GSB goes to Korea

Day3 - Meet the entrepreneurs

2007-12-19T00:43:00.000-08:00

startup folks, ranging from gaming to online videos to genetics....the opportunities here for growth are endless....amazing entrepreneurs

Day3 - Lunch

2007-12-19T00:40:00.000-08:00

at a very exclusive restaurant (need to add name). It was a private location reserved for goverment officials only (of high rank ofcourse). This is where several of the North-South talks were held. Now a restaurant for the exclusive (ofcourse us!!!)... :)

Day3 - Morning cultural experience

2007-12-19T00:39:00.000-08:00

at local palace and museums

Day2 - Singing on the bus and singing in the bar

2007-12-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

what started in the bus....ended in the bar later...long night, good times...

Day2 - Tmax R&D

2007-12-19T00:37:00.000-08:00

watch out IBM, ORCL & SAP! there guys are coming to get you. Korea's largest software firm, looking to go global...

They also treated us to an AMAZING dinner (Korean Hot put style - drop raw meat and vegetables in a broth and eat it with sauces)...

Day2 - Ubiquitous house

2007-12-19T00:35:00.001-08:00

We saw the house of the future (or not so far future in Korea), computer operated house controls, RFID chips telling you about food in the fridge, cool speakers and home entertainment systems, things on the street that allow you to scan ads and locate stores in the area to buy the products, robots (some creepier than others, better than Rosie from the Jetsons!!!), the list keeps going on....

they took a picture of us when we came in (see below) and on the way out, we were given tose pics, framed!!!!

Day2 - Davie Catch gets cold called

2007-12-19T00:32:00.001-08:00

If you thought that cold calling was fair game only in school, you were wrong!!!! The Minister cold called our dear mate, Davie Catch to answer the question "why has Korea been successful in developing the amazing internet related infrastructure". Mr. Catch did us proud. His answer was better than the ones we are used to hearing at the GSB!! Thanks for doing us proud Davie......

Davie Catch taking a breath after being cold called by the Minister

Day2 - Minister of Information and communication

2007-12-19T00:22:00.001-08:00

Visionaey - sums it all. This ministry is responsible for internet penetration in this country. 80-90% of the households in Korea have broadband (not just regular) internet!!! We got cool 1GB memory disks as gifts...

next stop, the ubiquitous house!!!

Day 2 - LG electronics

2007-12-19T00:18:00.000-08:00

Got to see the new LG gizmos. The bottom line, these folks are extremely focussed on style. Met three senior executives for a Q&A session, including the Chief Strategy Officer (ex. McKinsey partner, GSB'93), incredible guy. Based on what I saw, this company is going places in a few years and doing a lot to build a brand that is associated with Sleek style.

We were then hosted for an amazing lunch, with a really nice banner with the GSB name printed on it. Several other company executives were invited for the lunch. What struck me the most was the consistency in the message from the top guys to middle management. Clearly, their vision is well communicated from top down and there is a strong culture in the firm focussed on product design and manufacturing excellence.

Day 2 - STIC Investments

2007-12-19T00:16:00.000-08:00

Assets under management - $900MM, biggest VC/PE/special situations fund there. Got great insights from Managing partner - Kevin and also met head of US operations - Steven Lee, got great insight on the LP-GP interaction and reqiurements in this market.

Day 2 - I have failed you

2007-12-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

long day...lots of karaoke, tired and its late!
but the pictures are on the flickr site...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49668359@N00/sets/72157603434926948/

Day 1 - Random Pictures

2007-12-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

crunch - bad things happen to good cars that do not watch out for buses making wide turns!

Michal discovers the cool things on his Korean Cell phone

Meanwhile Mike is entertained by the simpler things of life!

Day1 - Lunch and dinner

2007-12-17T06:12:00.001-08:00

Lunch - The Restaurant

Min poses at the signpost

Dinner - Chinese Restaurant - Westin Chosun

Day 1 - Katz presents some moments!

2007-12-17T06:09:00.000-08:00

Day 1 - American Ambassador Visit

2007-12-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

The amabassador has a really nice residential house. Incidently, it is the only US amabassador's residence to be built in local style. It is called the "Habib house", named after Ambassador Habib. He was a gracious host, who gave us a lot of information on the status and issues associated with US-Korean relations.

Day 1 - Monday - Dec. 17 - Nexon Visit

2007-12-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

Nexon is this amazing company that does online gaming. One of its game has 16 million Korean users signed up (for a country with a population of 48 million, thats one in three people). They were the "cool" company to visit, from their amazing auditorium, to the cool gifts that we got on the way out to the fun things they are doing. Might be a good stock to buy when they go public!!!

Opening dinner

2007-12-16T13:46:00.000-08:00

And finally everyone made it in one piece, or almost, excluding those who went out partying the night before, they showed up with big hangovers! The highlight of the day was the cool phones that each of us were given. You can actually watch TV on these phones. when will we get that in the us?

Lots of bottles of Soju consumed at dinner, followed by even largers pitchers of beer...

will write more later, when more coherent... :)
ash

The panic sets in

2007-12-12T00:56:00.000-08:00

Only a few days left to go and the panic has officially begun!

Classes are over for MBA2s, but the MBA1s are still toiling away for the corporate finance final. MBA2s are scurrying to find some spare time to fit in additional rounds of golf between brunches and hanging out...life is a mess

and then there are documents, documents that need to be updated and filled in, visas to be processed (for some non-Americans), international SOS forms to be filled out. I think that the trip will truly begin when i set foot on the plane and have my first beer!! chances are I will be next to a fat man, a kid who likes to kick the seat at the back and a baby in the front...

BUT I'm TOTALLY PSYCHED!!! This is my last study trip at the GSB. I have made some incredible friends on such trips in the past and I am looking forward to a week of total mayhem...

woohooooo!!!

ash
12th Dec 2007
12:59am (PST)