My STAR Experience

I’m currently leading a STAR project. STAR (Student Teams Achieving Results) is a Kenan-Flagler program that sends student teams on consulting projects for corporations and not-for-profits seeking to strengthen their global competitiveness.

My team is developing feasibility study for a local entrepreneur. He had a couple of ideas he was kicking around and wanted to figure out if either was worth the investment of his time. One was the manufacturing of a standard set of products using gypsum, a byproduct of coal firing in power plants. This went nowhere; as our team quickly learned, gypsum manufacturing is an established and capital-intensive industry; definitely not the place for a startup.

The other potential idea was biomass pelletization. North Carolina has significant biomass resources and pelletization allows a wide variety of biomass sources, from wood waste to switchgrass, to be dried and transformed into a shape that enables easy transportation and consumption. Pellets are primarily used in heating applications as a fuel for pellet stoves. Unfortunately, pellet stoves are not popular in the southeast; they are present in the northeast and more common in Europe, and the costs to transport the pellets would turn the business opportunity into a volume game. This would again squeeze out the opportunity for a startup.

Enter a process called torrefaction. Torrefaction was new to me and to the team, so we had quite a bit of research to do. What we found was really very interesting. To summarize, torrefaction:

• Is brand new, with only a few firms developing and/or commercializing the technology.
• Reduces biomass weight by 30% while retaining 90% of its energy density.
• Causes biomass to be hydrophobic, significantly improving its storability.
• Allows biomass to be co-fired along with coal in traditional coal-burning power plants, at rates of around 90% coal to 10% biomass.

The implications of the last bullet point are fairly significant from a carbon perspective. The US has over 600 coal-burning power plants, none of which currently utilize this technology. These power plants emit 2,142 million metric tons of CO2 annually. If torrefaction and biomass co-firing were done at every power plant in the US, that would work out to a reduction of 214 million metric tons of CO2 annually, assuming that the biomass feedstocks were grown as part of a closed loop carbon cycle.

No one on my team has any experience in this industry or in a startup environment.  When we started down this path we had literally no idea where it would lead us, and two months in we still don’t know what our final conclusions will be.  But wow! are we learning a lot. Here’s a quick explanation of how STAR works for any of you who might be considering participating in the future:

• The STAR program office lines up prospective clients on an ongoing basis.
• Students submit applications in the middle of first semester.  The STAR folks look through applications and try to establish a fit between clients and students and try to create teams with well-rounded experience and skills.  The percentage of students selected depends on the number of applications received and the number of clients lined up, but this year most of the students who applied were matched with projects.
• Teams are matched with paid advisers who are responsible for meeting with the team on a regular basis and providing guidance.  Advisers’ roles are not to lead the team but rather to prod it along in the correct direction.  My team was lucky enough to get paired up with a very good adviser.
• The project itself is run like a consulting engagement.  There is an engagement letter that defines to scope of work, regular status meetings, deliverables…everything that you’d expect.  In this way, it’s great training for individuals looking to move into consulting from another field.
• There is a weekly STAR class that teaches consulting skills and provides a forum for teams to share ideas and talk through issues with one another.
• Teams meet internally at least once a week and typically more often.  Frequent communication is critical because with all of the other things that each of us have going on, it’s easy to let time slip by without realizing it.
• There are four official client meetings but teams are free to meet with clients more often.  At the fourth meeting, results of the team’s analysis are presented to the client and all deliverables are turned over.

All in all, I’ve truly enjoyed my STAR experience so far.  It’s also looked great on my resume to have experience in the renewable energy industry since I’m trying to change careers into that field; many students find the program valuable for the same reason.  A word of warning however: STAR is not for the faint of heart.  It’s real work, and your performance has real consequences for real businesses.  Plan to commit a significant number of hours every week if you apply.

Tristan Handy

Exploring NC

I enjoy a good road trip.  And, while I’m conflicted about the recent decline in gas prices, $1.70/gallon gasoline certainly makes exploring your backyard a little easier.  Over the past six months, my first as a resident in the great state of North Carolina, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many charming locations throughout the state.

Asheville
Just having returned from a 2-day trip to Asheville I can confidently say that this is one of the coolest towns I’ve ever been to.  It has an amazing arts district supported by a huge amount of local talent, a buzzing local music scene, and a wide choice of bars, restaurants, and cool shops.  It also has the Biltmore estate, the largest home in the US with 250 rooms, and the best green grocery store that I’ve ever been to.  It’s a little bit of a drive from Chapel Hill, but well worth it.

Mt. Rogers
There are tons of great backpacking destinations in NC.  The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area is actually just across the border into Virginia but is a very manageable drive from Chapel Hill.  I did a two-day backpacking trip back in September and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The scenery was amazing, the trails were well-marked and interesting, and there were plenty of locations to pitch a tent.  Amusingly, there are wild ponies that roam around the entire park.

Winston-Salem
I stopped here for several hours on my way back from Mt. Rogers and wish that I had had more time to explore.  I wandered around historic Old Salem, learned about the history of the area, and and some delightful baked goods made in a traditional 1800’s bakery.

Oak Island
Oak Island is a gorgeous beach town about as far south in NC as you can get.  Go here to enjoy the surf and the sun, but don’t expect nightlife or shopping.  My weekend at Oak Island was honestly one of the best beach vacations I’ve taken because of the combination of remoteness and beauty.  There are some excellent restaurants in the downtown area. This link has some pictures of my Oak Island and Mt. Rogers trips.

