Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Perhaps the most gratifying experience in business school is to be told that you are good by someone you respect.  Yesterday, a professor told Lucky that he was good at X, when Lucky thinks that he is not so good at X.  This is the highlight of my last two months, without a doubt.  The struggle to improve oneself, even when the results are abysmal, is important for personal development, and should not depend so much on what others may think of you.  That said, I cannot deny that positive feedback from someone I consider to be a master in their field is an incredible motivator for future growth. 11:08:51 AM    comment []

Harald Hau's Quotes of the Day from Corporate Finance Only one class left before we bid this period's Quotes of the Day professor, Harald Hau, a fond adieu.  Which exciting star will replace him?  Time will tell... [explaining that the derivation of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is identical whether taxes are considered at the beginning or at the end] "... We call it tau, for the corporate tax rate... [blank stares]... it's a Greek letter." [eagerly grilling a student who dared question his derivation] "Are you implying that there is some circularity in the WACC definition?  Well, you are right." [facing 70-odd students who had not studied the day's assignment] "I have the impression that you were all searching for Easter eggs over the weekend instead of reading my case..." [disputing a student's claim that debt ratios for conglomerate subsidiaries could be calculated from its balance sheet] "Well these are just accounting numbers- do they mean much at all?  No."   11:03:57 AM    comment []