curiousgirl's playground

Ben Casnocha writes an interesting post titled "Absent Fathers, Supportive Mothers," citing "...there is evidence that many successful male leaders had strong, supportive mothers and rather remote, absent fathers..."

I'm curious as to how much evidence there is on this issue (e.g. how many leaders were examined? how is "leader" defined?). Does anyone know of a link to a study done on this research? One interesting idea (that I believe is already being worked on) is to post biographies and stories of people on the Internet and do analytics on it. (Hah, I'm all about running the numbers.) There's all sorts of connections that can be made by studying one's past.

technorati tags: absent fathers, supportive mothers, leadership

August 27, 2007 | 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

I just finished Swimming Across, a memoir of Andrew Grove, founder of Intel and Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1997. This is a truly inspiring and motivational story, a must-read.

This story is beautiful. It's a story of courage, dedication, strength, determination, will, commitment, etc. I do want to share one part of the memoir that touched me the most (literally made me teary):

For me, this passage reminds us how strong love can be. It truly is a powerful force that makes extraordinary things happen. In modern-day society, things move and change at such a fast pace that I often feel like we don't have the time to really reflect and think about the people we love the most. This is a post dedicated to those who we cherish :)

Mr. Volenski (his favorite physics teacher) once told Andrew's parents, "Life is like a big lake. All the boys get in the water at one end and start swimming. Not all of them will swim across. But one of them, I'm sure, will. That one is Grof."

Later, the author finishes the book with "As my teacher Volenski predicted, I managed to swim across the lake --- not without effort, not without setbacks, and with a great deal of help and encouragement from others. I am still swimming."

technorati tags: swimming across, andrew grove, intel, love

August 27, 2007 | 12:32 AM | Comments (1)

I'm truly impressed by Janice Fraser, one of the founding members of Adaptive Path. She is an entrepreneur, interaction designer, and editor -- all in one! She writes an inspirational blog (hah, she's "clevergirl") and has an excellent podcast here.

• Partnerships (people) are most important. It's all comes down to trust. Adaptive Path's success is due to the solidity of the seven co-founders. Janice talks about her great relationship with Peter Merholz, President of Adaptive Path, and how even if they did get it into conflicts (ps: constructive discontent is always healthy), the conflicts would be meaningful.
• Make meaning. Not just in the Guy Kawasaki's "Let's Change the World" kind of way. Janice stresses creating meaning for your employees, making sure they want to be there and are 100% passionate.
• Be stingy.
  • Financially. The founding members of Adaptive Path spent 6 months arguing over whether or not to buy a printer and lived without an office for a year.
  • On features. Less is more. Each additional feature = extra expense = additional design, development, testing costs.
• Alignment = Integrity. Hire for the right characteristics in people. The right people will create the right product vision. The right product vision gets you the right customers. My questions for Janice are: What exactly does "right" mean? More importantly, how do you know what is "right?"
• Companies are designed for people. Firm culture is critical. Janice says, "If work is not fulfilling, people will not have loyalty." What I admire most about Janice is her brutal honesty. She's not afraid to admit "she's human" and makes mistakes, too. As CEO, Janice says she "has no power" and instead must empower others around her. She cites a specific example with a newly hired PR person where she took more control than she was supposed to. This PR employee approached her about it, and she accepted the feedback and immediately apologized and let go. For Janice, her employees are her partners.
• You are employed by an industry, not a company. Think about the bigger picture. Take the long view.

technorati tags: janice fraser, adaptive path, design, ceo, entrepreneurship

August 5, 2007 | 4:48 PM | Comments (1)

During my trip last week to Boulder, CO, I had the pleasure of meeting Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-Founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), and Jill Ross, Director of Image of Computing at the University of Colorado. NCWIT recently launched their Heroes project, a series of 15-minute interviews with 20 selected women IT entrepreneurs chosen from more than 100 nominations.

I really admire Lucy Sanders. She has a highly impressive background: worked R&D and executive positions at AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Bell Labs, and Avaya Labs for over 20 years, awarded Bell Labs Fellow (highest technical accomplishment) in 1996, and has served on the boards of an array of organizations from academic institutions to venture-backed companies to non-profit organizations. What I really like is the fact she has made significant contributions in both the private and public spheres, having a broad influence not just within a company but to the community at large.

