Adventures of Andrew Lee http://andrewlee.com Excelsior! posterous.com Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:47:00 -0800 Bill Gates > Batman http://andrewlee.com/bill-gates-batman http://andrewlee.com/bill-gates-batman

Just saw this, definitely worth re-posting.

microsoft infographic

Source: frugaldad.com

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sun, 04 Dec 2011 07:04:00 -0800 Movies or Warp Engines? http://andrewlee.com/movies-or-warp-engines http://andrewlee.com/movies-or-warp-engines
I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought it'd be nice to tell a story I have told people in real life. At the end of this post, you'll realize why aliens made me think Elon Musk is a baller.

First, let's go back to elementary school. The flavor of apocalyptic movie was aliens and Near-Earth objects (e.g. Independence Day, Armageddon, etc.) As a kid, I remember staying up nights thinking I was going to eventually (a) work in the slave pits of alien overlords or (b) die like the dinosaurs when the BIG ONE hits. As a kid in Colorado, I loved the wide expansive night sky, but during this period, I remember being terrified of opening my shades.
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So, I got to thinking that if Hollywood was really the soothsayer of America, what could I be doing before I meet the grim reaper from outer space. I asked myself, what could I do that would make my life worthwhile?

My first thought was that I would just play video games, read comic books, and watch TV/movies all the time. Having only played video games at friend's houses, read comic books from the Bookmobile, and watched movies from the local video rental store, I realized that if I wanted choice, I would need money. To a kid, I needed SERIOUS money (like hundreds of dollars!). So, I would work and then the logical choice would be to live a life of consumption.

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That summer, I did live a life of consumption... I found out that it was utterly unfulfilling. Not only did it give me headaches playing video games and watching movies from morning till night (I should take food breaks), but I just felt selfish. The Tiger Mom conditioning from birth kicked in and I felt that I needed to do more... I had to be productive! 

My next thought was that as a movie lover, I thought that I should make movies. I was a huge fan of Steven Spielberg and I thought that we needed more life-changing movies like Jurassic Park! I thought it would be awesome to be an actor because if we can't bring back dinosaurs, at least you can escape into your imagination and pretend. That seemed like a ton of fun!
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At some point though, I became really disappointed. It may have been that I failed at a lunch table trade of fruit for chips, but I thought to myself, what is the point? We're all gonna die from the tentacled aliens anyway. 

I had an epiphany though after watching Star Wars... that's right, WARP SPEED! If we developed technology to transport us to new planets, then we could escape the aliens, perhaps colonize other planets and with all our forces combined - fight back! See below for one time we fought back: 

Looking back, I realized I was on to something (albeit through the eyes of a 5th grader), I found cause in either a life of:
  1. Great creativity, i.e. movies - the highest form of art for any pre-adolescent
  2. Great advancement for humankind, i.e. the warp engine - the most awesome form of scientific advancement known to a pre-adolescent
One person who has done both is Elon Musk - see his vision for Space X in this article: 1 visionary + 3 launchers + 1,500 employees = ?, and that he played himself in Iron Man 2.

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Both of these things (great creativity or great advancement of mankind) made me think that for the brief time alive, I would open my shades and yell out to the unreplying universe: "Hey, I'm here! I'm human!"

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:00:00 -0800 Zynga Took Over Times Square Last Week http://andrewlee.com/zynga-took-over-times-square-last-week http://andrewlee.com/zynga-took-over-times-square-last-week
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One day...

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:16:00 -0800 I just had Lasik, bye bye Asian Steve Urkel http://andrewlee.com/i-just-had-lasik-bye-bye-asian-steve-urkel http://andrewlee.com/i-just-had-lasik-bye-bye-asian-steve-urkel

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For the past 18 years of my life, I've been near-sighted (-11.5 myopia). I've worn glasses since I was seven.

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It's one of the genetic gifts my parents gave me, but I'm sure my penchant for watching television, playing video games, and reading books with a flashlight when I should have been sleeping didn't help any.

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I started wearing contacts when I was 13 years old and became liberated. I could play sports without fear of my glasses breaking (at some point, I had broken a pair of glasses every month), and I could run around without my glasses fogging up. I could wear sunglasses!

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Recently though, my optometrist told me that I'd been wearing my contacts too often and that I was starving my eyes of much needed oxygen- thus my eyes were getting more and more red because my body was trying to feed oxygen through blood vessels. I had been told this before in 9th grade, so I had limited my contacts to a max of 12 hours a day. It became annoying though when I would start my day with a 6 AM run, then have to switch to glasses at 6 PM for dinner, especially when my workday would sometimes extend late into the night. When I would go to conferences, I would wear contacts during the night, and find that glasses were less painful after a night of socializing. Also, if I couldn't find my glasses or my contacts were unavailable, I was literally blind.

Well, I finally chose to get LASIK. I pay about $250/year in contacts, eyeglasses, and eye appointments, so given I have 15 years left before my eyes start failing me because of old age, I might as well just pay an up-front cost. Additionally, who will be providing -10 contacts when the zombie apocalypse occurs?!

Since I had enough corneal tissue, I had a choice between LASIK (the most popular form of laser eye surgery) and bladeless PRK (LASEK and a bunch of other names). LASIK has a shorter recovery time (I was working the next day, but had to wear the goggles...) but is a little more invasive, while PRK is less invasive, but has a longer recovery (6 days- no sight, plus all types of other stuff). Both surgeries require a few weeks to fully recover. I chose the former because the difference was negligible for me.

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So on Monday, I said adieu to the Asian Steve Urkel  and said hello to the guy who can wake up in the morning with functional vision (not great night vision). It's not nearly as good as the vision I had with contacts (it is only the fourth day), but it astounds me that I don't have to take off my contacts at 11 PM at night. I have light sensitivity, see halos (which I just realized I've seen for my whole life, so it's astounding that other people never experienced that). It's no different than wearing contacts (after contacts, Urkel was more heard, than seen :D ) , but I'm sure there will be little things that astound me. Moreover, for someone at my degree of near-sightedness, almost everyone wondered why I hadn't done it sooner.


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Man, I used to love this shirt back in middle school - now I live in SF!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:46:17 -0700 Whoa... Double, No Triple Bike! http://andrewlee.com/whoa-double-no-triple-bike http://andrewlee.com/whoa-double-no-triple-bike
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Two tourists had quite the double rainbow moment earlier today in front of this bike.

