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8/2/2019 Alumni Beat 6 Final
1/8
AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
#6
HAR
VARD
|BUSINESS
|SCHOOL
SUMMERVE
NTUREINMANAGEMENTPROGRAM
ALUMNIASSOCIATION
AL
UMNIBEA
T
Welcome1
Ourstatementofmission
andpurpose,andthe
introductionofthe6th
issueofAlumniBeat
AlumCorner3
Thisissuebringsthoughts
ontechnologyinthe
modernworld,reflections
ofaconsultant,and
updatesonrecentalumni
TheClosing7
Thankyoufromthe
editors,andinformation
onanalumnisnon-profit
endeavor
OurMissionandPurpose
The Summer Venture in Management
ProgramAlumniAssociation(SVMPAA)is
a network of talented professionals who
are the global leaders of
tomorrow. These individuals attended
the Harvard Business School Summer
Venture inManagement Program,which
is a highly competitive program the
Harvard Business School hosts each
summer. In this program,students from
across the country simulate the
experience of a typical HBS student byreviewing case studies with world-
renowned HBS professors. The students
graduatetherigorousprogramattheend
of the week and then become official
SVMPAlumniAssociationmembers.
The SVMP AA organizations purpose is
facilitate the continued success an
development of the leaders of tomorro
We strive to promote graduate lev
education, career and profession
development and community service. O
networkofprofessionalsconsistsofover6
memberswhoaspireto pursueprofession
degrees and enhance society throug
value-based leadership. Companies a
recruiters can access our strong talente
network of individuals via a resume bathat allows them to pursue our leadersh
talent.
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AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
GreetingsDistinguishedSVMPAlumniMembers,
Iamhappytointroducethe6thEditionoftheAlumniBeatNewsletter.First,IdliketogiveaspecialshoutouttoKevinKoandMike
Finn for the amazingwork they have done in getting our alumni involved inthe articles. Thankyou KevinandMike for you
dedicationtoournewsletter.
ThisJunewillmarkthe3othanniversaryoftheSummerVentureinManagementProgramatHarvardBusinessSchool.TheAlumni
AssociationiscurrentlyworkingwithHBStoorganizeaspecialeventhonoringthreedecadesofaccomplishedalumni.Ifyouare
interestedinworkingwithustomakethiseventasuccess,pleasefeelfreetoreachouttoanymemberoftheboard.Additionally,
wehopetoseeyouinCambridgeforsomeSVMPalumnireunionactivitiesduringKickoffWeekendJune15-17.Additionaldetails
willbeforthcoming.LookforwardtoseeingyouallinJune!
Sincerely,
BridgetteAdams
President,SVMPAlumniAssociation
SVMPClassof2007
adams.bridgette@gmail.com
*SVMP2012willbeJune16-22.Pleasehelpspreadtheword
about SVMP to high-potential college juniors in your
network. The online application is now available at
www.hbs.edu/svmp
LetterFrom
ThePresident
8/2/2019 Alumni Beat 6 Final
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AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
A priest, a rabbi and a consultant were
traveling on an airplane. There was a
crisis,anditwasclearthattheplanewas
going to crash, and they would all be
killed.Thepriestbegantoprayandfinger
hisrosarybeads,therabbibegantoread
the Torah, and the consultant began to
organizeacommitteeonairtrafficsafety.
Jokes about consultants are a dime a
dozen.Apopularquipisthatconsultants
steal your watch and then tell you the
time a stereotype reinforced by
Showtimes recent portrayal of the
profession inHouse of Lies. Even people
closetomedontunderstandwhatIdoas
a consultant.Myparents are set on the
idea that Im a financial advisor. Friends
imaginemeasGeorgeClooneyfromUpin
theAir,spendingmylifeontheroadfiring
people.WhileI havespent200+nightsinhotelsoverthepastyear,Iamhappyto
saythatIhaveneverbeenresponsiblefor
anyonelosingtheirjob.
So what does a consultant actually do? A
50,000-foot view of consulting can be
summed up as supporting organizational
leaders to solve their most critical issues.
