Advance a Career in Technology with Stanford MSx
So again, just that one minute overview of what the Stanford MSx program is. It's a one year full-time in person Master's of Science in management degree at Stanford Graduate School of Business. And during your year, you will have fundamental for business classes that are expand business fundamentals such as micro economics and data and decisions. But then you also have the opportunity to customize your experience with electives. Electives you can take at the GSB, but also from the other schools at Stanford University such as the law school or the medical school.
But I think what's really special is as an MSx student, you get the same access to faculty classes and electives as our MBA program and you'll have the ability to participate in clubs and activities. And because this is a mid-career program, we're an incredibly family friendly community where all of our families actually will live on campus close to the business school. And if you're coming with a spouse or significant other, there's also accommodations. And if you're coming by yourself, there's accommodations all on campus and all within a few minutes of the business school.
But at the end of the day, you're going to be studying alongside an incredibly global cohort with an average of 13 years of work experience coming from over 30 countries and over 40 industries. So it's pretty remarkable who you'll be studying next to in these classes. But that's enough from me about the Stanford MSx program.
Again, this was just a brief overview. If you want to learn more or if you want to learn more about the application, those are going to be two topics we are not covering in tonight's webinar. But you can learn a lot more about that from the Stanford MSx information session webinars.
So without further ado, we are joined here tonight by such a badass kickass panel of amazing MSx alumni. So I would like all of them to please go ahead turn on your cameras, turn on your microphones, and introduce yourselves, please. So we'd love to know where you're from, and get started, just something fun about yourself.
So let's get started with Erik, and then we'll go to Csaba, and then Sunny. Erik, we can't hear you, so maybe we'll go to Csaba first, and then Sunny, and then back to Erik. >> Hi, everyone. [FOREIGN] [LAUGH] real pleasure to be here. So I'm Csaba Szabo originally from Hungary, Budapest.
So big shoutout to Zoley. I currently live in Menlo Park, California. Prior to the program, I was actually running an energy company in Poland and Romania. And after the program, I've worked for more than five years at the Stanford Research Institute. So in technology and currently I'm managing the US sales team for a digital engineering company. I live in Menlo Park and a fun thing about me is that every Saturday I biked with my former classmates and alumni here in Silicon Valley and our touchy feely facilitator.
>> That's amazing Csaba, excellent. Welcome, thanks for telling us that. Sunny, up to you, please where you're from and something fun about yourself? >> Hi everybody, so great to meet you. My name is Sunny Webb, I live in San Francisco. And before the program, I was in San Francisco so didn't go very far, but knew it was the right program for me. Prior to the GSB, I was a software engineer, I started off as a data scientist early my career and then did a number of different functions until I got to the GSB.
My recent role before the GSB was leading R&D globally for Accenture out of Silicon Valley. And something fun about me, let's see, I have a one year old daughter. She just turned one a couple months ago, so I guess that's pretty fun.
She's a source of joy for me [LAUGH]. >> I'd say so, Eric, can we try your microphone here? >> Okay, things working better now? >> Thumbs up. >> Great, okay, I'm probably one of the oldest folks here. I was already one of the oldest folks in my cohort when I started. I would definitely encourage you folks to go earlier in your career.
It's a better opportunity to get ROI on your big investment, but let's see. What am I supposed to answer, Danielle? >> Where are you from and something fun about yourself? >> I have alternated between Virginia and California several times. I've moved back and forth at least three, four times. I'm now in Seattle, so I think I broke the cycle.
But I lived in both Santa Clara and San Mateo during my stay at Stanford. I lived off-campus, so if anybody has any questions about that I can address that. I was mostly doing data center infrastructure consulting before going to Stanford mostly migrating customers from on-premises data centers to hosted environments. So my move to Amazon was timely, but I did go into the wallet business after Stanford and I had a very successful kickstarter. I thought that was going to be my retirement ticket, but I came back to technology. >> Well, we look forward to learning more about that, Eric.
I would like to go to Jasmine and then Deepa. >> Hello, [FOREIGN]. This is Jasmine, I'm from Paraguay. So I went, I did the program in 2016, 2017 with the Paschal, she's one of my closest friend from Stanford. Before joining the program, I was working in the government.
