IBA and the end of the grey

We just returned from an incredible trip to Malawi. I worked with a good friend and aeronautical engineer for a life insurance company. It was a fantastic match for us, Gerard had experience standardising procedures with low cost airlines and I had worked as an economist so we were able to standardise many procedures to save costs and build robust risk models which will guide their future asset holdings and reassurance levels.

We also aligned the businesses strategy with their core offering and looked at staff incentives etc. and all the other MBA consultancy things that would be expected. However the CEO gave us the boardroom as an office and a mandate to look into anything and speak with anyone without constraint. The theoretical models we had learn, combined with our experience really made sense in this new setting and inspired us basically to work 18 hour days while we were there to deliver real results that we were both incredibly happy and proud of at the end of our time. The CEO of the company went on National television and told Malawi how he wished we could stay forever and the real impact our work had had on the company.

I think the main reason for this successful partnership between us and the company was an openness and willingness to learn. We had a massive learning curve relating to how business was done in Malawi, sometimes what I would consider outrageous in the West was normal practice in Malawi. Similarly the company was fantastic at building relationships and connections but less good at keeping records and using data to inform their decisions (something which is fairly critical for an insurance company) and they were very willing to listen to our suggestions and allow us to implement suggestions to improve this.

On the final weekend we climbed Africa’s 3rd highest peak Mt Mulanji and saw the wonders of Malawi from high above. Their is a strong rumour that Tolkien climbed Mt Mulanji just before he wrote his famous trilogy and it is easy to see there could be truth in the rumour. 

Driving to the base of the mountain we passed vast tea plantations full of happy smiling people amongst the green, just like the Shire. Ascending the mountain caves and waterfalls leapt from the jungle until atop the mountain huge rocky crags jut up into the air with soft clouds cloaking their fullness. 

The CEO of the company we had worked for took me out on a safari and to his lake hut the following day. We saw the animals Africa is famous for (although unfortunately not the predators), elephants, warthogs, antelope and hippos were scattered throughout the savannah. We then drove to the beautiful lake Malawi where idyllic resorts sat perched upon the banks, a stark contrast to the despondence of poverty stricken villagers huddled in thatched huts just beyond the razor wire topped security walls.

I learnt a lot from the trip and have also been given confidence that the skills I have learnt can be applied to a world even where property rights and the rule of law are not as robust as in other places I have worked.

Returning to England the sun was shining and I actually felt a droplet run down my face. Looking up I searched in vain for the grey clouds that seemed ever-present, but to my surprise it wasn’t rain but sweat. The sun had finally shaken its reputation as the sol de brujas (sun of the witches) which looked hot but was actually a trick to lure you outside into the cold without enough warm clothes.

Shining (petanque) balls at MBAT

A previous blog mentioned a conference ‘Doing good doing well’ in Barcelona that I attended. Leo who also went to the conference has written a great piece on it here.

But between the conferences we also managed to get out and see a bit of Europe as well as beating LBS in petanque (some french game similar to Bocce).

We descended on Paris 2 weeks ago for MBAT which was fantastic, both on and off the field. We ended up with Cranfield’s best points score ever, coming 1st and 3rd in poker, 2nd in Petanque, 1st in battle of the bands, and 3rd in badminton.

The strangest of these was definitely Petanque, we turned up bleary eyed in the blistering rain, after being enthusiastically roused by our kiwi captain. We walked around in a daze as frenchmen haughtily laughed at us for not knowing anything about the game and the Oxford teams warmed up and stretched on the side in their expensive Hawaiian shirts (these were not worn ironically, I found out Oxford do not joke). Then it was time to throw our shiny balls at smaller balls. Fantastically we were playing the Oxford A-team first up (these were their best Petanque’rs after months of try-outs). Looking haughtily down over their flower garlanded collars they sneered at our immature jokes about ‘touching balls etc’.

But suddenly our team snapped into action, whether it was divine intervention or the pulsing beat from last nights battle of the bands echoing through our wrists we became champions and cleaned the floor with them, then INSEAD, then HEC and it continued, victory after victory through the group stage and then on into the semi-finals. By this point the rain was pouring down and we were up against LBS. I’d like to say we thrashed them and they were as snotty as the Oxford bunch but they brought a carton of beer down and we had a very casual game which we narrowly won. Truth be told by this point we were all hoping to lose so we could go back to our hotel out of the rain.

By the time the final came around we could no longer muster the strength, even the referee’s were done by this point, and a very enthusiastic, self refereeing rotterdam university took the cup. Great effort and stamina though to maintain their friendly disposition and unabated enthusiasm throughout.