Hillsborough
Hillsborough is just a short drive North from Chapel Hill.  It’s a very small town with one main strip, and the shops are very cute and the residents exude southern friendliness.  The Blue Bayou Club often has live music and is a really good time.

I knew when I decided to come to Kenan-Flagler that I’d enjoy the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area.  I didn’t realize how much the rest of the state had to offer.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised to say the least.

- Tristan

Macs at KFBS

This year before actually arriving on campus I spent a lot of time reading the prospective student message boards.  One of the big topics of discussion was always choice of computer: many prospective students wanted to get a Mac but were unsure whether it was going to “work” at Kenan-Flagler.  This post is for those incoming students in the class of 2011 that would really like to get a Mac but are worried about about compatibility.

I bought a Macbook Pro and have never looked back.  This post isn’t about why I prefer a Mac.  While I (like so many other snotty Mac users) could talk your ear off about that, I’m trying to be a little more constructive here.

First off, realize that if you get a Mac you’re not alone.  I’d estimate at least 5% and maybe as many as 10% of my class have Macs, probably about evenly split between the standard Macbook and the Pro.  With that many users, there’s always someone to help you out if you run into a problem.

Here are my thoughts and tips:

• Install virtualized Windows.  I personally use VMWare Fusion, but Parallels is fine too.  Every once in a while you just have to use Windows (especially two Excel add-ons, Crystal Ball and tree plan, both used in Mod 1).  In such cases it’s much more convenient if you don’t have to restart in boot camp.
• Entourage works fine and most people use it.  You can respond to calendar invites, do busy searches, reserve rooms, browse public folders, and look people up in the address book.
• I don’t use Entourage.  I used it for two months and then just got completely fed up.  It’s a very average program, whereas iCal and Mail are both very lightweight and good.  So, don’t think that you need to use Entrourage if you’re used to something else.  You’ll need to get a little creative though (see next bullet).
• You need to keep your Outlook Calendar up-to-date.  It’s important.  The non-Entourage way I do it is actually kind of geeky, but I’ll summarize.  My primary calendar is iCal (love it).  This syncs to Google Calendar via Spanning Sync.  Then I sync up Google Calendar with Outlook using Google’s really simple sync program.  This all happens in the background–I just had to install the software and now I let it do its thing.  If you use Entourage you don’t have to worry about any of this.
• Outlook Web Access works just fine in Safari and Firefox.
• All shared drives are accessible via FTP; there’s an easy how-to guide.  I use an FTP program that I like a lot called Transmit and a classmate recommends one called FireFTP.
• Printing to the school printers is easy.  Again, there’s a how-to guide.
• You’ll use Solver a lot.  Fortunately, there’s a pretty decent Solver for MS Office 2008 now.  I’ve found it to be functionally equivalent to the Windows version.
• Spend the $$ to buy extra RAM.  When you’re virtualizing Windows Vista it really helps to have all the RAM you can get.  I bought 4GB online for $80 and installed it myself.  Super cheap and super easy.  There are videos on YouTube that will show you how.
• The IT help desk will try to help you.  They may not always have all the answers but they usually do pretty well.

That’s really it as far as Kenan-Flagler specific things.  My last recommendation (really a plea): try out Quicksilver.  It’s one of the things that can boost your productivity dramatically on OS X.  Look around for tips and tricks on how best to use it.  It takes a little while to learn but can make your life much easier.

Overall, I wouldn’t worry too much about getting a Mac if that’s the way you already wanted to go.  Macs work just fine at Kenan-Flagler.  There are times when you may have to work a little harder, but weigh that against the benefits of OS X and from my perspective there’s a clear choice.

- Tristan

Net Impact 2008 Micro-post

There are about 40 KFBS students attending the 2008 Net Impact North America conference in Philadelphia this year.  Three of us–myself, Napoleon Wallace, and Liz Paxton–are the official conference bloggers.  We are posting information and thoughts throughout the weekend.  Check it out!

Tristan

Opportunities

One of my favorite things about Kenan-Flagler is the abundance of opportunities.  I feel like all I have to do sometimes is open my mouth and tilt my head just a little bit and an opportunity will land right on my tongue.  It’s rare for a day to go by without some interesting opportunity falling in my lap.  Many of these are career-related, the type of opportunities that made me want to come back to school.  But many of them aren’t, and they’re every bit as valuable.

Two weeks ago about 40 Kenan-Flagler students and students from 6 other top international business schools participated in an event called “GE Live”.  The event was a question and answer session with Jeff Immelt moderated by Maria Bartiromo.  The 40 of us sat in a classroom that was set up like a TV studio for the event and were periodically spliced into the live feed in that classic “MBA thoughtful” pose.  Two of us got up to ask questions, which Jeff answered in real time.

Here’s a picture I snapped with my iPhone…apologies for the poor quality.

It’s not like I had a direct conversation with Jeff but it did feel like I was participating in something interesting and out of the ordinary.  I’ve never been on live TV before, and even though I only made it into the broadcast very briefly, the prospect that at any moment I could show up on the screen was very strange.  It definitely made me sit up straight.  It also made me wonder whether I’ll ever be on CNBC talking about some new startup that I founded.

Kenan-Flagler just seems to be this place where neat things happen.

Tristan