Lucy's work echoes the work of Janet Hanson and 85 Broads, a global network of more than 13,000 members worldwide for women in business. I met Janet last summer when I worked at Lehman Brothers. Janet's vibrant personality and energy definitely shined as she spoke. You could tell she truly genuinely cared about her work. She even told us that she envisioned 85 Broads cafes all over New York City one day.

I really support the work of Lucy and Janet and hope to encourage women to pursue science, technology, and business. It's not about trying to "level the playing field" and "forcing" women to study these subjects. Rather, it's making sure that they are not discouraged to try it out. For instance, I know a number of my friends (both female and male) who did not pursue engineering because they thought it was "too hard" and "too much work." "I don't want to spend all this time and have it lower my GPA," a friend told me.

I do admit there are sacrifices to be made. Engineering = more requirements, more labs, more classes, more time. Ultimately, I think the most important thing is to find out what you like to do. Don't be afraid to take a class. Grades are overrated. Learn for the sake of learning.

technorati tags: women, it, technology, lucy sanders, ncwit, 85 broads, janet hanson, nonprofit

June 18, 2007 | 7:51 PM | Comments (0)

Last weekend (May 5th-6th), I had the opportunity to attend the 2007 Annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder's Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. (No, I'm not a shareholder, but a group of us were able to get tickets thanks to knowing people who were shareholders.) A quick summary:

• 27,000 attended the event from all over the world
• All the hotels/motels were completely booked. (We actually didn't have a place to stay Friday night so "camped out" at the Hilton across from Qwest Center.)
• Doors opened 7am Saturday morning, but lines started at 4:30am. Earliest person who arrived, Jerry Brunetti, arrived 8pm Friday evening.
• Then picture a stampede of people RUNNING for seats at 7am. (We got 3rd row center. Thanks to Theodore's amazing agility and speed!)
• "Berkstock" video highlights
  • "Woodstock"-style cartoon
  • Buffett vs. Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James
  • Buffett vs. 12-yr-old Ariel Hsing in table tennis
  • Tribute to "Berkshire Managers" to tune of "My Favorite Things" from Sound of Music
  • And, of course, various ads from Berkshire portfolio companies
• 5-6hr Q&A session with Buffett and Munger highlights
  • "I have nothing to say" and "I have nothing else to add" -- Charlie Munger (a man of few words...very concise)
  • Buffett: "Envy is the worst of the seven deadly sins...because you only feel worse. ...There are definite upsides to gluttony" [Buffett takes piece of See's peanut brittle from table] ..."and lets not get into lust."
  • Buffett (paraphrased): Always marry up. Find someone who make you a better person. The catch is you need to find someone who is willing to marry down.
  • Buffett & Munger in response to ("How does a 10-yr-old get rich?"): Read everything you can get your hands on. (By age 10, Buffett had finished all investing/finance books in his local library..twice! Oh and he sold newspapers.)
  • Munger on heroes: “You are not restricted to picking living people as your heroes. Some of the best people are dead.” (Think Ben Franklin..)
  • Noteworthy links: 1) Stockholders' questions summary 2) Ultimate 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Guide

technorati tags: berkshire hathaway, warren buffett, charlie munger, 2007

May 11, 2007 | 9:05 AM | Comments (2)

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 2007 Wharton Economic Summit. It was definitely a great conference featuring several amazing panels and distinguished world class leaders! Below are some highlights:

• CRT: Communication. Renumeration. Transportation. Particularly in apparel / retail industries ($400 billion global apparel industry)- Trends include faster lead times, quicker product development, better quality / quantity.
• Why China? Not least expensive but -most efficient-. Abundance of raw material.
• Current Stats: In 2006: $232.5 billion US deficit (up ~15%). US exported $53 billion to China (up from $42 billion in 2005). China helped lower inflation in U.S.
• Still low penetration of outsourcing.

