the government).
When I first started Personforce, I met with a former senior exec at Monster. The advice he gave me was try to be more like Craigslist and less like Monster. His point was that running a sales force is expensive and pushing a product that no one is excited about is not fun. Instead, build something that is so unique and compelling, it sells itself. Who wouldn't want to run a company with 95% net margins?
Friday, June 05, 2009
Ha, I was right about Stack Overflow jobs!
A few weeks ago I wrote a post saying that Stack Overflow would be come a recruiting and jobs site.
Today, I logged into my Google analytics for the first time a couple of weeks and saw a massive spike in traffic to that post. One of the co-founders of Stack Overflow linked to it on twitter, saying "the silicon MBA is on to us!"
Turns out I was right. They added a job board to the site and hinted about more recruiting functions to come. Looks like a solid move for the company and an innovative way to find technical talent.
Today, I logged into my Google analytics for the first time a couple of weeks and saw a massive spike in traffic to that post. One of the co-founders of Stack Overflow linked to it on twitter, saying "the silicon MBA is on to us!"
Turns out I was right. They added a job board to the site and hinted about more recruiting functions to come. Looks like a solid move for the company and an innovative way to find technical talent.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Thanks for selling my information, Yahoo
About a year and a half ago, a friend and I decided to start a tshirt business on a whim. Our plan was to sell hyper-targeted tshirts to folks using Facebook's self-service ad platform. Our target market was management consultants, a market which we sized to be about $500 in annual revenue (if we achieved 100% marketshare) and we would have negative gross margins. Seemed like an inspired idea!
That very morning, we bought the domain and set up a store using Yahoo Stores to power our ecommerce site. Within 3 hours of thinking up the idea, we had our business up and running; 8020 tshirts was born!
By the afternoon we lost interest in the idea; 8020 tshirts was dead! After letting the site sit around for a while, we cancelled the account with Yahoo Stores (after paying them about $150 bucks in fees). So this business only lasted about 3 hours and the only one who ever knew about it was Yahoo.
But why the heck do I get junk mail almost every week addressed to 8020 tshirts? Credit card applications, small busines banking promotions, all sorts of crap. It's rather annoying actually (and a constant reminder of our sad business failure!).
I can only assume that Yahoo sold our information to a mailing list company. That seems like a pretty low move. I could never see Google doing something as greedy and short-sighted as that.
What gives Yahoo?
That very morning, we bought the domain and set up a store using Yahoo Stores to power our ecommerce site. Within 3 hours of thinking up the idea, we had our business up and running; 8020 tshirts was born!
By the afternoon we lost interest in the idea; 8020 tshirts was dead! After letting the site sit around for a while, we cancelled the account with Yahoo Stores (after paying them about $150 bucks in fees). So this business only lasted about 3 hours and the only one who ever knew about it was Yahoo.
But why the heck do I get junk mail almost every week addressed to 8020 tshirts? Credit card applications, small busines banking promotions, all sorts of crap. It's rather annoying actually (and a constant reminder of our sad business failure!).
I can only assume that Yahoo sold our information to a mailing list company. That seems like a pretty low move. I could never see Google doing something as greedy and short-sighted as that.
What gives Yahoo?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
How this blog got me in Fortune Magazine
Well, around a month or two ago, I started writing more regular posts on this blog. There really isn't much of a purpose to having this blog other than it helps me learn about publishing, advertising, SEO, and content.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from a Fortune magazine writer that was researching how small businesses use the iPhone. Apparently if you google "iphone small business", this blog comes up second. The reporter found the blog, contacted me and we set up a time to talk. When the article came out, it had this quote from me.
"I use my iPhone to react to information, but not for active tasks," says Rohin Dhar, owner of Personforce, a creator of online job boards. "Typing on it is really hard."
You can checkout the full article here. I have no idea whether the article came out in print.
So is blogging worth it? Well, the publicity generated from a quote in Fortune was . . . absolutely zero. No bump in traffic, no friend encountering it and emailing me, no inbound link, nothing really. I guess this bodes poorly for traditionally media...
A few weeks ago, I got an email from a Fortune magazine writer that was researching how small businesses use the iPhone. Apparently if you google "iphone small business", this blog comes up second. The reporter found the blog, contacted me and we set up a time to talk. When the article came out, it had this quote from me.
