Article about Microsoft - NY Times

I just happened to read the following article in NY times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04brass.html and I'm certainly appalled by their division culture.

I'm certainly not a fan of Microsoft, but I respect it for setting some standards in the industry. And it surely hurts a bit seeing a company like that succumbing to internal politics. I see a lot of new technology demos from Microsoft, but never the real product. Not even a buzz in magazines that rave about Google n Apple. With Microsoft failing in every other product (remember Vista?), I dont know what Ballmer is planning other than ridiculing other companies. There's an intense war on the mobile front, and Microsoft seems to be trying to outbeat Google with Bing and relish on Windows and Office. More recently, Motorola Droid was hailed not as an iPhone-killer, but as a Windows Mobile killer. Is any one even buying a Windows Mobile these days? When was the last time Microsoft created a killer app?

With these kind of setbacks, I wonder where Microsoft sees itself in the next 10years. If the kind of innovation-killing mentioned in the article keeps happening, MS could become a "company that is too big to fail". And as the author rightly noted, it could eventually become a GM or Chrysler.

What do you think?

Help Haiti victims

Hi everyone

I just donated $20 for helping Haiti victims through UNICEF (thanks to DreamChaser and Hari)

Let's do our bit to help these victims. I hope you'll also donate to help Haitians who cannot hope to resume their lives, perhaps for years, without external aid.

In the new year, I hope..

As the year comes to an end, I couldn't resist posting these dialogues from my favorite movie - Shawshank Redemption. To those who have been already rejected, or those who're waiting for their decisions, or those who're applying in R2/R3, all I ask is to hope. Hope that you'll crawl through your river of shit and come out clean on the other side.


Andy: Dear Red. If you're reading this, you've gotten out. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further. You remember the name of the town, don't you? I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well. Your friend. Andy.

Red: I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain... I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Wishing you all a successful new year 2010 !

The expected...

...ding from MIT. No surprises here. After all these I dont expect anything from Darden as well.
I'm just wondering now if it is worthwhile applying to another set of schools in R2. 

Rejected at Kellogg

My biggest hopes crashed now. I am rejected at Kellogg

My Kellogg Interview

Yesterday evening (IST) or today morning (CST), I had my Kellogg interview with an AdCom. She called me just about at the scheduled time. After some small talk and confusion with pronouncing my name, we started with the interview. She explained about the format (blind, 30mins).

First, the discussion revolved aroung my entrepreneurial experience - the challenges, lessons, results etc. Then the interviewer asked the following questions:

Why MBA?
Why Kellogg?
What would you contribute to the Kellogg team culture?
Describe your leadership style
What would your friends describe you as?
How do you interact in a team?
What are your interests outside of work?
Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
Do you have any questions for me

Surprisingly, the interviewer did not ask me about my goals, so I fit them partially into Why Kellogg and Why MBA.

I cannot comment on whether the interview was awesome or really bad, but it seemed very casual and I just answered all the questions. It was OK. On the flip side, I talk a bit fast and as I said earlier, the phone interview wasnt the best way to start off.

And now, the waiting begins !

Fuqua says I'm not invited

Surprise ! Surprise ! I'm not invited for an interview at Fuqua. This is what my application status says :( . I guess this means a nice reject email at the end of the season

I had lot of hope on my Fuqua application as I've written some of the best essays for it. It really doesnt make any sense to me of how I could have been rejected without interview. I atleast hoped for an interview. Alas, my efforts and hope seem to have gone down the drain.

But can't do anything but buckle up for R2