Last weekend I was able to participate in 3 Day Start Up, an event started by young entrepreneurs in the computer science department.   The idea is simple enough: bring together forty minds that represent different industries and functions, lock them in the Austin Technology Incubator for a weekend, encourage them to pitch different start up ideas back and forth until four clear ideas emerge, and then watch them divvy up into teams to divide and conquer the steps necessary to build a company. I was one of the 10 lucky MBAs from McCombs selected to participate in this weekend.  So what did participation entail besides giving up sleep for an entire weekend?

In the midst of one of my many pitches.

3 Day Start Up gave me the opportunity to sit in a room filled with brilliant minds from divergent backgrounds.  While I am used to be surrounded by smart people with different skills and experiences (I do go to McCombs) I am not used to working on a project with a guy who can build a completely functional iPhone application over the course of three days, a girl whose passion for designing logos is only surpassed by her skill at doing it, and a kid who has been working in programming since the age of five.  When I saw what these people were able to produce over the course of 60 hours it completely blew my mind.  Fortunately for Josh (the other McCombs MBA on the project) and me the programmers were equally impressed by our ability to validate the project and pitch it to a panel of venture capitalists.  It was truly a collaborative effort.

Following our pitch to the venture capitalists the entire crew reassembled to a elect a board of directors to manage the IP from the weekend and assist the teams in driving our innovations forward.  Perhaps the most exciting aspect about the entire weekend is that out of the four companies that pitched, three of us are ready to move forward with our start ups.  I could write about the weekend for ten more pages, but I think it is safe to say that the best thing you can do is come to McCombs and participate yourself!

Texas was recently ranked as the #2 cleantech state because of the large amount of venture capital invested in wind farm technology. With a large number of oil and gas companies headquartered in Houston, Houston is considered as the energy capital of the world. Austin is home to the nation’s first Green Energy Incubator, which facilities growth of young clean energy companies.

So, what is considered a niche at other MBA programs is very central at McCombs. The program offers a concentration in both energy finance and clean technology. The concentrations overlap with the energy-focused financial strategies class; otherwise students in energy finance focus on traditional finance and accounting methods, while the clean tech students take classes related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and emissions.  Clean tech classes are offered through the B-school and also the School of Public Policy, Law and Environmental Science.

Academics are just the beginning. Officer elections for the Clean Tech Group and Energy Finance Group are some of the most intense and competitive elections among the student org.’s. Participation in a PLUS project is a great way for students to get hands-on experience in the energy industry: this semester we had multiple projects in renewable energy products, solar power, and carbon capture for firms like McKinsey & Company, HelioVolt and Parasol Renewable Energy. If that’s not enough, the Energy Finance Group holds their annual Energy Finance Case Challenge over several days in September.

While the list changes every year, oil and gas companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips regularly recruit at McCombs. Last summer, students from the class of 2011 also interned at companies such as MI Energy, Horizon Wind Energy, Venti Energy, and the Austin Technology Incubator. The government’s effort to subsidize new technologies might also promote investment, and, hopefully more jobs for students in the long-run. So, if you’re interested in learning more about the energy industry as an MBA, or considering the program to pursue a career in this field, there’s a lot to be excited about at McCombs!

The competition also presented me with my first taste of the challenge environment. Earlier in the semester I had to back out of the Global Challenge due to a bout with the (non-swine) flu. I had high expectations entering the night and having survived 37 straight hours of academic induced adrenaline I can now confidently say that it was a tremendous experience all around.

The energy surrounding the kick-off of the challenge was palpable as representatives from Deloitte gave us the rundown of how the night and following morning would play out. Cases were distributed at 7:00 pm and the final deck outlining each team’s solution to the case was due at 7:30 am the following morning. There is no sleep. There is no rest. There is only caffeine, trail mix, battles with Powerpoint and the constant struggle to keep each other focused on putting together a coherent solution to a real business challenge. You really learn a lot about your fellow classmates by spending 12 hours together in a confined space, both good and bad. In my case the former drastically outweighed the latter as we were able to draw on each of our unique strengths in creating our presentation. We left my apartment a mess of storyboards and empty red bull containers confident that we had positioned ourselves for success once we stepped in front of the judges.

And then the waiting starts. The gap between leaving for campus and stepping into our designated cohort room for our first round presentation was nearly three hours. More than enough time to become even more fatigued, second guess your content and trip over your lines a few dozen times. I even had to walk out of our last “dry run” when, at 26 hours with no sleep, my brain and mouth refused to collaborate on an explanation of competitive forces.

But when the actual time to perform came our team came through. While we were not able to see any of the 4 other teams that we competed against in the first round, we left the room feeling as if we had presented ourselves well enough to advance. During lunch we found out that not only we had advanced to the final round, but also that team member Josh Thacker took home the Best Speaker Award for our section.

