How to feel like a Morlock among other things….

Hi y'all! I've been living under a rock – and daily, the dramatic and vivacious gets squeezed out of me, as I turn into an investment banking simulacrum. Its not as bad as I make it out to be – its just a different ballgame, and different rules apply, and it promises to be interesting, and worthwhile as things evolve. Here is a list of projects I've been working on:

• LBOs - German tech/services company; a French industrials company; an automotive services company
  
• A Nordic telecom restructuring
  
• A UK tech acquisition and,
  
• A UK gaming/betting financing situation
  

Not much to report on other things, for good reason! I sometimes do not even have time to go to the bathroom at work, let alone read anything interesting, including say the WSJ or the FT which in itself is strange. I did get a positive mid-term review, which perked me up. Fingers crossed for a full-time offer.

Then again, I was leaving work at 8 PM on Friday, when my staffer told me that I was over the weekend on a middle-eastern telecom situation and a covenant reset scenario. So between working and conference calls at 10 AM on a Sunday, I moved flats – an act which returned me to civilization, at long last. The new flat has a crescent fountain below, which is kinda nice – I have a thing for water/water-bodies. I also bought some bamboo plants which immediately fixed the chi in the flat. And, I like having a gym/pool/sauna within the complex.

The other bit of interesting news is that I may be in Geneva for my second internship – working with a non-profit affiliated with the WHO (the UN org, not the band) on patent pooling and sourcing strategies for low-cost drugs for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, for deployment in third-world countries through orgs like the Red Cross.

I promise to be more interesting and fun the next time I blog – until then enjoy the comedic stylings of Omid Djalili.

London Business School places first in Forbes ranking

The biennial Forbes survey, compiled in terms of gain on expenses, questioned alumni from the class of 2004 to determine the results and saw London Business School move up from number two in 2007 to re-capture the top spot which it also held in 2005. Alumni were asked for their pre-MBA salaries as well as compensation figures for three of the first five years after getting their degrees. Post-MBA salaries were then compared with opportunity cost (tuition and forgone salary while in school). Salary figures are adjusted to account for cost-of-living expenses and discounted the earnings gains, using a rate tied to money market yields. Sabine Vinck, Associate Dean, Degree Programmes said, "I am delighted that we have re-claimed the number one position in this ranking. This result demonstrates that London Business School offers excellent return on investment and that our alumni compensation levels post-graduation are among the highest in the world. While we do not allow rankings to drive our strategy, it is gratifying nonetheless that the value of a London Business School MBA has been so categorically recognised. I would like to thank all those alumni who took the time to complete this survey." The Forbes ranking consists of three separate tables: US programmes, non-US one-year programmes, and non-US two-year programmes. They do not produce a combined rankings table. Insead was ranked first in the one year programmes outside the US, with Stanford the top US programme. A full breakdown of the rankings can now be found here. The rankings issue of the magazine will be on newsstands from 7 August.
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