Bottleneck CEOs

I was reading about some(successful and failed) start-ups when this phrase hit me. Bottleneck CEOs - CEOs who become the bottleneck and stifle the growth of a company when it has a greater scope to make a mark in the industry and go beyond. And this is especially true in the case of start-ups. There are companies whose growth is hampered because the founder-CEOs wouldn't , and couldn't, let someone else take the role and responsibility of a few critical areas in the company even when they themselves cannot do it. They want to do it themselves, even though they have to re-invent the wheel to learn the whole process.

For example, these founder(s) CEOs wouldn't let a professional(say, an MBA) take care of the finances or a new area of business or a new product. We can't completely argue against it as the founder(s) have a greater sense of ownership and responisiblity towards the company than any employee. But, if ones wishes for the good of the company, one has to let go. If he is the person who took the path less-travelled, then he has to do that again and again.

Take the example of Google, Larry Page and Sergei Brin let Eric Schmidt be the CEO and take the company ahead - this has been argued that Eric really doesn't have a say but is just the spokesperson. Now whatever be the case, Eric Schmidt has been entrusted to run the company while Page&Brin are taking care of the technology to take Google ahead, and the triumvirate has been astoudingly successful.

Why can't all founder(s) let go of a few things when it is absolutely required to?
Agreed that you are the owner, but you wouldn't know how high it can fly until you let go. Don't just be a founder, be a leader too.

End of Investment Banking ??!!

Bankers,Economists and Financiers, pardon me for my lack of knowledge of finance if I said something weird !!

With the last two giants in IB, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, foraying into retail banking and said that investment banking is no longer viable for them, I started to wonder what might happen to the scores of Investment Bankers, wannabe-IBs - all who spent a good time of their life with the sole aim of becoming one. What's going to happen to all the top tier schools (even worse for the middle-tier bschools) that were/are known as "IB Strong schools". What's going to happen to all those 2nd year MBA students(a few who I know) with offers from the bankrupt Lehman Brothers and the sold-out Merrill Lynch and even worse, with the collapse rate of a bank/day(including the bailed out AIG, Fannie Freddie and the cheaply sold out WaMu) what's going to happen to all the Wall Street aspirants and the most dreaded thing, what's going to happen to Wall Street ITSELF !!

Are we going to see the US become a 90's Japan(with the whole financial market crumbling down) or even worse, are we going to see Great Depression II !!! So much for subprime mortgage ?? I know that recovery measures are underway in Main Street with the plan to use $700 billion for controlling the market but is that going to help? I am not going to delve into this matter, as I dont know the outcome nor the subtleties involved.

I think , if this is the status in the US , what's happening in the controlled environments of EU. I dont read a lot of this stuff, but I guess there are serious repurcussions in the EU too. We'll have to wait and see how the mystery unfolds.

But , Every cloud has a silver lining . These are indeed turbulent times but at the same time interesting too. The whole of finance industry will no doubt undergo a complete transformation. Ten years from now, banking will never be the same again, veterans wont be able to recognize the state of the industry and future generations might not know what it was like in the 00's.

I hope, there's some learning from these disasters. People studied the Great Depression and came up with laws and policies, they studied Japan's financial markets and came up with models, Five years down the line, I think professors, financial planners and experts are going to come up with models ,formulations and analyses of what went wrong now and teach the same to wannabe-(what would they be called??).

Oops I did it again!!

First of all , I'd like to thank the very first visitors to my blog. You guys made my day, as I nver thought someone would visit my blog which hasnt got anything worthwhile and I need to apologize to those very few visitors to my blog for my absence.
I've been going through a storm raging in my head regarding my bschool application, and as the topic of this blog suggests, I , once again, have decided on not applying this time. This is my second time when I have shortlisted my schools, talked to alumni, spoke to my recommenders, started off with the goals/why mba essays and then decided on not applying.

Well , atleast this time, I guess there is a strong reason to support my decision as I was made to think about my application by a bschool alumni and my decision was backed up by a few other current bschool students too , so I dont regret doing so.
And my dear readers, the very few precious people who voluntarily or involuntarily, have visited my blog, I will explain my reason in its fully glory within a few weeks as the reason is not fully ready yet.