A friend once told me a tandem bike belongs with other important relationship tests - at least on this one you can bring the therapist along... :D

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sat, 25 Apr 2009 09:38:00 -0700 Dan Gilbert explains why we are happy http://andrewlee.com/dan-gilbert-explains-why-we-are-happy-0 http://andrewlee.com/dan-gilbert-explains-why-we-are-happy-0

This video along with Seligman on Positive Psychology explains the  world of happiness to me. I usually talk about this when I talk about  why money won't buy you happiness and usually people disagree with me.  I think it'll just take time.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:11:16 -0700 HillRats.TV- Like the Guild for Politics http://andrewlee.com/hillratstv-like-the-guild-for-politics-0 http://andrewlee.com/hillratstv-like-the-guild-for-politics-0 The amazing Dan Jones (a fellow Udall Scholar) posted this on our Udall scholar list. I have to say, I was skeptical at first, but he captures exactly the right type of humor/love/panache. The acting is also superb.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:00:00 -0800 My Experience with LaunchBox Digital http://andrewlee.com/my-experience-with-launchbox-digital http://andrewlee.com/my-experience-with-launchbox-digital

opportunityGiven the state of our economy, it is a great time to build a business with a revolutionary product.

No, I’m not trying to scam you into investing in a Nigerian royal family. Your competitors will be thinking of cutting costs instead of innovating and since the cost of starting a website has gone down so drastically, you don’t need as much capital to launch a business. Lastly, you’re probably going to be tightening your belt anyway, so why not tighten it just a little bit more and start a business. LaunchBox and other early stage investment firms can help.

NOTE: This is the second in a two-part post about LaunchBox Digital.

You should take risks when you’re young. Usually you’re just going through the motions to signal that you’re a qualified individual during and after college. I, for one, was definitely doing a lot of that. So, doing LaunchBox immediately after Fantasy Congress was a logical extension of the “we want to stop talking about what we want to do and actually start doing it” mentality.

LaunchBox Digital saw potential in us. When we applied, we didn’t even really have an idea. We had a couple different ideas- no prototype- and just a detailed proposal (with photoshop image) of our mobile recommendation service. LaunchBox seemed a natural choice because we were local, we already had a free house to work out of (which cut our burn to just food and living), and all three of us had experience working and launching with each other.

Luckily, LaunchBox didn’t hold it against us and we settled on JamLegend. In general, LaunchBox is perfect for people who are new to startups and the test-driven culture of startups- Build, Launch, Check Assumptions, Make Decision to Continue or Do Something Else.

The real question for a lot of people is whether there is a value-add from LaunchBox (or any other early stage firm). Here was the list I came up with:

  1. Validation- Nothing beats getting traction in the market, but having the LaunchBox stamp was a great way to receive early validation. Since they were familiar with the ideas and execution, we had willing champions for our startup- an important first step to external market validation.
  2. PR- LaunchBox and a bunch of other early stage firms have similar relationships with technology press and it’s a great way to get some early adopters and get some early users.
  3. Community- In my opinion, the most useful part of the LB08 experience was the community. Working on a startup requires people who are working as hard or harder than you, holding each other accountable and pushing each other to do better. We developed great friendships with a bunch of great people. To this day, I can still call anyone who was previously involved with LaunchBox Digital and we’re always willing to help each other.
  4. Advice- Sean, John and Julius are great coaches. Instead of telling us what to do, they were very good at guiding us along to find our own path. Before we were even accepted into the program, Sean Greene and Julius Genachowski invited us to play in their local basketball game where we had the opportunity to see how Sean and Julius acted outside of a formal business settting. They were clearly good at basketball themselves, but they were definitely focused on coaching and assisting each other in gameplay. During the program, if there was something pressing, John McKinley would be willing to sit down and literally hash out for a full two hours on a particular problem. Advice at the initial stage is so important because it has far-reaching implications for the future (much like the early experiences a child receives).

I was most surprised in LaunchBox by the unparalleled access to world-class startup veterans (literally, as Eyal Geyer from Gizmoz flew in from Israel). Not only did they have some amazing presentations (part. Dan Simpkins demo was probably the most astounding), but we have still kept up conversations since then. From Haroon Mokhtarzada of Webs to serial entrepreneur Mike Cassidy (both the nicest badasses I have ever met), we have received amazing advice on how to run our company and how best to think strategically about our business.

To be fair, we were the first class and we were located in Washington D.C. so there were some obvious limitations. I would have liked a more technical cohort, weekly product demos, ways to create IP protection (and other competitive barriers), and someone who gave on-the-ground technical advice, but these are things that I know LaunchBox is aware of and will be providing in this next go-around. All in all, it was a good experience.

Since we did the LaunchBox08 program, we have launched our web startup - JamLegend – raised a small amount of funding and are now in San Francisco experiencing the startup dream with others just like us. We received some great advice on fundraising, what features to prioritize, strategy, and pitching. Ultimately, as with all experiences, you get what you make of it and we gained hands-on experience that you just cannot get anywhere else (making small amounts of money go very far and learning all aspects of running an organization).

So now, the ultimate question: Would I re-apply to and participate in LaunchBox08 with another idea?

Yes and No. LaunchBox taught me quite a lot and I’m confident that I could go out and start another startup without their help (especially here in the startup hub of the Bay Area). I’m far from being a Jedi Master, but I think they have taught me enough to understand the ways of the startup Force. Nevertheless, given the opportunity again, it would be my top choice. I think LaunchBox provides exactly what a bunch of guys with an idea need- guidance, a small bit of capital, and a way to make dreams come true.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:57:00 -0800 Startup March Madness 2009: Getting into LaunchBox (and YCombinator, TechStars, etc.) http://andrewlee.com/startup-march-madness-2009-getting-into-launc http://andrewlee.com/startup-march-madness-2009-getting-into-launc

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The factors that affect acceptance into LaunchBox Digital - an early stage investment firm who invested in our company JamLegend - are very much the same factors that affect acceptance onto a college basketball team.  They are all measurements of potential with the purpose of assuring that when the game starts, the right player is on the court.

This post is the first in a two-part post about LaunchBox Digital.

