Week 7 Hilary

Erm, Torpids didn’t happen. Despite the training, preparations and last minute panic about getting the kit on time, the weather made it impossible to even row one day. Oh well, Oxford Vs Cambridge MBA, MBAT and Summer VIIIs to look forward to.

Of course, the lack of rowing meant that I really had an opportunity to chomp through the work and barring the cold that I caught, I proceeded to do just that.

Unfortunately, this week I had to deal with a freeloader (someone who doesn’t pull their weight) in one of the groups I am in. Luckily (for them), the very real threat of removing their name from the author list seemed to do the trick and the work was (finally) forthcoming. I didn’t enjoy having to man-manage a fellow MBA.

On a brighter note (and on the whole it was another good week), the Japanese party went very well with about 40 or so people turning up. Due to the numbers, it ended up being a ‘half-Japanese’ party as the non-Japanese brought food from their own nations. The interesting competition between Swapandeep and Simon’s curry kept the betting public interested for a short while, however within a few minutes it was clear to see that Simon’s valiant attempt (despite Mark's request to the tasters) was struggling to keep up with Swapandeep’s chick-pea extravaganza.

Random Party Photo

Simon's Curry and attempt to get someone to eat itThis Saturday we had a lunar eclipse here and following the Japanese evening a few of us stood outside to watch it. The compilation photo at the top of this entry tracks its progress.

Chatham Financial Recruitment Presentation
On Tuesday Chatham Financial were here explaining the company and encouraging us to apply. It was a fascinating presentation by a relatively small company whose customers include all of the major investment banks, PE firms as well as a multitude of real estate companies. Have a look at the website if you have any interest.

Dick Cantwell P&G
Dick is the VP in charge of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) at Procter and Gamble. He came to chart the reasons for RFID (supply chain visibility), how it was developed (at MIT and sponsored by Gillette and P&G), what happened first and where it was now. The fact that this technology can now actually pay for itself in consumer products (through shrinking reduction etc) is amazing

Venture Fund Launch
The big event that many have been working on took place on Thursday. This was the launch of the SBS Venture Fund where four teams of current/former Oxford MBA students presented their business idea to Sir Philip Green and David Bonderman. Just to put it perspective, last year Sir Philip and David donated £500k each to this new venture fund. From 83 teams originally, four were selected to present to these gentlemen so as to get their advice as to whether the fund should invest in them or not. The result was that two were successful with David Bonderman keeping the audience entertained with his opinions as to why he would not invest in the other two (he didn’t pull any punches)

So, this week had no rowing and a bit of an argument but on the whole a load of work got done, and I enjoyed the presentations and party. I now go into 8th week of Hilary in a good position to have all the assignments done so that I can concentrate on revision in 9th week. Exams are then in 10th week. Here we go again!