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Hello everyone! I hope all is well on your end. We second year students are on the final stretch here at Stern, and it’s a lot crazier than many of us anticipated! This past weekend was pretty busy, but in a variety of ways. On Friday, I spent the entire day and night in school working on my corporate finance project. We have to analyze a company of our choice (for me: the Boston Beer Company), and in the in-depth analysis we cover areas such as ownership and management composition and how that might affect decision-making in the firm; the risk profile of the company; an analysis of the recent projects the company has undertaken; optimal capital structure and more. I don’t have a finance background, so plugging through the project takes some time, but I must say that this analysis is really teaching me a lot about the inner workings of a company, and after completing it, I am confident that I will be able, for instance, to ask the right questions when my firm decides to embark on a new project or acquire a company. On Saturday morning, I met my International Marketing group to make some serious progress on our final presentation. As I believe I discussed in a previous post, we are developing a comprehensive marketing plan for the launch of a Whole Foods in Chile. Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned a lot about Chilean consumers, especially via a survey taken by our target segment in Santiago. (It took some work to get it to them: design an effective survey; translate it to Spanish; have a Chilean Sternie friend translate that into Chilean Spanish; and then have everyone in our network send it to Chileans they know in Santiago!). It has been a great experience working on this project, and it further bolstered my determination to work in Latin America. That afternoon, I participated in Pre-View weekend, during which admitted students came to Stern for introductions to the program and faculty, career-related activities and some social events. I helped out at the Media & Entertainment table at the career expo and got the opportunity to chat with many students interested in transitioning their careers in that direction. Additionally, I had the chance to meet some incoming students with whom I’d been in contact throughout the admissions process! Right afterwards, I went to Pier 40 on the west side of town to join the soccer team in the Gotham Cup match against our uptown rival, Columbia. We had beaten them in the fall over at Central Park, and we were primed to put on a good performance again. The weather was perfect, the field conditions were ideal, and the referees were in place. A valiant battle was fought by both sides – lots of intensity! In the end, we narrowly lost 3-2, after a last-minute goal. It wasn’t the result we were looking for, but we played pretty well, and it primed us for some revenge at the MBA soccer tournament up at Dartmouth in two weeks! Until next time! Hello everyone! Lots going on lately… again! It seems you hear the words “this week is crazy, but next week things should get back to normal again” at the beginning of every week! But it’s always said with a smile, because the craziness has to do not only with classes and recruiting, but also with social activities and trips near and far. Life here at Stern is so incredibly vibrant – I’ll miss it when I’m back in the “real world!” This past weekend, many of my friends and I were occupied with a Corporate Finance case involving a decision to invest or not invest in an Apple iTV project. I’m not planning for a career in finance, but I must say that what I’ve learned in this project will help me to analyze project opportunities in a variety of situations, even if I’m in a marketing role. To have the ability to know which questions to ask and which assumptions to challenge will certainly be useful as my career progresses and I see more and more such real-life cases. In this case, for instance, my team and I had to come up with Apple’s cost of capital, and using that information, decide the NPV of the project, given various growth estimates, demand estimates, distribution channel assumptions, corporate overhead allocations, future capacity expansion requirement and so on. Then, we challenged certain assumptions we were making to see how sensitive the outcome of the project would be if we would changed some of them. Fascinating project! On the social side, I am getting super excited about our annual follies show this Friday! For those of you who are not familiar with follies shows, NYU Stern does a show each spring in which students (and sometimes professors and administrators) perform comedy skits, song/dance routines and make videos that all poke some fun at school life. It’s a highlight of the school year, and many students really get into the spirit of it! After this coming weekend, search on YouTube for a video called Sterndog Millionaire, and you’ll see a great video that my friends and I have been working on. For your viewing enjoyment (and to get a better sense of the Stern community), here are a couple of my favorite past follies clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVqp6H8dZ3U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N68pkOV_El0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7a2yKGDwK0 Til next time! Hello everyone! This weekend was a great success. The 2nd annual Think Social, Drink Local party topped last year’s superb event, thanks to amazing