While accurate, this description is so high-
levelthatitrisksbeingdevoidofmeaning.At
theveryleast,itraisesmorequestionsthan
answers. The best way I can describeconsultingwithanylevelofgranularityisby
providing anecdotes from my own
experience. Since joining Deloitte in July
2010,Ihaveworkedonnineprojectsateight
clientsinoveradozencities.Ihelpedamajor
insurance plan comply with Health Care
Reform. I devised a global reference data
strategyatabulgebracketinvestmentbank.I
supportedacquisitionsinthecoalandsuper
metals industries. I developeda healthplan
imaging solution at a major
telecommunications client. I enabled a
technology transformation at one of theworlds largesthedge funds. Currently, I am
advising a largepharmaceuticalcompanyon
devising clinical trial quality standards. For
thesakeofbrevityandclientconfidentiality,
these examples are hardly robust, but
hopefully they provide some flavor of the
types of clients and nature ofproblems for
whichconsultantsareleveraged.
AlumniSpotlight
KevinKo
AnSVMP09alumnusreflectsonhis
experiencesintheenigmaticworld
ofmanagementconsulting.
For readers with a healthy sense o
skepticism, my experience should raise
another question: How does a recen
college graduate advise clients on such
high profile, complex issues? Ill be th
firsttoadmitthatImnosavantinanyof
theaforementionedindustries,butthat
the beauty of joining a consulting firmstraightfromundergrad:Nooneexpects
youtobeanexpert.Infact,Ihaveneve
beenafraidtoadmit,Idontknowso
long as I can follow up it with an
enthusiastic but Iwill find out. One
ofthemostvaluableassetsafresh-faced
consultant can bring to the table is th
abilitytomanagechangeandambiguity.
Overtime,thiscompetencyenablesnew
consultants to develop expertise by
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AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
teamingwithothers.Ihaveworkedwith
andlearnedfromseniorpractitionerswho
have deep industry and technical
knowledge.WhileImaynotbeasubject
matterexpert,Iamabletocontributeto
discussions with these specialists by
offering a fresh perspective, challenging
assumptionsandsynthesizingfindingsina
manner that is relevantto the client.By
amalgamating a cornucopia of
complementaryviewsandskillsetsinthis
way, consultants are able to support
clients in solving their most difficult
problems.
Andnow,againfortheskepticsoutthere,
the million-dollar question: Do
consultantsactuallycreatevalue?Withall
the jokesmade at consultants expense,
onewould beaptto ponder their ability
to have a meaningful impact. The short
(and admittedly biased) answer is yes.
Consultingis somewhatof amisnomer
as it implies that consultants are in the
business of telling clients what to do.
WhileIhavespent200+nights
inhotelsoverthepastyear,I
amhappytosaythatIhave
neverbeenresponsiblefor
anyonelosingtheirjob.
Oftentimes, clients know their own
businesses and organizations better than
consultants ever will. As such, effective
consultants work with their clients to
developasolutionintandemframingthe
issue, transforming data into insights,
weighingpotentialsolutionsandproviding
a final recommendation. A former senior
managerofminereferredtothisastaking
the client along for the ride. Ultimately,
combining the clients understanding of
their organizational dynamics with
consultants fresh perspective leads to a
truly impactful solution one that is not
onlyelegantandcomprehensive,but,more
importantly,onewiththeclientsbuy-in.
Given the nature of this publication, a
discourseonconsultingwouldseemoutof
place (or at least incomplete) without
mention of how this all relates to SVMP.
Fortunately, the linkages between
consulting and SVMP are plentiful. The
goalsofconsultingparallelthoseofSVMP
todevelopabroaderunderstandingofthechallenges business leaders face and the
many dimensions of the business world.
Each consulting project represents an
extended live case study, requiring the
same skills that were employed in
preparation for and during SVMP class
discussions.Clientstapconsultantstosolve
their most complex, top-of-mind
management issues.Therightansweris
rarely clear, and arriving at a workable
solutionrequirestheabilitytoexamine
and debate ideas through lively
interaction. Sound familiar? Check out
the About the Program section of the
SVMPsite.Inmanyways,ourexperience
with SVMPwas an inadvertent venture
intomanagement consulting.While this
connectionmay not have been evident
previously, hopefully this exposition has
lifted some of the enigma around
consulting, revealed its meaningfu
relationship to SVMP and, at the veryleast,taughtreadersanewjoke.
