Harvard Express (2004-2006)

Harvard Express #1

Executive Summary
Harvard is impressive! Probably the best analogy describing my feelings is Alice in Wonderland. It is difficult to find words to express how happy & honored I am to be here. I have no doubt it will skyrocket my learning curve, which I felt was flattening, both personally and professionally.

Students
44 international students in the Pre-MBA (a 1-month preparation course) are amazing. These prides of their nations range from concert level pianists, champions and black belts in martial arts to sky divers. We also have top-gun pilots, mangers of theatres, charity specialists, Silicon-Valley engineers… the diversity is stunning. Most importantly, though very successful, overwhelming majority of these folks is very humble and supportive and definitely not living up to the cut-throat myth of Harvard Business School (HBS).

International Cultures
Getting to know the cultures is also very enriching. So far, my best friends are Japanese, Russians and Latin Americans. (Americans are not a part of Pre-MBA so let’s see once they come in.) I also learned why “ruske koleso” is called after Russians. Last Friday, when got smashed from Smirnoff Vodka, Russian guys suddenly started to do Russian wheels on the street to a great surprise of passing pedestrians. 

Learning & Case Method
I have to say my initial skepticism towards learning at HBS was shattered by experience of the first 20 cases. Although initially pretty intimidating, the case method is a fantastic way to learn. Unlike lecture, it prepares you for real business. You learn how to speak in front of big audience and learn by doing rather than just listening. It also challenges you to the bone to crack the case. Importantly, a professor is only a “conductor carrying a chalk” as one of them puts it. “Students are the ones who play instruments”. Of course, professors add a lot of value often via just a couple of words, but still the show is with the students. Professors acts only as catalysts of the discussion. We learn great deal from each other in the classroom & outside. Yesterday, we had a “private case study” about male vs female POV difference in a relationships and unfaithfulness from midnight to 4am (proudly sponsored by Budweiser & Smirnoff :-)
I am sure that after more than 500 cases (and many more private ones), which we will cover over the next two year, we will have developed a “brain muscle” which will help us big time once we go back to business and life. What will also definitely help in future is getting used to working 16-18 hours a day.

Professors
The professors are terrific! They include Chief Development Officer of Morgan Stanley Group, a founder and CEO of Mercer Management Consulting or a president in Fidelity Investments managing $500 billion in assets. These guys know what they are talking about. Most importantly, they are extremely approachable and one can feel they truly love teaching and students. The opportunities are enormous!

Campus
Beautiful old-English style of HBS coupled with presence of young energetic people creates very pleasant environment you want to stay in. Right now I am typing these lines in a beautiful lobby of Spangler building which looks like those of top five-star hotels (well eventually I pay more than for a five-star hotel :-). We have several tennis courts, squash, good-quality gym, sauna and all other sport stuff available. The only tough challenge is to find time for it on a regular basis.

American Culture
I cannot omit my first touches with American culture. The most striking thing for me is number of seals and whales in the streets. I mean by this a number of so perversely fat Americans that I can hardly imagine these guys originated from the same mankind. I believe their extreme obesity is a product of i) car society ii) big portion in restaurants and fast food iii) double sugar-per-capita consumption vs. Europe, but most importantly iv) lack of discipline. Not surprisingly, I have not seen truly fat person at HBS. The second thing, which surprised me, is how considerate people in Boston are. They apologize for just about anything, including a situation when you hit them with your trolley in a supermarket.

Please come and visit!
We have rented a large 3 room apartment 10 minutes from HBS so you are all welcomed to visit us as of September! I also bought a car which I always wanted (Audi A6 Quattro 2.8 Wagon) so we are fully equipped to take care if you decide to stop by. I promise that it will be definitely worth it. I am thinking of you often.


Harvard Express #2


Executive Summary
They still did not kick me out from this fascinating place & I love it more & more. The learning is huge both in & outside of the classroom. By now, I am convinced I want to have my own business in the long term. American culture still keeps me busy, but I started to be very active in telling others about Slovakia as well. We had our first guinny-pig visitor Vilo who managed to survive (followed by several others), so I hope to see more of you here in the near future. Last but not least, Ingrid got a job offer from Deloitte Consulting in Boston which means I will need to start to take care of myself as of late winter.

