Unplanned Post-Class Picnic

Cheers to Friday! (Sorry Anar, we went ahead without you... let's do this again next time)

Just a short post~ this week was really busy: Many people spent Tuesday night preparing for the Economics midterms. Then in the middle of everything we all tried to work on our Organizational Behavior group projects. Then on top of that, a report for Managerial Decision Making and a case analysis for Entrepreneurial Management.

For me, I personally felt Wednesday last week was my "Friday"~ and having to "extend" the week for 2 more days was torturous. Today, my work group stayed behind after class hours to finish off our OB presentation.

Magically, Natalie hung around school and gave our group a Heineken six-pack she picked up from a store (to help relieve the work group stress)~ but unfortunately people in my group were heading off to other places. And so I offered that we should all just share the beer she brought and drink it together. After all, it was 8pm and the sun was still shining, thanks to Daylight Savings. I offered to run back home to grab my Swiss knife / bottle opener. When I came back minutes after, there was a crowd around her: Phillip, Lisa, Gabriel, Luis, Stefano and Anar! Wow! The more the merrier!

Another angle~ this sure beats grabbing a beer inside an enclosed pub!

We decided to go to the nearby convenience store to grab another six-pack plus some chips. Someone suggested to have our small picnic at one of IE's buildings. It had a nice patio and lawn~ and the weather was perfect. It was a good ender to the week~ will probably consider this again next week (great job Nat!).

IE Singapore Trek

Hey Prasad~ I see what you did here! I laughed when I saw it! Anyway, Veronica opens the info session above~

Today we organized a quick info session for this trek we're planning for the latter part of August. Essentially, the IE Singapore Club was planning a one-week career immersion trip to Singapore, where current IE MBA students would be able to network with recruiters, (prospective) companies, other MBA students from various b-schools as well as current IE alumni based in Singapore (over 100 strong, I understand).

This was the promotional ad shown on the IE Newsletter~

Of course, the itinerary was a mix of both networking and leisure-related activities (drinks, social events as well as cultural and food-related excursions). We also presented a number of companies already within our network (that ranged from advertising, finance, FMCG, telecoms, technology, energy, etc.) that we could tap into.

The info session was rather quick and straight-forward. We finished all our slides within 15 minutes and opened the floor for a Q&A session. From there, we got Pierre to share (rhymes, doesn't it?) his experience working in Singapore.

The turn out for the event was quite good~ as we received more participants at the info session than expected. Also, many seemed extremely keen to travel as well (like high likelihood of participating). It should be an interesting / fun trip if this entire group is indeed going!

Pierre shares how Singapore serves as a regional hub for Asia~ and what working there was like for 4 years

After the info session, I got to meet Vagner from Brazil from the November intake. He indicated that he was going to Singapore no matter what in August (many years ago, his wife used to work there for 3 years). He mentioned that he was going there during the 1st week of August~ right about the same time Raajesh and I will fly there. We'll likely hang out during that time together with other IE Alumni.

What's that sound?! Hail!! And to think it was extremely sunny just a few hours earlier.

On a side note, I just wanted to share something really random. I experienced hail yesterday. It was kinda weird~ since the weather has been gradually becoming warmer. I've found less and less of a reason to bring a jacket out to school and am slowly phasing out my woolen clothes.

I was studying in my room when I suddenly heard something like rain from my window. It sounded a bit too strong for rain so I looked. To my surprise it was hail. I opened my window to verify~ and soon enough a bunch of ice cubes came flying in. The entire episode lasted for about 10 minutes... I seriously dunno what to expect with the weather these days.

Anyway, gotta get back to studying for Economics. Midterms tomorrow~

Deal or No Deal

Professor Matthias Seifert puts €20 up for grabs to demonstrate probability in our Managerial Decision Making class

I'm actually still 2 posts behind~ but I wanted to deviate for a moment to post something about some interesting stuff I picked up from school these past 2 weeks. Although I've taken up business in my undergraduate degree and some supplementary courses after that, I've found that some of the things they teach here at IE are quite practical and valuable. It would've been cool if I knew someone who told me about these things earlier (that way I could actually look it up even further out of sheer interest). Thankfully, there's school for that.