  	Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)	IT (ADM)	IT (Infrastructure)
  Model	Captive (moving to hybrid)	3rd party outsourcing (moving to hybrid)	Outsourcing model
  Industry	$18 billion	$30 billion	$2 billion
  Percent Offshore	12%	>30%	~1.25%

• Software Service Providers: >20K employees

  2005 Data
  China	8,000 (~5K employees)
  India	5,000 (~15K employees)

• India faces talent crunch by 2010.
• Client vs. Delivery Markets

  Client Markets (United States)	Delivery Markets (China)
  Competitive pressures Industry nuances / maturity Exchange rate / currency strength Local political climate Wages Investment in education	Governance Political climate Infrastructure Exchange rate / currency strength Population and demographic profile Wages Investment in education Maturity of domestic financial markets

• Challenge: move up value chain by changing engagement model for BPO
• Challenges in India: 1) Communication semantic (3 ways to say "yes") 2) HR Management: need for non-monetary incentives (e.g. invite employees and their parents over) 3) Unpredictable government policy 4) Rampant corruption 5) Property value
• Why Bother with India? 1) Huge consumer market 2) Professional management has depth 3) Labor laws flexible in some industries 4) Tax benefits may be as important as labor cost arbitrage 5) Things are fine as long as you don't deal with government 6) Improved regulations on transfer of capital

• 10 Forces flattening the world. New age of creativity, connectivity, work flow software, outsourcing, etc..
• Globalization of labor-intensive industries. Supply chains are longer and more complicated, spanning countries. No longer a singe country-to-country interaction. International obstacles such as tariffs and trade agreements exist. Movement of labor supply to "cheapest" country: Hong Kong (1970s) -> Taiwan -> Korea -> Philippines -> China -> Bangladesh / Pakistani -> What next?
• Four tips for success.
  1. Have a clear vision and purpose. Requires having core values of character, trust, integrity with your customer.
  2. Know your representatives. Hire the best and brightest people on your team.
  3. Keep strong internal communication. Listen to clients and be problem solvers. Be at least 2 years ahead of the game.
  4. Control your expenses. Anticipate market changes. Use technology efficient to manage your resources.

• Be true to yourself. Particularly when it comes to reconciling personal values with corporate ethics.
• Great leaders have a moral compass. In response to the corporate scandals of America (Enron, MCI Worldcom, etc.), Huntsman greatly emphasized the importance of taking responsibility and being accountable for your own actions, saying that we know what is "right" and what is "wrong" -- all of us are taught those core principles.
• Don't be scared to speak up. Question authority. Be brave!

• Find "shrinking" markets. In looking for opportunities, Josh mentioned looking at crowded markets and trying to "shrink" them. Perhaps by fundamentally changing the business to squeeze out competitors?
• There's value in delayed gratification. Self-discipline for one. Robert told this story of how he teaches his own children about personal finance by giving them money (e.g. $1000) but not allowing them to use it right away. Instead, he works with his kids to pick out stocks and invest the money for the future.
• Get fouls. Josh made the analogy to basketball, saying that a great basketball player isn't "perfect" but is willing to take some risks (not play safe) in order to improve. Josh illustrated this point with his creative marketing strategies Half.com first employed when they got started. They actually got a town in Oregon to change its name to Half.com for a year. A small initial investment which led to millions of free mainstream media advertising!
• Focus on incremental change. These are opportunities that are easier to spot and execute.
• Use the business model as competitive weapon. Emphasize innovating on the -business model- rather than -the product-. Recognize different distribution systems for a given product. Answer "how can we make money" first. Cases like Google are rare.
• Get a board of advisors. As an entrepreneur, it's vital to seek the expertise of those around you.
• Think ahead and don't abandon ship too soon. Risk management and execution are key. Think of playing chess and considering 6 different scenarios playing out and how you would respond to each.
• Acknowledge what you don't know. You aren't expected to know everything. It's OK to say "I don't know."
• Open source dramatically reduces cost for business launch. For Josh, Half.com required $2.5 million investment --> Turntide required $750,000; and 1-800-Free411 required $300,000. Josh's thoughts on open source: "More businesses are failing more efficiently."

technorati tags: wharton economic summit, leadership, business, ethics, india, china, globalization, outsourcing, entrepreneurship

April 18, 2007 | 11:30 AM | Comments (1)

My friend Theodore King and I had the pleasure of meeting Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy (SLA), this past Wednesday morning. SLA is a new Philadelphia public school, which opened this past Fall 2006, focused on project-based learning and built on School 2.0 principles. SLA's five core values (inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection) are deeply emphasized across all its curriculum. Many thanks to Christian Long, CEO of DesignShare, for introducing me to Chris in the first place!