I'm an economist and lawyer and I didn't know anything about technology, about innovation. And one year at Stanford changed everything for me. I come back to Paraguay, I opened the Innovation Agency from the government. And three month ago, I left the government to open the first VC in Paraguay to invest in Latin America.
And one funny thing was the first time I went to the States I was like 15 years old and I'm from Paraguay. And a person asked me, where are you from? And I say, I'm from Paraguay. No, where are you from? From Paraguay.
No, I know that you are from Paraguay, but I want to know from where are you from [LAUGH] yeah. >> It's funny and also very embarrassing for Americans. So, [LAUGH] >> Yeah, [LAUGH] Deepa, [LAUGH] >> Hey everyone, it's great to see everyone here. And hi Jasmine, I am based out of the Bay Area. I'm Deepa, graduated the same year as Jasmine did, 2017.
Still based out of the Bay Area after the MSx program. Prior to that, I lived in SoCal and spent a little bit of time on the East Coast. Post the MSx, I've been at Google in a program management leadership role. And prior to the MSx program, I'd spent my entire career pretty much in consulting. So Deloitte Consulting for 13 years, focused on technology transformation for enterprise clients. So yeah, it was really cool to be in Stanford for a year and have the opportunity to really think through that transition from consulting to big tech.
And I've really appreciated just all the resources that Stanford offered when I was exploring that option. Yeah, excited to be here. In terms of a fun fact, I mostly try to on the weekends make the most of the California sun.
So I love being outside hiking. I'm also a classical singer, so I got to explore that a little bit. Again, go back to my singing roots while I was at GSB. So yeah, excited to be here and hope to chat more.
>> [SOUND] Thank you everyone and please forgive if you do hear a dog barking, I have a puppy behind me who all of a sudden started barking. So just so our audience knows, the format for the webinars, these wonderful panelists, I have a few prepared questions for them, but then we want to turn it over to you. So using the Zoom Q&A function, feel free to jot your questions and we'll try to save at least the last 15 if not the last 20 minutes of this webinar to answer your questions. So thank you everyone for giving us a brief overview of where you were in your careers before MSX and where you are now. I want to start off with first, Csaba. Your career both for the GSB and even since has centered on Eastern Europe and connecting to Silicon Valley.
So you were doing that before the programme started. So what made you more successful after the programme? >> Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, I spend most of my career 40 years in management consulting also. So big shout out for the management consultants out there. And 40 years in energy building and energy company and most of my life I lived in Budapest, Hungary worked across the region. And one time I came out to the valley was 2011, and that trip completely changed my mind.
I was, my God, I really want to get into tech. This is what the future is. And since then I tried to think about okay, what is the best way for me to transition into the Bay Area, to the US, including immigration, including having the right level of access.
So I was number two in a $120 million company, got listed in Warsaw and in Budapest. So, it was doing well. I didn't feel like starting from scratch so I did want to come in at a higher level, and the best option for me was to get into Stanford, which is not easy. So it took me a little bit of time to figure out my strategy and prepare properly, but the only school I applied to was Stanford.
Now, the question was, do I want to get into the MBA program or the MSX program? And prior to coming to Stanford for information session at that time, face to face, I didn't know about the MSX program. But the moment I learned about it, I was, this is it for me. I have an undergrad in economics.
I have a degree in finance. I did management consulting, I've been running businesses. I definitely wanted to spend just one year, not two years on getting back in the bench.
And explore, take a step back and figure out how I can get into tech. And I got really lucky to be honest with you, because one of my professors through this one year program reached out to me at one point and he's, hey, I really like you. Did you ever think about working in tech? I'm yeah, that's the only thing I can think about [LAUGH]. He was, you know what? I'm the president of this research institute called the Stanford Research Institute maybe you would be interested in a job there. I'm, I have no idea what those guys do [LAUGH].
And then, I looked into it. And of course they invented the internet, and the computer mouse, and CD. And I was, okay, if I really want to get into tech, and I really want to learn about what technology is, and what's coming down the pipe, what's going to happen in the next five to ten years, this is the place to be. And I got fortunate enough to get a job offer at. >> Thank you for that Csaba. Erik, you were saying that you were a little bit on the older side of your cohort.