Managerial Decision Making
In this class, we talk about creating different models to determine the right course of action to take given a certain situation. I've heard of modeling before... but I've only had a very limited understanding which industries it could apply to. Taking this class helped me broaden my perspective on the various ways it could be applied in any industry.

One case was about this Napa Valley wine brand~

I particularly enjoyed one of our group projects~ which involved reviewing the overbooking policy of an airline. Originally, I thought a quick fix on Excel (determining a break-even point or to minimize costs) would indicate the proper overbooking policy. I would later be introduced to this software called @Risk for Excel, and would later better understand that there are still ways to improve the model & policy. The case showed that we could cut costs down by 80%. Wow~ like seriously!

I'm likewise finding the latest class I took interesting. It's an interesting approach to decide based on decision trees & probabilities. As per the main photo above, our professor invited one of my classmates to select an envelope. If he gets the correct envelope, he gets €20. And essentially it shows how probabilities change depending on the amount of information you're given (and yes, in the end my classmate got it).

I'm pretty optimistic about this class... although I have to admit it's also a bit challenging. Our professor tends to go pretty fast and it can be quite difficult to catch up while working things out on your computer. Once, I looked to my screen to simulate on Excel what he just explained in class. When I shifted my attention back to the board, he was completely on a different topic altogether. Wow. But anyway, the book is there and so are the class PPT decks.

Calle de Maria de Molina 31~ where all the magic happens lol. Also home for the next 12 months~

Financial Accounting
I've taken accounting before... but it wasn't this fun and clear (from a non-numbers kinda guy). What I appreciated in this class though was that we were taught how certain parts of the financial statements behaved, and how some of these items could be adjusted or manipulated to show certain results. This totally changed my perspective on reading financial statements. Before, I used to just jump straight at the Operating Income of a company and do some ratios. Now, I am keen to question the other parts of the statements to see whether it truly reflects the company's performance.

It's quite interesting~ really. I should probably re-look at all those investments I made in the past!

Strategy
Possibly one of my favorite classes at IE. I often feel that attending this class is like reading the earlier works of M. Night Shyamalan in that every case has a twist in the end. And in that twist that's where the learning comes. These past few weeks, I've come to learn about pricing / cost-saving strategies, price wars and even deciding to do certain things based on what a competitor might do. Just like in our Managerial Decision Making class we also have decision trees~ but here we focus more on best options for both sides (and how to force the competition into your best option). Fantastic, seriously!

Anyway, there. That's all I wanted to share for now!

IE Venture Day

The morning crowd at IE Venture Day (Dunno-his-name-yet, Vaibhav, Anar, Priyanka and Marie)

This piece of news is 11 days old... and with good reason: I was busy (Later I'll explain what kept me so so occupied)! But this piece of news is still worth mentioning, I feel as I did pick up some interesting things at the IE Venture Day. So before anything, some photos of the early birds:

Nada, Varun, Lisa and Dave covering the event from the far right!

Andrew & Lisa~ ah! One of those husband-wife tandems! Could they be planning to start a business?

As per my previous post, IE Venture Day had a host of speakers that ran workshops that spanned from user acquisition strategy to reasons why you should join a business accelerator. Obviously, I had chosen these two topics out of the 4 which were available. The session started with a talk from one of the founders of Waze.com~ who shared with us how they built their app-service.

"Building a map from scratch was expensive... so we empowered people to do it for us!"

In the image above, Uri Levine, founder of Waze.com, shares how they smartly used the GPS capabilities on people's smartphones and used the data transmitted to create real-time broadcasts of traffic situations all over the world. They also managed to get people to create maps through badges and the like~ pretty ingenious! They showed a time lapse of how traffic was like in California~ and how traffic / law enforcement had to also adapt because people now knew where all the radars were!

A full house indeed~

After his speech, we broke out to workshops. I especially liked the session I attended on User Acquisition Strategy. Of all the things mentioned, the key takeaway I took from the session was to really drill down to one key metric that you'll really base your entire success on. One panelist used the analogy of a pizza restaurant manager and how he'd look at a certain number of pizzas to truly determine whether they were profitable or not. For certain businesses, is it the number of users? How active they are? How much they spend on the site?

Additionally, they also shared that it is important to observe the behavior of your cohort of users. Sometimes their behavior tells you everything (the founder of Busuu.com shares how one of their power users was a woman in her 60s). I personally appreciated the inputs from the panelists... as they were all credible people to share on this matter. C'mon, how many of us have built companies with 20M and 30M users!

