The Fuqua Experience

Unfortunately, today it was time to actually attend classes. Learning is still optional :)

Due to a scheduling conflict/mistake on my part, I’ve only got one class this week and three next week, instead of two-and-two.  So for the next week, I can put my full attention towards Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management. Sure, next week will be hell…but that’s next week!

The most interesting thing about class today is that, apparently, business plans are passé.  I’m not sure how I feel about this revelation; in some ways, I can appreciate the fact that taking the time to write everything down is a waste of time, when you should be “doing”.  But at the same time, if you’re going to keep everything in your head, at some point you’re going to lose track of something important.  I suppose the point is moot for me (at least at the moment), as I have no legitimate business ideas at this time.

After we started off class with the “no business plans” mantra, we spent the majority of the time talking with a venture capitalist from a Research Triangle firm.  Having this discussion about a current investment was fantastic way to jump right into thinking about how to evaluate a potential investment, and how to start thinking like an investor.  What amazed me about this discussion was 1) that we were able to shed the stale Harvard Business School prepared cases for this class and talk about an actual investment in-progress and 2) the extent to which the venture capitalist was willing to share his knowledge.  Even though we signed a non-disclosure agreement before reading the investment materials, I wasn’t expecting such a frank discussion…I just didn’t think that was done in any part of the business world.

After class concluded, I spent nearly two hours working through a brutal academic article about networking.  Not that networking isn’t important, but to distill the process of meeting people into terms like “nodes”, “efficiency”, and “structural holes” is just too much analysis for even me when one sentence would do:  The more diverse your network, the more likely you’ll find the resources you’ll need as an entrepreneur.  Q.E.D.

After a so-so dinner, I headed over to the field across from Fuqua, where the CCMBA class was supposed to put a beating on the Daytime program in flag football.  I guess the prospect of a bunch of “executive” students laying the smack-down on the younger Daytime class was too much to bear, as only a handful of Daytime students showed up.  No matter…the CCMBA class showed up strong, at one point having nearly 40 players going across two games.  Good times!

Class starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow (as opposed to this morning’s 11:15 a.m. start), which isn’t something I’m looking forward to.  Being on campus, it’s like I’m back in college…and 8 a.m. classes just aren’t appreciated.