management by Sternies in the Social Enterprise Association and the Luxury & Retail Club. We had a great loft space on 37th Street, complete with a 50-foot runway for Sternies modeling various clothes by eco-fashion designers. Like last year, a handful of our most popular administrators participated, and they generated huge applause! The party itself was also lots of fun – we had the chance to become more informed about many green and socially-conscious initiatives that various local organizations have undertaken, while at the same time getting down to some great music and enjoying beer from the Brooklyn Brewery, Fuze juices and great local and organic wines and spirits. Additionally, many people from other NYU schools, such as the Wagner School of Public Service, attended, and that gave us Sternies a great opportunity to meet some really interesting people that we might not have the chance to bump into on a daily basis. On the school end, my entrepreneurship class has recently picked up quite a bit of speed, and one exercise I’ve enjoyed very much was a computer simulation involving a startup. Without a doubt, this was the most detailed simulation I’ve ever done: there were video clips of two real mentors giving tips and advice throughout; I managed via a virtual “dashboard”, which kept me informed of items such as financing, human resources, marketing & sales, research & development and manufacturing decisions. Every decision I made impacted the following month’s business status. I had the chance to evaluate different candidates for positions such as VP of R&D; each candidate brought different experiences to the table and cost the business different levels of salary and equity stakes. Key decisions such as these came back into play as the simulation progressed, and I was able to learn about the pros and cons of certain managerial decisions. This incredibly complex design was perfect for experiential learning, and I found it to be a great complement to the topics we learn in class. Additionally, it was a chance for us to practice what we’ve learned in a safe environment that won’t break anyone’s bank account! Til next time! Hello everyone! I hope you have all been well since my last posting. It has been a busy few weeks since I last wrote… where to start? On the school front, lots of term projects are in full swing. My favorite is certainly in International Marketing. Professor Jeffrey Carr brings an amazing wealth of practical experience to the classroom, and our task is to apply both theory and practical sense to an in-depth marketing pitch to launch a product or service brand in another country. My team has chosen to launch Whole Foods in Chile, and through our research, we are realizing what a challenge such a venture can be. Doing due diligence on Chile’s political, economic and social situation has opened our eyes to potential roadblocks. By talking with Stern’s many Latin Americans, we have uncovered some valuable cultural insights to take into consideration when segmenting the market, forming our value proposition, modeling cash flows and developing communications (in Spanish!). As I am seeking a career in Latin America in the next couple of years, this project is of particular interest to me. On the social side, we have the annual Think Social, Drink Local party coming up this Friday! Co-sponsored by the Social Enterprise Association and the Luxury & Retail Club, this bash combines socially-conscious behavior with good times. Last year, the Brooklyn Brewery donated numerous cases of their beers, Trader Joe’s contributed cases of wine, organic local juices were on hand and everyone got a free gift pack with all sorts of eco-friendly snacks. Most memorably, we had an eco-fashion show in which students as well as some of our most beloved administrators strutted their stuff in clothes by Edun, designed by U2 frontman Bono’s wife, Ali Hewson. Last year will be tough to top, but I’m looking forward to whooping it up with my Sternie friends in even bigger style this year! Til next time! Hello everyone! I hope you've had a great holiday season and are off to a good start to the new year. I'm traveling at the moment - wish I could say I'm living out of a suitcase, but my bag has been stuck in Madrid for the last five days while I'm down in Colombia! Ah well - at least Bogota has been so fun that I haven't had much time to dwell on that little issue. I've wanted to come to Colombia for a long time. I've known many people from this country since I was in high school, and the Colombian community at Stern is amazing. In fact, my Sternie friend Mauricio is a local here in Bogota, and he's been very kind by showing my friend Akira and I around town. We've done the tour of museums (of which the Botero mueum was my favorite - some of his work hangs in the Stern hallways in fact!), and I'm looking forward to an all-night party tomorrow night at a famous place called Andres Carne de Res. Then it's off to the coastal town of Cartagen, followed by Medellin, the "land of eternal spring", where I plan on four straight nights of salsa dancing! These two weeks in Colombia are also a great opportunity for me to improve my Spanish, as I hope to do business in or with Latin America upon graduation. Prior to Colombia, I spent two fantastic weeks in India. First, I stayed about five days at my Sternie friend Vikram's home in Bangalore. What a memorable time! We ate some great home-cooked food, and I got to know his family much better. Spending