Learning
I already wrote about enormous learning in the classes with the case method. That has not changed. We already covered well over 150 cases by now and the pace is scary. On top, there are presentations going on campus which are also great learning experience. AG Lafley (CEO of P&G) and 4 other HBS-alumni CEOs were here to solve the case together with students. Although I might be biased, I believe Lafley was by far the best. It was unforgettable experience.
Also Warren Buffet, famous investor and the 2nd richest person in the world, had a presentation this week. He is such a humble person with a great sense of humor. Besides other things, Buffet was supporting Kerry in the elections. He gave this picture when asked how a fair society should look like: “Imagine that you are 24 hours before being born. Angel comes to you and tells you that you have a power to design the world which you are going to be born into. However, you will have NO power over how you will be born to that world: smart or stupid, rich or poor, straight or gay, in USA or Bangladesh, healthy or handicapped… How would you design it then?” I believe it is very eye-opening.
I have been on numerous presentations of successful entrepreneurs. They include people who started from zero and ended up as a diamond millionaire who branded this commodity or a band manager who put together Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. I am totally fascinated by their passion, determination, persistence and talent. I know that for each one of them there are hundreds of those who failed. Still, I am convinced that this is the area where I want to eventually end up.

American Culture
I had further touches with American culture. Presidential Elections was one of them. It is interesting that elections were getting even into movies – Fahrenheit 9/11. Pretty much one-sided democratic promotion, yet probably very effective way to hit some of the fanatic republican heads. Apparently, not effective enough ;)
Sport is another aspect of American culture which caught me unprepared. Boston Red Sox - baseball team won the US league after more than 80 years. Red Sox are worshiped probably ten times as much as Slovak hockey players after winning the world Championship in 2002. The trouble was that not only did I not know any of the players but also I lacked knowledge of the basic rules. Fortunately, my American friends Steve and Eric visited on that crucial weekend and gave me emergency baseball lessons so that I could have a conversation with Americans around me those days ;). People here were crazy about Red Sox even before they got to final. Even on a regular day, people wear their T-shirts, hats, jackets, watches & I bet also bikinis and boxers. What is unbelievably strange to me, they express identity to Red Sox in their personal introductions. Another interesting piece is that Americans call their baseball play-off “World Series” even though they have only American teams in the league.

Priscilla Ball
HBS is boasting that its MBA is transformational experience i.e. that you became fundamentally different person by the time of graduation. Now, I came to understand why. Two weeks ago I have done something I could hardly imagine I would ever do. I dressed myself in a dirty-short skirt, leopard stockings, I have put on makeup, high heels and rolled to Priscilla Ball – HBS wildest party where males dress like women and females dress like sluts. Guys, you can imagine I enjoyed the second part, but the first one was really painful. Anyhow, I have never experienced a party like that. Guys in latex or in nurse dresses, some on the leash in the hands of a girl dressed just in the underwear, tons of drinks… Even otherwise polished Americans became pretty wild…

International Experience
I am promoting Slovakia at every opportunity. It is not easy, but after dreadful push, I finally achieved that they do not mix Slovakia with Slovenia.  :)
I had a premiere performance at Italian/Brazilian wedding of my classmate Michele, where I played accordion and sang my favorite Slovak folk songs in a traditional Slovak dress.
There was also a huge international fair at HBS last Friday. Approximately quarter of the class came to school in national dress. First, I won our section competition for the best folk costume. Then, I represented our section in the entire HBS competition, which I also won beating number of great Latin American and Asian costumes in the semifinal and fantastic Persian costume in the final. I played accordion in the final, which really helped. I also built Slovak stand for the first time in HBS history and allowed Czechs who did not have their own stand to draw Prague on my map ;-) As a result, they write about Slovakia even in Japan J
http://hbslife.exblog.jp/m2004-10-01#675219 (scroll down for the pictures)

The international fair was amazing. There are over 60 different nationalities in the 2006 class and there were over 20 great stands with multimedia presentations and number of people eager to tell you about their great country. There were also country performances by students including funny Asian instruments, African Drums and unforgettable Brazilian mix of dance & martial art called Capoeira. One could also try different national cuisines and alcohol which, as you know me, I truly took advantage of ;-).
Next week, I will do a presentation about Slovakia for my section. I promise I will make it unforgettable. BTW, If anybody has some reasonable video of Adriana Sklenarikova or other Slovak beauties (which could be played in classroom ;), I would appreciate it.

