Golasoooooo

A few nights ago I was fortunate to experience a World Cup qualifier futbol (soccer) game at Estadio Nacional in Santiago where Chile played host to Bolivia. For those of you who have not experienced the "beautiful game" at the highest level outside of the United States, you must include that on your destination list. Knowledge of futbol doesn't matter, albeit the game is fairly simple with 11 men on each team trying to kick a ball into the opponent's goal. It is the experience that withstands time. Stadiums vary depending on the country you are in however you can be sure that you will be standing for the better part of 90 minutes. In my case, the stadium held a capacity of 65,000 fans, and with the exception of a few empty Bolivian seats, the stadium was packed with Chilenos cheering on their national team as they tried to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

As the Bolivians entered the pitch (field), the crowd chanted garavatos "curses" in unison, as if to say that a simple "BOOO" just wasn't enough. The entire crowd stood up pouring their hearts and cheering their throats out for the national anthem. Every few seconds a portion of the stadium would initiate a rhythmic chant, one of many songs associated and culturally customized to the team and sang in the national language of the country, and within seconds the rest of the stadium would pick up the tune and start singing along. Between words, you could hear the echo of the previous verse bounce off Santiago's metropolis. Between songs, peanut and ice cream vendors inter-weaved through the crowds yelling "mani, mani" (peanuts, peanuts). Then it happened; Chile broke loose at the end of the first half with an aggressive attack, a brilliant cross terminating in a perfectly placed header. GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLAAAAAASOOOOOOOO. The noise was deafening (my ears are still ringing today after 3 days). Fans jumped to avoid getting trampled yet in that moment, getting trampled wasn't a bad thing because you knew the guy next to you would lift you up. The Galleria section where the students and the more rambunctious sit, lit flares and fireworks. My eyes followed one of these rockets that lifted into the air and as the bright red pulp lit the clear night sky, I closed them; only to listen the rhythmic beats of the sensation, the universal language of passion, loyalty and love. I opened my eyes to see the red ball of fire nearing my head without a breeze to blow it away.

Chile won the game 4-0 sparking an endless night of festivities. After 12 years, Chile will be represented in the World Cup in South Africa playing the "World's Game" . Woven by the passion of each and every Chileno, La Roja will make the ball dance to the rhythmic chants of the crowd. A similar story will be told for each of the 31 participating countries. Win or loose, one thing for certain will be the pride and passion of the supporters exemplifying futbol's power to unite. Perhaps one day Eyes On Campus will in a small way have a similar effect, uniting the student community to showcase their passion and pride for their campus.

P.S. The breeze did finally come just in time to drift away the red ball of fire, probably onto someone else's head.

Eyes On Campus Grassroots Awareness

If I had to give a "state of the company" address for Eyes On Campus, the key message would be this: We've made tons of great progress in creating a platform that will facilitate the development of the ultimate insider's guide to campus life. The challenge now is for us to generate awareness for the site which in turn will lead to the development of insider content.

To tackle this challenge, we're launching several different "grassroots-type" initiatives. To start out, we created this blog. The purpose of the blog isn't to simply have "koom-bah-yah" moments with our readers in which we pat ourselves on the back. Just like Eyes On Campus itself, the blog is intended for us to share our thoughts, unfiltered and uncensored. We welcome all comments, whether they praise our postings or vehemently blast them. We believe that this honest exchange will open our eyes (no pun intended) and ultimately result in the forward progress of Eyes On Campus.

Additionally, we've embraced social networking and have an Eyes On Campus Twitter Page along with an Eyes On Campus Facebook Page. Both these channels allow you to easily stay up to speed on our latest news and tell friends about Eyes On Campus.

Our YouTube channel is designed primarily to share video communication from us, rather than campus insider information. For campus insider videos, you can embed YouTube videos in the relevant section of Eyes On Campus.

While technology has made amazing strides, there's something special about getting in front of people and having a face-to-face interaction. And with that in mind, we're planning on visiting as many campuses as possible to spread the word about Eyes On Campus.

Malcolm Gladwell defined the Tipping Point as the level at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable. The journey for Eyes On Campus to get to the Tipping Point will no doubt be a daunting challenge. Yet once it happens, the power of collaboration will catapult us into a realm of knowledge and creativity that exceeds our wildest dreams.

I Got Lucky

I recently came back from Chicago after attending my 1-year reunion for business school. That's right, a one-year school organized reunion. A lot of folks kept asking me, "a one-year school reunion? That's too soon! Who does that?!" The funny thing is that for the 2008 MBA class at the Kellogg School of Management, the reunion couldn't come soon enough. We looked forward to reconnecting with friends who had been a daily part of our lives over the course of two years.

As I look back, I think the strong bonds I formed with my classmates at Kellogg were mainly due to the student culture, the location of the school itself, and our overall personality compatibility. As it's well documented, Kellogg instills a culture of teamwork in its academic curriculum. In fact, Kellogg applies its teamwork philosophy almost to a fault, since certain projects might be better served if they were worked on an individual basis. For example, I once had to write a 10-page paper in a team of five other classmates and it certainly felt like there were too many cooks in the kitchen. But for the most part, working in numerous teams prepared us well for the working world, which calls for us to take on leadership as well as supporting roles when working in groups.

