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Read about all the cool things the BC Grad Tech Club is doing!

Googlers, Analytics, and Google Correlate

Last night Googlers from the Consumer Insights team visited our Analytics and BI Class. The presentation was fascinating and really made our coursework come alive. One of the tools we looked as was Google Correlate and as brief assignment for class, I wrote a quick blog post about my experiences playing around with it and thought I would share it here as well:

Our guests from Google’s consumer insights group definitely peaked my interest so I thought I would have some fun looking at different searches I have done today and what correlates based on recent google searches. While we know and are constantly reminded that correlation does not equal causation, I thought it would be fun to hypothesize some explanations. Some are legitimate and some just for laughs. Enjoy and feel free to add your own.

Job Interview

Top Correlations: Analyst, Product Manager

Most interesting: Pass Drug Test

My Take: I had an interview this morning and was trying to make sure I got the most common questions covered. Looks like I am not alone as “common questions”, “offer letters” and other such queries related to the job search are commonplace. It also looks like people are very interested in my old job “analyst” and my new job “Product Manager”. We also see that a number of people having job interviews may also be recreational drug users and concerned about their ability to pass a drug test. While there are no hard numbers attached, this suggests that a large number of professionals in the US may be users.

Wedding Photographer

Top Correlations: Wedding Flowers, Wedding Planners

Most Interesting: Free Baby

My Take: I was searching because a friend of mine is a highly rated wedding photographer and I was interested to see what his reviews said. It looks like, not surprisingly, that most people are actually searching for wedding photographers when planning a wedding and therefore also looking for other vendors. What is less obvious is what exactly a “Free Baby” is and why those seeking Wedding Photographers are curious about them. I know I promised hypotheses so I will venture one that is completely absurd: Couples who are both planning a wedding and have no candidates for ring-bearers or flower girls are looking to lock them down now but have just seen the cost of wedding photography and other vendors and therefore needed to get the young ones for very free.

Leveraged Buyout

Top Correlation: LBO

Most Interesting: APA Style Guide, Babelfish Translator

My Take: I searched this because of my corporate finance class and LBO makes sense as it is the acronym. More interesting, however, is APA Style Guide and Babelfish Translator. Granted they are in the .6 range below Google’s .8 benchmark but correlated nonetheless. APA Style Guide suggests that the majority of people interested in LBOs are academics studying corporate finance (like myself) and that those actually taking part in them are both few and generally knowledgeable enough to not need to Google it. I did not know what BabelFish translator was until now but apparently it is the oldest english translation site on the web. While Yahoo! replaced it with Bing it still exists to redirect and apparently is still used enough to show up in search results frequently. Not surprising based on the assumption that most people searching LBOs are students is the fact that non-native english speakers studying corporate finance might need frequent translation.

I’ve had some fun with these but even in a generally unguided exploration of Google Correlate we begin to see how it good be used to create hypotheses. They would need to be tested of course but the the business and academic use cases certainly make sense.

-David LoVerme is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and the President of the Grad Tech Club

Talking Shop with Facebook PMs

Earlier this week, members of the BC Grad Tech Club had the fantastic opportunity to visit Facebook’s Cambridge office to breakfast with Facebookers involved with the Rotational Product Manager Program. We learned about the opportunities at Facebook and generally talked shop about what Product Management means at Facebook and how a company with 1.3 billion monthly active users can create a product that can be pushed out globally and still feels incredibly personal and tailored to the individual. The RPM program is a fantastic opportunity and we are incredibly grateful to Facebookers Ashley Chinn, Greg Marra, and Layla Amjadi for sharing their morning, their insights, and their breakfast with us!

Grad Techers David LoVerme, Nicole Gonzalez, and Marin Rowe in Facebook’s Cambridge office

Even as an experienced product manager myself, I learned a great deal in just a few minutes talking with our friends from Facebook and they were kind enough to allow me to share what I learned here on BCGradTechClub.net. Over the last year I have talked to hundreds of product managers and gotten a myriad of different answers when I asked what a PM does. One of the best and most accessible descriptions I have heard came during the breakfast from Facebooker Greg Marra. “A Product Manager is like a conductor of an orchestra,” he said, even though the conductor doesn’t actually play any of the individual instruments, he or she brings everyone together and coordinates each individual part so that the end result is better than it would be otherwise. Likewise, a product manager’s job is to synthesize the team so that each individual member can focus on putting their best foot forward. While some companies have their PM team sit together, at Facebook, each PM is assigned to a Product Team consisting of about 10 engineers, a product designer, an analyst, and a product manager. Within the team, the PM’s role varies throughout the life cycle of the product but is always related to defining the course and keeping the team on track. At Facebook, product teams follow an iterative cycle of Understand–>Explore–>Execute. While the team operates as a whole, responsibility for identifying the problem to solve, identifying possible approaches and narrowing in on one, and working with engineering to build it lives with the Product Manager. Along the way, the PM must plan, set milestones, define goals, and define success.