Argh! Must elbow my way to grab a cup of coffee!

During the break, the open area was as packed as a fully-occupied club on a Saturday night (at 5am in Madrid). And well, networking was in the air! In the midst of all the chatter and banter, I managed to speak to this entrepreneur who has this photo app that sent you and your friends a photo you took whenever you passed by the same place you took your photo. I think Reminis was the name of the app. It was still in production~ I do hope to check it out once it's done. Sounds promising~

And the guest of honor, the American Ambassador to Spain~

After the second workshop, we were all herded back to the main hall to listen to the guest of honor, the US Ambassador to Spain, Alan D. Solomont. I personally enjoyed listening to him as he seemed very down-to-earth and eloquent in answering questions. He was later awarded by IE the title of professor for IE's International Relations program. Upon acceptance of the award, he jokingly mentions how his career was "a series of appointments he was clearly unqualified for". But he then follows through by saying that he was a quick study~ and that probably helped him do well in his job.

And of course, of all the things he said, I vividly remember how he said that he had these "pinch me moments" in life. One of these moments for him was when he was meeting the king of Spain. He was riding on an antique horse-drawn carriage with his country's national anthem playing in the background. "Is this really happening to me?" It was one of his "pinch me moments", he said. That made me think for a moment... and I certainly had my fair share of similar experiences. While not as grand, I am very grateful for what God and my parents have given me.

Stolen moment of Peter and Marie~ oh you love birds! lol

After that it was time for lunch... and I went out with Peter, Marie, Naomi and Michelle. I couldn't remember anymore what we talked about but I do recall this moment I saw on our way back to the auditorium. I found it quite amusing that both Peter and Marie had worn white that day. On the walk back, they walked as above. Awwww shucks! Someday, I told myself... someday.

Good work Tyba (imagine a LinkedIn for junior executives and fresh grads)!

Fast forward to the (near) future~ the balance of the afternoon was dedicated to pitches by student teams at IE Business School and IE University. I personally found some ideas interesting... and a bit unimpressed with some (actually, they weren't that bad. But I guess some presentations really outshone others). There were 2 pitch presentations that were on the advertising & media side... and I found both very promising. I later approached the group members to express how much I liked their idea. I was pretty happy as well to learn that they were already in touch with my previous company, Havas, in launching their ventures (cool)!

As it turns out, the student team from IE University took the top prize at IE Venture Day. Their idea: a LinkedIn for junior executives / fresh grads. I've seen their website before...as it was used by an IE University undergrad I met when I first came to Madrid. Their platform was more dynamic, visual and flexible compared to LinkedIn in that it allowed people to share their interests, hobbies and other endeavors they were focused on (to provide a more complete idea of who they are... rather than just an electronic CV). I was impressed... but I was also somewhat wary that they had too many members on their group. If I had a say in it, I'd shave off a few people from the list.

Anyway, IE Venture Day was cool~ and I really look forward to the next one. I heard the next event in Madrid's gonna be on November... but there are a few others in Bilbao and Lisbon happening in the next few months. Not entirely sure if I'll go to the one in Lisbon~ but at least now I have an excuse to visit Bilbao!

A Short But Intense Week!

Gloria Nogales, Director, Global Sales Operations (Sales & Marketing) at Intel speaks at IE Business School

What a week!

In a span of three days, I found myself buried in group meetings, practice sessions for a major presentation at Communications Skills class, and tackling accounting and valuations for Apple... and let's not forget Spanish classes! Luckily, I have very supportive and competent group mates who are 1000% invested in this program. So technically, things went without a hitch.

In the midst of everything, I still managed to attend a session from LinkedIn and an insights sessions with Intel. The session with LinkedIn was quite... well, not as useful. I actually received more insightful tips and tricks from their counterparts back in Singapore. The session from Intel, on the other hand, was a complete joy to attend. Our school invited Gloria Nogales.... a Spaniard~ but currently works in Intel in their global operations team. Her workshop served more as an interactive Q&A session for MBA students who were interested in moving to the high tech industry. She gave valuable tips on how people can transition / make themselves more competitive or attractive to companies in that space.