But I think what's really cool about your experience too, is that we see a lot of engineers who want to come to the MSX programme, who are trying to ascend to higher level management positions. And so, once you left the program, how did you evaluate all of your options? And how do you find your role now in comparison to where you were before? >> Yeah, I was convinced that coming to Stanford that I wanted to either become a VC or launch a startup coming out of the program. So, I had no intention of going back to tech. And I was partially successful.
I took a few engineering classes actually. And on a whim I decided hey, I'm going to take ME318 I believe it was. And I'm going to learn how to use a milling machine, and cut some metal. Totally non sequitur elective and I figured maybe when I retire, I'll buy a milling machine and I'll have the skill to just play with the machine and make stuff that I want to make. But my class project was a metal wallet and coming out of GSP, it empowers you to make some crazy life decisions.
And so I created a wallet company in the first year. I had two kick starters, raised three quarters of a million dollars, and created a small business. And like I said, that was not at all what I intended to come out with, but that's what I did.
And after doing that for a few years, I decided, hey, this this is a fun hobby. It's pocket money, but I need to get back into tech before I'm irrelevant. So, having the degree from Stanford certainly made my interviewing easier. In fact, I just hired an MBA20.
And he's starting on my team next week. So, you were talking about building networks. And I never expected that an alumni network would be helpful like this and now I was able to hire from that network.
I've interviewed over 100 people here at Amazon, and his interview was unlike anything I've ever seen, right. Everybody had good things to say about him. He was a strong, higher candidate. And most of the candidates I've interviewed did not have those kind of qualifications, so being able to draw from that and hire qualified folks was a huge plus for me.
>> Thanks for that. Erik and Csaba, I think what I was hearing in both of your stories is just this idea to be open to different possibilities. So Erik, you were open to taking this class, randomly over at the engineering school. Csaba, to talking to his professor, so that's pretty incredible. Just being surrounded by those options have led to post MSX journeys.
I want to now turn to the ladies for a moment. So Dipa, I do have a particular question for you, but I want to keep this one open. We'll start off with the three of you, gentlemen, you are not excluded from this question.
But we know that it's a trade off staying in the workforce versus taking one year to invest and we alluded to this a bit in the introduction. But, what was it that you thought about? And why was MSX the right choice for you? >> Yeah, so I think in terms of exploring full time versus part time programs. I think the full time was just a no brainer in the sense that when I reflect back, I feel even just the one year, I don't know where the time went. And I feel the 24 hours in a day just wasn't enough to sort of fit in and just soak up everything that the program had to offer.
So from that perspective, I think, definitely full time is what I was going for. But at the same time, at that juncture in my career I felt like two years was maybe a bit too much for me to feel like I could disconnect and get away from the workforce and take that pause. So the MSx was just perfect in the sense of offering everything that the MBA program does but being able to do that in a really customized compressed timeframe.
So yeah, I would say that was what really appealed and sort of stood out to me from that perspective. >> Thanks Deegha, Sunny, Jasmine, Csaba, Eric, do you want to add anything? >> Yes, from my point of view, from my experience, before coming to the program I didn't know. I come because of leadership. I wanted to know what is next in my career.
Because I studied economics and I didn't like to do more economics to understand what is next in my career. And there I fall in love with innovation, with technology knowing nothing before. And so that was the most of my experience, and taking into account your question about the the alumni network, now I just opened a venture capital firm here in Paraguay is the first ABC in Paraguay. So me and the other partner, we are by ourselves. I mean we don't have no one to ask or a few people to ask here in Paraguay. So this network is the most important asset that I have in this moment of my life.
I never realized that is going to happen after five years. >> Yeah, I'd love to add to that, I couldn't agree more. When you asked me maybe what the question about what did it change? I would kind of question back what didn't it change, it really impacted every dimension and every factor of my life. I kind of joke sometimes that I really haven't left the GSB because I'm hanging out with GS people almost every weekend. [LAUGH] I graduated in 2018.
But before and after I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship. That's what really drew me to Stanford. I think a lot of the panelists here are saying something a little similar. I was already in tech, but I had a pretty narrow perspective of what entrepreneurship could be. And at the GSB I learned a ton about that, every part of it, I dove into it and tried it out. And it really broadened my perspective of what was possible.