Interestingly, however, while it really seems like the PM is the leader of the team (after all manager is in the job title!) he or she has no direct reports. I’ve often heard said, a PM has a lot of influence but no real authority. Direct reports or not, a PM must deliver and therefore, setting the right vision and rallying everyone to the cause is crucial. PM’s must be able to adapt their language and mannerisms to their audience, speaking the language of business with executives, technology with engineers, and data with analysts. Regardless of background, Layla joked, business people are going to think you are tech geeks and engineers are going to think you are business only but if you recognize and accept this and can prove yourself as just a little more savvy than the average bear you will win the respect of everyone and gain the influence you need. Flexibility, intellectual curiosity, and “strong opinions loosely held” are key to the success in the role.

Grad Tech President David LoVerme at Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters on Grad TechTrek West 2014

One of the most eye opening things about our visit was getting a glimpse into the culture of Facebook the company. With 1.3 Billion users, Facebook is ubiquitous. Everyone knows the social network and everyone has an opinion. Lost sometimes, however, is the fact that it is a real company led by incredibly talented and passionate people. The company’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. They have a poster on the wall asking the question “Are we a tech company?” without a definite answer but rather as a means to stimulate real self-examination. Everything the company does is to fulfill the goal of helping people connect to each other and it is the Product Manager’s role to ensure that every product or feature serves this purpose. The company seeks people with a curiosity about the world who love to learn, are highly proactive, have a high energy level, and who are positive and yet maintain a healthy dissatisfaction about the status quo.

After spending the morning with Greg, Layla, and Ashley, it is no surprise that Facebook is such a highly sought after and successful company. Having met them and knowing the other BC Eagles and friends of the Grad Tech Club we have in Cambridge, Austin, and of course Menlo Park the company is ripe with highly talented and passionate people and I am very excited to see what the future holds!

-David LoVerme is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and the President of the Grad Tech Club

BPMA Career Night

On Thursday, Sep 18, members of the BC Grad Tech Club attended the Boston Product Management Associations Career Night at the Microsoft NERD Center. Starting with an hour of networking, we met like-minded MBAs from MIT and Babson and set the groundwork for future collaboration. Likewise, we spent some time hearing about the great things going on at LogMeIn (where BC MBA Alum Steve Schult runs product for join.me). After some tasty snacks and fruitful conversations, it was on to the main event: a panel themed on transitioning into Product Management.

There was about and hour of great knowledge but here are a few key take-aways:

There is a great demand out there for Product Managers right now but everyone is chasing the same “mythical unicorns” with years of experience, cutting edge knowledge, and strong technical expertise. Since these are hard to find, companies are willing to hire people making career switches but you absolutely have to demonstrate your translatable skills and communicate them in the language of your target industry. Highlighting an end-to-end project you have completed and blogging are great ways to do this.
90% of companies use Linkedin at some point in the job process–you cannot be passive and you have to keep your profile up to date
Storytelling and Communication are two of the most important skills a PM can possess
Find a space you are passionate about and seek it out
- Take your 2-3 proudest work stories you have and identify what they have in common, this can give some guidance
Biggest No-Nos
- Not knowing the market; who the customer is and what drives the market
- Showing up on Day 1 and trying to tell people what to do; start by listening and learn as much as you can from other departments
- Don’t guess, admit what you don’t know
Find a mentor (internal or external)
Formula for Cold Messaging on LinkedIn:
- Keep it short but include 4 parts:
  - Statement of Commonality (Same school, shared connection, shared interest, etc)
  - Why them?
  - Call to Action (informational interview, etc)
  - Thanks!

We look forward to future events with the BPMA and to setting up some great on-campus sessions with a couple of the presenters!

-David LoVerme is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and the President of the Grad Tech Club

Grad Tech Summer: Bobby Gooch (MBA 2015)

E-Mail: goochr@bc.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/robert-gooch/6a/7a0/381
Twitter: @bobbygooch3

Hey Everyone – just wanted to post some quick thoughts and impressions from my summer internship. Contact info above; feel free to reach out with questions.