She shared a portion from the book Freakonomics, and how resource scarcity actually applied to landing yourself a spot in a certain company. There has to be something you can bring to the table. Or... well, there must be something that is in high demand somewhere that you have. That set me thinking~ and in that same framework I thought about my career path in the future.

After the session, I approached a representative from the Career Management Center and thanked her for organizing this event. It's really helpful that we're able to get high-profile individuals to speak at our school... all for the benefit for gaining insider insights. Previously, they had also invited people from Telefonica, Bayer and Kraft. I think I'll attend these sessions more if time permits!

Something changed~ the walls!

During this week, there were new changes that also happened to the school... physically. The school installed these blue glass-like panels on the pillars to allow students to have a student board of sorts. I personally think it's quite helpful. As for the photo above, Dave (one of our class representatives) was thinking of creating a personalized jersey for our intake. I think it's a pretty good idea to build solidarity / identity within everyone. I'll personally give it a shot to make a logo (coz I do think it's quite cool)~

Venture Day (Screen capture taken from Smore.com)

Anyway, that's that. Tomorrow and Friday are actually both holidays... but tomorrow I'm attending this IE Venture Day session. It's a whole day session where VCs will conduct workshops for budding entrepreneurs or would-be investors on certain topics. The key speakers seem to have plenty of experience... and one of the Managing Directors of the IE Venture Lab (Paris de l'atraz) will be there too (I attended a session from Paris de l'atraz back in Singapore and I found his session very insightful). A number of my classmates will be there too... we'll see how it goes!

A Quick Update

Lucky Me Instant Noodles and Sio Pao!

I'm keeping this post really quick... since it's already 12:53am and I need to be up early later. I have a group rehearsal for our Communications Skills class at 8am.

Well, I got pretty sick (fever) yesterday & this morning. And, well, my fridge didn't have anything. Luckily, I had dumplings from my trip to the Asian store plus Lucky Me Instant Noodles (I know, it's not the most nutritious thing to eat especially if you're sick). But in terms of convenience, well, it met its objective. And well, it reminded me of home!

Chicken BBQ Burger at VIPS

After class today I grabbed an early dinner with Anar. We headed over to VIPS~ which was located right behind our school. He told me he had a pretty good burger there so we went and I ordered what he got the last time: a Chicken BBQ Burger. It was so big... and it was pretty damn good too (Madrid, since when did you start making good burgers? I'm still amazed). We had a pretty good chat too!

Anyway, I'll keep it here til now.  Another long weekend is coming due to the MBAT (MBA Tournament)~ I'll likely post again during that period. For now~ ciao!

Tanta: Peruvian Food

Sebiche is a lot like kinilaw in the Philippines~ but the fish cooked in lime rather than with vinegar

Dave and his group for Entrepreneurial Management wanted to pick my brains on social networks so they invited me to join them for dinner yesterday. Danella suggested that we have Peruvian food~ awesome choice in my opinion since I've never really tried it before (and since she was from Peru, she'd know exactly what to order). And so, there I went.

Tiago looks at my glass of Chicha (Morada). It's mine!

I've been hearing a lot about Sebiche (above)~ which was raw fish cooked in lime, onions and some spices. My classmate mentioned that Peruvians usually order sebiche fresh... and that no restaurants would serve it after a certain time (interesting, right?).

What surprised me though was the yellow things that accompanied the dish. I thought I was looking at cloves of garlic... but apparently it was corn! Damn big right?! It was my first time to see kernels of corn that big!

Danella ordered some Chicha~ which was this grape-looking fruit drink. It was pretty interesting... it was sweet and had this unfermented taste. It was served cold like a soft drink~ when you drink it for the first time, you couldn't quite put your finger on what it tastes exactly like. It turns out, it was actually made from purple corn.

I liked it a lot actually... and I would've ordered more. But my better judgment told me to go with the flow... coz later Danella might order more things. True enough, my guy instinct was right.

More food! Yay!

The platter that followed gave me a quick sample of other Peruvian dishes. Only one item was familiar~ empanadas! It's quite similar to what we have back in the Philippines except the crust was a bit thicker.

They also had this baked / mashed potato dish which contained a huge chuck of meat inside. It felt a lot like an interesting version of sio pao. If I didn't have to share it with anyone I would've eaten it all by myself.

