MBA 2001 Group Discussions
April 30, 2016
10:30am-12:00pm
Join our classmates in Oberndorf for some rich discussion around individual experiences over the last fifteen
years. Each table will have a moderator to help facilitate a discussion based on a range of topics that draw on
personal anecdotes among participants. Topics include: Entrepreneurship, Non-Profit Board Service,
Transitioning Careers, Parenting, and Staying Young and Enjoying Life after 15 Years.
Entrepreneurship with Shani Harmon
Calling all current and aspiring entrepreneurs! This small group discussion will focus on the joys and challenges of
entrepreneurship. Come prepared to share a current challenge you are facing or an opportunity you are considering
and tap into the wisdom of your fellow GSBers. This is more support group than shark tank so expect a supportive
environment in which to get some fresh perspectives and ideas.
Each participant will be invited to share a brief (3 min) overview of your business and the current challenge or
opportunity you would like to discuss as well as any options you are considering. The moderator will then facilitate
input from the other participants.
Entrepreneurship: The Current Challenge with Nadine Terman
Join fellow entrepreneur classmates to discuss your current greatest challenge in a confidential setting. Gain
perspectives from peers who may have faced similar challenges, know someone who can help, or who just have plain
good insights to share. Perhaps more importantly, it is a great opportunity to bond with classmates who have chosen
the entrepreneurial path as well!
Non-Profit Board Service with April Chou
Come join us for a small group discussion about nonprofit board service and getting engaged with organizations that
are making a social impact. We'd love to hear about what you are doing to give back and how you are engaging with
local nonprofits or board service. Come share your stories, raise questions, or reflect on emerging lessons or insights.
If you are thinking about how best to get involved and are curious to hear from those who have taken the leap, either
into board service [or career switching?] please join us for this discussion.
Discussion questions:
-How did you decide which organization(s) to get involved with? What should you look for?
-How are you contributing your time, energy, or resources?
-How to you grapple with questions related to governance and management?
-What translates from the private sector or not and why?
Non-Profit Board Service with Alex Terman
Come join us for a small group discussion about nonprofit board service and getting engaged with organizations that
are making a social impact. We'd love to hear about what you are doing to give back and how you are engaging with
local nonprofits or board service. Come share your stories, raise questions, or reflect on emerging lessons or insights.
If you are thinking about how best to get involved and are curious to hear from those who have taken the leap, either
into board service [or career switching?] please join us for this discussion.
Discussion questions:
-How did you decide which organization(s) to get involved with? What should you look for?
-How are you contributing your time, energy, or resources?
-How to you grapple with questions related to governance and management?
-What translates from the private sector or not and why?
Non-Profit Board Service with Kimberly Wicoff
Come join us for a small group discussion about nonprofit board service and getting engaged with organizations that
are making a social impact. We'd love to hear about what you are doing to give back and how you are engaging with
local nonprofits or board service. Come share your stories, raise questions, or reflect on emerging lessons or insights.
If you are thinking about how best to get involved and are curious to hear from those who have taken the leap, either
into board service [or career switching?] please join us for this discussion.
Discussion questions:
-How did you decide which organization(s) to get involved with? What should you look for?
-How are you contributing your time, energy, or resources?
-How to you grapple with questions related to governance and management?
-What translates from the private sector or not and why?
Transitioning Careers with Michael Krot
You’ve built a track record in your chosen industry or enterprise in the 15 years since graduation and you wish to
examine your aspirations and assumptions about navigating executive career transitions over the next 15 years.
-Where are you now? How satisfied are you with your trajectory?
-What is the biggest leadership lesson that you have learned in the 15 years since graduation?
-What are your aspirations? What will it take to achieve them? What are you willing to sacrifice?
-What do you see as the next big career challenge or step change? What will you have to do differently?
-How will you transform yourself to accelerate your readiness for substantially increased responsibility?
Transitioning Careers with Andy Mowat
Unless you are a career McKinsey partner or VC, odds are you will have a few career transitions between GSB and
retirement. Many of us have taken dramatic changes in careers. These changes aren’t always easy and it is valuable
to dialog on our experiences / challenges / tactics and more with fellow classmates. If you have made a career
transition and want to share your story OR think you will have a future one, come join us for discussion.
Transitioning Careers with Erica Serow
Unless you are a career McKinsey partner or VC, odds are you will have a few career transitions between GSB and
retirement. Many of us have taken dramatic changes in careers. These changes aren’t always easy and it is valuable
to dialog on our experiences / challenges / tactics and more with fellow classmates. If you have made a career
transition and want to share your story OR think you will have a future one, come join us for discussion.
A conversation with the ghost of GSB Past with Ori Brafman
Imagine you were able to have a conversation with the you of 15 years ago.
-What would you tell them? "Read the non-markets book more thoroughly"? "Go to more LPFs?" "Choose the career
you did"? "Enter similar or different relationships"?
-What would your past-self tell you? Would they dig your current life? Would they be surprised by anything
happening in your life? Will they ask where to get Peking duck?
-What are the big decisions you're facing right now? How are you, you know, really doing?
In a combination of discussion and small group breakouts, we'll re-spark the kinds of conversations that made the
GSB unique.
15 Years – Really? with Babak Azad
It’s been 15 years since graduation. We’ve all seen a bunch, learned some lessons (some easier than others), and
presumably see the world a bit differently than we did in June of 2001. One theme that often comes up, especially
since none of us are spring chickens anymore, is how we make the most of our time. When we were younger, there
were most likely other things we valued, but as you get older, you realize that the most valuable thing we have in our
lives is time.
During this group conversation, we’ll get to share and hear from others about:
-What it means now to be happy and to enjoy your life
-What’s the same and what is different today vs. 15 years ago – in how you look at the world, spend your time, etc.
-What you might tell the just-graduated version of you
-The 1 or 2 changes – whether personal, professional, or otherwise – that you’re trying to make to get to that next
level of happiness. (We might even ask you what’s holding you back…)
Btw, this will be the group discussion that everyone is going to be talking about the rest of the weekend, so you
won’t want to miss it! Limited seating available. :)
Parenting: How to Raise an Adult with Mark Romer
Scared of raising a Millennial? Tackling how to parent in this digital age? Join our discussion that builds off of the
successful book written by a former Stanford Freshmen Dean. Bring a key challenge you're facing, and let's leverage
our collective brain power to problem-solve....and laugh in the process!