Off the field we got hugely into the dress ups, the highlight being a bunch of leather clad, make-up laden Cranfield blokes creating a mosh pit with girls straddling the shoulders of many of us as we rocked out to the Cranfield bands winning renditions of rage against the machine.

rockstars

the Cranfield undefeated football team (as in our opposition were undefeated by us)

 

Braveheart dress for ‘Carnaval theme’ what do you mean its not caranval, its Hogmanay

 

The next weekend me and some of the Chileans went to Riga to go kitesurfing, unfortunately there was no wind but we partied anyway in a fantastic city and met some brilliant people.

And in between the two we had a brilliant kitchen party with live ‘British’ music, some Latin dancing and Spanish and Indian food

 

 

Hasta Luego

 

 

Creating a dream

I am going to become a strategy consultant. Its pays well, has good prospects and I would learn a lot in a short amount of time. It sounds like a fantastic job. I thought all this a month ago, but in the back of my mind was a niggling doubt tugging away, making me resist hitting the submit button on the McKinsey website. And then I saw a quote. It wasn’t the standard jokes about graphs and getting paid to say nothing.

‘If you’re not building your own dreams you’re being paid to build somebody elses’.

For me this translated into ‘find a purpose and follow it’, a pay cheque is not a leader that I wish to fall in line behind. Despite some familial advice to ‘build my resume’ and the sight of others madly dashing around in suits to interviews I decided to build my own dream. My dream is to give others the opportunities I was fortunate enough to have. When I went back to my old council estate everyone I grew up with was gone. The football ‘field’, a cement cage by the railway tracks, which was the scene of the most frantic football matches imaginable; was covered in graffiti and long abandoned, looking as though an earthquake had torn it apart. A council sign warning people against entering this dangerous, forgotten hub, hung above a chain enforcing its will. I heard fervent whispers of the friends I used to know. The friend who would scrounge around with me for the change that had fallen from the pockets of drunkards who had passed out on the wall the night before was lost to drugs. The neighbour, who laughed happily as I gleefully chanted nonsensical words along to the African songs his family would sing on our way to McDonalds, was doing his second stint in gaol for armed robbery and kidnap. Others ran gangs, others were depressed, many were on drugs. There were few stories that were not dismal. But mine was not. Through the generosity and kindness of others I had been given the chance to learn and experience fantastic things and believe that any dream I could imagine was at the least a possibility.

My dream is for others to grow up believing the same, with hope, not having to rely on the benevolence of a few generous people (such as the CAAS benefactors) but instead able to access the things they need when they need them.

I want to create an online platform that allows people to sell a portion of their future income in return for the funding, networks and knowledge they need to achieve their dreams. I have been the beneficiary of incredible opportunities throughout my life, the most substantial of which is the scholarship that the CAAS so generously bestowed upon me.

The business model I want to create would provide people with a way to reach their potential while maintaining their independence and not being burdened with hard to service debt repayments while at the same time providing value for the people fronting up the money and the business I want to develop. Providing this shared value for all stakeholders and the community at large is the way I would like to create a sustainable business. I want to do this for my own sense of morality but I also believe in a future where more and more information is readily available to public scrutiny and societal morals can impact behaviour to increasing degrees I believe this is even more important.

The business will operate in three streams;

One stream will be through university partnerships. I am hoping to try and get one setup at Cranfield if they are willing but Cambridge have also shown interest. This would involve alumni providing students with the opportunities they had and sharing in the future the student creates (through both a share of their future income and the knowledge that the student couldn’t have achieved what they did without their help).

Another stream will be through our online platform, whereby people who are selling their future income (aspirants) will create a profile detailing what drives them and what they want to achieve. We will provide metrics related to the average income trajectories and volatility of employment etc. for the aspirants chosen field alongside this profile. From this the investor can make an offer to the aspirant including both the financial sum they are willing to pay for a given percentage of future income as well as the networks and experience they can bring to the aspirant. The aspirant can then chose to accept, counter offer or reject this bid. Investors thus use their judge of character in choosing people who will have a successful future as well as leveraging their knowledge and networks to increase the value of their asset, to the benefit of the aspirant and investor.