A couple of more walk-through’s and we were presenting to a now full-house of Deloitte judges and fellow students. The final presentation carried a new level of intensity as everyone knew how close to the finish we all were. We were the last group to present so unfortunately we did not get to watch any of the other, however by all accounts each team performed extremely well.

Ultimately we came up just short, finishing second in a tight vote. It was a strong finish and reinforced my desire to work in the consulting industry. It also generated a new level of respect for my classmates as I was immensely impressed with their ability to perform under such difficult conditions. Special shout out to fellow team member and McCombs blogger Kalin McKenna for her resounding performance opening and closing our arguments. And congratulations to fellow blogger, Dirk Hallen and the rest of the “After School Specials” for taking home first place. Last, but not least, thank you to Deloitte Consulting for continuing to support the McCombs School of Business and for putting on such a great event.

And if you have made it this far into this blog post, congratulations to you too, since you are probably as tired as I was after 37 hours.

Until next time.

Although the entire weekend (and especially the State Fair) exceeded my expectations, nothing could top my experience prior to the game. My friend Jen interned in Dallas over the summer, and her coworker’s friend (an ex-Silver Spur) invited us to attend a party in Dallas on Thursday night where Bevo would be in attendance. If you don’t know of Bevo, he’s the live mascot that represents the University of Texas and stands on the football field during games (and is present at other important University events). I was so excited to meet him, and was thrilled as we walked up to the house and saw the Bevo-mobile parked up front (and Bevo standing on the front lawn). We took our picture with him (but avoided getting too close - those horns are BIG) and enjoyed the chatter of projected winners and point spreads for the weekend’s game. I felt like a true part of the University of Texas community, and felt that much more excited to see Bevo on the field during Saturday’s game. The game itself was close (and a little too nerve-wracking for my liking) but Texas prevailed, and we walked away with calmed nerves and increased hopes of a Rose Bowl appearance.

I topped off my experience with the purchase of my first pair of authentic cowboy boots and all of the fried food I could eat (butter, smores, oreos, corn dogs and peanut butter and jelly!). I left Dallas with a full stomach (and clogged arteries!) and the satisfaction of both UT winning a huge game and having met the esteemed Bevo. It was another one of those fantastic McCombs weekends for the books - and an experience I wish I could replicate for years to come.

The best way to get a feel for McCombs culture is to come to campus and experience it for yourself.  That is exactly what 44 young women from eight different states did last weekend.  Women traveled from as far as New Hampshire and California to learn about McCombs and explore Austin.  Two female MBA students worked with the admissions office to plan an action packed itinerary that included class visits, faculty panels, lunches with current students, dinner with faculty, and much more. Although I was not able to spend as much time with these women as I initially wanted to due to a conflict with the Deloitte Consulting Challenge, I did get to meet a number of them over appetizers and drinks Friday night.

Despite having been up for 40 straight hours when I went to the happy hour (overnight challenges are intense) any exhaustion melted away when I walked into 219 West. It was energizing to talk to women from all across the country who only had one thing in common: they want to move to Texas.  I was so impressed by the breadth of experiences each of them have to contribute, and how much they had learned about McCombs in less than two days.  Their excitement was contagious, which was excellent for me and the other sleep deprived first years in attendance.  Nothing  makes me happier than seeing so many intelligent and engaging women excited about packing their bags and moving to Austin.

The women who come to McCombs are a vibrant bunch.  Although we only compose 26% of the 2011 class, I believe our personalities and capabilities more than compensate for our numbers - and we’re excited about raising that percentage for the Class of 2012.  I am honored to be a part of this group of female leaders and excited to see what the class of 2012 brings to the table.

Since mid-September, my classmates have randomly been showing up to class dressed in their finest business casual attire rather than the t shirts and flip-flops that normally accompany the daily trip to campus (another big perk of going back to school…MBA Casual attire) so they can head straight from class to a recruiting event. Since I did not participate in a formal recruiting process as an undergrad, the past few weeks have been an interesting introduction to me into the joys of this process and a good reminder as to why we are all really here. For those of you out there who may be new to this process as well, I thought a brief overview of the process would be helpful as you try to imagine what life will be like next year as a First Year MBA at McCombs.