"I use my iPhone to react to information, but not for active tasks," says Rohin Dhar, owner of Personforce, a creator of online job boards. "Typing on it is really hard."
You can checkout the full article here. I have no idea whether the article came out in print.
So is blogging worth it? Well, the publicity generated from a quote in Fortune was . . . absolutely zero. No bump in traffic, no friend encountering it and emailing me, no inbound link, nothing really. I guess this bodes poorly for traditionally media...
Thursday, May 07, 2009
A TechCrunch for the recruiting industry?
It's sort of a bummer there is no TechCrunch for the recruiting industry. TechCrunch covers the latest news about web startups and established tech companies. It's a great blog to follow to find out what companies are being started, funded, acquired, as well as information about larger tech firms. I personally like the fact that TechCrunch takes an opinion on the news because I think it's generally an informed opinion.
Unfortunately, there is no TechCrunch for the recruiting industry. There is no site that intelligently covers hot startups in the jobs and recruitment space and that's a shame. Of course there are a few blogs out their about recruiting, but no publication of record (that i know of; if you know of one, let me know).
So why is there no TechCrunch for recruiting? Is it:
1. People don't care about recruiting startups?
2. It's too small a niche?
3. The recruiting industry is bereft of talented startups and sharp writers?
So, anyone out there know of any good blogs that cover and analyze recruiting startups? Heck, if recruiting startups out there contact me, I'll even review your company here. Let's hope that in the next year a sharp blog comes out that provides objective analysis about recruiting startups.
Unfortunately, there is no TechCrunch for the recruiting industry. There is no site that intelligently covers hot startups in the jobs and recruitment space and that's a shame. Of course there are a few blogs out their about recruiting, but no publication of record (that i know of; if you know of one, let me know).
So why is there no TechCrunch for recruiting? Is it:
1. People don't care about recruiting startups?
2. It's too small a niche?
3. The recruiting industry is bereft of talented startups and sharp writers?
So, anyone out there know of any good blogs that cover and analyze recruiting startups? Heck, if recruiting startups out there contact me, I'll even review your company here. Let's hope that in the next year a sharp blog comes out that provides objective analysis about recruiting startups.
Scarcity Brings Clarity - a good startup quote
A great quote from Sergey Brin about conducting business in an economic downturn in Google's 2008 Founders Letter:
"Nonetheless, I am optimistic about the future, because I believe scarcity breeds clarity: it focuses minds, forcing people to think creatively and rise to the challenge."
It's the same reason why Toyota tries to carry zero inventory - when you're operating without a safety net, you better operate correctly.
Official Google Blog: The 2008 Founders' Letter
"Nonetheless, I am optimistic about the future, because I believe scarcity breeds clarity: it focuses minds, forcing people to think creatively and rise to the challenge."
It's the same reason why Toyota tries to carry zero inventory - when you're operating without a safety net, you better operate correctly.
Official Google Blog: The 2008 Founders' Letter
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
A job search tool for finding MBA jobs
At Personforce we recently enhanced our jobs page to allow people to browse jobs by tags. Basically, now when an employer posts a job, they have to tag it with keywords. By doing so, it makes it easier for job seekers to find and browse related jobs. Each tag page also serves as a "mini job board" that job seekers can bookmark and return to to find relevant jobs.
So now that we have these tag pages on Personforce, I thought I'd highlight some of the mini job boards that can point you towards finding MBA jobs.
MBA Job Board - a collection of jobs where MBAs are a requirement
Analyst Job Board - a variety of junior and senior financial positions
Accounting Job Board - jobs requiring accounting degrees
Advertising Job Board - a broad range of jobs in the advertising industry
Business Development Job Board - the sweet spot for MBAs - business development jobs!
Business Statistics Job Board - less of a sweet spot for MBAs - business statistics jobs!
Intern Job Board - junior and senior intern positions
Internship Job Board - ditto
CEO Job Board - "CEO" jobs (though most real CEO jobs are posted on job boards)
Cleantech Job Board - the industry of the hour for business school students, cleantech
Marketing Job Board - marketing jobs for business school students and anyone really
Finance Job Board - a broad selection of finance jobs
Sales Job Board - a broad selection of sales jobs
Sales Vice President Job Board - vp of sales jobs
and more job boards by tag
Hopefully this can help in your MBA job search!
