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JULY 2001 MBA JOURNAL: ALUMNI UPDATE Chris Mansolillo: Life After B-School "I managed to burn through two jobs, but I also seemed to squelch any desire to go through yet another insincere interview with the expectation of slaving away only to see someone else profit from my hard work." Fortunately I took heed to the latter unspoken wisdom that somehow resonated with each passing month of disheartening market news the market produced. After being laid off for a second time since my graduaiton from UCLA's Anderson School in June, 2000, I booked a three-week hiatus in South Africa. As you can see, my priorities are a bit whacked. So what happened you ask? Well, for the past five months up until the first week of December 2000, I was working for Scient (an eBusiness consulting company) as a Strategist in their eMarkets and Media and Entertainment Business Units. I couldn't have been happier with the way things were unfolding and how my career was taking shape. I was kicking-ass, enjoying the work, making a name for myself, and having fun to boot. Scient was definitely what I thought to be my calling - an opportunity in disguise that manifested itself as a result of my first layoff, from iExchange.com. Unfortunately, market factors, a poor outlook for strategy services in eBusiness, a lack of new clients, and no need for us MBA types on staff, created a recipe for big cutbacks. Scient, like others in the industry, was forced to clean house and reduce its headcount in order to make up for the shortfall in revenue expectations and the excess burn rate. This housecleaning was so pervasive that almost all of the MBAs who started with me worldwide, along with many others from prior classes, were let go. Was I upset? Yeah -- maybe for like a day or two. Was I expecting this? Kinda. Was I prepared? No, but that's why an unjustified vacation to postpone the need to deal with my newfound state of unemployment until after the holidays was the best decision. Ha ha. So I am back in the states with the New Year ahead of me, and I now have a renewed sense of vision as to what my calling is. While maybe not a blessing in disguise just yet, that's what I'm hoping for. I managed to burn through two jobs, but I also seemed to squelch any desire to go through yet another insincere interview with the expectation of slaving away only to see someone else profit from my hard work. This means I'm pushing forward in a new direction. You guessed it - the entrepreneurial route. Now it's time to put all that great MBA training to work. More than ever, it's a great time to take control of my own destiny. I've decided to make the bold and risky decision to go out on my own with a buddy of mine to attack the business world as strategic consultants. Gratefully, the operation I'm teaming up with has been around for quite some time and has a solid track record. Check us out at www.mb-consulting.com. As for the task at hand, business development and new client generation are at the top of the list. Subsequent to this phase, and with some luck, it will be time to execute. I'm striving for a six-month trial period to gauge if this venture can afford my lifestyle. If it doesn't, I'll then have to resort to both bankruptcy and probably some corporate spreadsheet monkey job with a bunch of bitter people who didn't make it in the dot-com world. Well, let's just say my motivations to steer clear of both these unattractive choices are pushing me even more to make this consulting gig a viable business that will allow me to sustain life. Wish me luck.  | | [an error occurred while processing this directive] Learn about your online education options |
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