Before I go further, ask yourself if LaunchBox is right for you. If you’re Lebron James, just go straight to the NBA. If you’re Mark Zuckerberg, drop out of college and start Facebook without any other funding. It depends on your risk tolerance and your what you think is your likelihood of success. This will be the first decision of many as your startup grows and evolves, so choose wisely, but don’t make the decision affect the work you do afterwards.

If you’ve chosen to do it (as those who have e-mailed me to write this post have), then I think the following high-level ideas should drive your application and should help in determining how to strengthen your application. These are the factors that I personally think LaunchBox is looking for to help determine your success:

  1. Team- at this stage, creating a product and having co-founders that can execute is most important. You want a team that has the ability or can easily acquire the ability to create and launch. We had previously started Fantasy Congress while in college and made money with a couple other games and that was a positive on our part.
  2. Idea and Target Market- These two relate because your idea needs to pass a common sense test (someone besides your family and friends should want to use this product) and since everyone knows the idea will evolve, your market should be sufficiently large so that you can pivot and repurpose a lot of the work you’ve already done.
  3. Product progress- The closer you are to a star basketball player, the more likely you’ll get chosen for the team. So in startups, the closer you are to a prototype, working site, or working business, the more likely you’ll be desirable candidate. So, right after applying- start building your product and start being a business. Oddly, the further along you are, the less likely you would need to go to LaunchBox.

You may be wondering… what if I don’t have a prototype or no progress?

ncaatrophySay a coach is choosing between two individuals who run just as fast, one with good form and one with bad form. The one the coach wants is the one with bad form because if the coach can train that person to have good form, they’ll be even better than the other runner– you job is to show how you are the startup equivalent of Rocky.

In the end, don’t take it personally. LaunchBox,YCombinator, Techstars, etc. are all looking for a potential business. The hard truth is that these factors are not about admission, but about your ability to win. That’s what LaunchBox or any college basketball team is looking for.

 

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:44:00 -0800 "Other People's Money"- Cory Doctorow http://andrewlee.com/other-peoples-money-cory-docto http://andrewlee.com/other-peoples-money-cory-docto
Really interesting article...

via forbes.com

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:33:33 -0800 Top Ten Startup Mistakes http://andrewlee.com/top-ten-startup-mistakes-0 http://andrewlee.com/top-ten-startup-mistakes-0 260529119(1)_TOTAL ACCESS (2)

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:15:15 -0800 CareerBuilder: Best Super Bowl Commercial of 2009 http://andrewlee.com/careerbuilder-best-super-bowl-commercial-of-2-0 http://andrewlee.com/careerbuilder-best-super-bowl-commercial-of-2-0 Good commercials will get people to talk about the commercial, but great commercials are both relevant, personal, and sticky. This CareerBuilder commercial has those qualities- oh, and it repeats the message 3x, which according to some psychological studies means that you'll remember it. Oh... and the dude from the Guild is in this commercial.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:20:00 -0800 GoodBye Friendster http://andrewlee.com/goodbye-friendster http://andrewlee.com/goodbye-friendster

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Someone once told me that most normal people only use 3-5 websites regularly everyday. I find that I am generally the same way. When the social networking cold war (i.e. proliferation craze) began, I signed up for a plethora of online identities.

I've now begun to get ahold of my online identities, by first getting rid of Friendster. So goodbye #1 social networking site in the Pacific Islands.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:54:00 -0800 Ted Leonsis: Ten Keys to Startup Success and Happiness http://andrewlee.com/ted-leonsis-ten-keys-to-startup-success-and-h http://andrewlee.com/ted-leonsis-ten-keys-to-startup-success-and-h

TedLeonsis

Last summer with LaunchBox Digital, Ted Leonsis (see bio) spoke about what he thought were key ingredients to start up success gleaned from when he was a Georgetown student who started a snow cone company (aptly named SnoCoLoco), to his own TV guide business that grew to $75M, all the way to AOL and RedGate Communications. He now owns hockey teams, sports arenas, and is invested in over 15 different companies, including Clearspring, Zipcar,SnagFilms, Revolution Health, and Revolution Money. The presentation above is from another talk, but it covers some of the same things…

Here were his observations of successful entrepreneurs:

  1. Be competitive, willing to take risk, and don’t get tied down- There is a reason why many successful entrepreneurs were young and really hungry, they are able to take risk more and are not tied down. For him, he never grew up with much and was always willing to do the unconventional because he had nothing to lose.
  2. Better to win than to be right- you don’t have to be overly charismatic, have gone to Harvard Business School, or always have the right answers. To succeed, you have to be willing to take criticism and use that to win.
  3. Be obsessed about product- Companies he saw succeed took feedback very seriously and would always listen to even Ted’s advice- even for the simplest things like changing a button colour.
  4. Build teams and partners with intense reflection on strengths and weaknesses- From his personal experience, Ted is good at seeing something interesting, raising money, getting the team together, obsessing about the product, but he needs a strong CFO who obsesses about the nuts and bolts. On a scale of 1 to 10, you need to be surrounded by top quality people (9s and 10s) that fill your weaknesses especially when the going gets tough. Ted’s bet was that “few of you will make it” (not personal); many will later craft together something that is very meaningful though.
  5. Sniff out your business model to end up with a money store- Ted was part of the first round of Google’s investors, and noticed how Larry and Sergey bought a company that turned into AdSense. Those guys understood the ecosystem and saw the mashups and value chains that would allow them to change the industry.

Many wonder whether Google is an ad company (with more revenue than ABC and CBS combined) search company, or platform cloud computing company. Really, Google won because they were willing to innovate and combine disparate elements to create its Money Store. The bionic arm (ISP) was the undoing of AOL and to this day no one has figured out how to monetize chat (e.g. at ICQ, they used to say “revenue is distracting”).

Two examples of companies (Ted’s investments) who have figured it out:

  • Clearspring- Taking from the Google playbook, one of Ted’s investments- Clearspring is focused on the lesson of building a “data warehouse with powerful algorithms.” So far, they have been rocking with 130M unique, 12B views/quarter, and fast becoming the Google of distributed social applications.
  • Revolution Money- PayPal meets master card without the high fees. - Going after a $60B market, with five huge competitors in the financial credit industry. Revolution Money’s key insight was to show a path to breakeven, showing that they could be successful with 2.5M accounts instead of PayPal ‘s 164M online accounts.