-Where did I work? What does the company do?
I spent my summer working for OrderGroove, a small software company (about 40 people) based in NYC. OrderGroove helps large retailers set up subscription services. For example, if you are shopping for vitamins on CVS.com and decide you want them auto-delivered every 3 months, we set up the software to manage that program and develop best practices to help improve acquisition and retention.

-What is my role?
I work as an Analyst on the Marketing Analytics team. Essentially, I organize and interpret data to help internal teams and clients get a better understanding of the metrics related to their subscription program. I use these insights to help the company run better A/B tests, make product decisions, and develop marketing content.

-How did I find the internship?
I met an OrderGroove team member at a startup fair down in NYC. We chatted for a few minutes about my past experience and what sort of role I was looking for. I followed up a couple of days later, was asked to do about 4 or 5 phone/video interviews over the course of a week, and accepted an offer about a week before classes ended.

Quick aside: These sorts of job fairs go on throughout the year and they are a great way to meet a lot of companies in a short amount of time (BC actually hosts its own event in the spring, and you can check out http://startupjobfair.org/ for events in other cities).

-What are the top 2-3 classes from BC that have been most helpful?
Market Research: My primary responsibility is to aggregate data, determine what that data is telling us, and use it to make recommendations to other teams in the company. Market Research was great prep for this.
Statistics: I spend part of my time actually conducting A/B tests and determining their statistical significance. Always good to have a grasp of stats basics.
E-Commerce: It’s important to understand the current state of the industry and learn more about where it may be headed in the future.

-How will my experiences this summer inform my final year?
I’ve decided to keep working part-time for the company during the school year, and I’ll be heading back down to work for them full-time in May.

-What energizes you about the Tech field?
It’s attracting a lot of smart, motivated people. Yes, that may make it more competitive, but I think it also makes it more exciting. There are lots of people out there with good ideas and a passion for technology, and I think it’s an exciting time to be involved in the industry.

-What advice would you give to MBA looking to break into Tech and/or your particular space?
“Can’t knock the hustle”…. Take the initiative to introduce yourself to people in the industry and expand your network. Learn as much as you can about companies, job functions and industry trends. Check out events like Cyberposium and various job fairs. You’ll find most of these internships, especially at smaller companies, by doing research on your own and creating your own opportunities. It’s a bit of extra work, but it’s worth it. Finally – be patient. While you should be doing research and building your network ASAP, many small tech companies won’t even be considering summer interns until April or May, simply because their planning is very short-term (consider picking up some part-time working during the school year for a Boston-based company). Don’t worry if you don’t have something locked up as the end of the year approaches; just keep putting in the time to find the right opportunity.

Bobby Gooch is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and a member of the Grad Tech Club

Tech and the Ice Bucket Challenge

Grad Tech Advisor John Gallaugher taking the Ice Bucket Challenge

By now you have probably seen dozens of your friends, family, celebrities, and perfect strangers dumping ice over their heads to raise awareness and donations for ALS research. You might know that Pete Frates, the inspiration behind the #icebucketchallenge to strikeout ALS, is a BC alumnus and captain of the Baseball team while in the Heights. While it seems like everyone has a different opinion on the matter, the viral trend has raised an unprecedented level of money and awareness for what has really been an underfunded and overlooked disease. The BC Grad Tech Club supports Pete and his efforts to strikeout ALS and many of our members have completed the challenge, including our President David LoVerme and our Faculty Advisor Professor John Gallaugher. The movement has certainly taken off because of the genuine efforts and determination of those who started it and the goodness of the cause, but I also want to take a quick look at the Technology that has enabled it.

Social Networking

When Pete Frates entered BC in 2003, Facebook did not exist. Myspace, Friendster, Livejournal and others were competing for users but none had the sheer user base needed to set off a viral campaign like the one we are seeing now. BC was the 17th school to get Facebook after its founding in 2004 and it would be a little while more before the Wall would go from an open space editable by anyone to the newsfeed we now see projected to others.

Smart Phones

The first iPhone was released (and marketed by BC’s own Phil Schiller) in 2007. Prior to that a video going viral meant that for someone to do the ice bucket challenge, they would have needed a video or digital camera, then to tape the challenge, transfer it to a computer, upload it to YouTube (itself only founded in 2005), then share the link. Such a process creates a significant barrier to entry and would have slowed the growth of the movement. Smartphones reduce the process to one device and just a few seconds from filming to upload but even these did not reach 50% adoption in the United States until 2012. Without smart phones, it would be hard to have the ice bucket challenge.