So now that we have these tag pages on Personforce, I thought I'd highlight some of the mini job boards that can point you towards finding MBA jobs.
MBA Job Board - a collection of jobs where MBAs are a requirement
Analyst Job Board - a variety of junior and senior financial positions
Accounting Job Board - jobs requiring accounting degrees
Advertising Job Board - a broad range of jobs in the advertising industry
Business Development Job Board - the sweet spot for MBAs - business development jobs!
Business Statistics Job Board - less of a sweet spot for MBAs - business statistics jobs!
Intern Job Board - junior and senior intern positions
Internship Job Board - ditto
CEO Job Board - "CEO" jobs (though most real CEO jobs are posted on job boards)
Cleantech Job Board - the industry of the hour for business school students, cleantech
Marketing Job Board - marketing jobs for business school students and anyone really
Finance Job Board - a broad selection of finance jobs
Sales Job Board - a broad selection of sales jobs
Sales Vice President Job Board - vp of sales jobs
and more job boards by tag
Hopefully this can help in your MBA job search!
Monday, May 04, 2009
Wharton interview questions & tips
From my old business school admissions files.
----------
Wharton interview tips (Do's and Don'ts)
Do's
Be self-confident and be yourself:
The best answer for how to prepare or do an interview comes from the adcom member of a b-school. She answered the question, “ Just recognize how great you are. Be self-confident, be yourself, and show him/her who you are.”
Answer in real, professional terms:
When you are asked about the hypothetical situation in terms of teamwork or leadership, try to speak in real, professional terms.
how an interviewer how well-informed you are of the school:
If you are interested in international perspective of the Wharton, tell him/her which programs or classes can help develop your career in detail. Do not forget How & Why
Imprint your strength into an interviewer:
If your strength is “passionate” (it is mine. my nick name is “Walking Energizer!”), then show him/her your passion. What you are passionate for, What you have done for it, Why you are passionate for it, How it has changed your life, and How your passion is related to the decision to go to Wharton.
Big Smile & Positive thinking:
Never bother yourself with what you have already said during the interview. Even if you made a stupid mistake in your eye, the interviewer might think you are cool just because of it. Think positively.
Don’ts
Never pass the fine line between self-confidence and arrogance:
As you already know well, Wharton is looking for down-to-earth types of people. While you need to remember how great you are, you also need to keep in mind how great other peers are. It might not be anything wrong even if you are so confident of your accomplishment. However, do not overact to impress the interviewer.
Do not bring up GMAT unless asked:
Unless asked, you may not want to bring up GMAT. It wouldn’t matter whether your score is 800 or 600. 30 minutes are too short time even to articulate your passion and goal. You may not want waste your time talking about vague numbers. And then it may have a negative result.
Be ready but do not rehearse:
Unintentionally you might need to make up a story because of a lack of readiness. Study your resume enough. Think about your life-past and future. Be fully ready to answer any question. Sometimes we hear applicants were too nervous to remember the name of an author whose book they had read recently when asked. Check every stuff, which will be asked. However, Don’t rehearse the answer over and over. The interviewer can tell when people do this
Sample Wharton interview questions:
WORK EXPERIENCE/CAREER GOALS
Walk me through your post-undergraduate work experience and describe transitions you’ve made.
Tell me about the person with whom you have least enjoyed working. How did this relationship function?
What are some of the frustrations/rewards you've experienced as a manager?
What are your plans if you’re not accepted into an MBA program of your choice?
Of what accomplishment at work are you most proud?
Describe your ideal work environment.
How do you vent work-related stress?
How does your current job relate to your career goals, where does an MBA fit in?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years?
WHY MBA/WHY MBA NOW/WHY Wharton
Tell me about the decision to get here – to apply for an MBA.
Why now?
Why do you feel you are a good fit for the school and vice versa?
What kind of value do you can add to the Wharton?
PERSONAL QUALITIES
Describe a difficult team environment in which you have been involved and how you responded to it.
What role do you usually play in-group situations and give some examples?
What happens when you feel strongly about an idea that a majority of your group is against?
Tell me about a conflict you had with a co-worker. How was it resolved?