And perhaps even more importantly it instilled in promoted a view inside myself of what I'm capable of. So I tried taking a lot of risks and doing new things that I wouldn't have done had I stayed on the same trajectory. >> Yeah, just adding on that, just a quick thought.
I also feel like I never left the GSB maybe because I live one mile from the GSB. But this Saturday I was biking with one of the professors from Stanford and we bumped into this other professor Carol Robin, whose book I'm actually just reading right now, it's on my desk, so I could have a conversation with her about it. And that access that network to whenever I'm in trouble of thinking about something there's always someone who is either an alumni or a professor I can reach out to and tap into.
And they can just give me the resources or the pointers or just get on a call explain something that it will take me weeks to learn, it's just incredible. >> Thanks team, Eric brought up a really good point and I'd liken to open this to all of our panelists. This idea of ROI, and I want to maybe change ROI to not just financial return on investment, but maybe a tangible thing that you got from the program that has helped your career in technology. Can anyone speak to that? >> Yeah- [CROSSTALK] >> Sorry, Daniel, did you call on someone? >> You're first. >> Okay. No, I said, you.
>> [CROSSTALK] >> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] Yeah, I was going to say I can I'll take a stab at that because I feel both in the year that I spent at the GSB. Plus beyond that, I feel there was just so much I was able to take away in terms of applying that to making the choices that I did and the decisions relative to like moving to a career in tech. So I would say on campus, definitely conversations that I was able to have with professors that came from leadership roles in tech, guest speakers that they brought on, the network that they really opened up. Super generously in terms of being available, providing their time and advice, that was super helpful.
And then, that same network extending that to just even my classmates. In fact, one of my classmates' spouse was at Google and she still is in a leadership role and he was even willing to make that connection when I was exploring a role here. So I will say that a lot of that brainstorming and being able to sort of get someone's input at very key junctures is something that was very critical for me in terms of moving the needle and being able to, yeah, just being able to make that transition. So that is something I really took away.
And even now, years from the program, four years after the GSB, I feel that's something I still rely on a lot. >> Csaba. >> Yeah, it's just a great- >> And then we'll go to you, Sunny. >> So coming from Central Europe, the first time I saw the price tag of the GSB program, I need to say I was shocked. I was like, wow, that's a lot of money.
Do I actually need to pay it at once, or in increments or how does it work? And to be honest with you, I gave it a really hard thought. I'm like, okay, is this really worth the investment? And everybody was always telling me like, retrospectively, it's a no brainer. And just to give you a fact I more than tripled my salary just out of coming out of the GSB. And now it's more than several multiples of that. So on the financial side, definitely that was the ROI. On the personal side, give you another example.
My wife was just finishing up her PhD as I was finishing my program, and just by being on campus she was able to network with professors and she got a postdoc. So she spent actually almost four years on campus, so I extended my one year to almost five years so I could hang out. [LAUGH] And that was just unbelievable. The level of impact it had on our family and on my wife's career was just incomparable.
And also on the personal level coming from Central Europe having an accent, having a strange name that nobody can pronounce here in the US, I felt very under confident, I need to say that. I felt, how am I going to contribute to things? I had a lot of knowledge, but somehow the brand, somehow being part of this network and having this constant interactions with people, kind of gave me the confidence to kind of lead and make changes. And I have a strong opinion about things when strong opinions have to be stated. And of course, have the vulnerability and admit when I was wrong. [LAUGH] And then change course. And I owe this all to Stanford.
Anything from the language to the thinking, the frameworks, it all came through this incredible one year. Thanks, Chaba. Sunny, and then I'd like to go on to the next question here. >> Yeah, so I graduated in 2018. Since then, I've changed organizations functions and jumped multiple levels.
For me, the tangible thing was fundraising. One of my first investors was someone I met while I was studying at the GSB. In one of my classes at the GSB, I got to pitch an idea to Eric Schmidt. And he did not invest, but he gave me a lot of really great feedback. And once you've had the chance to pitch to someone like him, it makes it a lot easier when you're going down the run [LAUGH] down the line.
So I'm running a search fund right now. I'm looking for a healthcare technology company. And the goal is that I'll work with my investors to acquire it, and then be the CEO and run the operations day-to-day, so. I had to find a big team of people to back me to do that.