The final stream involves firms purchasing ‘bundles’ of students. As firms will be purchasing a many students the overall risk that the total return will deviate from the average return (accounting for macro-economic factors) is significantly reduced. As such we can model with a reasonable degree of accuracy the return on investment a firm will make. The aspirants that the firms fund can then form part of their marketing campaign, building their CSR reputation within the community. This will most powerfully be disseminated through the aspirants themselves. For what person, who has been given hope and brought closer to their dreams by an organisation would not become a fervent brand advocate of the most authentic kind. Furthermore firms will have the opportunity to provide employee mentors to these aspirants which, in conjunction with developing a coaching capability within the organisation, will allow firms to vet prospective employees in an incredibly thorough way.

Aspirants for their part receive financing and mentoring to achieve both a qualitatively and quantitatively better life. Qualitatively they have the opportunity to pursue their dreams and quantitatively they will have access to networks and capital to significantly boost their earning potential, of which a small amount will go to the investor. Furthermore they will not be burdened, as I was with a 15% per annum student loan, by debt repayments that they cannot afford, as all repayments will be levied on their income.

Socially there will be a better use of capital for education as, instead of relying purely on the generosity of the few, it will instead be in investors (both individual and companies) best interests to invest in the education of these people. A more educated population and a more meritocratic distribution of education will result in a more productive economy. Furthermore the benefit of giving people at the bottom of the social ladder a way to increase their standard of living, will in my opinion reduce the incidence of crime by people who feel helpless to survive without it.

I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of people yet again, from lawyers to faculty to business leaders, in helping me bring this to fruition. I want the business to run at a profit to ensure its sustainability and its autonomy from philanthropic interests so the organisation will take a small commission on each investment and will also develop additional spin-offs such as exchange traded fund type investments, for investors and students who wish to participate solely in a financial trade.

I believe this business provides me, my customers (investors and clients) and all stakeholders to the business a shared value in the 5 aspects of life I think (influenced heavily by some reading I’ve been doing) are the most important.

A sense of;

• Purpose
• Freedom
• Mastery
• Community
• Material satisfaction

I have been developing the business model and sorting out the legal and IT requirements as well as some marketing for the business this past month. My email is dan.george@cranfield.ac.uk I would love to hear from anyone who has any ideas or wants to get involved with the business. I’m currently working on the financing side of the business and have applied for a grant which required a short video available in the post below.

I discovered a grant which I thought fit this business idea perfectly unfortunately it closed the next day so I madly get my artist sister to help me create and film a video. I then downloaded and learnt how to use some video editing software (poorly) so apologies for the amateurish quality of the film. I’m going to make some better ones which I’ll include in the next blog post. It has also been fantastic practice for the annual video we will make for the CAAS scholarship awards dinner which will (sorry David Scollon but its true) ‘will be the best ever’ in dedication to Alex Chapman.

Sorry for the belated post, it has been a crazy few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

History was written…in sheep entrails.

A score and four days ago, the brilliant lights of the Southern Cross, fell upon the unfancied fortunes of Cranfield MBA’s. For on this Australia day, the hordes of LBS descended upon Cranfield as hundreds of years earlier the Persian hordes had descended upon tiny (back then solvent) Greece. Outnumbered a dozen to one, the brave athletes stood their ground at the Social, awaiting their inevitable fate. However, as then Leonidas watched, stoney faced as a storm sunk and battered the Persian ships then, so too did our Social rep watch as alcoholic intolerance sunk many LBS athletes on their way to Cranfield, no doubt encouraged by the great kangaroo up in the sky.

The brave Cranfield participants gathered at the sports hall and suffered a straight sets loss in volleyball. Defeated and jeered, feeding the LBS hubris, they held their ground. They were then battered at basketball and squash yet still they would not bow. And then it was time for rugby. A sport we could surely not win, ever. A team was scraped together, the rules explained nervously by a passing MSC student as the LBS team went through their warm up drills, resplendent in specially made uniforms. But when the whistle blew, Cranfields rugby players sprung to life, such was their sense of duty to each other that they moved as a unit, instinctively finding each other, threading through the LBS lines and scoring again and again as they fought all human barriers of pain and endurance. The sons and daughters of the great rugby nations of Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand and …India, united to form a team of champions that drove LBS into the ground. A 7-1 thrashing by halftime was carried home (just) by the remaining team members in the second as these great nations were required on the football (soccer pitch). Again LBS threatened, unveiling yet more exotic wonders (as Xerxes forces rode elephants into battle) their Columbian and English core deftly passing the ball around clumsy challenges and drawing first blood. But Cranfield weathered the storm and they had their own Latin connection, a cry of ‘unleash the Chileans’ echoed throughout the grounds as the Australian and Slavic players heaved themselves at the opposition giving the  Chileans the space to dance around LBS and find the back of the net time and time again. A hard fought victory ended in a 7-5 win for Cranfield.

