I arrived in Evanston, Kellogg's home, on Sunday night. Thus far, my entire attention has been on getting myself set up on in the US. In some ways, it has been easier than I expected. Some frustrations remain, nevertheless.

60201 – Evanston – is a quaint little university town. Thankfully, this means some of the numerous amenities around the town know exactly what my requirements as an international student are. The bank made it almost effortless to get an account, even sorting out proof of residence for me through their knowledge of the university intranet and contacts at the university. The cell phone shop automatically game me my student discount for my monthly phone bill – without asking for any form of student ID. While I stood at the front of my apartment, waiting to direct them, the removal people already knew how to find my apartment block’s rear loading entrance and had started moving furniture in.

However, what frustrates me is that there seems to be few grocery stores in my part of Evanston that provide genuinely student prices. Living in Park Evanston, Whole Foods is next door and extremely convenient. However, the cheapest priced bread (for example) is $4. This is still over twice the cost of what even the premier groceries in London would charge. In fact, that kind of price could only be found in London if you lived next door to the Queen. The Northwestern campus is nice, but it’s not Buckingham Palace. To save on the weekly trip to Jewel-Osco, I’m thinking of using an online grocery service. This would also help me plan my meals upfront – a sure way to control those notorious US calories.

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I'm running out of time. On Sunday I fly out from London to Evanston. The to-do list has shrunk - partly as a result of pruning out some of the more ambitious items (e.g. learning speed reading and touch typing), but I've managed to get quite a bit done, though there are still a few things left to do.

The most tiresome to-do item has been the prepartory online courses that Kellogg was "pleased" to provide incoming students with. It was tiresome because they required quite a bit of time, and I'm sure a good chunk of the material is already covered in the GMAT and CFA Level 1 (both of which I've had some exposure to). Nevertheless, I appreciated the effort that was put into making the course material applicable for real business situations. Scenarios ranged from a startup's accounting practises to Pepsi's pricing strategies. I think I could really get into some of these courses when they kick off properly in the Fall. However, if a paradoy of those courses is what you're looking for, this video is it.

Among other things, the apartment and living situation is sorted out, and my money is the US - in time for the first tuition (and health care) bill to arrive: over £17,000 for the first quarter - getting that was like getting a punch in the face. I'm also mostly packed up: extraordinarily, it seems that I may just be able to fit my who life into two suitcases, a carry-on and laptop bag... I wouldn't have thought it, but it seems possible.

So what's left on my to-do list? I need to revisit my LinkedIn page and CV. The latter of these has to be put into "Kellogg format", which seems to be just Kellogg's way of standardizing CVs into a standard format for easy perusing by employers. Beyond that, the most important things are those related to my entreprenurial ambitions. I've got a rough prototype. I will soon need to start putting together a list of target companies to approach to see if they'll be first customers. This will be a learning experience in itself. Finally, I also want to make some subtle changes to this blog.

The mania continues. Will it ever stop?

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The romanticized view of entrepreneurship is of creating something world beating. This is still the view of many VC firms, I'm sure. Yet - in the the VC firm where I've been working - this is not necessarily true. This may be because this particular VC firm is moving later stage with its investments, which may be true of many European VCs comparative to Americans. In any case, the experience of intern'ing at a London based VC firm has coloured some of my thinking on start-ups. Here are some of my take-aways.

You doesn't necessarily have to have something market leading. You just need something that gains market traction and generates revenue. If it makes enough of an impression on the market, it'll be acquired and generate a payout for the entrepreneur and the investors involved. It is not necessary to build a new way to brush teeth; a better way to brush teeth is fine.

There are lots and lots of startups everywhere. It is amazing how many there are. They are flies circling VC firms. The VC will say that only thing that ultimately differentiates one against another is revenue, profitability and the opportunity for growth.

It's not necessarily about creating a good business as much as creating a good exit. Having mentioned how important revenues are... on the flipside, if you can sell the hype that a service with millions of people using it, yet no revenue, will in some future generate large revenue returns - so be it! The classic example of this is Google's purchase of YouTube.

