Keeping up the pace (1 post per month)

Another month flew by... It's not that there is nothing to write, but too many things happened that I don't know where to start.

Work-wise, things are falling into a pattern, but it looks like there will be change soon. Aside from the organizational change, I am starting to think about what is the essence of my job function:

Before MBA, I was just an engineer. Taking orders from the boss/customer, and making something out of it. Being specialized in database helped somewhat on the autonomy issue, because I was the only one who understood the methodology, so I was pretty much free to design the structure as I wish. What was the reason I decided to leave? It seemed so long ago, but I remembered that I didn't dislike what I was doing，but I wanted to do something different, and 'bigger.' Didn't have a concrete idea, but thought MBA was a good way to try, so I did.


Then, life took me for a spin. First 2/3 of my first year in MBA, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Consulting was my short term goal in my application letter, but I found out quickly that I wouldn't like the style (and they wouldn't want me. ha). Then just before my first finance class started, I flirted with the idea of making corporate finance as my primary plan... I quickly scrapped that idea too... next I thought about the gaming industry, but the jobs are too few in between (in terms of MBA hires). Struggling for a long time, I finally set my career plan as: Business Planning/Development in Hi-Tech (Primary), and whatever I can find (Secondary). Realistically, I knew that my chance at a BD job was slim. My school didn't even have a BD-specific career lead, but Hi-Tech industries in general fit my background well. I was also prepared for worst case scenario where I wouldn't find an intern. Luckily, the opportunity came knocking and I was prepared for it. That's how I ended up here.

So what is business development? For the past 2 months, I think I am doing more planning than developing. Basically, it's doing a feasibility study. You look at the industry (ecosystem), need of customer, and propose a business model. The difficult part is not coming up with these models, but standing behind them. Not every assumption/business model will be true, but you need to have an explanation (not answer) to these and be able to change it when it actually comes to implementation. Looking at it, I still have a lot to learn.