KevinKoiscurrentlyabusinessanalyst
withDeloitteConsulting.He
participatedinSVMPduringthe
summerof2009,andhegraduated
fromTheWhartonSchoolinMay
2010.Hecanbereachedforquestions
orcommentsatkevinjko@gmail.com
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Toprefacethischargedarticle,Iwilllistoffa
succinct-yet-substantial personal history to
verifytheveracityofmyviciousdeclarations.
IwonanationalscholarshipfortheSouthby
Southwestconference, thesameconference
thatTwitterandFoursquareusedtobecome
mainstream entities and the premiere
conference for tech entrepreneurship. In
addition, I havewon aHackathon in NYC, a
tech competition during NYCs Internet
Weekthecityholdsannually,andplacedas
an International Finalist for DaveMcClures
VentureCapitalcompetition. Ihave interned
at Sonar.me, which placed 2nd in
Techcrunchs Disrupt Competition. I have
launchedafailedstartup.
MemberInsights
RonaldAngSiy
SVMP11alumnusandIndiana
UniversityGraduate,Ronaldshares
hisoutlookontechnology
Of that list of accomplishments, guess
which one was the most reputable? This
question serves as a litmus test for a
businessperson. Correct answer? The last
one.
Ihearthisquestionallthetime:Ineeda
program or, I need a technical co-
founder.Everyoneintheworldneedsone,
because everyone in the world can comeupwith anidea.However,only a few can
executesuchanidea.
Asabusinesspersonwithaspecializationin
consumerinsights,I realizehowdifficult it
is to understand other people. As such, I
spent this pastsummerattending over 45
tech-related events meant for
programmers. I have intensively bonded
myselfwith developer friendsat Stanford,
UC Berkeley, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and
Caltech.WhatIhavewitnessedcannotbe
quantifiedby anythingother thanhearsay,
which can become misconstrued as hasty
generalization. However, considering the
failuresofmypeers,friends,andstrangers
alikeinexecutingasuccessfultechstartup,
I amwilling to risk reputation inexchange
forinsightdelivery.
You should never refer to yourself as a
businessperson unless youhave direct tie-
ins with investors that can give
substantial amountson the spot(6
digit figures). You should refer to
yourselfasaproductperson.Produc
people understand the end
consumer and his or her unique
needs,whetherin businessanalytic
or in the interface of an online
gaming site. Business people are
cluelessnon-technicalpeoplewhodnot understand fundamenta
capabilitiesofdifferentprogramming
languages, who underestimate the
amountoftimeittakestoconstruc
and bug-proof a project, and who
drown such projects with shady
offers every day. As an analogy
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AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
RonaldiscurrentlyaStrategy
ConsultantwithIBMConsultingin
Philadelphia,PA.Hecanbereached
atrangsiy@umail.iu.edu
imagineifyouareamedicalstudentand
someone asks you to perform a heart
transplantfor$1000.Heiscluelessasto
the general difficulty of finding a heart,
the technical difficulty of inserting it
without it failing due to a thousand
compatibility reasons, the time itwould
take toperform the procedure, and the
costofsuchaprocedure(hecitesaBBC
storyonillegalMexicantransplantstories
ashispricepointreference).Thatswhat
developers feel likewhen you ask them
todosomethingimpossiblewithaslightly
higher budget than you would pay anIndianprogrammer.
You should neveroffer to pay someone
to program your site. Consider this:
Facebookpays itsentry level employees
up to$250K;Google pays itsentry level
engineers over$130K; eBay pays$150K
asastartingsalary;thestartupIinterned
forofferedover$100Kinsalary,benefits,
and mid-single digit stock percentages.
Can you compete with those numbers?
Onlyafractionofdeveloperscanactually
take a concept and build the site from
scratch.Theyaresuperstars,andtheyare
not exclusive to Ivy Leagues. In fact,
programming is one of the most
meritocratic fields out there, where skill
level is completely independent to the
individual and not specific to a school
curriculum.NewYorkCity justended an
immensecollegiatecompetitionthisyear
to create a new computer science-
focuseduniversityin thecity;thatshow
starved the city and this industry has
become. If you want to get true talent,
youneedtogetdeveloperstobelievein
theideaandownit.Youcantbuyit;youdonthaveenoughmoney.