The tray also had this fermented-tasting sweet potato mash served with tuna, egg and tomatoes (yes, that yellowish item on the lower part of the photo). It's nothing I've tasted before... and it kinda gave me an idea of what things are possible with Peruvian cuisine. Really interesting~

Later that night we ordered more items, and I was too engrossed eating that I gave up on taking photos. The main course I had was this beef tenderloin dish... it was really really good (and I regret not taking any photos coz it was the best item I ate). In any case, I think I'll go back there to eat again. The restaurant was a bit pricey but the good food, ambiance and service made it feel worth the trip. On my way out, I noticed that the restaurant had this gourmet sticker on its front~ confirming that it was a really good place to dine.

Tanta, Bistro Peruano is located at Plaza del Peru 1, 28016 Madrid.

Bullfighting in Spain

This is HALF the people who went to yesterday's bullfighting event (other half is from the other batch of IE students)!

Yesterday's CAPEA Day was awesome~ over 140 people from IE Business School turned up for the event.  We were advised to meet at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (where these epic FC Real Madrid football games are held) at 11am. I went to the venue 30mins early just to ensure that I didn't get lost in the immensity of the stadium (I was leveraging from my previous experience getting lost at different gates at the Araneta Colliseum / Singapore Indoor Stadium). And, well, I needed to have breakfast too. From experience, I didn't want to end up hungry inside the bus while on transit to the bullfighting arena. And so, I grabbed a Spanish omelette from the nearest cafe/bar in sight and headed back to the meeting spot.

The early birds waiting for others to arrive. On the backdrop, the monolithic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium!

Luckily, there was only 1 obvious parking lot. And knowing IE students, they would likely (and obviously) congregate at a certain spot. The buses came on time... and well, as most events, people stayed on the street to continue networking.

These folks are all ready to see some action (especially the ones already inside the bus!!!)!

According to the itinerary, the journey to the venue was supposed to take 20mins. I was seated beside Yehia from Egypt (who previously ran for public office in his country... 22,000 people voted for him in the last election). There was a traffic jam on the road leading out of Madrid. Perhaps many other people had also planned to go on a road trip-holiday too that day. It turns out, the journey lasted for 2 hours. For me, I didn't notice the hours because I was busy listening to Yehia's stories. While most people dreaded the journey, mine was actually quite interesting.

Touch down: Music started pumping the moment we reached the area. It's gonna be a cool day!

Our bus took a turn towards this small town area and snaked through its narrow streets. It crossed a mini underpass onto a dirt road that lead to open grasslands. It seemed that we were heading towards nowhere but a small sign on the road indicated that we were indeed going the right direction~ to this farm where the bullfighting stadium was.

We entered the property secured only with minimal barbed wire (much like how farms are fenced in my mom's hometown in Zambales) and saw a couple of bulls relaxing by the shade. At the top of the hill was the venue~ an open-spaced terrace with bbq pits, an open bar and an indoor dining area. There was a DJ at the venue, and he played heart-thumping music the moment we stepped out. Quite an impressive intro~ might I say. Somehow, the wide open spaces and the cool music managed to help people forget about their long arduous bus ride.

Drinks and food in hand and music in the background, it seemed like a major outdoor BBQ party!

Inside, we were treated to free flow soft drinks, beer and sangria as well as plates upon plates of chips. People grabbed and drank as much food and drinks they could get and explored the area shortly after.

The entrance to the stadium: absolutely tiny! Guys bigger than me had trouble squeezing in!

The stadium was smaller than the one I saw from the video but it was actually bigger in real life. The ground was made of some sandy soil. Because it rained earlier that day, potholes of water covered some sections of the ring. The entrances were tiny... but I still managed to fit myself through (I would later discover how agile and flexible my body was once the bulls started charging to the sides).

Ole! Natalie swinging that red cape with much gusto!

The red cape that we had in the stadium was a bit different from the ones I saw on YouTube. It was actually extremely heavy (it was probably a couple of layers thick). Additionally, because it got wet, the water added a lot to the weight. It wasn't that red either~ but a bit on the light red side.

On the photo on the left, I asked asked Natalie to swing the cape around to capture a cool effect. It required some effort though~ as it probably weighed in at 10kg.

From a practical perspective, it could be possible that it was thick to protect the matador from the bull's horns. Well, I wasn't gonna find out.