AT THIS POINT, TED STARTS TALKING ABOUT HAPPINESS. He specifically talks about his plane crash and how it made him think of the 101 things he wanted to do before he died.

Ted surveyed 50K people about happiness and found the following factors to highly correlate to happiness that everyone (especially entrepreneurs).

  1. Be an active participant in multiple communities of interest.
  2. Personally express yourself- Write a blog (there are over 77M out there), engineers should learn how to dance, do something for the balance, and companies that can help individuals personally express themselves generally win.
  3. Empathy and gratitude- shorthand- golden rule,
  4. Volunteerism- globalgiving.org and Network for Good make you feel good by doing well.
  5. Pursue a higher calling- Whether it’s levelling the playing field, or empowering democracy, you need to have a higher calling.

No matter what you do, you need to have a cause along with making money. Clearspring is about sharing, Revolution Money is about taking money out of the hands of monopolists and giving back to merchants, and SnagFilms is giving filmmakers a place to easily express themselves, without the huge cost. Pursuing that higher calling will give meaning to your life.

NOTE: Launchbox Digital also wrote about Ted Leonsis at the same event in June 2008.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:26:04 -0800 The Girl Effect http://andrewlee.com/the-girl-effect-16 http://andrewlee.com/the-girl-effect-16 the impact of investing in the education and empowerment of girls and the potential change this can bring about in society. According to the Christian Science Monitor on the "Girl Effect":
he Nike Foundation, for example, has projects for empowering women in Liberia and Kenya. Its goal is to get girls on the international agenda and drive resources to them from rich countries. Investment in girls, the foundation holds, unleashes what it calls the "girl effect," that is, powerful social and economic change brought about when a girl participates in her society. It offers a compelling video making the case for investing in girls on the Web at girleffect.org
http://laist.com/2008/12/04/the_end_of_poverty_begins_with_a_gi.php http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0804/p14s02-wmgn.html

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:51:00 -0700 Echoing Green Fellowships http://andrewlee.com/echoing-green-fellowships http://andrewlee.com/echoing-green-fellowships

FYI- For all of those entrepreneurs

VISIONARIES WANTED

  • Do you have an incredible, new idea that could change your community, country, or world?
  • Are you an entrepreneur who won’t rest until your idea has been brought to life? Or a leader who has recently started an organization to do just that?

If so, apply for an Echoing Green Fellowship. You could receive up to $90,000 in seed funding and support to launch a new organization that turns your innovative idea for social change into action.

Follow in the footsteps of the founders of Teach For America, City Year, and over 450 other social change organizations around the world and apply online starting on September 17, 2008.

Watch the video: http://www.echoinggreen.org/video

Find out whether you qualify: http://www.echoinggreen.org/shouldyouapply

Get notified when the application opens:http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship/apply

Questions? Contact us at

apply@echoinggreen.org.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:13:00 -0700 Scholarship Advice for the Ambitious College Student http://andrewlee.com/scholarship-advice-for-the-ambitious-college http://andrewlee.com/scholarship-advice-for-the-ambitious-college

I wrote this in November of 2006, someone asked for it, so I wrote it.

Andrew Lee- 2006 Truman Scholar, 2006 Udall Scholar, and District XIII Rhodes Scholarship Finalist

My audience is going to be the young, interested, or ambitious freshman/sophomore, or the seasoned junior who has had some substantive internship/research/work/advocacy experience behind them.

Do not be overwhelmed. All of these scholarships may seem out of reach right now, but you need not be afraid, you can get them if you put in the time and energy.

Remember how you got into college? Well, it never stops.

So, you’re thinking about applying for Rhodes/Truman/Marshall/Gates-Cambridge/Udall because you want to:

  • be the next President of the United States or advise someone in a high position,
  • be the guy/gal who colonizes Mars,
  • save millions of people from pain and suffering, i.e. starvation, war, etc.,
  • stop global warming,
  • rid the world of detrimental agricultural subsidies, or
  • just be a professor.

Getting these scholarships would greatly help, but you need to remember that many great people out there do not receive these scholarships. In no way does getting these scholarships make you Presidential material, you either have it or you don’t. Contrary to popular opinion, you will succeed in the future no matter what scholarships you win.

NEVERTHELESS, DON’T DESPAIR. You can be a Rhodes/Truman/Udall/Marshall/Goldwater/Pickering/Boren/Academy of Achievement/USA Today All-Academic/Glamour Top Ten/ (AND THE LIST GOES ON) Scholar. I cannot guarantee you a win with my advice, but I can however tell you the necessary conditions you must meet to become a scholarship winner.

Maintain a minimum GPA above an 11.0, an 11.2 to 11.4 GPA to be competitive, and a 11.4 GPA (so a 3.6 or above for those on the 4.0 scale) or higher for it to be a real asset in competitions (and in other things in life). Below is studying advice. Ignore the advice if you are a genius and you can always get good grades, but if you are like me and must work hard, then here’s some tips that will help you study:

    Mastery Through Discipline- Try these out, they may work differently for each person, but you should try out each one:
  1. Visit your professors. You should at least visit your professors once a month to check up on your progress or to ask them questions on topics/issues that you do not understand. It’s about communication. As long as your professor knows you’re serious about your studies, you will always be in a positive light when you’re riding the difference between a B+ or A-, etc. NOTE: If you complain about Professors, it is probably because you don’t understand them. Some professors need to be brought down to the ground so that you can understand what they want (sometime they don’t even know, so reminding them helps). Many professors want to keep up their reps as the moderately difficult professor that still has popular classes, so you need to work hard.
  2. Do not listen to music that will distract you from work. Although you may have listened to music throughout your teen years, you need to focus on the quality and depth of your work. When reading, eliminate all distractions. It is fine to use music that promotes reflection, but vocal music is mostly distracting. Studies have shown that listening to Mozart before taking tests may improve your test score, but listening to music during the test will distract you. The same is applicable to your studying habits.
  3. Be disciplined. The mark of a great person is to be disciplined in their work and in their play. It’s important for students to work efficiently and effectively. Think of the time when you were able to achieve something great in a short amount of time. That incident doesn’t happen by accident. If you’re working to the best of your ability, you can definitely get a lot done, and still have time to party on the weekends.
  4. Actively study. Be engaged in the material that you are studying. To retain information, you have to relate somehow to it. Ever read a passage and then not know what you just read? It’s important to actively study and be focused on the topic at hand.
  5. Sleep is important. The younger you are in development, the more REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep you will need. As you grow older, you can sleep less and will have less REM sleep. Studies have shown that REM sleep is critical for memory retention, bodily health, and rejuvenation of metabolic processes. Although you can function on four hours of sleep, it doesn’t mean that you’re functioning to your full capacity. It’s important that you make sure to get enough sleep to allow your body enough rest for the next day. PULL ALL-NIGHTERS FOR TESTS AT YOUR OWN RISK! For many students, pulling all-nighters may give you the answer to question 12 at the expense of losing the answer to question 5 on your exam. It’s comparatively better to sleep the nights before a test, and review in the morning.
    Reading-Based Classes
  1. In most of your classes, you will write essays. Visit the Writing Centre. No matter if you are working on Senior thesis or a freshman writing your first Lit10 or Civ10 paper, they are always a great guide to writing. You can go over your writing with the writing center staff and, in doing so, understand your weaknesses and your strengths.
  2. Create study guides. Many of the study guides found on this website did not come from third-party sources. Most of them originated from the classes themselves and from the students who took those classes. The process of making study guides is both educational and very useful. You can do it in a group or by yourself. The only problem is that when you work in a group, you have varying levels of experience with making study guides. The best way to prepare is to make a study guide for the reading assigned for your class, e.g. you will come prepared with a study guide for next Tuesday’s reading on Plato or the next biology class and with questions about the reading. When the midterm or finals rolls around, you only need to cut and paste relevant information for the test.
    Math and Science Topics
  1. Practice, practice, practice. Math is mainly procedural. Practice the procedure and your chances of success will increase.
  2. Always show your work. You don’t need me to explain this do you? Alright, if you miss a question, the instructor will look to see if you had the right process and might award you half credit. There is no cost to showing your work, but there is if you don’t.
  3. Use the silly acronyms to remember how math works. It’s okay. You don’t learn how to drive a car by knowing exactly how a car works. You test it out and remember the tricks of how to drive. You can learn its intricacies later.
    Language Related Topics
  1. Use mnemonic devices. I know you probably used them as a kid and you think that you are far above the use of mnemonic devices, but they work. Make note cards with translations on them or write out vocabulary words/phrases repeatedly. Remember to review almost daily.
  2. Make quick study sheets. Take a sheet of paper and fold it into fours lengthwise (you should have four columns). Fold it so that the first column is on the left side and the fourth column is facing the first on the right side. Write your English translation on one side, and the second language translation on the other. Once you open the paper, you can proceed to fill in the translation for both in the blank center two columns.

SO, I HAVE GOOD GRADES, NOW WHAT? Now that you know how to get good grades, it’s up to you to seek out opportunities and construct a narrative about yourself. Most scholarships want displays of leadership, intellectual ability, and commitment to fellow person.

Take advantage of every opportunity and continue to advance your goals (a thematic recommendation). First, take advantage of opportunities. I understand that many of the scholarship winners come from an upper class background and are able to travel around the world building huts because they are self-funded. I do also understand that most of us in this world need to have a job while in school. It does not mean that you cannot take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and where you can have substantive leadership in a particular issue. If you really want to do something, you can make it happen (yes, so give up playing video games). Don’t stop trying to fight the good fight. Whatever it is you believe in (short of human sacrifice), keep believing and making the world a better place. If you care about scientific research, pursue it. One of the times when my mother required me to watch Oprah, Oprah sad that success is when preparation meets luck. You can win these scholarships if you prepare yourself well and continue to push yourself. Don’t settle for less than you deserve and if you really want it, then you should understand that it isn’t easy to get what you want.

NOTE: An easy thing to do here is to look at the bios of previous winners and try to copy them. They were able to successfully achieve their goals, you should too.

THAT’S IT. Obviously there are more facets to the question of displays of leadership etc., but it’s all about constructing the narrative about you and making sure that narrative is genuine.

IMPORTANT ENDING NOTE

Many successful people in the world do not win these scholarships. In fact, some who win these scholarships do not amount to much, e.g. according to a weird research book on the Rhodes Scholarship, many Rhodes scholars have committed suicide because they couldn’t match up to their peers (or some other deeply rooted psychological issue) and were constantly caught in the rat race. Before you apply for these scholarships, you need to be strong in body, mind, and soul. The scholarship process will help you know yourself and help you ask the big questions about your ambition. The larger questions about truth, God, and why you are on this Earth can only be answered when you dig deep into yourself.

At the end of your college career, you don't want to regret that you had no time to date, to establish wonderful friendships, to call your mother and have her remind you of your flu shot, to see a speaker, or to take classes because you were afraid to learn something new (and get a bad grade). College is what you make of it and you can enjoy in whatever ways you want. From my side in the past to you in the future, good luck and don't lose sight of the things that really matter.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:48:00 -0700 Advice on the Rhodes Scholarship http://andrewlee.com/advice-on-the-rhodes-scholarship http://andrewlee.com/advice-on-the-rhodes-scholarship

A friend asked recently for advice on the Rhodes scholarship and I have an old document I’ve kept around that I hope will help people who are interested in the scholarship. I did not win the scholarship, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I wrote this paper in November 2006 (before I plunged headfirst into the murky waters of start ups), and the advice is broken into three parts:

  1. Notes from talking with Mary Dwyer, President of IES about her lengthy experience as a member of the Rhodes panel;
  2. Advice on the application process
  3. Interview advice and a rough transcript of my interview

Looking back almost two years since I wrote this advice, I can clearly remember the words of both Mary Dwyer and my Rhodes panel: “This scholarship helps, but it doesn’t change you who you are. Many great people haven’t won.” I know for those students hell-bent on this scholarship, you cannot see anything beyond this tunnel. I know from personal experience. Trust me though, if you don’t get the scholarship, it may be the best thing to happen to you. As Randy Pausch said in his last lecture, “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

PART I: Advice from Mary Dwyer, President of IES Abroad and Andrew Lee, 2006 District XIII Rhodes Finalist

Ex-Chair of Midwest Regional Rhodes Panel (7-8 years experience)

November 10, 2006, Call from CMC to Andrew Lee ’07 and Elizabeth Schultz ’07; Compiled by Andrew Lee for CMC posterity

Before you take the advice of this sheet, Mary warned that at the interview stage, the committee makes subjective decisions. Each committee may have a different composition, different from her public university. The Midwest Regional Panel, according to Mary, was the more progressive of panels being one of the first to allow minorities and also public university students. I’ve added some of my own comments from research into the Rhodes scholarship process, and they should be beneficial for future CMC students.