New Year's Eve at a friend's apartment was a great way to get to know the Bangalore community! Then my friend Monica passed through town, leading a group of about fifteen on a tour of the country. I joined them for my remaining eight days in India, and together we explored many temples, palaces, and cities. Three days on the beaches of Goa was just what the doctor ordered, and a visit to Bombay was memorable both for the sites we saw as well as well as for the somber reminder of the recent tragedy there. Seems life is back to normal now though, which was good to see. Over my two weeks in India, I was amazed at how warm and inviting the people of that country are. I hope it's just the first of many visits! Hello everyone! It’s final exam time, and everyone is making that one last push before the holidays. I have my final for Consumer Behavior with Professor Sellier tomorrow. This class has been amazing, especially since I want to stay in a marketing function after I leave Stern. Over the last few months, I’ve learned to be aware of what orientation a company operates with (Consumer orientation? Product orientation? Sales orientation?) and what the implications are for each of these outlooks. Professor Sellier has also trained us to make sure we consider the entire consumer journey, at a granular level, when analyzing what the consumer goes through when making a purchase decision. This exercise has been extremely valuable in the insights it reveals to the marketer, which can be leveraged to form targeted and effective campaigns. During the course of the semester, we also had several guest speakers who discussed real-life cases they encountered working with Unilever, The Economist, and Yahoo! These speakers brought great practical knowledge into the classroom, and this served as a great complement to the material we were learning. Although exams and final papers do take up quite a bit of time, we Sternies make sure to keep the social aspect of our experience here vibrant. Just last Friday, the Latin American Business Association (LABA) had its end of semester lunch at a local Spanish restaurant. The tapas were coming one after the next, as was the sangria and huge portions of paella. In true Latin fashion, the place was full of people speaking loudly, smiling, laughing and having a great time! After a couple of hours of eating, we got down to business: a dominoes tournament like I’d never seen before. As a non Latin-American, I hadn’t known how integral this game was in some cultures, and this really showed in the skill levels (and seriousness) with which some of my friends played! I definitely improved that afternoon, although my partner Jorge and I were defeated by some Venezuelan friends of ours just a couple of rounds into the tournament. What a great experience though – immersing myself in a variety of amazing cultures is one of my favorite things to do at Stern. There is so much to learn inside the classroom, but there’s equally as much to learn (if not more) outside the classroom as well. What an experience this is! I hope you will be able to see this all firsthand when you hopefully start your Stern adventure next fall. I will write again in January, so in the meantime, have a great holiday season and a happy new year! Thanksgiving break is upon us, and that means lots of eating as well as a bit of traveling for some people. There is a popular trek to London for people looking to intern in consulting and banking or simply to make contacts. Over the course of three days, students will have the chance to network with top executives from leading firms in an international setting. Last year, many Sternies secured summer internships in London thanks to this valuable trek. The opportunity to spend the ensuing weekend abroad also enables students to experience some of the city’s food, history and nightlife together. Those who plan to stay here over the vacation will spend much time eating and drinking with friends and family. Tonight and tomorrow night, I will enjoy the company of Sternie friends in various pre-Thanksgiving feasts before heading to Connecticut to celebrate the big day with a friend from high school. I think that many people are welcoming the break with open arms, as the last six weeks or so have been very intense with studying and job searching. When we return from break, I look forward to resuming weekly soccer practices with the Stern team. We recently improved upon our quarterfinal performance at Yale when we traveled to UCLA last weekend for their annual tournament. We started off Saturday in solid form with wins over Rochester and UCLA, as well as a hard-fought tie against Stanford. After a good night’s sleep, we arose to win an 8 a.m. quarterfinal showdown against Berkeley. A rematch against UCLA followed in the semifinals, and this match was even more intense than the first! We went to penalty kicks, but after eight nail-biting rounds, we lost the hard-fought match. We were indeed disappointed, but the team’s spirits were lifted when I brought them to Father’s Office, my favorite burger and beer place in LA, after the game. I really must say that these memories are some of the fondest I have from my time at Stern. Although tests and interviews always loom, bonding with my teammates in nontraditional surroundings lays the groundwork for friendships for years to come. Til next time! Autumn is in full swing here, and it’s gorgeous outside! The leaves are all sorts of colors, the air is fresh, and everyone