Tell me about specific situations in which you’ve had a leadership role.
How would others describe your leadership style? Would you agree with this assessment?
If you suddenly had an afternoon off, what would you do with it?
In what non-job related activities do you participate? Describe your involvement.
OTHERS
Is there anything else you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you?
Is there anything you would have liked me to ask you that I didn't?
What would you say is the greatest weakness in your application?
----------
Wharton interview tips (Do's and Don'ts)
Do's
Be self-confident and be yourself:
The best answer for how to prepare or do an interview comes from the adcom member of a b-school. She answered the question, “ Just recognize how great you are. Be self-confident, be yourself, and show him/her who you are.”
Answer in real, professional terms:
When you are asked about the hypothetical situation in terms of teamwork or leadership, try to speak in real, professional terms.
how an interviewer how well-informed you are of the school:
If you are interested in international perspective of the Wharton, tell him/her which programs or classes can help develop your career in detail. Do not forget How & Why
Imprint your strength into an interviewer:
If your strength is “passionate” (it is mine. my nick name is “Walking Energizer!”), then show him/her your passion. What you are passionate for, What you have done for it, Why you are passionate for it, How it has changed your life, and How your passion is related to the decision to go to Wharton.
Big Smile & Positive thinking:
Never bother yourself with what you have already said during the interview. Even if you made a stupid mistake in your eye, the interviewer might think you are cool just because of it. Think positively.
Don’ts
Never pass the fine line between self-confidence and arrogance:
As you already know well, Wharton is looking for down-to-earth types of people. While you need to remember how great you are, you also need to keep in mind how great other peers are. It might not be anything wrong even if you are so confident of your accomplishment. However, do not overact to impress the interviewer.
Do not bring up GMAT unless asked:
Unless asked, you may not want to bring up GMAT. It wouldn’t matter whether your score is 800 or 600. 30 minutes are too short time even to articulate your passion and goal. You may not want waste your time talking about vague numbers. And then it may have a negative result.
Be ready but do not rehearse:
Unintentionally you might need to make up a story because of a lack of readiness. Study your resume enough. Think about your life-past and future. Be fully ready to answer any question. Sometimes we hear applicants were too nervous to remember the name of an author whose book they had read recently when asked. Check every stuff, which will be asked. However, Don’t rehearse the answer over and over. The interviewer can tell when people do this
Sample Wharton interview questions:
WORK EXPERIENCE/CAREER GOALS
Walk me through your post-undergraduate work experience and describe transitions you’ve made.
Tell me about the person with whom you have least enjoyed working. How did this relationship function?
What are some of the frustrations/rewards you've experienced as a manager?
What are your plans if you’re not accepted into an MBA program of your choice?
Of what accomplishment at work are you most proud?
Describe your ideal work environment.
How do you vent work-related stress?
How does your current job relate to your career goals, where does an MBA fit in?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years?
WHY MBA/WHY MBA NOW/WHY Wharton
Tell me about the decision to get here – to apply for an MBA.
Why now?
Why do you feel you are a good fit for the school and vice versa?
What kind of value do you can add to the Wharton?
PERSONAL QUALITIES
Describe a difficult team environment in which you have been involved and how you responded to it.
What role do you usually play in-group situations and give some examples?
What happens when you feel strongly about an idea that a majority of your group is against?
Tell me about a conflict you had with a co-worker. How was it resolved?
Tell me about specific situations in which you’ve had a leadership role.
How would others describe your leadership style? Would you agree with this assessment?
If you suddenly had an afternoon off, what would you do with it?
In what non-job related activities do you participate? Describe your involvement.
OTHERS
Is there anything else you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you?
Is there anything you would have liked me to ask you that I didn't?
What would you say is the greatest weakness in your application?
AOL acquires resume-builiding site Emurse
I somehow missed this, but AOL acquired resume building site Emurse last month. Emurse allows you to build, store, and share your resume online. The design of the site looks excellent and it looks like an easy to use tool for job seekers.
Great to see some acquisitions going on in the recruiting space. As far as I can tell, the founders of the company were former AOL employees who struck out on their own before being acquired by their former bosses. No word on the purchase price, but I imagine it was enough to make the founders quite happy. Congrats!