Mary Dwyer has the following points of advice, in no particular order:

  1. Be yourself. Try not to find the angle with the panel, find the correct answer, or play the system.
  2. Be succinct/direct. The biggest problem in interviews is that interviewees do not answer the question asked.
  3. Be relaxed and at ease. It kills interviews if you are too nervous.
  4. Show each of the areas/criteria for winning.
    1. In leadership, they are looking for someone with moral character and will fight the good fight. Depending on the panel, they may focus on one criterion above another.
    2. EXAMPLES: May ask you about the world’s fight? How will you contribute to the world?
    3. EXAMPLES: May ask ethical questions? One potential guy couldn’t answer an ethical question and as a result didn’t get the scholarship.
  5. Don’t talk about how the Rhodes will help you become famous or rich. Don’t be self-serving. They may ask you the question: Why do you want the Rhodes scholarship? Have an honest but thoughtful answer.
  6. Be clear about what you want to become. They know that you may change your mind but they like people with clear goals and interests.
  7. Know your current events. Because this interview was in 2006, you should know your opinion on the war, stem cell research, and the election.
  8. Prepare the beginning and end of your interview.
    1. 1st question= softball. It will be in an area of expertise.
    2. Last question (depends on the panel) - anything you’d like to tell the panel?
  9. Do at least two mock interview. Your mock panels should have the following characteristics:
    1. Have an aggressive interview and one that is passive. It is important to get used to interviewing in different settings.
    2. You will probably have a scientist on one of your panels, a lawyer, a literature/humanities/well-read professor, someone from the business/finance sector, and possibly someone from the field of medicine. Every panel generally looks like this with slight variation with the number of professors. Be prepared to address people from each of these areas.
    3. NOTE: Sometimes in panels, there is a tendency for panellists to inflate their own egos in front of other panellists, its okay. Let that person run on, but try to steer the conversation back if the interview goes badly.
  10. Be prepared for the following questions:
    1. Who is your hero?
    2. What is your biggest regret?
    3. Tell me about x class, y endeavour, or book/literary work from z project?
    4. Expect a second question, a deeper probing question. Many committees will follow-up with a second question and will probe into your rationale. They may press you, to see if you change your mind under pressure or in the face of new arguments or caveats. They want to see if you can stick up for your point of view while under pressure. It is okay to change your answer, but if you do, do it for a reason, not because you think they want you to change. For example, say, “Well, given that situation/argument, I think ________.”
    5. Be prepared for a situational question- They may test you on whether you can apply what you have learned. For example, If you were President, with $5 billion dollars, and you had to allocate it between education and defence, how would you allocate it? Why?
    6. May ask about leadership and leadership strategies…
  11. Highlight themes (have three goals you have in mind, the things that you want the committee to be thinking when you leave the room), but also push past the application. Although you should not completely depart from your application. Don’t over focus on this aspect, it’s better for you to hit a triple with your already developed themes, rather than strike out aiming for a home run.

INTERVIEW

  • After your interview, go ahead and take a break. (Mary)
  • If you’re given the opportunity for a second interview, do not be afraid. It means that you are being strongly considered for the Rhodes, and there is something that wanted to ask you about that they need the extra time to discuss.

OTHER ISSUES

Prior to the call, I (Andrew) had sent her some questions before-hand

Is the panel the same as those who select us as finalists? Will we have advocates and enemies on the panel?

A: Because the Rhodes interviews are one-stage (district only), I can only describe what it is like from the regional perspective when it was a two-stage process. I do not know if the panel selects the finalists, but the way it has worked before is that the panelists will arrive and will all be locked in a room for a whole day to review dossiers in silence. They are not supposed to discuss the applicants until all of them have interviewed.   

 

How much ambition should be shown to the panel (e.g. I want to do X, Y, Z)? or should we show a level of flexibility?
A: Have ambition without pretentiousness. Don’t plan everything out in your life, but the panel wants to see drive and focus. You can do it, but show some flexibility in your demeanour.   

 

DINNER/RECEPTION- At the dinner- how much of a factor is the dinner/lunch/social gathering? What topics are generally discussed (cocktail conversation, like the latest book, etc.?)

A: The dinner/reception/lunch is extremely important. It is the first time to make a first impression and meeting every single panel member is an imperative. Some advice for this is:

  • dress professionally
  • treat questions as if you’re on the interview panel, but don’t clam up as if you were on the interview panel
  • don’t oversell yourself
  • be calm

At the end of the reception, the committee will stay behind and a person will volunteer to be the lead interviewer or to throw out the first question.

What is the diversity of the panel (is everyone a lawyer)?

A: Diverse panel, but everyone is smart, don’t try to pull a fast one on anybody. They won’t beat up on you, but they are all looking for good composition and a good interviewer.

Should we emphasize a sports component if we have one?

A: Some people do. If you feel that it is one of your strength’s then please highlight that component. Depending on the panel, some emphasize having at least one person with a sports background (because it is a life learning methodology), while others care more about the academic component.

Are there usually questions left at the end of the interview? Is that a bad thing?

A: Generally, panels feel that they get a good feel within the 20 minutes. If they have follow-up questions that are most pressing, they will call you in for a second interview. They will usually stick to the time limit. Don’t ramble or try to sound knowledgeable.

What do panels generally like (i.e. philosophical musings? interdisciplinary observations? humorous statements? or interesting esoteric facts?)

A: Whatever your strengths are. Shine through with those. Don’t spend all of your time learning interesting cocktail conversation.

PART II: Notes from Andrew

Preparing for the Rhodes was a great way to further refine my understanding of who I am and what I want in life. I apologize for any grammatical mistakes, spelling faux pas, or any other areas of generally unintelligible writing. None of our previous applicants have made this information available for popular consumption, so I’m going to try to tell as much as I can about my Rhodes experience and how you can prepare for it and stop (as of this writing) the 13-year drought on Rhodes-Marshall-Gates scholarships.