I'd just like to wish the very best to all the current bschool applicants with whom I couldnt share my application follies and joys. But may be as a junior to you in bschool, I could take your advice in the following years :)

Coach K at Olympics !!!!

Wow...this is awesome, I have seen Coach K in action at the NCAA games but never knew that he also coached the US "Dream team" and got it the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Iam amazed at the big brain in his little head, that goes on forming strategies after strategies. When I started watching the NCAA games(out of boredom), especially the rivalry between UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University(which seems as intense as a cricket match between India and Pakistan), it was Coach K who drew my attention. Undisturbed by all the brouhaha in the court, he stands there calm and attentive watching the players and suddenly calls for a timeout and changes strategies. He might as well become a management guru, teaching how to tackle pressure and formulate strategies :)

For people who dont know Coach K , a little bit of a background here. Coach K aka Mike Krzyzewski is the head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team - aka the Blue Devils. He became the coach of the Blue Devils back in the 80's and has been there ever since. He transformed the team from a moderate college team to one that has won championships and that is considered a strong contender in the NCAA.
The best thing about him,that I like, is his humility and loyalty. He was pursued and offered millions by top NBA teams like the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics, yet he chose to stay with Duke coaching it's college team for the NCAA.

As far as I know(which is of course very little, with just 8 months of watching basketball),I guess no living basketball coach has been honored the way Coach K has been. Duke has named it's basketball stadium as Coach K Court and it's new training facility , Michael Krzyzewski Center.
Simply put, Coach K has gained eternal fame and is living through it.

Final List

Now I think I have an apt title for my blog - the one that exactly suits me, for I've been delaying things on and on and on... But Soni has sent a shiver down my spine. He has submitted the Kellogg application !!!!!!!! Good god, I just started writing the first draft of my K-essays and he's already done with it.
Now I think I need to buckle up and start seriously. For an international aspirant like me, I guess UK too gives the same opportunities as the US does and what more, the worker-visa laws are quite simple for an MBA grad while in the US...well , who hasnt heard the visa troubles last year. My final list goes something like this, divided equally(well not mathematically) between US and UK. I believe Iam not app-ing too high given my profile with K and L being the "top-tier" and F,R and O being the "middle-tier"

Kellogg
Fuqua
Ross
LBS
Oxford

Wish me luck

My list

Doesnt it seem my blog is flooding today? Three blogs in an hour, with three different topics .I'll try to be as regular as possible now, no spurts of posts and then dead for a long time. Come on guys, consistency is the key !
This is the list of the schools I came up with after my initial round of research. Need to cut down the list to 5-6 or may be 7. So which are the unlucky ones(or may be lucky) not to have my precious application submitted :) ? Soon, very soon

INSEAD
LBS
Tuck,Dartmouth
Chicago GSB
Kellogg , Northwestern
UCLA Anderson
ISB
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Darden,Univeristy of Virginia
Oxford
Michigan, Ross
UNC Chapel Hill
McCombs, UT Austin
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon

Let Down

Ok..Enough of bulls***ing.
The name of my blog seems weird, but I just came up with something that has M.B.A in it
Maybe I'll change it over a period of time but I'll still have the same acronym

So my MBA, I let down myself applying for it. I chalked out plans for applying to INSEAD Jan 09 R2, had everything in place except for the essays. I gave myself a full month to write the essays and started off with the easiest ones. I regarded myself as a good essay-writer, not someone who could weave a web with words, but someone who can create genuine interest. But I failed !

The first essay that I wrote received feedback saying it wasnt INSEAD material. After modifications and re-modifications, it still looked naive. It didnt fit the bill to get me into a top-notch bschool. I did a bit of soul-searching, came up with the drafts of the other essays, checked my work-schedule(which is killing me!), read them again and again, changed them and I gave up.

Now, when I think over it, two things cross my mind. One, Iam either a feeble-minded who changes decision in split seconds or two, I deliberated over the pros and cons of app-ing now and took a rightful decision. So my INSEAD application for January 09 R2 is down the drain. I am looking forward to Sept 09 R1. Then , only then will I know what Iam
I need to gear up, hone my essay-writing skills and crack the pot. I better start looking into the essays right now. But I've learnt that work pressure plays a vital role in the application process and everyone needs to create some space for apping.