Simon Zhu
MBA 2014
- Hometown: Hubei, China
- Pre-MBA: Research Scientist, Corning Incorporated
Simon Zhu
Post Graduation Goals:
High-tech start-up focusing on the mobile and media sector.
Favorite GSB memory so far:
My fantastic Global Study Trip to Mexico
Tuesday
07:30am
Wake up and shower.
08:00am
Breakfast with Frank Hawk, Head of Stanford GSB Center in China, about the China Social Innovation Initiative that I cofounded during the first quarter with a few GSB and Sloan classmates, and the winter China Social Service Learning Trip I am leading.
09:00am
Coffee chat with a classmate about some startup ideas.
10:00am
Managerial Finance Class – one of my favorite classes in the quarter! Love the energy from the professor and I can finally understand that finance is all about free cash flow!
12:00pm
Attended the GMIX information session for the summer. But I had to leave early so that I could drive to San Francisco for an information interview with a startup CEO introduced by an alumni.
12:30pm
Driving to San Francisco.
02:00pm
Coffee Chat with the startup CEO about his company, the trends of the mobile and connected TV advertising industry, and career advice.
03:00pm
Visited a friend at Berkeley Haas Business School.
05:30pm
Rockets vs. Warriers basketball game in San Francisco. One of our classmates worked for Rockets in Houston, and we enjoyed the VIP access to the stage. I finally got to see Jeremy Lin!
10:00pm
Drove back to Palo Alto.
Wednesday
09:00am
Wake up and breakfast (Wednesday is the day-off at GSB so I can wake up late!).
09:30am
Golf at the Stanford Golf Course.
12:00pm
Lunch at Arrilaga; and the Stanford Band performed during lunch time!
01:00pm
Study group meeting for group projects.
03:00pm
Brain-storming about project ideas with classmates to leverage our resources in China and the U.S.
04:30pm
Office hour to pitch our project ideas to the Lean Launchpad Class in Design School.
06:00pm
Attended the talk by Richard Lim, Manager Director of GSR Ventures focusing on investment in China.
08:00pm
Visited a few passdown houses with future roommates. We are looking for a three-bedroom house so we can host lots of parties during our 2nd year.
09:00pm
Gym – I am very serious about it! :)
10:00pm
Finished the homework and case reading for Thursday and Friday classes.
01:00am
Sleep.
Friday
07:00am
Wake up and breakfast.
08:00am
Two classes back to back.
12:00pm
Met with personal coach (a 2nd year MBA classmate who is an Arbuckle Leadership Fellow) and discussed my career and life choices.
01:15pm
Electronic business class. We talked about Apple and the digital music industry today.
03:00pm
Met with James Boettcher, General Partner at Focus Ventures, and talked about their investment in China in the clean-tech, health-care, and TMT sectors.
04:00pm
Quick trip to the gym.
05:00pm
Drove to San Francisco and attended the “China Pings Silicon Valley” event.
10:00pm
Drove back to campus; avoided the late night parties in SF since I had to drive two friends back home.
11:00pm
Called my family in China – I call them once every week.
11:30pm
Free time – YEAH!!
01:00am
Sleep.