The Application

Unlike the Truman Scholarship, I was not responding to prompts, but rather given 1000 words and the task of condensing a theme and my life thus far. I will always cherish my Rhodes essay and the people that I met at the District XIII Interview. Here’s my advice on the application (remember that if you don’t get this right, you’re dead in the water).

The purpose is to show sides of you not apparent in the activities list, to show why you care about the things you care about, to put your accomplishments in context, to show what your future goals are (and how they are a natural outgrowth of your previous accomplishments), to show how Oxford will help you achieve your goals, and most importantly, to introduce you as a person to the selection committee.

I feel that the best approach (and it says this on the Rhodes website) is to use direct language and speak plainly about yourself. Don’t be overly creative (SEE MINE AND OTHERS PERSONAL STATEMENTS), but don’t kill your voice.

Also, remember that the focus should be 99.9% about YOU. Read other people’s personal statements (see your advisors, if they don’t have samples, then this school really doesn’t care about your future success). Although samples have flaws, it is clear when you read them why they were chosen for an interview. While it is good to be unique, there is a certain structure that seems to be working.

Here’s what one Rhodes and Truman scholar wrote to me:

That being said, there is a general format to follow in writing the essay. Your personal statement should tell a story about both your background and your future. As you will see in the essay that I attached, which I think is my absolute final draft but am not completely sure, there are a number of logical steps. First, start with a compelling story about your background. Second, tie that into your academic and professional experience, while simultaneously explaining why you have chosen the path/field you are on. Next, explain the program you would like to pursue at Oxford, and why that makes sense based on your background. Finally, explain your goal in life and how a Rhodes Scholarship and study at Oxford helps you achieve that.”

The Famed Interview

Probably the best resource, I found was this simple essay from a Yale Professor who has served as an interviewer many times:

Advice about Rhodes Interviews <http://www.yale.edu/iefp/fellowships/other/rhodes_interviews.html>

A faculty member who has been both a state and district selector for the Rhodes competition offers the following characterizations of the Rhodes interviews and advice:

After twelve years on two state committees and one district (all in the NE) I see a certain consistency of questioning in the 20 minutes allotted to each candidate. The first question, or short set of questions, is typically directed toward the candidate’s perceived strengths, as inferred from the academic major and accomplishments (rather than the “proposal”, although that may come into it). The first question may simply ask for an explanation of, say, what the experiment or senior essay is about and why it matters, where it might lead (not just at Oxford), and that usually opens up some critical issues including potential flaws, which is where committees hone in and test the candidate’s powers of response and think-through. This is often the heart of the interview. The Rhodes Trust stresses the prime importance of academic and intellectual ability measured in the fullest way.

But other things get in there, if not sequentially: no mere description of the athletic or leadership activities (obvious enough from the resume), but questions about their “interface” aspects. Should something be done to curb the commercialization of sports? If so, how? How can your work against AIDS in Southern Africa be effective given the attitude of the Mbeki government?

And finally, some questions try to assess the candidate’s honesty, unselfishness, and general personality. They can come through just about any topic, and are not always obvious.

The interview is the heart of the process. Not that other things don’t count, but that at this level they are not always enough to distinguish one strong candidate from another. To be sure, you will be done in by a transcript that is missing too much (a breadth, say, or achieved excellence in the major), or by a recommendation couched with too many caveats, or by a personal statement that is formulaic or self-congratulatory. Try to seal off those potential flaws ahead of time.

There are two keys to the interview itself. The first is to answer the question put, not the one you want to hear, or are best prepared for, or have been advised by your Yale coaches to expect. It may be a question in more than one part, with the sequent question(s) at least partly hidden. Make sure you hear the whole question, and answer it all.

Second: once you’ve grasped and briefly pondered the question(s), don’t tell the committee what you surmise they are looking to be told. If you are an economist, and there’s a professor of economics at the table, you can surely count on his or her expertise, to which you should defer without kowtowing. But committees are harder to read than you might imagine: members may have knowledge of subjects, and views on them, that would surprise you. Don’t assume that every north-eastern selector, for example, has predictably liberal views on military tribunals or the death penalty.

What matters is that you answer in your own voice, not that of your Yale coaches, or the one you attribute to your interlocutor(s). Answer clearly, thoughtfully, reasonably, concisely yet in enough detail to overcome vagueness and build an argument, and you will be persuasive. And it never hurts to smile.

PART III: MY INTERVIEW

OKAY, that being said, I have the following debrief to give on my Rhodes experience. It is tough writing about my interview especially when I feel that it was a bad interview (I didn’t even talk about Fantasy Congress!), but here was my experience:

Get a good night’s rest. So if an early morning flight will deprive you of sleep, DO NOT TAKE IT. You need sleep.

I arrived at the Hyatt Regency in Denver for a nice reception (no alcohol served, so I wasn’t able to exercise my already planned decision to not drink alcohol) and I met the rest of the scholars and interviewers. I was at ease with a number of the finalists, but at the same time, I let my guard down and didn’t establish a strong enough relationship with one of the panelists.

My panel consisted of the following:

  • Gail Klapper, Klapper Law Firm- not Rhodes Scholar, ran for AG of CO in 1984
  • Susan D. Campbell, HRO Law- Rhodes Scholar who read for history, graduate of Grinnell College
  • Terry Velazquez- has a tattoo of the Zimbabwe bird (the Rhodes symbol of cultural transfer) somewhere and was a Rhodes Scholar, currently in emergency medicine in Arizona
  • George Barisas- Baliol ’63, Rhodes Scholar, professor at CSU in lasers and biology (helps run their NSF program there)
  • George Butte (CO)- AZ New ’68, Professor of English Literature and Narrative in Film, very into themes in literature
  • Jessica Mellinger ’00 (WY)- currently North-western Med student
  • Paul Carrese (Air Force Academy)- read for PPE, but didn’t finish the Economics, professor of government at Air Force

Generally, I handled everything well, but I really didn’t hit home any of my great stories. So, my first bit of advice for this part is that the reception should be treated like the interview, don’t let the opportunity to tell your important story go by. It is better that you get in your story earlier than not get it in at all. Thus, my main weakness was over questions such as “Why the interest in psychology? (I talked about Piaget and his theories of intellectual development),” “What will be happening with you in the future?” and if you have other scholarships (like the Truman) be prepared for a “But you have the Truman Scholarship, right?” Here you want to be like you’re at the Ath before the dinner speaker…

At the actual interview, my advice is the following:

1) Be prepared for a passive interview, thus you might need to drive the interview. If they don’t ask about something, you need to work it into your closing. I could have worked in my childhood, my family, Fantasy Congress in the last statement, but I didn’t, so I was only a lukewarm candidate in their eyes.