Chris graciously offered us a few moments of this time out of his busy schedule to discuss the making of his vision. In addition, Jon Amsterdam gave us a tour of the facilities. Below are some of the observations I made from the visit.

• Empower students! SLA loves each of its students as individuals. This is deeply reflected in its admissions process. Each interested candidate is evaluated separately based on academics, extracurriculars, interest in project-based learning, etc. and goes through a face-to-face interview process where students are assessed based on their presentation skills, interaction with the SLA community, etc. Consequently, admission is not biased to only students who are top academic performers. Instead, the admission process considers a breadth of very diverse, qualified candidates. For instance, if a student was not performing as well academically, he/she must justify their performance during the interview process and why they are interested in a place like SLA. Fit is what matters. While this approach may lead to a larger academic difference gap among classes (which may be more difficult for teachers from a teaching perspective), ultimately I think this process provides "balance" and the "right" mix of students. At the end of the day, you want to admit people who truly want to be there, and SLA's admission process does just that.
• Renovate traditional learning. SLA focuses on project-based learning with lots of interdisciplinary overlap across courses, so students can easily apply concepts learned in one subject to another. For instance, history teacher Mr. Matt Baird described the most recent project his students were working on. It was focused on the abolitionist period where students had to draft a letter in response to the Dred Scott decision. The students then use modern technology to create advertisements during that time period. In another project, they must research and collect stories on historic Philadelphia and later publish the material on a public website. This process allows the students to mix knowledge of history with other disciplines (arts, computers, etc.).
• Incorporate cutting-edge technology. Each SLA student has an Apple labtop. Classes run on open-source course management programs like Moodle, allowing students and teachers to more easily collaborate online via features such as virtual classrooms, gradebook, discussion forums, and file uploads. In addition, teachers can use blogs and wikis to communicate with students on a daily basis. Chris told us that they are now switching over to use Drupal. In particular, they are partnering with Bill Fitzgerald of OpenAcademic to build a standard for online collaborative learning for the new tech-savvy generation.
• Create a sense of community. Students actively participate in all activities from helping with the SLA admissions process (acting as "interviewers" and providing their own feedback on candidates) to making changes to open-source software (updating SLA website, upgrading features of programs, blogging). One example Chris mentioned was a student who had excellent academics (4.0) but was not admitted. When the parents asked why, Chris said that the student expressed arrogance in front of other SLA students during the interview process, saying that he was only applying to SLA as a "safety school." To me, this is an excellent way of assessing a candidate's "soft" qualities. After all, people do not reveal their "true" self during the formal interview process. Only by interacting with people in an array of environments and situations can you get a better understanding of what the person is actually like. By using this method of active student participation, SLA students gain a sense of responsibility for SLA and ownership of their work. They feel part of the SLA family. Even just walking around the school, Theodore and I saw the hard work of students proudly displayed on the multi-colored pastel walls (e.g. poster displaying complex carbon molecules in Chicken Nuggets and Mac & Cheese). Jon told us that the walls will soon be decorated with art murals. (This hit home for me. I actually replicated a famous painting for my elementary school in New Jersey. I'm hoping to visit my old school later this May. My principal, Mr. Mrozinski, told me that as long as he was still at the school (which he is), he'd make sure the picture was still on the wall. I wonder if it's still there ...)

Overall, the visit was very enjoyable and eye-opening. It's great to first hear Chris talk about his initial vision and then physically see, touch, and walk through it. I can't wait to see what SLA will be like a year from now.

View this Flickr set to see more images. I took some with my phone, but the quality isn't nearly as good!

technorati tags: science leadership academy, sla, philadelphia, chris lehmann, school 2.0, education

March 29, 2007 | 5:19 PM | Comments (1)

If I were to only pick only one organization that significantly changed my life, it would be the Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) --- hands down.