Great to see some acquisitions going on in the recruiting space. As far as I can tell, the founders of the company were former AOL employees who struck out on their own before being acquired by their former bosses. No word on the purchase price, but I imagine it was enough to make the founders quite happy. Congrats!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Stack Overflow will become a recruiting site
And Dice will be screwed. So will technical recruiters. That's my guess anyway.
I just watched part of a presentation by Joel Spolsky at Google about his startup StackOverflow.com. Stack Overflow is sort of a Yahoo Answers for programming questions. During the presentation, Joel hints that in the future the site could help connect programmers with jobs.
Since Stack Overflow members answer specific programming questions, the site knows exactly what technical skills its members possess. This will make it a far more valuable data resource than Dice's resume database. Instead of companies buying access to an unwieldy database, they can probably pay to connect with programmers who actually demonstrate prowess on the site. Through the job board on his blog, he probably has direct relationships with thousands of employers already.
Moreover, I have a feeling that Joel probably doesn't like the fact that technical recruiters are so important in recruiting engineering talent and charge such high fees. My guess is he'll try to leverage the data created by Stack Overflow to disintermediate Dice and technical recruiters as well. We'll see how it plays out.
I just watched part of a presentation by Joel Spolsky at Google about his startup StackOverflow.com. Stack Overflow is sort of a Yahoo Answers for programming questions. During the presentation, Joel hints that in the future the site could help connect programmers with jobs.
Since Stack Overflow members answer specific programming questions, the site knows exactly what technical skills its members possess. This will make it a far more valuable data resource than Dice's resume database. Instead of companies buying access to an unwieldy database, they can probably pay to connect with programmers who actually demonstrate prowess on the site. Through the job board on his blog, he probably has direct relationships with thousands of employers already.
Moreover, I have a feeling that Joel probably doesn't like the fact that technical recruiters are so important in recruiting engineering talent and charge such high fees. My guess is he'll try to leverage the data created by Stack Overflow to disintermediate Dice and technical recruiters as well. We'll see how it plays out.
Should you apply to business school?
The other day, I was thinking about why I decided to go to the business school. Perhaps, I'll touch on that in another post, but I thought it would be interesting to list some of the important questions to consider before applying to business school.
If you are thinking about applying to MBA programs this fall, I'd encourage you to think through these questions:
1. What is the exact mechanism by which an MBA will improve your quality of life or career?
2. Do you envision your current job becoming your long-term career?
3. Are there gaping holes in your business knowledge that can be filled by book learning?
4. Can you afford business school right now?
5. What is the exact ROI you are forecasting from getting an MBA?
6. Does applying to school this year fit with your personal life right now?
7. Is this the year you can put together your best application?
8. What non-monetary benefits do you think spending time in business school will provide?
9. What are your alternatives to going to business school?
10. If you didn't get in to your top choice business schools, would you still get an MBA?
11. If you want to take a break from work, what other options can you pursue other than business school?
If you are thinking about applying to MBA programs this fall, I'd encourage you to think through these questions:
1. What is the exact mechanism by which an MBA will improve your quality of life or career?
2. Do you envision your current job becoming your long-term career?
3. Are there gaping holes in your business knowledge that can be filled by book learning?
4. Can you afford business school right now?
5. What is the exact ROI you are forecasting from getting an MBA?
6. Does applying to school this year fit with your personal life right now?
7. Is this the year you can put together your best application?
8. What non-monetary benefits do you think spending time in business school will provide?
9. What are your alternatives to going to business school?
10. If you didn't get in to your top choice business schools, would you still get an MBA?
11. If you want to take a break from work, what other options can you pursue other than business school?
Friday, April 24, 2009
Selling eBooks on your blog
Recently, I encountered two articles that made a combined impression on me. They were both related to internet marketing and the process of customer acquisition, conversion, and product fulfillment.
The first was a fascinating article about selling eBooks to monetize traffic on your blog or website. It describes a website called "Parrot Secrets", that provides information about caring for parrots and makes about $400,000 a year selling eBooks about parrots. For all I know the story could be completely made up, but I found it instructive.
Now most people that have a blog or website about Parrots probably would think it would be next to impossible to profit from the traffic. Selling an eBook about how to take care of your parrot was an interesting angle I never would have considered. It seems to provide value to the consumer while compensating the site owner.