Personal
Good news is that Ingrid got an offer from Deloitte & Touche Consulting in Boston. Now they are arranging for her working Visa. If everything goes well, she could start working somewhere after the new year. Bad news is that I will have to start to take care of myself. Ingrid was an unbelievable help during this tough period taking care of virtually everything except for my exams.
Vilo – my good friend and ex-colleague from P&G was our first memorable visitor. It was tough for him because we were in the middle of refurbishing of our flat during his visit so it looked rather like a bunker than a cozy place I pictured in my first email. However, Vilo heroically faced these adverse conditions and even managed to come up with smile after filling his shopping bags with gifts for home (see attached photo). Thanks to Vilo, now - 3 months after coming to Boston, I know how the downtown looks like. Also, after Vilo has left, Ingrid & I took a sight-seeing tour, so that we can say at least a few interesting things about Boston once you come.
I will be in Slovakia (& possibly Budapest) during Dec 24 and Jan 10. I hope to see many of you as I miss you a lot.


Harvard Express #3


Executive Summary
Thanks to HBS and my new friends, I got my dream job – McKisney in Prague starting Sep 2006. This also implies we will be traveling around the world this & next summer and will constantly smile till the end of MBA. In the meantime, Ingrid is playing in HBS musical and makes me gain weight cooking delicious Thai & Indian food. Life is great! :)

Job Search
One of the key reasons people come to HBS is to get a dream job. This means not only inspiring and fun but also lots of $$$ to pay back a thick loan J. HBS is well aware & does a superb job in making sure it happens. The process starts with personality tests (very impressive test is careerleader.com patented by HBS professor and applied across more than 200 top US universities) which matches your interest and skills with industry preferences. Also, each of us has a career coach who advises on career choices, resume, cover letters and interviews. HBS even runs seminars like “How to turn down offers while keeping the door open for future”. The biggest help, however, comes from classmates. I had 8 mock interviews with former BCG/McKinsey consultants before I went to my first real interview.
Originally, I was heavily deciding between US, London and Eastern Europe. Eventually, I went for Eastern Europe as a clear-cut decision based on the following criteria (priority ranked):
1. People/Culture Fit - I plainly did not come to like the US style. I have been to numerous US consulting dinners which I have left with mixed feelings while all Prague people I met were simply great.
2. Career Opportunities - although US economy is doing pretty well recently, CEE is rolling big time
3. Compensation in Purchasing Power Parity - the pay is the same in Prague vs. US resulting in almost double purchasing power (I excluded London for this reason)
I am so happy I got my dream job at McKinsey Prague. It is a company I was admiring for years. I will never forget final-round interviews in Phoenix with Jean-Pascal – Belgian director of the Prague office. He is definitely one of the most impressive people I have ever met. Among other things, he recommended poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling (http://www.swarthmore.edu/~apreset1/docs/if.html) which I believe is definitely worth checking. My McKinsey deal is extra sweet because I locked in full-time job (rarely done at this stage) and negotiated both summers for traveling. So Ingrid & I will most probably do around-the-world trip (Japan, Mongolia, China, Polynesia, New Zeland, Australia… :). We need to start planning fast. Next summer we could go for Latin America if all goes well.
I have also got an offer from Boston Consulting Group in Moscow, but I like #1 too much  :). Also, my recent trip to Moscow reminded me that I might not want to spend too many years of my life there.

Learning
When I saw pile of material I read last semester, I could not believe it: about 4000 pages of A4 format. Learning is still ENORMOUS with a difference that it is not stressful anymore. After being confused with how economy works for years, I finally came to understand it here. This BIGIE course is a masterpiece which nicely connects economics and politics, two things which are hardly possible to understand in separation. But I am also totally absorbed by entrepreneurship, strategy and business ethics courses. After the spring break, we start negotiation – the one I cannot wait to start. I love every day here - I better do, I figured each costs me about $400 ;-)

Ingrid
Ingrid eventually got neither working nor transfer visa so she cannot start her Deloitte job and is staying at home. However, she passed talent tests to “dancing professor” role in HBS show – a musical done by HBS students and partners. They are practicing for 3 hours almost every day. At least that’s what she tells me when I ask where she was J. She also learned how to cook great Thai & Indian. I make her to cook it every day now. Guys, this is something you can truly look forward to once we are back!
Last week we were taking care of our friend’s dog Cobbie – Boston Terrier (pic attached in the next email). He is so ugly that it becomes beautiful. He snores and makes all other funny noises - I have never met a dog like that before. We had so much fun with him. If my future employer saw me playing faces with him or chasing him around the table, the chances are I would need to look for another job J.