And I started by the people that I met at the GSB. >> Thank you for that, all of your stories here. Here's my last question, and then I want to turn to questions from the audience here. So this one I'm actually going to pick on Jazmin and Chaba.
So as two international students, I've heard from talking with students and with alumni from our program that one of the biggest things you need to do if you want to get into tech. Especially in Silicon Valley, are just learn a little bit more of technology, is to learn how to speak the language of Silicon Valley, or learn to speak the language of tech. Can both of you share with me and with our audience what was that like? And what does that actually mean? Why is that important to your credibility? >> The language of Silicon Valley, the language of Stanford is being yourself. It's being you're really what you are in reality. And I remember one of the questions application will ask, what mattered most to you and why? And at the beginning, I wanted to put my profession and my professional life.
And I was reading and reading and I'm like, Jazmin, this is not true. Your family is the most important thing for you. So I changed it and I put in my family. And so that language is being yourself, and that's what I learned over there.
And being authentic, be yourself, and as Chaba [LAUGH] say at the beginning in just trying to do to interact them, and be yourself independently. From where you are, you have to add a value in the company that you're working in the group in the network everywhere. >> Yeah, just just building on what Jazmin said, it is very important to be authentic and be who you are. But it is also important to kind of get up to speed on different terms. People can start using technology terms around your acronyms. For example, I never saw one before coming to Silicon Valley, but I never saw one [LAUGH].
So just seeing these people interacting with them, pitching to them, getting feedback was extremely useful. When people talk to you about technology, or they talk to you about building companies, growing companies at the global scale, you learn about a different perspective, and I usually like to call these like glasses. It's kind of like a glass that you can take off and you can put on another glass and see a completely different picture of another angle of the picture or edge. Which, you wouldn't be able to see, unless you are exposed to these people.
And you actually have the bandwidth and the time and that one year to kind of hang out with them. I remember coming down to the Babylon that you see behind Jazmin, and there was Steve Ballmer having breakfast. And I called up my classmate who used to work for him, and sure enough, he passed by, so he was like, hey, let's have breakfast together. So I had breakfast with Steve Ballmer, and we shared an amazing discussion. So just learning about his perspective as a professor, as a owner of a sports club, as a person who be at a multi-billion dollar company. >> Thank you for that.
All right, team, I'm going to transition now to some of our audience Q&A here. And so I think this should be a very short answer, but perhaps maybe you may have had experience with this. But did any of you have an internship during the MSX program? I can speak from the programmatic side, but if anyone had an internship at Google during the program, were you aware of this? Otherwise, I'll speak from the program side. >> No. >> I didn't do an internship, but some of the class projects were kind of an internship. So I did work with different companies and VCs, and just do a quick due diligence, or a market analysis.
So it was kind of intertwined with the class project. >> And then in addition to what Chaba was saying, we also offer an independent study project that you can do called a 390 with a faculty member. That allows you to conduct your own research and focus on different companies, so that's one option. It's very difficult to have an internship because the program is full-time. And it is a lot juggling, the career navigation, the academics, and the social activities, so it's not recommended. And if that's a priority for you, the earliest you can take an internship is actually your last semester, or your last quarter, excuse me.
And that's usually where you're doing your most intense networking to try to find a job. Eric, did you want to add something? >> Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it. >> You sound a bit faded, Eric. Can you speak up? >> Sorry [INAUDIBLE]. I wouldn't recommend taking an internship. You're paying dear money for the education.
Take advantage of the campus resources as much as you can. And take the classes that you would never have an opportunity to take again. Immerse yourself on the resources that come from campus. And yes, definitely take that last couple quarters to start your job search, but I wouldn't recommend doing an internship. >> Great, thank you, panelists. Eric, I want to start you off with this question.
But then again, the rest of you all [INAUDIBLE] earlier. Do employers see or weigh differently an MBA versus an MSX degree on a resume? And how have you all navigated that in your career pursuits? >> It didn't matter for me interviewing here. They recognized that I had a master's degree from Stanford, and that was enough to make it a lot easier for me to interview. It's not going to win you the job, right? But it's definitely going to open doors. It's just a check mark, right? Do you have a master's degree one? And is it from a school that I recognize? And does it happen to be the number one business school? Sure, I'll talk to you. So I think I think it's very valuable just having a credential.