I am always hesitant when telling a story around volunteerism (“doing good”), mostly because I’m afraid I sound too cliché and cheesy that people won’t take it (or -me-) seriously. Even though this may still bother me, I try not to let it so much. To readers who can appreciate the following, I thank you. For those who can’t, well, you can believe and think what you want.

I was first introduced to the YVC by my friend (and now forever role model) Susan. At the time, I never had done community service in my life and, frankly, wasn’t all too excited about it. Come on, as the average high school student, would you rather sleep in on Saturday mornings or wake up at 7:30am to volunteer? Would you spend six hours on Saturday helping renovate a low-income elementary school, or does that Nintendo Wii or MySpace page look more attractive to you? (Back in the day, it was just instant messaging and web surfing.)

“Come out this Saturday. It’s a lot of fun. Get it a try,” Susan told me.

My first thoughts were “Fun? She’s kidding, right?”Though, after some thinking, I told myself, “Why not?” My initial reasons for volunteering were very selfish: 1) I just moved to California at the time and didn’t know anyone. I saw it as a great way to make new friends. 2) It looked good on college applications.

It didn’t take long for me to get hooked on the YVC. I can’t possibly begin to tell you why I loved it so much and what it has meant for me. It’s not simply the amazing people and friendships I made, their energy, their drive. It’s not simply the impact we made, the smiles we saw, the people we touched. It's hard for me to tell you, but I met some of the most down-to-earth, genuinely passionate people in my life so far. These are the people who truly cared. They weren't there for the publicity. They weren't there for their resume. Put simply, they actually just gave a damn. That was all that mattered.

Thank you for three amazing years. Weekly Saturday Service projects. Organizing our four annual national days of service with over 200 youth at each event (all done by team of ~20 youth leaders). Reading the handmade thank you cards of students from Roseland Elementary School. Martin Luther King Day poetry slams. Gardening for the homeless. Canned food drives. See’s Candies sales. Raising over $10,000 at the Human Race. Our Friday youth council meetings followed by dinner at Lyons or IHOP. The fun from fundraising out in the streets during the rain in costume. Annual retreats. Friendly tribe competition. One night experience as a waitress at a Rockin Ravioli fundraiser. Twice. Feeling amazingly satisfied after six hours of sweating from working under the sun (Volunteering requires physical stamina!). Presenting leadership workshops to at-risk youth across the state of CA. Building self-confidence and public speaking. Letting me design your website. Amazing friendships. Realizing that I mattered, that I wasn’t just a teenager dreaming to make change, that I could make a difference.

Still don’t believe me? Words alone cannot express what it has meant for me. Here’s a picture:

For all this, I thank Susan. To this day, she’s by far the most energetic, crazy (in a good way), driven, daring, fun, all-around beautiful person I know. She’s the kind of girl who could get you excited about almost anything, who could get you to smile when you're feeling down, who could get you to do things you never thought you’d do, who could, quite simply, rock your world. She was the type who dared to go on stage and rap (yes, rap) about laissez-faire, politics, economics, what have you, only because she truly believed in social change. What I admire about Susan the most: the fact that she genuinely believes in what she does and acts on it. Everything about her – her spirit, energy, thoughts – is contagious.

(Note: Susan now studies Social Studies at Harvard. She’s also working actively with FORGE.)

• Anyone can make a mark. At YVC, I was part of a group called Peer Presenters. We were a group of youth (mostly high school and some middle school students) who created original leadership workshops and presented them to at-risk youth around the county. Our first leadership workshop was titled "The Leader in You." The point we stressed to kids was that you don't need to be Martin Luther King, Jr. to make a difference or be a leader. The simple gesture of helping a friend with a homework problem or trying to resolve a conflict shows initiative and leadership. Even today, I constantly remind myself of how effective and meaningful these small actions are.
• Be the change you want to see. Here's a great quote (which most of you may have seen already) by Alan Kay:
  
  
  "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

technorati tags: youth volunteerism, , youth volunteer corps, yvc, community service, change

January 4, 2007 | 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

Yesterday I spent the entire day (8am to 7pm) at the 2006 Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference down at the Union League of Philadelphia in Center City. It was my first time at this conference and well worth it. I heard some great wisdom from very successful entrepreneurships (Sam Hamaeh, CEO of Vault, Inc. and Darius Bikoff, CEO of Glacéau), connected with some new people here and there, and overall had a great time. You can really feel the "passion" from these true entrepreneurs. It's so contagious.

