Author: Ashrae

‘Successful entrepreneurship is boring by design’- Professor Glenn Okun, Stern Professor of the year.

Entrepreneurship is a word heard often in the corridors of Business Schools. There are certain things about entrepreneurship that can only be learned through experience. However, there are many important tactics, strategies and disciplines that a prospective entrepreneur can learn in the classroom.

Professor Glenn Okun is a Clinical Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and teaches courses in entrepreneurship, private equity and venture capital. He has achieved much success by investing in early and later stage financing of private companies in various industries. He was recently awarded with the Stern Professor of the Year, 2013.

I am delighted to be taking his ‘Managing growing companies’ class this semester. I highly recommend this class to anyone who dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. A seasoned practitioner, Professor Okun uses his years of experience to take class discussions far beyond the confines of textbooks. He shares his business strategies and entrepreneurial wisdom with the class and calls them his ‘McNuggets’.

Another highly celebrated professor at Stern is Professor Aswath Damodaran. CNN Money recently rated him amongst the top 10 b-school professors globally. I am taking his Corporate Finance course this semester. Professor Damodaran does justice to all of the hype that surrounds him. I find his passion for the course contagious. He claims that his aim in life is to become the Lady Gaga of finance and wants over a million followers on Twitter. His twitter handle is @AswathDamodaran.

The list of highly accomplished professors at Stern is endless. I will try to talk about a few more in future posts.

Until next time,

Ashrae

Yesterday the International Committee at Stern hosted Stern Passport Day, an occasion for Stern students to get together and share their traditional cuisines, costumes and performances with each other.  While sitting in the student lounge I overheard an MBA1 student say, ‘’Passport day has already made my Business School experience worth it”. I could not agree more. The mouth-watering assortment of cuisines, the vibrant costumes and the charged up performances lived up to all the hype. A bunch of South Asians, including me, danced to some Bollywood tunes. The Stern community showed up in large numbers and embraced all the different cultures.

Someone suggested that instead of organizing passport day annually we should try and have it every semester. The Stern administration encourages students to take leadership on matters concerning the Stern community. Last semester, another Sternie felt that Stern needs a ‘Stern Cultures club’.  Four months on and she is in the process of finalizing the board for the club. I am really looking forward to some of the events the club is planning to organize.

I cannot end this post without a mention of my Spring break. I had mentioned in my previous post that I was organizing the India Trek this year. We visited five cities across India. We landed in New Delhi, the capital of India. We went on to visit the magnificent Taj Mahal as well as the forts of Rajasthan. We got to soak some sun on the beaches of Goa. Eight days of non-stop shenanigans ended with an alumni reception at Mumbai. It was hard to come back to reality after the trip. All of us got along so well that we have already had our first get-together in New York. Great memories and good friends for life.

Until next time,

Ashrae

Last week I got involved in a consulting project sponsored by the Entrepreneurs exchange club. It is a ten week long project with a solar industry focused financial advisory firm in the city. This was an opportunity for me to familiarize myself with the start-up culture in New York City. Moreover, I have always been interested in alternative energy and I wanted to understand the complexities involved in financing solar projects.

The experience so far has been inspiring. The incubator my client operates out of has a motley mix of some of the most brilliant minds in the city. During my first few visits I got to meet some of the other start-ups and learn about their ventures.

The project itself is off to a good start. Even though the five of us have never worked together in a team before, I was amazed at how productive we were right from day one. Another example of high ‘EQ’ that Sternies are known for. Our team lead is a part time MBA student. I strongly believe that our part-time network is one of the biggest assets that Stern has. Most of the part-time students work for firms that full time students target for internships or full time jobs. Every week Stern hosts ‘beer blast’, one of the many opportunities for the two communities to network.

A bunch of us went to Vermont this past weekend. I tumbled down the slopes a few times before I found my balance on skis. While I was at it, I built some lifelong friendships. I am hoping to do the same over Spring Break next week. For real time updates from the India Trek look for tweets with #SABAStrek.

Until next time,

Ashrae

Hi All,

My name is Ashrae, and I am a first year student at Stern. I am really excited about sharing my experiences with all of you through this blog.

Let me start by giving you a brief background about myself. Prior to business school I worked as a Management Consultant in India. To move ahead in the industry I felt I needed to learn Finance, the language of business, and there was no better place than Stern to do it. I am a complete foodie and that was one of the things that really attracted me to New York. At Stern, I am specializing in Finance and Strategy. I am on the board of the Management Consulting Association, SCorp (our student government) and the South Asia Business Association.

It has been a good start to the Spring semester. I am off to Vermont next weekend on a Ski trip with my block. It is my first time skiing – one thing off my ‘Things to do before I die’ list. Also, I am leading the Spring Break trek to India in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to visit India with a bunch of Sternies. On the downside, I have mid-terms to cope with in the middle of all this. One of the best things about being in a community as collaborative as Stern is that even exam time is enjoyable and engaging.

Time to get back to books. Stay tuned for more.

Until next time,

Ashrae