Entreprenuers fumble about a lot before hitting the jackpot. There are a number of examples of companies that are successful now, but which weren't originally as successful. As they started investigating a problem, they stumbled on something which was the real money making opportunity. A recent British example of this is Skimbits, which eventually found a neat way to monetize links and created Skimlinks.

Some entrepreneurs are more impressive than others. Some of the most impressive entrepreneurs have a long track record in the field they operate in, with deep industry knowledge, know-how of the market and what users want from the product. They also have lots of connections within the industry and experience of the technology or innovation involved. One entrepreneur I've come across has such a reputation in his industry, a firm he was interested in acquiring dropped their asking price from £1M+ to ~£150k for a 50% stake in their business: they believed he could dramatically increase their revenue.

Presentation and clear articulation are important. Many companies will approach a VC firm in many different ways. Some companies can be overlooked quickly merely because the concept is not clear. This is particularly true if the financials are not particularly impressive. The clarity of the message is important. How well the entrepreneur communicates this can reflect on him/her positively or negatively. Realism with a slick, carefully thought out presentation can go a long way. The first presentation everyone (including a VC) will look at is the company's website.

There are signals for good and bad. A company seeking investment for international expansion is attractive. A company seeking investment to expand by going into a new market (which it may not have direct experience), is much more risky. If the company has a foot in the door (e.g. a pilot) for the next growth opportunity that they promise, this is a good sign. If the company needs lots of physical assets to operate, it can be difficult to scale it.

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August is here. For many of us starting our MBAs, there are at least two turning points fast approaching us. The first is the thought of having yourself plucked out of everyday reality and crammed in with hundreds of other people from all parts of the world and all walks of life - restarting student life in quite a different place to where-ever we are now. Whatever gradual path we've been taking thus far will soon be batted into the stratosphere. The second turning point will come approximately 22 months later. At that point, our paths will again be smacked out to other parts of the stratosphere - in different directions. With the career goals essays that the schools mandate, I feel like I've been thinking about these turning points and my future life path for several years. Recently, with the first of these turning points fast approaching, I've been inspired to think about them in three specific ways.

Be the best at three things, not one. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, suggests that to become to the very best at one thing, such as a NBA basketball player, is very difficult. Instead, he recommends picking three things that work in synergy to define your own niche. For me, I think this is media, entrepreneurship and technology. I've always been interested in media - from starting a school newspaper when I was 14 (a newspaper that never saw past issue 1, such is youth) to launching a online student new site (which I can't take full credit for, I admit). Entrepreneurship has come relatively easy in spits and spats - building torture devices (starting a public speaking club) and once running a hobby company organising embarrassing events (yes, speed dating). Technology was my undergrad education and has been the major part of my career to date. Maybe, just maybe, the MBA will give me the opportunity to properly fuse these together.

If you want to shine, put in 10,000 hours. Malcom Gladwell has written a book on this thought, and the gist of it can be found in many places. It makes a lot of sense that overnight success actually took several years of hidden effort. It also makes sense that perhaps the reason people never realise their true potential is because they give up before they reach those 10,000 hours. If media, entrepreneurship and technology are to be "my thing", I wonder - how many hours have I put in to date? Perhaps it is 10,000 hours that are required to start a business?... in which case, I'd still have lots more hours left to put in. The difference between success and failure is perhaps persistance. Do I have what it takes to put those 10,000 hours in? Because I spent a long time deriving my "three things", I think I do. Time will unravel if I will be right.

Personal Branding in the age of Google. Seth Godin points out that it's difficult to not have some kind of personal branding out there, on the Internet. He himself has built an unshakeable brand on the Internet. His three things are probably "hip marketing, author/blogger, thought leader/professional speaker". He has certainly put in at least 10,000 hours into this over at least the last 10 years - probably more. The culmination has been a personal brand that attracts for him the resources and opportunities he needs to be even more successful. Thus far, I've not proactively managed my personal brand on the Internet; a search for my name produces random things. There is barely any association to my three things - "media, entrepreneurship and technology" in what comes up. I'm now thinking about the kind of brand that I might be able to build for myself over the next two years, either side of the turning points, as well as beyond.

