With classes already ended and graduation looming, I wanted to reflect on the lessons that have impacted me the most in the past two years. I can write about all the things I've learned in the classroom, but that would be pedantic. Besides, I think this wonderful journey has taught me more through experience than through pedagogy.

Here are a few, and certainly not the only, takeaways from my cumulative experiences:

• I've learned to recognize my limitations so I know where, when, and how to push myself. Without this awareness, it becomes too easy to either let hubris take over or complacency settle in like an unwanted house guest. 

• I've learned to be honest with myself about why I'm doing what I'm doing. This doesn't mean what I'm doing is right. It doesn't mean it's ethical. It just means I recognize the motivations behind my actions - be it fear, pride, greed, or something else. I think this is important because it ensures the path I take is deliberate even if my destination is unclear. It means I won't wake up one day to find myself accidentally living life aimlessly.

• I've learned that being the hare or being the tortoise isn't enough. I have to be both. Life is a series of sprints, jogs, walks, and the occasional naps. Since high school I've been sprinting and by the end of my first year at HBS I was running out of breath. I took my second year to catch up - inhale, exhale. It gave me the opportunity to reflect - and I mean really reflect - the deep kind of reflection that you can't get just from taking a selfie. I took a stroll through memory lane all the way from elementary school through high school to college and now as I wrap up my remaining days at grad school. This self-discovery has opened up more questions - Am I becoming too productive at the wrong things? Do I project the right meaning to obstacles? What motivates me and is that sustainable? 

• I've learned to be selfish in the service of others. This isn't as oxymoronic as it sounds. Various research have shown that expressing gratitude and leaving kindness in your footsteps make us happier people. By being present and through gestures as simple as saying thank you, I've found myself more content, relaxed, and satisfied with every breath.

• I've learned to trust my intuition and to act even when I'm unsure of my ability. Prior to launching and shutting down a little venture called Zest and before jumping headfirst into a start-up in Zambia there wasn't anything in particular that pushed me in those directions other than the feeling that "this is what I want to do even though I have no idea what to do." As Jobs once said, let the vision pull you. Hey, things worked out.  Even if they didn't I'm sure Earth would have kept spinning and the sun would have risen once again.

• I've learned that the glass is half full, half empty, and completely overfilling. What's been instilled in me is that framing is everything - in business and in life. Importantly, I've learned to take over the driver's seat in terms of deciding which frame to take - turning obstacles into "I'm gonna kick your ***" challenges and failures into "oops, that's what that button does, let's push the other one" situations.  I have no permanent regrets - just short term regrets where I've taken time to reflect, figured out what went wrong or right, and moved on to creating a better version of myself. Taking the "silver lining" perspective doesn't make me an optimist, it just allows me to move forward rather than linger on in the past.

Cross-posted: Huffington Post

(This post is a summary of an independent project completed at Harvard Business School. Click here for the complete paper. The Burberry example is purely hypothetical.)

Apple’s iBeacon, a location positioning system based on Bluetooth low energy technology, made the use of consumers’ location in companies’ marketing activities more prevalent. However, most documented uses of iBeacon and other similar systems have been focused on pushing marketing and sales promotions to consumers. Besides this, retailers have otherwise played a passive role, waiting for consumers to act on the promotional offers.

But imagine the scenario where consumers' location data is used to notify sales staff instead of pushing potentially annoying and irrelevant promotions to consumers:  

You are on your way to your favorite luxury clothing retailer, Burberry, to buy a gift for your significant other’s birthday. As you enter the Burberry store, your smartphone informs the Burberry sales staff (via their iPads) that you are in the store.  

Upon notification, the sales staff can see your past Burberry purchases online and in-store and your interests based on your activity on Burberry.com (e.g. Burberry items you viewed, items in your online Burberry shopping cart, etc.).  From this information, the sales staff noticed that you were viewing products under “Gifts for Him/Her.”  

The sales staff member greets you by name, introduces him/herself, and says that based on the information in your Burberry profile, you’re searching for a gift for someone and asks if s/he can help you with recommendations. 

After selecting the gift for your significant other, the sales staff tells you that the newest version of the scarf you purchased last year just arrived and asks if you want to view it. In addition, the sales staff invites you to an invitational-only Burberry event next Friday.

In a generalized version of the above scenario, luxury retailers’ sales staff can use the knowledge that a high value customer is in the store, in combination with data on the customer’s historical shopping behavior, to provide an enhanced in-store experience. In turn, this could lead to opportunities to cross-sell, up-sell, or simply increase the size of the customer’s purchase basket. However, can concerns over privacy be a showstopper? Past research have shown that consumers are willing to give up information in return for personalized online services, but few have looked at this topic from an in-store perspective.  

Preliminary data from a survey of ~200 consumers showed that while there are similarities in the results between consumers’ sensitivity towards on- and off-line privacy, there are also differences as well. Like their online counterparts, respondents’ answers showed that past negative experiences led to lower willingness to share and higher concerns about sharing their information. Furthermore, respondents’ frequency of mobile shopping, retailers’ use of trust-building mechanisms (i.e. transparent data collection policies and third party privacy safeguards), and the perceived value of the personalized services all led to increased comfort with sharing information.   