Recos
Few recos - things I got addicted to:
1. picasa.com – Google FREE software which will sort for you all your pics & videos on your computer
2. napster.com - $10 month for unlimited download of LEGAL music. It is much better deal than iTunes.com where you pay $1/song, and I believe the only way to fight illegal music.
3. overstock.com – best deals on the net
4. consider multimedia projector instead of giant TV – great quality projectors are now below $1000 in the US – happy to give more advice for interested
We are leaving today for a week to Canada to meet our fiend Tomas who works in Toronto for P&G, check out Niagara Falls, ski in Tremblant, and visit Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa.
Make sure you take the opportunity to visit us, I am truly relaxed, more knowledgeable and Ingrid is a master cook by now :)


Harvard Express #4

This year will be a crucial year for me. I guess for many of you too. I wanted to wish everybody a fantastic 2006 in which some of your dreams come true and other originate.
Take a good care, I will be back in Prague soon - I am starting with McKinsey on September 15.

Executive Summary
Laughing at how first years are trying to impress each other on the corridors, we realize how much we changed since coming to HBS. Yet, I cannot believe we already finished our 3rd semester here. Despite massive work, it was a stunning semester in which I absolutely focused on absorbing knowledge and skills. One reason was Ingrid’s absence, the other realization that there is not much time left. Apart from the amazing classes, a start of an entrepreneurial venture and my 30th birthday party will make me to remember this semester forever.

Home Alone
The big change is that Ingrid landed on a lucrative job with Deloitte in London so poor Rasto is all alone in Boston. After being together for over 2500 hours nonstop during summer, we see each other only bimonthly now. The plan is that she will move to Prague with Deloitte once I am there, but you never know with all those charming English gentlemen around. ;-)
Being alone, I have moved to a bit claustrophobic dorm which is about the size of the bathroom in our old apartment. However, the decisive benefits were money and proximity to school. I keep reminding myself that compared to the matchbox hotel room in Chunking Mansions of Hong Kong, this truly feels like a spacious suite in the end.

Elective System in 2nd Year
The other big change in the second year is that we are no longer in the same sections. While in the first year, everybody goes through the same classes, in the second year we only take electives. The benefits are twofold: you take classes which you are interested in, and you meet much more people because every class is pretty much with a different group of 90 people. Also, we were all surprised how much work still waited for us in the second year. I work at least as much as in the first year only getting max 5-6 hours of sleep on average.
Back to Alice in Wonderland
This semester, I have focused on general management and strategy classes & my classes were FANTASTIC. I have to mention at least Clay Christensen’s absolutely brilliant class in strategy. It is definitely the most ground-breaking class I have taken here. Although nothing will replicate the class discussions under his lead, I very much recommend his book Innovator’s Solution. Next semester, I also hope to get into Michael Porter’s Class on Competitiveness of Nations. I have heard he is a bit arrogant, but I can bear that if he can get anywhere close to Christensen’s brilliance of insights. In addition, my genial Indian classmate persuaded me to get into another tough class of Robert Merton who is Nobel Prize winner in Finance, but I might cut that one out because slashing my sleep further does not sound like a good idea.

Mass-customized Shirts
This semester was also quite entrepreneurial. I worked on a couple of ideas of which the one around mass-customization of shirts truly absorbed me. The idea is made-to-measure business shirts sold online and produced in India based on 4 key measures (no tape measuring) and couple of pictograms. My 3 classmates & I will take it to Business Plan Competition in the second semester, but more importantly, we really want to make beta version happen by the summer. We are furiously working on it, so I hope not to furiously fail. In any case, I am sure it will be great experience.

Big Bday
I am not only working here. My 30th birthday was definitely one of the highlights of this semester. Friends came for the part from as far as NYC and Cincinnati. My great Japanese friend Nori cooked tons of his award-winning buffalo wings (Although only an amateur, Nori won National Buffalo Wing Competition in NY beating number of professional chefs including those from Hyatt Florida ;-) and legendary three amigos from Latin America made sure the party ran over 6am. Still, I have to admit that being 30 makes me feel a bit old - especially when my hair starts to grow more on my back than on of my head. I guess I better achieve something really significant soon ;)


Harvard Express #5

Executive Summary
I can’t believe these incredible two years are over. I have graduated form Harvard on June 8 with 2nd Year Honors. This semester was amazing and allowed me focus on entrepreneurship and family a bit more. I will be starting with McKinsey in Prague in September, but in the meantime we are building our shirt venture in India. I must be one of the best educated tailors in the world.