Finally,your previousexperiencesdo not
matter unless it is an industry-specific
site,suchasBiotechnology.Noonecares
about your nice titles at nice sounding
companies. Business people flaunt
accoladesallthetimeasengravedinthe
resumeculture.Venturecapitalfundingis
even nice, but it means nothing if your
startupburnsthroughmillionsinamatter
of moments (Color.com, Im looking at
you).Nothingintechnologymattersother
thanuser adoption. Speak todevelopers
persuasively, not as a showcase to
yourself but as a showcase to the
concept.
Technology has reached a point where
anything you can dream, you can build.
However, in orderto build, you need to
have the right tools. And when dealing
withadeveloper,youarethetoolandt
developeristheonehammeringyou.
Yourpreviousexperiencesdo
notmatterunlessitisan
industry-specificsite,suchas
Biotechnology.Noonecares
aboutyournicetitlesatnice
soundingcompanies.
8/2/2019 Alumni Beat 6 Final
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AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
Welcome1
Ourstatementofmission
andpurpose,andthe
introductionofthe6th
issueofAlumniBeat
AlumCorner3 TheClosing8
Thankyoufromthe
editors,andinformation
onanalumnisnon-profit
endeavor
AboutJesikaClerge:
IcompletedmyundergraduatedegreeinEconomicsandEnglishatMount
Holyoke College. Afterwards, I completed my graduate degree at
NortheasternUniversity,earninganMSinNonprofitManagementwitha
concentrationinAccounting.Currently,IamworkingastheCFOforasmall
nonprofitnamedTogetherAgainstMalaria(TAMTAM).
TAMTAMisa501(c)(3)non-profitorganizationengagedintheprotection
of pregnant women and small children from malaria. TAMTAM solves
urgent malaria challenges by distributing free bed nets to underserved
areas through innovative, cost-effective and scientifically founded
methods. TAMTAM facilitates operational evaluations with researchers
andpolicymakerstoincreasetheimpactofmalarianetdistribution.
TAMTAM also distributes free bed nets to prevent malaria in a cost-
effective, targeted, innovative and evidence-based manner. The
organizationconductsoperationalresearchonbed-netdistributiontohelp
improvetheuseofbednetsworldwide.Weareavolunteerorganization
withzeropersonnelcosts.
Withbednets,a little goesa longway toward saving lives. TAMTAM is
supported bymany individualswhose generousmonetary support goes
directlytopurchasinganddeliveringbednetstoindividualsinneed.
FormoreinformationonTAMTAM,pleasevisitourwebsite:
http://www.tamtamafrica.org/index.html
AlumniConnect
JessikaClerge
AlumniConnect
JessikaClerge
8/2/2019 Alumni Beat 6 Final
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AlumniBeat Issue#6March201
BridgetteAdams
President
HaythamZohny
VicePresident
JoeSeydl
Treasurer
ChelseaSeabron
DirectorofEvents
KevinKo
DirectorofCorporateRelations
AlumniBeatEditor
AshleyDaniels
DeputyDirectorofCorporateRelations
MichaelFinn
AlumniBeatEditor
AshtaneJordan
DirectorofRecruitment
LoriManning
TechnologyDirector&Webmaster
VicCollins
ExecutiveBoardChairman
JamesGutierrez
GabrielMagaa-Gonzalez
GasparStinfil
ExecutiveBoardMembers
TheExecutiveBoard
SVMPAA2012
ThankYou
FromtheEditors
ToOurEsteemedColleagues,
Wewouldliketothankyouallfortakingthetimetoreadthis
issueoftheAlumniBeataswellasextendaspecialthanksto
thealumniwhocontributed.Wearenowonoursixthedition
thesecondwithusat thehelm.Sincethisisstillrelativelynew
tous, wewould love your input and suggestions onwhat to
include moving forward. We also want to encourage you to
continue tosubmitcontentfor futureeditions.Afterall,thisis
OURnewsletter,and,asalumni,youguide thedirectionof no
onlythenewsletter,butalsotheorganizationmovingforward.
Itscertainlybeenafunexperienceforus,andwecherishallof
the lasting friendships and connections weve made with al
SVMPclasses.
Aswenearthe30thanniversaryoftheprogram,keepalookou
forsomethingBIGcomingthisJune.Wehavetokeepitgoing
and keep it going strong. After all, the SVMP AA is nothing
withoutthealumnitokeepitgoing.Withthat,webidyouall
adieu,andwelookforwardtonextissueoftheAlumniBeat.
-Kevin&Mike
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