The recruiting process is intense and is something that McCombs puts a focus on starting in Orientation. Our 4^th day on campus, panels were held in different functional areas with recruiters from top firms sharing their insights to the newest Texas MBA class, many of whom had been in Austin for little more than a week at the time. From there, the fun begins in earnest with a wide variety of opportunities to network with a full spectrum of firms that encompass the varied interest of my peers at McCombs:

Brief & Meets – These events are held in the evenings after classes wrap up for the day, usually on campus. Here, the sponsoring firm gives a presentation about their company and their process for identifying summer interns. There is always a chance for questions and normally a sponsored happy hour afterwards, which provides you the chance to speak informally with a number of current employees who are often McCombs alumni. A few of the firms who have hosted these events this fall include: Apple, McKinsey & Co., GE, American Express, Bank of America, Pepsi, Bain & Company, and Microsoft.

On Campus Career Fair – A one stop shop just as many people experienced in undergrad, only a lot smaller. A cocktail party on Thursday night provided an informal networking setting while the Career Fair on Friday allowed students to stop by booths to interact with recruiters from companies such as: Amazon, 3M, Intel, Chevron, Deloitte Consulting, Walmart, HP and American Airlines.

Other Opportunities in Austin – Often times, firms will try to come up with a different way to meet and get to know potential candidates in a more informal setting. Recently, both Exxon-Mobil and Dell were kind enough to sponsor our MBA tailgates before one of our home football games (What better way to woe a Longhorn to your firm than free beer and tacos on game day?)

Another great example of this was the small group sessions held by The Boston Consulting Group a few weeks ago, which allowed students to meet with McCombs Alums from BCG in groups of 4-5 MBAs, providing a great way for both parties to get to know each other.

Club Treks – One other way that McCombs students get a chance to interact with companies in their field of interest is through Treks. These are organized jointly between our campus clubs and the McCombs Career Services Office and offer a great way to get out of Austin and touch these firms on their home turf. A few examples of these Treks include:

Wall Street Trek – Held a few weeks ago after we finished our first quarter finals, the Graduate Finance Association headed to the Big Apple. Please see Ryan Brown’s post about this trip for more information.

Houston Energy/Clean Tech Trek – In late September, the Clean Tech Club and the Energy Finance Club hosted a combined trip to Houston where they visited the headquarters of Horizon Wind, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil.

Dallas Consulting Trek – In a few weeks, the Graduate Consulting Group will head to Dallas to visit the offices of consulting firms like Bain & Company, Deloitte Consulting, Booz & Company and A.T. Kearney.

These are just a few opportunities that McCombs brings to the table when it comes to the process of securing a job after graduation. Whether it is the PLUS program, groups like Venture Fellows and Marketing Fellows, different challenges, or alumni networking events, McCombs facilitates countless opportunities to help you achieve your post MBA career.

Speaking of challenges, the bloggers cleaned up the Deloitte Case Challenge last Friday with my team placing first and Kalin and Kevin’s team coming in second. More details forthcoming from Mr. Burke…

The second thing people told me when I decided to head to Texas was “Austin is not really Texas.”  I did not completely comprehend what they meant until last weekend.  Last weekend was the Red River Rivalry.  For those of you unfamiliar, the Red River Rivalry is the Texas/Oklahoma game and it is one of the most intense rivalries in college football.  In fact, they take the game so seriously that they play in Dallas every year as Dallas is equidistant between Austin and Norman.  The stadium is divided in two, with half of the tickets sold to OU fans and the other half sold to UT.  It is intense.  The intensity is only exacerbated by the fact that the Cotton Bowl is located in the epicenter of the Texas State Fair.  This means that football fans not only get to watch an amazing game, but we also get to see large livestock (think 2600 pound bulls), eat things like fried cheese cake and fried butter (yes you read that correctly), and then go on carnival rides.  It was definitely unlike anything I have ever experienced, not to mention it was a great way to ramp up for second quarter.

Texas/OU with fellow bloggers Dirk and Kevin

Don't try this at home.

Before I sign off, I thought I would end with a quick update regarding first semester survival. When I first blogged about being a non-traditional student at McCombs, I received quite a bit of correspondence wishing me luck and asking for updates after our first set of finals.  At this time I would like to take a minute to reassure any and all non-traditional applicants.  Although I am still waiting on a few grades, I can say with authority that I survived the extremely quantitative focused first quarter of business school . If I can do it, so can you.

Bring on round 2!