After much celebrating and many American drinking games LBS reluctantly boarded their bus home. And that was the end of the night for Cranfield MBA’s. Other than a brave band of three, who boarded the bus, armed with bottles of wine.  

The LBS crew were fantastically hospitable, and took us to a fantastic house party in London as well as putting us up for the night. The next morning was a highlight for me as I had lost my friends and phone the night before. Heading to the station, bedraggled and in a now torn suit, I had my wallet stolen. To this day I am in awe of the thief who took it. I felt not the slightest movement and have no idea who it could have been. I almost feel honored to have been a victim of such professionalism. At the station I asked a stranger if he could buy me a ticket to my brother’s house. Luckily I think he was taken aback by a long haired Australian in a purple silk tie, begging for a ticket and so generously complied. If you ever read this kind stranger, thank you again and if you get in touch I’ll give you your five pounds back. I also had my first taste of haggis which was fantastic and my last taste of whatever desert was (it was like a very sweet porridge that someone had garnished with copious amounts of ground snake skin). All in all it was a fantastic day and night, the organisers and participants did a fantastic job.

This weekend I am off to Barcelona for a conference on social entrepreneurship. I will let you know how it goes. It will be fantastic to see the sun and sea again too.

(The historian’s report of Burn’s night makes more sense if you are incredibly knowledgeable in the area of ancient Greek history or you have seen the movie 300)

 

 

International Week

Amidst the WACS and finance classes there was a fantastic week of free lunches, national booze and great entertainment, also some K-pop (photo courtesy of Osvaldo Rojas).

Burns Night Volleyball Team

After a spirited display the Cranfield team went down 3 sets to nil against LBS. However it has inspired us to start training for MBA (photo courtesy of Osvaldo Rojas).

Victory pose

Me, Pritraj and Paresh looking natural in our victory over LBS at burns night
(Photo by Kalyan Samaddar)

Winter is coming

EXAMS

Last year finished as I’m sure maiden MBA semesters do the world over, with a flurry of ink and paper followed by raucous celebrations. Amongst the papers flying and debates raging over whether the wages were part of COGS or operating expenses I made a fantastic self-discovery. I had always forlornly studied by poring over a textbook and then forcing myself to summarise it. I’d then end up with pages of summaries I could read ‘at my leisure’. Unfortunately my leisure was full of important things such as anything else. I’d feel immensely sorry for myself throughout the study sessions and would turn to procrastination as a reward for the snippets of time I devoted to summarising. Luckily DMDA, economics and accounting I’d had some experience with so I was able to muster summaries without much reading however Strategic operations was a looming catastrophe. I was daunted by the thought of summarising pages upon pages on a topic I wasn’t comfortable with. 

Luckily in the nick of timing I learnt a new way of studying. I would horde all of the whiteboards I could get my hands on and hang them all over my syndicate room (sometimes precariously balanced). Then I’d unleash a volley of thoughts on the topics I needed to cover, supplemented by the textbook such that it was no longer an arduous task but a learning frenzy where I would suck the knowledge from the pages and pour it onto the boards. The study itself was my reward. I would take no notes away with me, instead secure in the knowledge that if I needed to I could enter the syndicate room and be immersed in my notes, have them swirl around me. 

Unfortunately I only discovered this the evening before my last exam but I am sure it will help me from here forth. So far the results of last semester are still yet to be finalised, only operations has yet come out which thankfully was not written as the red number I’d been dreading.

It was a sad parting of our learning team last year as nearly all of us but one got along socially very well. There was a minor panic as two members sought to repair the rift between them before the new year and one who did not want to share the report they had to write on their personal and the team’s development. But it all ended well and a bit of mild drama makes things interesting.

Many of us from the cohort had planned to meet in Istanbul for a boozy reunion amongst the Grand Bazaar then to the caves of cappadocia. But after a fantastic end to the year shared with childhood friends and siblings I decided to head to Reyjavik alone and think about the life changing year that had just ended, and the inspiration I had newly found. 

It was the one of the best decisions I had ever made. I saw the many colours and forms of ice as we climbed a galcier in the shadow of Eyjafjallajökull‎, the grey layers of soot and ash still shimmering beneath the ice. I dove into the widening crevice (Silfra) between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates and saw cathedrals of rock teetering over an endless abyss. Then we entered the caves. 

