“I don’t eat any meat, fish, chicken, or eggs. Does this dish have any of those in it?” “Ah, you’re vegetarian. I understand. No, that dish has no meat in it.” “Are you sure? No meat, fish, chicken or eggs? Not even oyster sauce?” “I’m sure. It has only vegetables.” “Great. I’ll take it then.” Halfway through the dish, you find what looks like pieces of meat all throughout the[…] Keep reading →

Here are my Columbia Business School application essays, to complete the series on getting into business school in 23 days. I edited them slightly, mainly to take out personal details. In the optional essay 5, I can see I was blatantly name-dropping Columbia Business School Professors and my experience at the school. I think I could have used more subtlety. My graduate school stipend — what I lived on in[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday I posted about the process I stumbled into for getting into an Ivy League business school in 23 days. How to read this post Today I’ll talk about the credentials that made it possible. But please recognize, the point of these posts is not merely to show you how to get into business school, but to show you that you can combine whatever you have in your past into[…] Keep reading →

On December 10, 2004 I decided to apply to business school. I had written no essays, taken no GMAT, reviewed no school’s web site or application process, and asked no one for a recommendation. On January 2, 2005, 23 days later, I began orientation at Columbia Business School (ranked #5 by Forbes, Economist, and Financial Times). I got my MBA the following May, less than eighteen months from deciding to[…] Keep reading →

Greenwich Village, my home, is the best place on Earth. You may love a place more. I love the beauty of raw nature, untouched by human hands, that New York City no longer offers. But I love people and the art, music, culture, and community we create too and I’ve never seen the equal of the West Village. After living abroad and visiting amazing growth, ancient cultures, new cultures, and[…] Keep reading →

Fruit vendors in Boracay had some crazy tropical fruits I’d never seen before, along with the delicious and numerous mangoes of various varieties. We passed on durians this time, though they were there. On a whim we got one of this odd looking fruit they called “Gayabanos,” which Wikipedia redirects to Soursop. Weird name in English, but it has many names in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. It[…] Keep reading →

Though I try to post mainly on leadership, it’s hard not to post sometimes when you have a vacation of a lifetime. Still, for those interested in Four-Hour-Work-Week or Mr-Money-Mustache living — that is, needing little — you’ll be glad to see that working only one or two days a week can bring you to one of the world’s top-rated beaches — Boracay! Last week a friend and I planned[…] Keep reading →

Speaking of superstars, they seem to play by their own rules. Most of us wish we could. How do you get to play by your own rules, not someone else’s? Today I’ll look at rules from a few different contexts and ask a few questions about them. A rule describes how people should behave. Context 1: Mutually agreed-on rules When I think of playing a game, rules make sense. We[…] Keep reading →

I don’t have any story behind the guy in the picture below. We were at the cemetery for North Korea’s martyrs on the anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth, which was like being at Arlington on July 4th. As you can see behind him, columns and columns of soldiers paid respect from before we arrived until after we left. As for him, I couldn’t tell if he held authority or[…] Keep reading →