While most of these major life changes are obvious, I’ve started to notice some amusing, minor life-style changes within the MBA circle. So, I did a quick survey of my McCombs friends: what do you do differently, or what happens now that never would have happened in your pre-MBA life? Hopefully the results give you, the reader, a glimpse into the exciting lives of us Texas MBAs:

How to spot an MBA student

- Eating microwave rice for dinner (unfortunately cooking is a thing of the past) and the return of the frozen meal

- Bringing my Texas MBA backpack — loaded with books and binders — to a bar (no time to go home between class/meetings)

- Wearing cowboy boots to a football game

- Loading a lunch box with everything and anything available in the kitchen to sustain myself for hours on campus

- Digging through my closet for anything in Texas burnt orange and realizing I can’t get enough of it

- Working myself into a panic at the beginning of class as I search through my backpack for either my name tag or financial calculator

- Avoiding household chores and cleaning for quarters at a time

- Spending hours online shopping for text books, trying to find a balance between price, new or used condition and shipping arrival dates

- Riding my bike 35 miles in the summer heat to eat in barbecue in Lockhart, the barbecue capitol of Texas (and then riding back to Austin on a full stomach)

- Buying a reusable coffee mug to mitigate the paper waste created by non-stop coffee drinking

- Giving someone from the University of Oklahoma a hard time, regardless of if I’m a football fan

- Waiting for “all ya’ll” to appear in Webster’s Dictionary

With that experience behind me last year, in my second year I wanted to be able to help the first years looking to head down the road of investment banking. So, my classmate and I who are both officers in the Graduate Finance Association (each of us are titled “Vice President – Investment Banking”) decided take a multi-step approach in preparing the next class of those interested in investment banking. While the trip just ended on Wednesday, there was plenty of work that needed to be done in the lead up to the 3-day trip. The initial meeting started over a month ago with the kick off meeting and continued weekly with different requirements for both the 1^st years as well as the organizers, including my classmate and I as well as the career services office. The meetings were mostly built around the goal of informing and preparing 1^st years for the trip, many of which are career switchers and not quite clear of what exactly investment banking is and what types of people are drawn to the industry.

The basic idea of the actual trip is to have as many visits to as many banks in the limited amount of time we have in New York. This year the trip allowed for 9 banks in three days where each bank, with their own distinct style, presented their bank’s platform, bank culture, what they expect out of MBA hires, and/or the recruitment process. From the student perspective, they are required to come loaded with questions to help them answer the following questions for themselves: 1) Do I have the required skills to do this for the summer/ full time? 2) Do I have the desire to take on lifestyle change required to be an investment banker? 3) Am I willing to make the sacrifices necessary in the recruiting process to make an internship possible?

Looking back on the trek, I think it was a successful one in that the banks, generally speaking, did a very good job of presenting their case and for the most part McCombs represented itself very well and now it’s just time for them to go for it. While it’s an exciting time once you come to the realization that you have an idea of what you want to do with your future, it’s a lot of hard work ahead of you.

For me, coming from a different perspective, I looked back on the long recruiting process and I am not envious of what these guys and girls are about to embark on from now until January (when interviews start). It’s not an easy thing to add to an already busy first semester, adding the many number of conversations and preparations that are involved in the IB recruiting process. Information interviews, technical question prep, mock interviews, general industry research, etc. It’s basically another job on top of your classes, clubs, and of course social life. To make that trip a little easier for these guys and girls, we are planning to set up a few training sessions including interview prep/ mock interviews and other technical review sessions. We are going to do our best to make sure McCombs keeps its strong representation on Wall Street (and in Houston of course as the Energy Investment Banking Trek to Houston is next week)!

First some updates on how I have decided to allocate my time on campus. After some serious deliberation I decided to join the Graduate Consulting Group, Graduate Finance Association and the Sports, Entertainment and Media Association. All three of the group’s offer unique career preparation and resources to prepare individuals both inside and outside of the classroom. Just this week the GFA lead a career trek to Wall Street, the GCG rolled out their new Case Preparation Mentorship program and SEMA finalized the details on the SEMA ’09 Sports Entertainment and Media Business Conference. The breadth and quality of these offerings speak volumes about the passion and leadership abilities of the students who run the organizations.

I also was fortunate enough to be selected for the McCombs Admissions Committee. The MAC plays a crucial support role to the Admissions staff in cultivating relationships with prospective students. It is a great opportunity to give back to the program as well as aide in the formation of the next class. My interactions with MAC members, while I was deciding on which business school to attend, were huge factors in my ultimate decision to come to McCombs.

Finally, I was given the opportunity to lead a Plus Project with Deloitte Consulting. As a career switcher, wanting to transition to the field of Management Consulting, I am excited about the real-world experience the project provides. Working closely with an elite consulting firm such as Deloitte is both rewarding and challenging and has offered me a glimpse into what my future career may entail. It is this type of real world application that makes the Plus Program such a differentiating feature of McCombs.

So now that everyone is caught up on what I have been doing (I know – try to contain your excitement), here is a little preview of what I will be blogging about over the coming weeks:

• Finals week survival kit
• MBA’s take 6th street
• The Red River Shootout and Texas State Fair
• The Deloitte Consulting Challenge
• Why Austin is Awesome

And of course I am always ready to answer questions or go into more detail about my experiences here at McCombs. Until next time- Hook ‘em Horns!