However, unlike in the online realm, traditional trust-building mechanisms were not sufficient to mitigate respondents’ concerns in sharing their personally identifiable information. It appears that only personal experience with the retailer (e.g. having made a previous purchase) decreased respondents’ concerns, and increased their willingness, in sharing their personal information. Male respondents also tended towards having lower concerns and higher willingness to share in return for personalized experiences. Regardless of gender, these results suggest that retailers that require personally identifiable information need to begin by focusing on generating consumers’ trust through first time purchases or other types of trust-building interactions prior to offering any personalization based on other data sources.

As retailers move towards refreshing their POS systems and unifying their commerce platforms they need to consider the data architecture required to support in-store personalized services and the IT infrastructure needed to ameliorate consumers’ privacy concerns. Not all their customers will share the same level of sensitivity towards their information, and even within an individual that sensitivity will vary across different types of information. Responsive retailers that develop the flexibility to adapt to each customer’s privacy sensitivity will be better situated to capture and deliver value to customers who want the personalized service and avoid the negative PR backlash from those who don’t.  

Cross-posted: LinkedIn | Huffington Post

As part of one of my current courses, "Art of Communication," I was required to give a problem/solution speech. As with many others, I dread public speaking. I signed up for the course, because I liked the opportunity it offered me to marry my (self-purported) strength for writing with my rusty oratory skills. The premise of the first speech was essentially to describe a problem / dilemma and how I resolved it.  I thought I'd share it here. It's not perfect, and I received great feedback on how to make it better, but the below is the unedited version.

Just like most people in this room, I had a time when I needed to make a decision between two opposing options – option 1 that was personally desirable and option 2 that was socially acceptable. This is my story.

I woke up last Monday morning with a dilemma of sorts. So of course like everyone else, I procrastinated. I showered, got dressed, but by the time I opened the door, I had to choose. Option 1 to my left would grant me happiness, but that joy, I knew, would be short-lived at best. And then I thought “what if my friends found out what I did”? As I stood there, debating with myself, I wondered if they would understand. Would they judge me? Would I be strong enough to stand up against their critical stares and disapproval? Or would I be left feeling embarrassed, defeated, and ashamed of my decision? My desire to choose the left option was fierce and burning inside me, but I suppressed it for a moment to consider the alternative on the other side. 

Choosing Option 2 on the other side wasn’t any easier either. I knew it was the “correct” option. In fact, I was sure if I told my friends about it they would have cared less. It was a choice of conformity. A safe choice. A choice no one would question. But it would be a choice that would rob me of the sweet thrill and excitement I was longing for, however momentary it would have been. Instead it would be replaced with generic contentment knowing I did what was expected of me. But would it leave me feeling bitter? Deprived? Resentful? Or perhaps was I simply being too short-sighted?

I started to shiver as I stood there in the cold air. My indecision began to overwhelm me – do I go with option 1- personal happiness; or option 2 – social conformity. I felt powerless as the debate of doubt and hesitation continued unabated in my head. I told myself - don't -- rush. Like a typical HBS consultant, I thought about what 2x2 framework was there to help in my decision making. However, that was another failed attempt to procrastinate as I realized I only had 10 minutes before my first class would begin and that was not enough time to do a 2x2. I needed to decide. I reassured myself that regardless of which option I chose, it was better than the uncertainty that was infectiously invading my every moment. 

As the seconds counted down, I told myself – forget social norms and expectations, so what if I deviate as long as I remain true to myself – that should be all that matters. Finally, I reached my hand into the fridge, past the apple on my right and grabbed the chocolate cake on the left for my breakfast.

This past weekend was the 20^th Cyberposium, an annual conference bringing together CEOs, CTOs, founders, and entrepreneurs to drive forward the discussion on the intersection of technology and media with business and society. Few will deny that things move quickly in the world of startups and technology, and this year is no different. From Bitcoins to consumer hardware to the changing nature of venture capital, here’s a short synopsis of some of the things discussed this weekend.

Social Media is Lighting the Way for New Opportunities: Rent the Runway, a Netflix-based model for high end designer dresses, has in part become successful because of the rise in social media. Jennifer Fleiss, co-founder of RTR, recalled her younger sister’s experience in choosing a dress for a wedding – she had a wardrobe full of dresses, but nothing to wear because she’s already been seen in all of them, and the proof was on Facebook! Similarly, Jeremey Allaire, Founder and CEO of Circle, sees a premonition for the future of Bitcoin in the recent history of social media. Just as Facebook has leveled the communications playing field in many countries, Bitcoin will “reduce the cost of transferring value to zero” and make currency control an irrelevant form of state oppression.