Facebook Video

Video first started to make its way to Facebook in a meaningful way in 2011 but only if you played it. One of the most enabling features of the Ice Bucket Challenge is scrolling through a feed and seeing your friends in motion dumping buckets over their heads. This autoplay feature was only released in late 2013 and a strong argument can be made that the ice bucket challenge would not be as successful without it.

Online Payment Services

Sometimes lost in the fun of watching your high school teachers, your girlfriend, and George W. Bush dump ice water over their heads is the fact that it has also raised a ton of money for ALS research…$16 million as of my writing. That is a lot of money to give to organizations most people had never heard of before. What makes us so willing to break out the credit cards and input our information online? This is a testament to the traction that online payment services have gained. PeteFrates.com allows you donate using PayPal and the ALS Association allows donors to use PayPal or Amazon to complete their donations, often without having to input any credit card information if they already have accounts. Companies like BC founded WePay are pushing the envelope even further with advances in identity and fraud checks and integration with crowdfunding sites to make fundraising even more accessible in the future.

There are lots of other tech elements that have helped enable the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge such as hashtags and tv online but I think this is enough to give a good taste of the impact Tech can have. As noted academic Herbert Simon Said, however:

There are no morals about technology at all. Technology expands our ways of thinking about things, expands our ways of doing things. If we’re bad people we use technology for bad purposes and if we’re good people we use it for good purposes.

In my opinion, the Ice Bucket Challenge is a great example of good people using technology for a good purpose. The BC Grad Tech Club seeks to fortify the Tech industry with Eagles of high moral character and to keep using technology to better mankind.

To learn more about BC Eagle Pete Frates and his fight against ALS, visit: www.PeteFrates.com

To learn more about ALS and what you can do to help, visit: www.alsa.org

-David LoVerme is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and the President of the Grad Tech Club

What’s in a domain?

As frequent visitors of our site may have noticed, we are undergoing a major overhaul. In line with the club’s direction for the 2014 year, we are adapting the site to include things such as the Hire an Eagle page. The goal was to leverage LinkedIn’s API to embed profile cards directly from LinkedIn. In fact, it turns out that LinkedIn provides a WordPress plugin that would make the process that much easier. Despite my best efforts, however, I could not figure out how to add this plugin and ultimately became frustrated. I had no problem doing this on past WP sites that I work on so what was I missing?

With a bit of research I learned that WordPress is actually two sites, WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG. Our site is currently hosted on WordPress.COM which provides hosting and easy tools but also limits the flexibility to customize. Conversely, WordPress.ORG provides the WordPress site management tools but the site itself is hosted elsewhere. This allows for much greater customization and the installation of plugins. In order to install the LinkedIn plugin, therefore, we will need to buy hosting space on another service and migrate the site over. Thankfully there are are lots of great tutorials online to help us through the process.

A key part of the Tech Club’s mission is to provide our members with meaningful skills based on real, hands-on experience. Let the learning begin!

For a full comparison of WordPress.com and WordPress.org check out the site.

-David LoVerme is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and the President of the Grad Tech Club

BC Grad Tech takes Tech Jam Boston

June 12 was Tech Jam Boston in City Hall Plaza. Some of the best tech companies in the world were on display flanked by food trucks and some pretty talented performers. While I got a free Roxie’s Grilled Cheese and Harpoon Beer (thanks LogMeIn!) the real highlight was making so many great connections with truly friendly and amazing people. No surprises here but BC played a big role! I saw some friendly faces from TechTrek Boston’s Hubspot visit and even ran into double Eagle Steven Schult (BS ’03, MBA ’10) who is now a Sr. Product Manager at join.me, LogMeIn’s stellar screenshare and collaboration tool. We’re looking forward to spending more time with Steven when we visit LogMeIn’s offices later this year! I even ran into the Owl from our neighbors in Newton TripAdvisor. All in all it was a great day despite the weather and something we hope to be an even bigger part of next year. Thanks to all the organizers and to Continuum Managed Services (lots of Eagles there too) for keeping me powered up with all the phone charging stations! See you next year!

-David LoVerme is a 2nd Year MBA at Boston College and the President of the Grad Tech Club