Most interesting to me about the eBook is you are selling a product. Because you are a selling a product with fixed prices and fixed margins (95%!), you can model traffic acquisition costs and conversion rates to know exactly how much you would pay for a visitor. Once you know exactly how much a visitor is worth to you, you can buy traffic that costs less than that amount. The extent to which this is a large market and traffic is relatively inexpensive, you can grow the business. In otherwords, eBooks scale.
The other article I recently encountered was an interview with the ShoeMoney guy. I just found it interesting how he was able to build consumer marketing businesses. He originally built a site around mobile phone wallpaper and ringtones, and then tried about a million different ways to monetize it. Nothing earth shattering, but it was interesting to hear the process of how he built the business.
Anyhow, both the articles made me think it would be an amazing learning experience to write an eBook and learn the customer acquisition economics inside and out. It would probably be a cheap education!
The first was a fascinating article about selling eBooks to monetize traffic on your blog or website. It describes a website called "Parrot Secrets", that provides information about caring for parrots and makes about $400,000 a year selling eBooks about parrots. For all I know the story could be completely made up, but I found it instructive.
Now most people that have a blog or website about Parrots probably would think it would be next to impossible to profit from the traffic. Selling an eBook about how to take care of your parrot was an interesting angle I never would have considered. It seems to provide value to the consumer while compensating the site owner.
Most interesting to me about the eBook is you are selling a product. Because you are a selling a product with fixed prices and fixed margins (95%!), you can model traffic acquisition costs and conversion rates to know exactly how much you would pay for a visitor. Once you know exactly how much a visitor is worth to you, you can buy traffic that costs less than that amount. The extent to which this is a large market and traffic is relatively inexpensive, you can grow the business. In otherwords, eBooks scale.
The other article I recently encountered was an interview with the ShoeMoney guy. I just found it interesting how he was able to build consumer marketing businesses. He originally built a site around mobile phone wallpaper and ringtones, and then tried about a million different ways to monetize it. Nothing earth shattering, but it was interesting to hear the process of how he built the business.
Anyhow, both the articles made me think it would be an amazing learning experience to write an eBook and learn the customer acquisition economics inside and out. It would probably be a cheap education!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Are US social networks communist and Chinese ones capitalist?
It occurred to me the other day that on Facebook, it doesn't matter how much money you have. The service is free and taking advantage of all of its features is free too. In fact, it's quite difficult to tell who on Facebook is rich and who is poor; we are all equal citizens in the Facebook commune.
In the real world, it obviously does matter how much money you have. Moreover, it is easy to tell who is rich and who is poor. People send signals about their affluence from their clothes, cars, housing, and almost all the physical goods they consume. Facebook, on the other hand offers almost no clues into your financial status because there is almost nothing to consume.
While US social networks appear to have achieved a near Utopian existence, Chinese social networks are capitalist hotbeds. The Chinese social network Qzone earns nearly a billion dollars a year from the sale of virtual goods. On this social network, it matters how much money you have; the affluent can purchase more scarce virtual goods to decorate their profiles and the poor cannot. If you are poor in real world China, you are poor in social network China. How is that for communism?
Our experience on Facebook today may be the garden before the fall. As virtual goods offer perhaps the best way to monetize social networks, I imagine it will be tempting for Facebook to taste the (virtual) apple. If that happens, I think we'll look back on these early days of social networking fondly.
In the real world, it obviously does matter how much money you have. Moreover, it is easy to tell who is rich and who is poor. People send signals about their affluence from their clothes, cars, housing, and almost all the physical goods they consume. Facebook, on the other hand offers almost no clues into your financial status because there is almost nothing to consume.
While US social networks appear to have achieved a near Utopian existence, Chinese social networks are capitalist hotbeds. The Chinese social network Qzone earns nearly a billion dollars a year from the sale of virtual goods. On this social network, it matters how much money you have; the affluent can purchase more scarce virtual goods to decorate their profiles and the poor cannot. If you are poor in real world China, you are poor in social network China. How is that for communism?
Our experience on Facebook today may be the garden before the fall. As virtual goods offer perhaps the best way to monetize social networks, I imagine it will be tempting for Facebook to taste the (virtual) apple. If that happens, I think we'll look back on these early days of social networking fondly.
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