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In the few weeks that I've been interning at a London based venture capital firm, already one thing is clear: a venture capitalist needs to be a jack of all trades, i.e. competent in many skills. Further, to be a really good VC - it is necessary to be master of a lot of these skills. Whereas a career in consulting might be a full time mostly soft-skills based career, or career in banking might be a full-time mostly quantitative-skills based career, a career in venture capital is a mixture of many things.

To illustrate, here are a few of the skills called upon:

• People management: For each portfolio company that a venture capitalist manages, there is a relationship with the entreprenuers of the company that needs to be nurtured and tended to. The entreprenuers might want to build the best product in the world, whereas the venture capitalist will want to just generate 5x returns of his/her investment within 3 years. These expectations need to be managed and a relationship of trust built so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. If things don't work out, the VC will need to be prepared to change the CEO and/or other members of the management team.
• Business acumen: A VC's main management control of a company is via their seat on the company board. To this meeting will be escalated any issues the company might be having. The age old classic with internet startups is the problem of monetization, but it could be issues related to market traction or even the startup's team composition. The VC will need to be quickly add value to these discussions based on the shallow knowledge he/she has of the company and industry.
• Quantitative: Some of the deal terms that are discussed in the process of funding a startup can get very complicated. In fact, some people say these complications have only become possible as Excel, over the last 20 years or so, has become capable of modelling them. To illustrate, there may be several investors investing in a company. One investor may have liquidation preference. This means that in a future sale, that investor can specify to have returned a multiple of the shares of other shareholders. This multiple can be dependent on the sale value, e.g. "2x shares if sale value is $50M+, 1.5x if $75M+ and 1x if $100M". In addition to this, the investor can also stipulate anti-dilution, which means that if the future value of the company is lower than when investment was made, that investor gets their returns at said multiple while all other shareholders are squeezed. This is all for just one round of funding. Over several rounds, with several more variations of stipulations added by several different VCs, it quickly becomes possible for the model to run wild.
  
• Networking, Sales and Negotiation: Building a reputation in the industry and "attracting deal flow" is a virtuous circle. For the industry that a VC is investing in, the VC will need to build contacts - with the big conglemerates as well as budding entrepreneurs. The conglemerates may become future customers of a portfolio company. The entrepreneur could be a future star the VC they'll want to invest in later. The VC will also need to build relationships with Limited Partners ("LPs"): insurance firms, pension funds and others providing the funding for a VC's investments. The sales element of all this comes in when convincing an LP to provide funding or a startup to take your investment. An attractive startup may get the attention of several VCs, in which case it becomes important to negotiate well and project a strong impression in the competitive process between VCs. At other times, it will be necessary for a VC to bring in another VC to spread the risk and the investment. It's a murky soft skills world.
  
• Entrepreneurial Skills: There are not many people within any VC firm, and little or no direction is provided. It will be down to the VC to "make things happen": bring in investment, attract deals and manage companies. In much the same way that entreprenuers do, to make all this happen, a VC will need to attract and gain access to resources that are beyond their immediate control. They might do this through networking, running mini programs with incubators or other means. The VC will have to take the initiative; it is pretty much like running a little firm - except done in a partnership.
  
• And there is more... VCs need to quantify the value of companies not listed on any stock markets, which is a skill in itself, and conduct due-diligence on companies targeted for investment. VCs need to keep abreast of deals that are being made in the market and new technical developments of major companies. They also need to have strategic foresight to guide their thinking of the types of firms they think will be successful.

It is difficult to break into venture capital, because a VC has to be a jack-of-all-trades. There is also no one single profile of a typical VC. This is because a VC will have to be a master of many of these trades; the variation is likely due to what they've mastered.

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BusinessWeek is up for sale. The loss-making business has become "a continuing distraction" for publisher McGraw-Hill. I don't think the current operating model for online newspapers and magazines, such as BusinessWeek, will survive much deeper into the 21st century. For my business startup, I'm exploring what kind of new operating models might work better for online publications.

