Received my MBA

Just purchased my MBA, not the 57,000 EUR tuition, but the svelte Apple MacBook Air. Haven’t had my own computer in sometime.  Alas, I’ll miss the Lenovo X220, it was like the oddly heavy stumpy kid I lugged around with me through the crowded Rockefeller Center area - its packed in a FedEx box ready to fly to New Jersey (god help it).  

It’s really odd to see the MBA become the lowest end notebook that Apple offers - and with it’s push to remove all physical media it really is making waves.  Installing an instance of Windows 7 is a little more annoying without drives though. Which brings me to the new Lion OS.  All the new features seem to push the Mac into the iOS territory - the Launchpad, the dragging gestures, and the fullscreen modes.  Using a glass trackpad, is like using an iPad, sometimes there’s just a little bit more friction/stickiness that just makes smooth cursor movements difficult.  

Overall I give the new OS thumbs-up, but it does have too many ways to reach an app.  There’s at least 3 (gesture, F4, task bar) or more ways to access LaunchPad, of which is just another way to launch an app (taskbar, spotlight, applications folder).  A lot of this design feels really redundant, but I guess more options is better than being stuck with only one.  Still undecided if it’s better to use the MBA or the iPad 2 to take notes.  I’m seriously becoming an Apple fanboy, but don’t have the iPhone right now to complete the trifecta. Being an owner of AAPL shares has its perks, also.

For those going to INSEAD - student discounts in the US only apply for US schools.  I gave them my invite letter and a the INSEAD / Wharton partnership website and said that I did not have an ID yet but am a student of the University of Pennsylvania.  Worked like a charm - but buying one in Hong Kong is still significantly cheaper (damn tax). 

Myself and Jennifer launched a project on Kickstarter to create Moustache Tie Clips to the world.  It’s kind of insane that we embarked on this mission but I think its taught us a lot about ‘starting up’ and designing a product from inception to creating actual product, and then putting it to market.  Check it out at www.tsaiclip.com

Defining a Year

It’s amazing how long I’ve had INSEAD on my mind.  I’ve attended no less than 3 information sessions in New York before finally biting the bullet and applying.  It wasn’t as if I was just waiting though - I was working on my resume, building and refining it to this point where I now have work experience across 9 countries in diverse industries.  Setting up the interviews while working in Hong Kong was probably a good move as it showed some initiative of wanting to be in an international environment.  

So 10 months, and approximately $8,000 USD tuition for each of those months.  I’ve met some of the students accepted in New York for the occasional drinks / dinner and if this is any indication of the future then I will likely spend twice that in travel, dining, chateaus, etc.  I’m going to lay it out here and declare that I am going in with the intention of coming out an entrepreneur in an emerging market - some may say that’s vague/generic but we’ll see a year later if this is still my direction.

Still haven’t finalized my campus decisions - Fontainebleau for P1, P2… maybe P3?  Or Singapore P3?  Wharton P4?  Graduate in Singapore?  

Au Revoir

I am very grateful to those that I have worked with at Capgemini – it’s been over five years and I’ve learned so much playing the role of mentee and hopefully have parted some wisdom as a mentor here.   It’s been a wild ride and I want to thank everyone for the amazing experience.