It's just proof that you've done the work, you're able to test, you're able to perform at a high bar. >> I see the other panelists nodding their head, but you don't have anything else to add. The next question we have here is, can you tell us what your most memorable course or program that you took related to technology, what was that and why did you decide to take that? >> I can quickly answer that so one of the advantages of being in the GSB is that you can take courses from any school, so I took acting course I took legal course, one of the course that I did was MSNE 273.
That's an engineering school and it's about launching technology ventures. And we teamed up with a three engineers and myself and we tried to launch a technology startup we pitch to a bunch of VCs, we got some promising, feedback. So it was all great. Now, where did I use that? We didn't end up launching the company.
It there were a lot of other critical factors in their but, I started working at this research institute right after school and guess what, we had to commercialize technologies. And so suddenly, I have sitting at this table in on how you commercialize the technologies. And I actually leveraged a lot of the process and a lot of the thinking that happened through that class.
>> Anyone else want to add feedback? >> Yeah, I'll go ahead and add as well that my favorite class actually any class of Rob Siegel's I love but especially industrialist dilemma, where he spent that entire quarter and number of case studies sort of comparing incumbents and disruptors. And it just gave me this like whole new framework to analyze and view like tech strategy and just look at companies in terms of their trends, their growth it's really one of I would say my most memorable like favorite courses. And I believe Rob just came up with a book as well that I'm looking forward to reading. So yeah, definitely a ton of tech and tech strategy courses to choose from, in general across the board is what I would say about the program. >> Yeah, his book is just came out a couple of weeks ago, the brains and bronze company.
Sonny, what would you like to add, and then I'll go into the next question. >> Yeah, Rob Siegel's classes are great. He's fantastic, if you can get in, there's always a long waiting list, but he's great. [LAUGH] I would add I took an angel and VC class and that really opened up my eyes in terms of how fundraising goes and tech and the tech community and entrepreneurship I learned a ton. And in the class project, we had to kind of build a business, build a pitch and then come in and pitch it to a real team of angel investors and VCs that came into the class.
And so we got a lot of great feedback. It was a great experience, we had great teamwork. I learned a ton from it, it really changed what I ended up doing after the GSB.
>> Thanks Steve, we've had a couple of questions, surrounding the career services, and questions surrounding how effective was the Career Center to help you transition from either non tech to tech jobs, campus recruiting? What kind of support are you getting from the Career Management Center to land your dream opportunity? Eric, do you want to start us off? >> Sure, I will say that it is what you make of it. It's a less curated experience than what the MBAs go through. I don't know if it's changed since I was there. But, the MBAs are walked through the process.
And the the MSX, you've gotten way more experience, typically, than the MBA students. And so your career journey often doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go to on campus recruiting, because they're looking for rock stars that just finished their MBA with very little experience. So for an MSX student, that may not be the best venue for you to find your next job.
You're certainly welcome to attend all those events or at least I was. I don't know how many of those events I went to a for nothing else but free food. But I think your career search journey needs to be your own. And that's probably why most MSX job searches take longer than your typical MBA student because we're not going into, I don't want to say entry level jobs, because that's not what the MBAs are taking either. But, typically MSXs are going into run new companies, going to senior management, starting a startup or being a principal at a startup. So, these journeys are more developmental rather than jumping into a job.
So I know that doesn't directly answer the question but the key is that this is what you make of it for one and it is your journey to plan and to follow not stepping into the standard practices of the Career Center. >> So just building on that very quickly so I met the Career Center they won, they came in at the orientation and they said that no we're here to help you get a job, I'm like great because I need the job after the program. Program is 11 months I need the company to sponsor my Visa so I can stay here. So I became one of the best friends with Veronica who worked at the Career Center, I think she's still there and I was like this is amazing. There's someone who's actually going to help me through this, and one of the first things we did we kind of mapped out which phase am I in and what do I want? And I learned this framework that, do you want to change your geography? I was coming from Central Europe, I had to be in the US, so yes.