Many people have many ideas as to what shape publications will take in the future. I've speculated on this myself. Even BusinessWeek has speculated on possible new models for its own future. Yet, as soon as you start executing the idea - the dreams and aspirations meet the dirt and grind of the floor.

I spent quite a bit of time and effort over the last few months trying to find software developers to help me build a prototype for my startup. I've been thoroughly unsuccessful. Lots of people seem to get excited and want a piece of the action. Yet when it comes to actually doing something (in return for equity), there is nothing. "I just don't have the time", one of them moaned - and he was the one who'd been made redundant following the financial crisis. Another is too distracted by women. Yet another does not think I'm committed enough(!)

So two weeks ago, with time running out, I started going about building the prototype myself. I started my career as a software developer, after all, and my undergrad was in Computing. However, having not done any software development in almost four years, I thought I would struggle - particularly since the programming language is new to me - Python. Yet, it has been less of a struggle than I anticipated. What is a challenge, however, is pulling together something that will be sizeable for anything other than demo purposes. Yet this might be enough. My plan is to spend the Fall quarter at Kellogg pursuing potential customers who may give me enough money to develop a fuller software solution over the summer internship period.

The dirt and the grind may not be too pretty, but hopefully there will be enough before school starts to get others to buy into the vision and dream. The prototype just needs to be suggestive enough to let the minds of potential customers go wild. If it can capture the hearts of Northwestern's software developer type students, who might then help develop it further, that'll be even better. As to what to call this prototype / business / idea... I wonder if I could get a student loan package to cover the debt associated with BusinessWeek brand? Probably not.

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I seem to be surrounded by to-do lists. Everywhere where I look, there is another list of things that I need to do. I fly out to Evanston on the 16th August, i.e. exactly a month today. I still have a lot to do. The to-do lists remind me of this constantly.

Kellogg's to do list. Kellogg provides a nice list of things to check off. It sits on the welcome site for admitted students. It's very useful. My only fustration with it has been that you can only cross off some things later, because who-ever it is that organises those things has not released the necessary information yet to complete them. Initially we had to wait for the online courses. More recently, it has been the applications to waive courses. However, things have changed recenty: now pretty much everything is available for completing. Now the problem is finding the time to do all that I have left.

My personal to-do list. This to-do list includes things such as cancelling my phone contract and buying suitcases. I also need to figure out which items I'm going to pack for Evanston, which items I'm going to chuck away and which I'll leave with my parents. I also want to get back in touch with a number of people I've not seen in a while, before I leave the UK. It's been 8 years since I've seen some people from my undergrad; better to get in touch now, rather than after 10 years (post-MBA) or later, I reckon.

Am I getting the most I can out of my venture capital internship? I've not started on this to-do list, but I'm keen to get as much out of my internship as possible. I've learned a few things about how companies are selected and gained a great view of the politics of deal making, but there is still plenty more I could get out of this experience. Perhaps meeting potential future partners and investors?

Starting the business. The items on this to-do list include: Building the prototype, finishing the business plan and finding contacts in Evanston to help with sales and building the product. Soon to be added will be that I also need to start thinking about potential target customers and funding sources. If I am going to fund working on the startup over the 2010 internship period, all of this will be important.

Emails to reply to. There are a whole stack of people that I've been in touch with one and off. It plays on my mind that I still need to reply to some of them. The problem with replying immediately is that it encourages them to reply immediatly, meaning I have to take more time to write another email sooner rather than later. Delaying replies to save time is an awkward and embarassing time management strategy... but it kind of works.

Things to do once there. Unpacking, setting up the apartment, setting up bank accounts, utilities etc and even buying a bathrobe are all on this list. I keep thinking that there must be a lot that I've not thought about, because this list is not particularly long. Perhaps this is because I've bought all of the furniture off a leaving international student? Or perhaps I've not quite immersed myself in the reality yet.

There's a lot to be done before school starts. I better get back to getting on with it.

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