After a few photos here and there, I stepped out of the arena to grab another drink. On my way to the indoor area, I smelled something familiar: pork liempo (grilled pork belly)!

Apparently, the Spaniards and the Filipinos shared this dish. I kid you not when I wished I had vinegar and sili peppers with me at that time. Gojuchang, garlic and lettuce would've been great too! In addition to the grilled pork belly slices, they also served chorizo, another type of pork sausage and well, blood sausages. The poor vegetarians and non-pork eaters in the group had to settle for the mountainous pile of fresh baguettes served from a humongous box.

The North Americans: Mike, Natalie and Sterling safely behind the barrier

"Bring out the bulls!" says Mallori & Sakhi. Better keep those red hot pants out of the bull's sights Sakhi!

After an energizing boost of meat, I was ready for my share of the action. I grabbed the red cape and entered the pitch to taunt the bull. I must say... it was probably a smaller bull with filed horns, but it was still pretty powerful. When it charges, you can really see it accelerate before your eyes. I also realized that flicking the cape to the side wasn't as easy as it looks on video (the cape was damn heavy).

I dropped the cape! Holy sh**~ there goes my defense! (Photo by Mazyad)

I had 2 near misses with the bull. It was pretty freaky because when it gets to around 5 feet from you, it can actually go in 2 possible directions. It was like Russian Roulette! It was an adrenalin-pumping experience~ and I was glad to be part of the action. Next time though, I personally wouldn't mind getting hit by the bull... it'd be an interesting story to tell to others. In case you were wondering how it looks like to get rammed by a bull, you can ask these guys:

Christian trips as the bull charges for the cape... we all know what happened next! (Photo by Mazyad)

This bull sent this girl flying through the air! Check out the facial expressions of the guys at the back! (Photo by Mallori)

Sakhi~ we warned you about your red-hot pants! Anyway, kudos to you brave girl! (Photo by Mazyad)

Looks bad-ass right? It was a really interesting experience and I was glad to have a first-hand shot at it. After the 3rd round of bullfights, we had the rest of the afternoon to just chill out. Drinks were still being served and grilled food was still on the menu.

Tres Matadores~ we all had the mud stains on our pants as proof!

I had a few interesting discussions during the course of the day. I had debates on whether Philippine or Taiwanese mangoes were better. I had "guy talk" topics with a few of the guys here. Another group talked about water having emotions (sounds strange, doesn't it). Personally, I also had a chat with Veronica from the November intake about what activities I planned to do with the Singapore IE Club.

My view of the view, while seated beside Ani

But of all these discussions, I actually enjoyed having a chat with Ani, my Albanian classmate. The sun had come out to balance the cold air with its warm light. She grabbed a seat and sat down on the middle of the road, overlooking the vast expanse of the farm. From the distance, you'd notice this mini-lake and this lone tree. I grabbed a chair and sat beside her to ask her what was on her mind.

Without going onto details, we basically had a chat about the view and how good it was to help provide some relaxing view. We also wondered why certain trees were situated at certain places. These philosophical conversations are good to have once in a while~ and makes you appreciate life despite all the things running around in your head.

It was time to go~ but people didn't want to leave just yet!

In that span of time I had chatting with Ani, others continued to drink while others took a photography walk along the beautiful landscapes of the vicinity. Alas, it was already 7pm and it was time to head home. People congregated at the open-spaced terrace once more to grab the remaining food items left behind. And then, the DJ played some music.

By this time, some of my classmates were already overly high / tipsy. And so were people from the November intake. The place transformed into an outdoor disco-tech~ which was lotsa fun. Mike, my classmate from Washington, who was under the weather earlier that day was filled with energy later on~ dancing his heart out to a punk-rockish beat. Damn entertaining.

I was exhausted on the trip home... and sure enough, others had also fallen asleep inside the bus. But of course, for others, they were using the rest period before heading out to another student-organized Bar of the Week (BOTW) event. I totally skipped that one~ but I did hang out with a few classmates a couple hours longer.


I'll end this post with this video I accidentally took while trying to snap the group photo above. From the audio and actions people had, you could sense the energy and fun people had during that day. I have to commend the IE Spanish Outreach Club for a pretty cool event. Possibly one of the best and most memorable student events I've attended to date here in Spain! :)