f2f2s |

I completed and turned in applications to two MBA programs: Georgia Tech and Berkeley. I got accepted into Tech with a full scholarship and GRA position, and I got rejected from Berkeley. Now, I can make all the excuses I want about turning in my application super late (seriously like 2 days before the final deadline thanks to some slow recommendation letters) but the fact is I didn’t get in. Had I been accepted, I probably would’ve taken it. Loans, shmoans, I wanted Berkeley.

And events like this are an example why: Startonomics Conference. This is a full day event this Thursday featuring speakers from venture firms and start up companies operating in and around the Bay Area, and I am interested in pretty much every session they offer. In fact, if I was still 5 weeks younger and could fly for free I would seriously consider going out to SF for a day and spending the $195 for a student registration. So, if any students out in the San Francisco area (read: Tyler) are reading this, please go to this and tell me everything you learned.

Now, I am going to an Atlanta VC/Entrepreneur conference in about two weeks called Venture Atlanta. A friend of mine does some work with the ATDC and was able to let me know about how to register as a student for $60. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great opportunity and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot, but there are some obvious differences between the two events.

The first has more established companies and much more experienced players in the start up landscape explaining what they did to become successful. That disparity in name recognition is just kind of a given considering the relative locations of the two events. Also, Startonomics is more of an education opportunity for a lot of people, which would be a lot more beneficial for me. Venture Atlanta has presentations with people describing what their business does, but it’s mostly a networking opportunity for people looking for funding. Of course, when you throw in that basically the whole first day is invitation only it really hurts the networking ability for me.

So yeah, I’m not trying to sound disappointed, I’ve got a great opportunity coming up to meet good people and learn some things. But this head-to-head comparison pretty much sums up why I wanted to be out West and probably will be in a few years.

Oh, and by the way Berkeley, you rejected me, so please stop sending me e-mails about upcoming information sessions.