seems to be in a good mood-walking around with cups of hot spiced apple cider and browsing farmers’ markets on the weekends. Clearly, this is my favorite time of the year! When I must be inside, I continue to be amazed by the quality of teaching at Stern. Last Wednesday, I started a half-semester night class called Conflict, Collaboration and Negotiation with Professor Seth Freeman. The first lesson came right as I walked in the door. Professor Freeman saw me and with a smile said, “Hi Derya, nice to meet you.” I was startled at first! How did he know my name without first seeing my nametag? Lesson number one: establish trust and the basis for a relationship by taking the time to learn who your partners are. And I must say, it worked brilliantly – I knew immediately that this would be a valuable course and that I must listen carefully to what the professor was saying because he clearly knew his stuff! In class, we proceeded to analyze the difference between position-based and issue-based negotiations and took part in an interactive exercise to demonstrate the lesson at hand. After just one class, I feel much better equipped to handle negotiations in a variety of settings with this knowledge in my pocket! Once again, I must tell a story about the social and relationship side of Stern. This past Saturday, a Brazilian Sternie friend invited about a dozen of us out to Brooklyn to a favorite, little-known Brazilian restaurant. What a culture! The live music started at 2 p.m., and once we had eaten our fill of feijoada, a Brazilian specialty, we joined other restaurant-goers and danced away the rest of the afternoon. This was a little glimpse of sunny Brazil and an exciting preview before I visit the country early next year! This aspect of Stern never ceases to amaze me: people love sharing their cultures with each other. I’ve been to francophone dinners with my native French-speaking classmates, hot pot dinners in Chinatown with my Chinese friends, and now I’ve had a taste of Brazil thanks to another group of Sternies. What makes this even more special is knowing that these friendships will not end after I graduate. These Sternies will be my close personal and professional network for the decades to come. Til next time! October 28, 2008 Hello everyone! Things have picked up even more on my end in the last week or so. October is typically a very hectic month at Stern, but I still managed to squeeze in some great extracurricular activities lately to balance things out. Last Friday was action-packed! Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, came to speak at Stern in the morning. The event was global in nature, as the discussion was broadcast via the Web. We had MBA students from as far away as the London Business School and IESE join us in asking questions and helping to drive the learning experience for everyone. Among other things, Mr. Immelt offered us insights into how he is managing GE’s financial position in these tough economic times, and he shared some great advice on how to successfully lead our careers as rising managers. In the afternoon, I went with several Sternie friends to a unique NYU Africa House event. Jacob Zuma, the leader of South Africa’s ANC (African National Congress) party and likely future South African president, delivered a lecture on his agenda for the coming years as well as commented on the strength of democracy in his country. NYU is truly a global institution. The opportunity to attend events such as this offers students a chance to broaden their knowledge of world affairs, which can come in very handy in the workplace. On the social end, I went to dinner last night with the four Sternie classmates who were my roommates in Los Angeles this past summer. Each of us interned in Los Angeles either for Disney or Warner Brothers. What an experience we had! With our combined rent funds, we were able to find an amazing house with a heated pool, located just a short distance from our offices. I really enjoyed getting to know my four roommates better over the summer and by the end, we were definitely very close. We’ve been getting together regularly this semester, and last night’s dinner was in honor of my friend Dan’s engagement! This is just a glimpse of the bond we’re sure to share over the years to come. My choice to come to Stern is more than just a two-year decision, but one that will impact the rest of my life. In the decades to come, I’ll have a fantastic personal and professional network of amazing people from this school. Whether it’s attending my friends’ weddings in far-flung corners of the world or reaching out to a fellow Sternie during a career change, I am excited to have such a strong base of diverse people with which to be associated. October 14, 2008 One class I’ve been spending quite some time with is Professor Czepiel’s Competitive Strategy in the Marketplace. Professor Czepiel is a renowned strategy professor, and he has decades of experience advising top companies around the world. His class is divided into two broad sections: first, the class learns many different theories of strategy in a competitive environment; and then we spend the second half of the semester giving team presentations on a strategic case that we’ve spent countless hours preparing. This is one of the more challenging case presentations, as each team will need to present for an entire class period! Furthermore, another team acts as the executive board of the company in question, and they also get