Graduation and Honors
Graduating Harvard Business School was a bitter-sweet experience for me. On one hand, I felt sad finishing the best two years of my life so far – fantastic friends for life, unprecedented growth and an ultra-intense student life which I am not likely to experience ever more. On the other, I sense that it is about the time to stop reading 612th case study and feel pretty impatient about starting to test what I have learned here. They say HBS experience is transformational - I can only attest to it. Two years at HBS were so overwhelming, value-questioning, perspective-changing, inspirational and hard-core challenging that even the toughest characters change. Though I am in a way still the old crazy Rasto, I feel I am also a different person. I let you decide whether for better or worse.
My ascending academic performance has reaped 2nd Year Honors (top 15%). In my final semester, I was among top 3%. I am especially pleased because I have been on Skype with India till 2am every other day setting up the business in the second semester. Fortunately, Harvard allows students to make their new venture a part of curriculum. Otherwise, it would have never been possible to get both the grades and the business running.

Harvard Entrepreneurs
Harvard is very entrepreneurial. Over 40% of graduates claim to be self-employed 15 years after graduation. A lot of my classmates were spending most of their time in the 2nd year on building entrepreneurial ventures ranging from investment management funds for non-affluent Indians, through nanotechnology applications and online platforms for independent artist in the US to English-language schools in China. HBS also supports students who decide to build non-profit ventures like race for cancer research, or sustainable yak-wool farming in Tibet and Mongolia via Loan-Forgiveness program.
It was fun to watch origination of the businesses – there is a lot of team spirit in helping your classmate entrepreneurs succeed, whether it is filling out extensive polls, helping with contacts or providing professional advice. Your classmates can surprise you how much info they can get from you in a very short time. I have been to focus group of my friends who have built a prototype of a high-quality, small-space hotel room inside of their campus apartment. With drills in their hands swiftly rearranging the room components and size, they managed to get feedback from us on 4 different hotel-room versions within 1 hour. I could not believe my eyes.
Two of my very good friends are writing books about HBS, one of which - my Japanese study-group mate, has already asked me for publishing rights to our traveling journals from Japan.

Our Shirt Venture
Some of my classmates built businesses before HBS which they sold for hundreds of millions. As a virgin entrepreneur, my fist touches with entrepreneurship at HBS are fascinating. We keep furiously working on our business of made-to-measure shirts, one of which I am wearing as I am typing these words. We have 5 partners – which is more than customers so far, all of whom are HBS smarts dying to decide. I am a temporary CEO (till I start with McKinsey in September), which means nothing fancy other than I have to do most of the work :). My first 2-week trip to India was eye-opening. When I saw our “factory”, I almost fainted. We are now cleaning, painting, air-conditioning to turn this sweat shop into one of the top places to work for in India ;-))). We plan to have running operations by September.
I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. When I was thinking about applying to HBS, many people have asked me why I don’t simply start a business instead. My viewpoint is that you can surely be entrepreneur without HBS, but it is easier to do it out of HBS with your changes of success rising dramatically. First, as an entrepreneur you never have enough credibility and Harvard name opens a lot of doors. Second, the classmate & alumni network provides invaluable help. Third, I believe you actually learn quite a bit in those 500+ case studies and have a better chance of building successful venture. In any case, if our shirt business does not work out, at least I will get quite a few nice shirts in the process ;-)

Celebrities at Harvard
Apart from icons like Warren Buffet, Jack Welch or Hank Paulson – who was our graduation speaker, couple of my homeland celebrities decided to come to Harvard. It was fun to watch Czech president Vaclav Klaus struggling to get across his Czech-peculiar jokes translated into English at Harvard European Center. Deputy prime minister of Slovakia - Marian Lipsic, Harvard Law School graduate himself, was definitely more comfortable with the language though he did not come anywhere close in publicity and fame to his Czech colleague. I was hosting his speech at HBS and am proud that we have such honest and smart people in our government. Finally, Misha, Slovak Diva - as she calls herself, sang at Czech & Slovak Festival. I had an honor to run around in my folk costume and play accordion to worm-up the audience prior to Misha’s performance.

Family Focus
Although unfortunately I did not get to see Ingrid too much, I have spent some quality time with my mom and my brother in the last 6 months. I am proud to say that over that period, my mom managed to lose over 10kg, see 4 new countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and USA), learn how to use her new laptop with internet and start to learn English. I am also very happy that my brother Milan will begin INSEAD MBA in Paris this summer (top European MBA and among top 7 worldwide).
I have not sent the travel journal from our Central-American trip – my laptop broke down during the travels. Though it was a great trip in many ways, you might want to check out Asia before you hit Central America.

https://picasaweb.google.com/rastislav.kulich/CentralAmerica

Next StepsI am in London now having great time with Ingrid leaving June 22 to Bombay India for 3 weeks. Then back in Prague on July 15 for Rendorseg Party of my good friend David Fojtik. While I was stitching shirts in India, David climbed Mt. Everest without oxygen.