Do you want to change your industry? I was working in energy for four years and management consulting. I wanted to get into tech, so the answer is yes. Do you want to change your job profile, right? It's usually very difficult to change one of them not at least three. So they said look don't change your job profile what is the strongest thing on your CV and the strongest thing in my CV it was see as I'm really good in business development I can sell.
Consulting projects for management, consultants to power plants to research whatever you need. So I was like, you know what I'm going to focus on sales, I was running companies, I was doing a lot of other stuff, but by focusing on that helping me kind of rewrite the story from this US perspective, this technology narrative I was able to land the job. So actually I was able to land several offers and I actually chose to go for the research institute.
So I would highly recommend you, I'm not telling you when they won but first we walk in use the time. They are super helpful, they have an amazing network, and yeah, that's it. >> Thank you both for that perspective, really appreciate it. So we're here just kind of in our final thoughts here. So maybe we could do just a rapid fire, kind of yes no type of answers here. Did anyone take a class and renewable energy or and sustainability? Yes or no? >> I did.
>> What do you think of it, ten words or less? >> It was a GSB class, I love that they were VCs, they were entrepreneurs the founder of Solar City came in one of the co founders of Tesla was there, it was amazing. Great, thank you, Chava. Someone want to take how does the MSX program and PAC startup entrepreneurs launching their new venture versus mid career professionals trying to do corporate advancements? >> Yeah, I can take that one.
I was in a corporation, I was in Accenture. I went to the GSB and then have pivoted into entrepreneurship. So I started a search fund, successfully raised funding and I've been doing that for a few years. It gave me a perspective, going to the GSB gave me a perspective of what was possible.
I thought entrepreneurship meant either you join a startup or you start something and those were the only options. I learned about the search fund and hadn't heard about it until I went to the GSB. So it gave me a whole new path. I think if you're interested in this as well, you can take classes on fundraising, you can take classes on how to put your pitch together, you can take classes on how to build your product.
I think there's over 400 classes that have the word entrepreneurship and something ridiculous like that at Stanford. So you can really dig in as deep and as far and as broad as you want to go. >> All right, final thoughts, anyone? Just last minute things that you want to share? >> Yeah, I want to share something I did that I don't recommend this to do. So before goingto the GSB to Stanford, I commit myself to come back to my former job.
And I say, okay, after two months I finish, I will go back. And I have to do that because I have the obligation. So don't do that. Go free with this free loan in terms of everything and be ready to change your life, be ready to dream for the first time in your life and you'll find your path in that one year, I'm sure. >> I think my final thought would be, if you go make it your year of yes, try new things, take a class that you only find mildly interesting and just explore it, go on the study trip, go have lunch with MBAs. Don't put yourself in a box, really stretch yourself in every direction that you can and make the most of it because this is one year that really is going to feel like 15 years but you'll look back and it'll go so fast and you'll really enjoy it >> Totally agree with Sonny.
And make it a year of yes, talk to people, make friends with people you wouldn't normally talk to, spend time with MBAs, go on a study trip, I wholeheartedly agree with that. I went to New Zealand with the MBAs and that was fantastic. Not only the trip but getting to know, you're spending a week with folks in close quarters you get to know them very well in a short amount of time. Take classes in the engineering school.
Just enjoy everything there is to enjoy in Palo Alto, so- >> So one last thought that if you're still deciding on the program and whether to go into the MSX or not, I would highly recommend to visit the campus, you're going to live there on campus for a year. Just make sure to walk around, get to know a little bit of campus. And also, you have the opportunity to sit in on a class, you can make that work if you do it in advance, you plan it in advance. And that really gave me a big push to go for the program because that's pretty much one of the main experiences you're paying for. So just sit in on a class, hopefully Rob Seegers [LAUGH] and yeah, hope to see you on one of these alumni reunions. >> Yeah.
>> To what everyone said. And I would say that, yeah, if you decide to go, just make the program your own. I feel like there's just so much that the program offers that there's just no rules, there's no limits or boundaries so you can totally customize and pick and choose the things that resonate with you and call out to you. So yeah, I would say just make it your own and make the most of it.
So yeah, that's what I would say. >> Well, I want to thank you all my wonderfully esteemed panelists for joining us. This was such a wonderful conversation and I really appreciated all the various perspectives so I want to give you back your evenings, your days,
2022-05-15 08:08