graded on their judgment in accepting or rejecting the presenting team’s recommendation! This is a fantastic exercise that prepares students for high-pressure, real-world situations in which one might have to present a detailed analysis and recommendation or possibly have to decide on the worthiness of a course of action when a lot is at stake. Lots of late nights spent working on that project requires some balancing on the social end! One club I’m actively involved with is the Stern Soccer Club. When I first stepped onto the soccer field with my Stern classmates, I was surprised at the high level of play! We have a smorgasbord of international players on the team, and one American is actually a former professional player. We have a great time at our Friday practices, honing our skills at the East River Park, and this past weekend we went to our first of four tournaments, this one at Yale. We rented two vans from Manhattan and made the drive out to New Haven, Connecticut on Friday. Saturday morning we got up bright and early for a 9 a.m. start against MIT. The grass was slick with morning dew and that made play challenging, but we fought to a 1-1 tie. Ensuing victories over Tuck and Wharton qualified us for the quarterfinals Sunday. At 9 a.m., we squared off against Harvard Business School in the cloudless sky and crisp weather. This time, with two minutes remaining in a hard-fought match, an unfortunate goal against us ended our winning streak. It was a tough loss, but we gained confidence for our next tournament at UCLA in November. It’s this balance of high standards in the classroom and great extracurricular activities with the Stern community that makes this school so great. Not only do I enjoy working with my diverse study group (which certainly helps if you’re pushing midnight on a Sunday!), but also I always know that I’ll have an outlet to take advantage of New York and the surrounding area with people I really enjoy. That gives me energy to tackle the next test, interview or whatever else may cross my path! Until next time! September 30, 2008 Hello prospective students! My name is Derya Rose, and I’m a second-year student here at Stern. This marks the very first blog I’ve ever written – all right! Well, where to start… introduction sounds like a good place! My background is both American and Norwegian (I’m the only one in my family born in the States), and I grew up in both Connecticut and France. After finishing undergrad at Tulane University in New Orleans, I went into Account Management for an advertising agency. That was a great fit for me, as I got to work with a bunch of people from different disciplines and cultures. After working for the company for nearly three years in New York and Los Angeles, I moved to Europe in order to be closer to my family as well as to get some international work experience. I ended up working in Brand Management for a French dairy company for the next couple of years before coming to the conclusion that although I enjoyed packaged goods marketing, the marketing function within other industries, such as Media & Entertainment, might be a better fit for me. Off went my Stern application and soon enough I was enjoying the two-week Pre-term orientation in August! What is Pre-term? It’s a two-week period before classes start in which the new class immerses itself in Stern culture. It includes lots of information sessions, career path overviews, fun icebreakers and of course a fair bit of going out at night with your new classmates! Last year, I had such a great experience during Pre-term that I volunteered to be one of the second-year students who helps out during this period (they call us Block Captains). One reason I did this was because the 2nd year Block Captains from my Pre-term were great at helping me become assimilated to Stern life. They advised me on what to expect once classes and recruiting started, organized lots of fun events and most importantly, once all of the returning students flooded the hallways a couple of weeks later, I already knew a handful of friendly faces that would be there to help me out with anything I needed. This year I had a blast in my role as Block Captain, and I’ve been happy to see some first-year students coming up to me and expressing interest in taking a similar leadership role next year! There are many other ways to get involved in school life as well. I’m a member of many clubs, including the Media, Entertainment and Sports Association (MESA), the Latin American Business Association (LABA), the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA) and the Stern Wine Cellar. All sorts of events, from informational and industry panels to company visits to conferences are held through student clubs. One fun event I’d love to share with you to start off actually has nothing to do with my career path. Through the Stern Wine Cellar, last spring I organized a craft beer, artisanal cheese and handmade chocolate tasting in the private back room of a local bar. We had local authorities on each element present their pairings over a two-hour period, and oh what a time we had! To make this event even more special, it brought together Full-time and Part-time students. This was a great way to bring the full Stern community together and help bolster friendships and networks while having a grand time! More on clubs, classes, and Stern life in general in my next posting…stay tuned!
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Derya Rose, Class of 2009 