MBA Degrees Aren’t Yet Useless: In reference to Bitcoin-related startups, Adam Ludin, Founder and CEO of Chain, says “the first movers were hobbyists” and are not necessarily equipped to turn their startups into sustainable businesses and are in dire need of leadership.  Ludin notes that with Bitcoin, there are plenty of opportunities to dive in given Bitcoin’s interdisciplinary nature, spanning across technology, finance, economics, consumer marketing, enterprise thinking, and startup thinking. In the same vein, Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator, notes that MBAs have the opportunity to add most value when startups are hitting the “upward sloping part of a hyper growth curve” (i.e., they’ve already achieved product-market fit). It’s here where most startups struggle and can benefit from the business development, finance, marketing, and organizational building skills that MBAs bring.

Stay Focus and Be Passionate: Matt Wallach, Co-Founder and President of Veeva Systems, highlights some of the benefits staying focused from the industry cloud perspective – by focusing on an industry vertical, Veeva has been able to create valuable products its enterprise customers are willing to pay top dollars for. Wallach says, the “things you don’t do can be just as important as the things you do.” Similarly, Altman notes that one of the biggest predictor of startup failure is when startups don’t focus on product-market fit, creating products that don’t appeal to its customers. Likewise, passion is equally critical. In short, if your response to the question “Do you plan on working on this full time?” is “I will work on this full time if [XYZ] funds me,” then don’t be surprised if failure is on the horizon.

Cross-posted: VentureFizz | Huffington Post | LinkedIn

If you asked me two months ago whether I learned anything during my first year at Harvard Business School, my response would have been a resounding "Yes!" But, if you followed up by asking me for an example of how I applied the lessons I learned into practice, my response would have been a hesitant "Umm..."

The FIELD (Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development) curriculum provided me an incredible opportunity to learn leadership skills not only in the classroom, but also through practical experience in Ghana and in Boston. However, at the end of the day, FIELD remains an exercise constrained within an academic environment. The question I asked myself was "How do I actually put what I learned to the test?"

As I was starting my summer internship in Zambia over seven weeks ago, I pondered “What am I bringing to the table that I would not have been able to had I not gone to HBS?” At that moment, the answer was not quite clear. However, as the days passed and the summer (technically, it’s winter here) progressed, it became clear that what HBS equipped me with was not the hundreds of cases I read and analyzed, as I will be the first to admit I will be the last to recall any of the case facts. Rather, it was the persistent pushing and prodding by my professors, section-mates, and discussion group members that I remember the most.

As I dove deeper into the managerial and operational issues of working in Zambia, I found myself asking whether the problems were really as simple and clear as they appeared at first glance. The many times I was pushed to justify my stance -- from the morality and ethicality of pharmaceutical patents in the developing world to the negotiation tactics I would use with Steve Jobs -- became constant reminders for me to go deeper than just the first layer of the metaphorical onion.

What I learned at HBS and what I have applied in Zambia was more than just root cause analysis or the typical "Five Whys" questioning. It requires combining a dose of empathy with an equal dose of traditional problem solving. Just as I had to put myself in the case protagonist's shoes, trying to understand the motivations, pressures, and stakeholders influencing his/her decision making, I found myself standing in the shoes of our sales captains, sellers, and buyers. I forced myself to distinguish what the problems appeared to be and what they really are, as well as what the solutions should be and what they really could be given the real and practical constraints we face. This "method" of thinking has become my de facto mindset whenever I'm in the field with our sales team or in a meeting room with a multinational telecom.

There isn't a simple list of "Things I've Learned at HBS and How You Can Apply Them Too," because the skills I learned, and am constantly honing, are those that can only be learnt through the experience of having been forced repeatedly to defend my logic despite knowing it was not perfect.

To end this post on a lighter note, my HBS experience also never lets me forget that having fun is just as important of a success metric as any other. Here are a couple snapshots to explain why I may never leave Zambia (more here, here, here, here, and here).

Cross-Posted on: HBS Recruiting Blog | Huffington Post | LinkedIn

I’ve spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday reflecting on my first year at HBS. In that process, I wrote an email to a few close friends updating them on my time here. As I started to write this post, I realized that the content of that email fit exactly what I wanted to communicate. So, here it is:

I started HBS a...continue reading

In the blink of an eye the tree leaves have turned from green to vibrant shades of orange, red, and yellow and finally to various hues of brown as the wind blows through and sweeps them away.  Just like that, three months have gone by since HBS started.  In the first month, I was wondering what I would do with my free time.  By the second month, I found myself wondering where my free time went.  In between my roles in the Entrepreneurship Club, TechMedia Club, Harbus Foundation, and Volunteers Club, I fortunately still have time to catch up with newfound friends over coffee in Spangler, on a hike in Blue Hills, or an outing into Beantown...continue reading.

Strategy consultant. HuffPost blogger. Passionate foodie. Avid trekker. Tech enthusiast. I was a whole host of things prior to Harvard Business School – and I still am. Although part of me likes having a routine to maintain a healthy dose of sanity, another part is always on the lookout for novelty. If curiosity killed the cat. Then, lucky I am not a cat. Therefore, it isn’t a surprise that I enjoyed my time as a consultant, because it enabled me to jump from helping to develop a strategy for a large health system to supporting the merger of two large payors to designing a pro bono marketing plan for a NYC restaurant.

...continue reading at HBS Recruiting