There is a legend in Iceland. One day in the early days of man when Adam was out hunting God told Eve he wished to come and see their children. Eve madly bathed the children one by one but was unable to wash them all. Those who remained dirty she told to go and hide in the mountains. God came down and decreed that if he could not see these children then no-one ever shall, and hence they became the hidden people (sometimes called elves). These hidden people co-exist, providing good fortune to the deserving and misfortune to those worthy of it. 

Above the splitting tectonic plate is a giant waterfall that is almost completely frozen over at the moment. Its thunderous roar silenced in ice. In ancient times convicts were beheaded atop the waterfall, their heads allowed to roll down into view of the spectators below (in these times Silfra was used as a toilet because no man wanted to turn their back to an attack, and it was assumed no man would leap out of the deep frigid waters). Convicts who escaped would rush into caves formed thousands of use ago by molten lava within whose depths lived the hidden people. If you entered to escape death the hidden people would aid your cause but if you were to enter seeking anothers misfortune (such as recapture or death) then they would guide you to your own death. 

We entered these caves, which were just a small split in the rock. Our guide warned us that it would be strenuous but that no amount of physical preparation would be enough if you had bad karma. Inside you could see why. Stalacites glistened ominously in the light of our head lamp, a diamond chandelier or dangling sword depending on your persuasion , while sections of the cave wall looked on the brink of collapse. We inched forward on our bellies through some sections before standing in caves of frozen lava and ice, this repeated until we were 400 metres from the entrance. We passed the skeleton of a sheep, long since past into obscurity and then we switched off our lights. This far below the surface there was no trace of any light at all. My eyes stretched in the dark, my pupil dilating furiously to capture that one flicker of light which would never exist here. patterns of green and yellow bent before my eyes, like great rings of fire flexing in the dark. I was deafened by the heartbeats of our small group and the whooshing of breath permeating the space. I could begin to taste the air and sense where everyone was. But then all to soon we decided to leave the hidden people to their own designs and make the arduous journey back up to the ground. 

The next night I saw the Northern lights and met the hidden people

VCIC and a fork lift through the wall

Luckily these two events are unrelated.

The VCIC has been a great experience. It is a venture capitalist competition, with real life business plans from Cranfield alumni. We heard from a venture capitalist yesterday and the entrepreneur’s give us their pitches tomorrow. We then have ten minutes to speak to them as a learning team before we have to choose one to present a term sheet too.

This blog comes as the clock edges towards midnight. I’ve been reliving my economist days this evening to build projections of future earnings for each company and try and get an idea of their value. So some words are a welcome counter balance to all the numbers spinning around on a spreadsheet.

The entrepreneurs are all extremely bullish about their future finances (despite claiming they are all very conservative estimates) but they are bold ideas. It is an interesting exercise and I will definitely look at any future business plans I create with different eyes after this exercise. As an eternal optimist I think I’ll need some pessimistic partners to keep my projections in line or I too will be forecasting 100’s of percent revenue growth per year.

Last week we recovered from a frantic few days in which our marketing projects, economics WAC and a business competition submission all fell due within a few days of each other.

Fortunately we survived and got down to London to present our submission at some very plush offices in Mayfair. Unfortunately LBS took home the trophy but we were deemed the most creative team and were treated to a night out at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant before being taken to private nightclubs where huge bottles of champagne materialized from out of nowhere to refill any empty glasses, a great experience. I did enjoy the next morning, having  waded through the rushing sea of suits swirling around Audi’s and Merc’s and arriving by Camden lock, to some chilled out buskers and freshly made food.
I met a lot of interesting people that night though, consultants and students. We have lined up a football match against the ATK team as well as a proposed tournament with Oxford and Cambridge business schools. I will have to work hard at inspiring people for some frost lined training sessions.

We have also been gearing up for the Regatta in July. If anyone is interested please email me at dan.george@cranfield.ac.uk. Its sure to be a fantastic few days, as I told the MSC’s, it’s just like yacht week, but an older and much more interesting crowd, wearing more clothes, and not in Croatia, it’s in a much better place, the British seaside.

And the latest story on campus, two nights ago someone grabbed the Natwest ATM (near the social) with a forklift, whacked it on the back of a ute (pick up to the English) and took off, The term hole in the wall has a whole new spin. So far no-one has been arrested apart from a drunk driver who happened to be behind the wheel on campus its only the second time I’ve ever seen police venture out this far.

I’m going to get back to writing term sheets and all the joys of ratchets, warranties and preferred shares.

From the precipice of England’s coldest winter since 1947

Dan