The key pieces of advice I took away from the day:
- Don't recruit on campus: This is the ironic truth. Because we go to Wharton/Penn, our chances of becoming an entrepreneur immediately decrease. We become actually more risk averse since our opportunity cost is greater. If you got an idea, start now. Don't wait. Whatever you do, don't go into banking or consulting. After 3, 4, 5 years, can you really get away from making six figure Wall Street or consulting salaries? Will you be willing to give up the luxury life and nice car?
- Bootstrap your business: Sure, being backed by a superstar VC like Kleiner Perkins, Accel, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, etc. may sound extremely sexy (and it does!). The truth of the matter is that VCs take away your equity ownership! Lucinda Holt, CEO of Commerce360, provided a list of sources of funding to consider (in order):

1. vendors
   
2. customers
   
3. personal (yourself!)
   
4. government
   
5. debt
   
6. angel investors
   
7. venture capital
   

November 18, 2006 | 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend a Wharton Leadership Lecture Series and hear Michael Critelli, CEO of Pitney Bowes, speak. Because I won the lottery (first time!), I got to attend a dinner with him afterwards at the Inn at Penn. For those of you who haven't heard of Pitney Bowes (I never heard of it before attending this event), Pitney Bowes (known before as the postage meter company) now focuses on delivering a wide breadth of mailstream products and solutions.

When I did some research on this, my initial reaction was "Are you kidding me? Snail mail guys? Do they even make money anymore?" From Critelli's presentation, I immediately realized how well the company has transitioned and adapted to the changes in communication, particularly with the internet. Critelli was very impressive - He was not only an eloquent, articulate speaker (spoke very slowly and clearly) but also a great listener (repeated audience questions) and innovator (always looking to areas to grow the business).

Here were the main takeaways I got from his presentation:
- Build great teams and group dynamics: This is a recurring theme I see many leaders talk about time and time again. What is always interesting to me is the fact that at Wharton, a lot of people feel courses in Management (particularly Management 100: Leadership and Communication in Groups) are often "fluffy" and (bluntly) "BS" in the sense that they can't really be taught. Yet, these seemingly common sense skills are precisely the ones that are hardest to master in the long term. (You can pick up finance/accounting through reading books, but who's going to teach you to be a great leader?)
- Take small steps to achieve an end goal: At Pitney Bowes, Critelli changed the executive compensation policy so that senior management could focus on making best decisions for the company rather than focusing on division-specific profits. He also helped build a common brand, look, and feel. This point struck me in particular. Ask any of my Phi Gamma Nu friends, and they'll say I'm obsessed about fonts, logos, and consistency!
- Communication is about moving an audience: Critelli broke communications down into two components: 1) physical act of delivery and 2) act of conveying emotion of idea. This led to the development of personalized postage stamps (apparently, dog stamps are more popular than those with babies). Bottom line is to focus on customer needs and really listen to them.
- Level 5 CEO vs. Level 4 Celebrity CEO: Critelli drew a distinction between the Level 5 CEO (effective leader who slightly downplays his/her role by making changes more secretively) and the Level 4 Celebrity CEO (charming, charismatic, in-the-spotlight CEO). He claimed to be the Level 5 CEO. He sited an example where a whistleblower approached him about the inappropriate behavior of a senior level employee, saying that had he been the Celebrity CEO, he did not think the whistleblower would had been as comfortable in approaching him regarding the issue. Being approachable is key. I admire Critelli's intiative on this issue and his consistently reaching out to his employees. He regularly meets with the top 100 employees of his companies.
- There's no such thing as security: You cannot take things for granted. Critelli was always most worried when the company was most secure. I like this reminder. It's easy to be satisfied with the good times and forget about how easy all of it can just go away. Discontinous change - only the paranoid survive.
- Take advice with a grain of salt: Integrate everything you learn from others and make it work for your own vision, values, and leadership style. Not everything that has worked for others will work for you.

Thanks Mr. Critelli for your great insight!

November 18, 2006 | 11:40 AM | Comments (0)