2) Hammer home what you think makes you the best of the types of candidates that you see around you. In my panel, we had a distinctive split between scientists and policy wonks, state university and private school, athlete vs. non-athlete, and Colorado and Arizona/New Mexico. No surprise that they chose the Duke athletic scientist from Colorado and the Yale glee club political scientist (who doesn’t do sports).

3) Try to have mock interviews the same length as the actual interview so you get an idea of how quickly the interview will go by. If I had had a better feel for the time, I would have known that I was late on driving the interview and would have formulated better responses that linked my themes.

4) You need differences in opinion in your interviews. Liberal government professors, conservative scientists, anybody you can find will help. You need the wide range of opinions or you’re going to get hit with oddities (like the literature professor who talked for five minutes on myth/legend and such).

5) Be prepared for a technical question related to your area of expertise. If your major is physics and one of the interviewers knows something about physics, they may ask you about it, even if it isn’t exactly the topic you have worked on. Elizabeth, who did an internship at the Federal Reserve, was asked a technical question about monetary and fiscal policy in a financial crisis.

The play-by-play is the following:

1) Jessica: I’m going to start… How do we balance the problems of water and increased growth?

2) Terry: How does a market work in water?

3) Gail: These markets already occur, aren’t you worried about agricultural land?

4) George Barisas: Well, generally, they don’t conserve, but sell off their ag land, so what do we do then?

5) Susan: I was driving to Iowa and I saw these great cornfields and I thought that it must take a lot of water to make them along with great amounts of CO2, how do we deal with global climate change in addition to these problems?

6) Carrese: I’m sorry, what is cap & trade?

7) George Butte: I will be switching things around a little bit. Who was the greatest 20th century American philosopher?

I said Levinas, and somehow missed the American part.

7) Butte: I’m sorry; you may not have heard me. I said 20th century American philosopher.

Paul Carrese: Since we’re on the topic of Rawls, what do you think of his Theory of Justice?

9) Butte: Let’s backtrack to Levinas… why?

10) Mellinger: I’m gonna challenge you on that, is it possible to have Levinas as a working political philosophy contrary to Rawls?

11) Butte: Doesn’t that seem impractical? You need to understand people to make public policies right?

Right, but as Terry and I discussed before we are human and our first reactions are to know, thus I think that Levinas is a personal philosophy while Rawls is a governmental one.

Somehow there seems to be a discussion of Ronald Coase and the Law and Economics framework (around the middle of this interview, happens before this though)

11) Carrese: Okay, so we’ve talked about markets, public policy and philosophy. I might have heard you wrong, but is economics what controls the three?

12) Butte: Interesting points about Levinas and Other. It ties into a larger question of myth in which a fundamental American phenomenon of how we treat the other occurs. The way that treats natural resources has a certain myth about it… (more about Myth)

I think it is a fundamentally American concept of myth. In the West, we have this notion of independence that couldn’t occur without much help from the government. It’s interesting because it shows that we have a need to be independent, but at the same time an other- a community.

13) Butte: See, you’re using myth as the veil of falsity, but I’m seeing it as the greater theme.

I guess it depends on our inter subjectivity.

14) Butte: continues to talk about myth

(PAUSE)

15) Klapper: Andrew, anything you’d like to add…

(BAD CLOSER, didn’t mention fantasy congress, the need to go to Oxford for its unique program, nor mentioned my family background story; I mentioned only a thanks for the opportunity)

I’ve incorporated the advice from Mary Dwyer from above and she laid it out perfectly along with the advice from the Yale interviewer. You should be ready for the interview, most of the time, the people who win are shocked because they think the guy next to them should have won, so at this level you need to go in thinking that you have nothing to lose. You don’t. Hope this helped and good luck.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Sun, 13 Jul 2008 05:17:00 -0700 It's Ralph Lor-en (Lauren) http://andrewlee.com/its-ralph-lor-en-lauren http://andrewlee.com/its-ralph-lor-en-lauren

Well, according to the WSJ, it’s pronounced phonetically (and not with some exotic em-phasis on the last syllable):

Most of the first French names to appear in the U.S. were a cinch, like Dior and Chanel. But a lot of the names in play today need to be spoken with a real lilt , like Jean Paul Gaultier (zhan paul GO-tee-AY), Alber Elbaz for Lanvin (al-BEAR el-BAHZ for lon-VAN), and Nicolas Ghesquière (NEE-ko-la guess-KYAIR).

Mamma mia! The Italian names can play tricks on you, too — such as Bulgari(BOOL-ga-ree), Ungaro (OON-ga-ro), Versace (ver-SAH-chay) and Zegna(ZANE-ya). And from Spain comes the tricky Loewe (LO-ee-VAY). (To hear every last nuance of pronunciation, check out the audio tutorial at WSJ.com/Fashion.)

….

Don’t worry that sound will affect you. Why not try to get it right? The more syllables, the more delicious it sounds: I just love to say the name of Swiss watch maker Vacheron Constantin (va-sha-RON con-ston-TAN).

But don’t force a fashion-y flourish on American designers whose names sound just like they look: It’s Ralph Lauren (rhymes with “foreign”) and Donna Karan (sounds like “Karen”).

On a separate note, the only other thing I know about fashion is that I think that outside of looking great, comfort should be key. Tim Gunn disagrees with me inthis week’s Time talking about Crocs:

I know it’s comfortable; I understand that. But if you want to dress to feel as though you never got out of bed, don’t get out of bed.

Well Tim, tell that to every start up entrepreneur in Silicon Valley (although I guess some of us really don’t get out of our place of work and play, so point taken).

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:49:00 -0700 Scribd Find: They Didn't Study http://andrewlee.com/scribd-find-they-didnt-study-0 http://andrewlee.com/scribd-find-they-didnt-study-0

I'm sure I have some test answers hanging around that mirror he hilarity of this document.

Read this document on Scribd: They didn't study

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1640497/IMG_6083_small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/KQvNHf2UuJ Andrew Lee Andrew Andrew Lee