In addition to its culture, the school's location within the university nurtured strong relationships among its student community. Kellogg is located in Evanston, which has the benefits of a tight-knit college town yet is close enough to downtown Chicago for students who have the urge to get away. All my friends lived blocks away from each other, so meeting up never required much planning. There were a few bars blocks away from campus that we inevitably found ourselves in multiple nights a week. And while I can't be certain, I swear I could hear the chorus to the Cheers theme song somewhere in the background every time I walked in to one of our college bars.

Needless to say, our first-year reunion was a blast. The reunion lasted from Friday till Sunday and it basically felt like one long party. More than anything, the reunion affirmed my feeling that Kellogg was the right business school for me. To a certain degree, I got lucky. I only got a small taste of Kellogg life during my initial campus visit. While the admit weekend that Kellogg runs gave me a better glimpse into what my life as a student would be like, it didn't establish much differentiation between other schools. At the end of the day, I trusted my gut and it worked out. With Eyes On Campus, no one needs to rely on chance anymore. Visit the site and contribute your knowledge so that you and others can find the best fitting school possible.

I'm a Mac

I didn't realize it till recently, but I'm a Mac. The sense of wonder I felt in 1986 when my dad bought our first computer still stays with me to this day. That Macintosh XL was way ahead of its time. Many of its operating system elements such as the menu bar and the "trash can" are maintained in their full glory to this day in current Apple computers.

Although that Macintosh XL was a pleasure to own, it was the last Apple computer I owned till this year. For close to two decades I endured driver configuration headaches, unexplainable operating system slowdowns, and virus threats for the sake of saving money on my Windows computers.

This year, I finally had enough and made the switch to the Apple universe. I have a 15" MacBook Pro and am rocking the iPhone 3G. What a difference that sexy Apple logo makes. The products work the way you expect them to. New features are breakthroughs in innovation rather than things you should take for granted (the Windows 95 promo which advertised allowing for spaces in file names still makes me laugh).

But I digress. I'm not here to hate on Windows. Instead, I want to praise Apple's goal of perfecting the user experience in every product it puts out. In fact, when we designed the Eyes On Campus website, we used Apple's user interface design as our benchmark for excellence. We'll be the first to admit that our website has plenty of room for improvement. Our decision to utilize MediaWiki as the engine for the collaborative content of Eyes On Campus has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it's the same engine that powers Wikipedia, and has a thriving open-source development community. On the other hand, the editing interface does take some getting used to. While I've never had to open an instruction manual for Apple products, Eyes On Campus has developed tutorial videos that we think our users may need to see to become comfortable with the MediaWiki interface.

But with that said, I'm confident we've laid the foundation for us to realize our vision of becoming the ultimate insider's guide to campus life. Recently, I used an Internet archive tool to check out Apple's website in the year 2000. It's quite a stark contrast from the way it looks today, but the fundamental aspects of the brand--intuitiveness, simplicity, and elegant design are all there in spades. Hopefully when I look back on this version of the Eyes On Campus website several years from now, I'll make a similar comparison.

Over a scoop of Haagen Dazs

Tonight over dinner, I had the chance to speak with a close friend about the potential of Eyes On Campus. The discussion though initially broad in nature, soon focused on a specific demographic of students that can benefit immensely from such a resource - International Students. As our conversation swayed back and forth like the branches to the storm outside, drifting from our travels to our professions, our childhood to our own respective college experiences, we repeatedly returned to stories of good friends whose paths to our colleges had been vastly different than ours. Some of the close friends we have today were not born or brought up in America; on the contrary, many found their homes here after their undergraduate education for which they had crossed the seven seas.

From the point we conceived of the idea for Eyes on Campus, to today where we have a fully functional website and a growing community, our focus has been to provide the ultimate resource for students to make a well-informed decision on where they will spend their formative academic years. Our vision was to create a resource that broke down boundaries for students to understand the intangibles of campus life from the voices of actual students.

As I sat there with a mouthful of silky honey Haagen Dazs topped with strawberries (yum), our discussion drifted to the difficulties some of our friends had faced when making their campus decision. Neither of our friends had visited a US campus prior to deciding; instead their decision was primarily driven by a combination of the institution's academic prowess and financial aid. We had known a few students in our freshman year of college who couldn't adjust to both the academic and social culture of our respective campuses leading them to return back home with shattered dreams and maxed-out credit cards. I had known of students who experienced depression; some even burned out without ever achieving a study-life balance. Some found it very difficult to make friends, feeling alienated in their new home while distanced from their familiarity.

During my freshman year, I can remember countless days walking up and down Bruin walk without a conversation or hello. In a sea of 30,000 students, I was a minnow entertained by the voice inside, not that of a friend or a friendly stranger. Although my friend circle grew over my four years, I can still remember how isolated and alone I had initially felt as I tried to find my fit.
As I finished up the last drop of ice cream, I could only imagine how difficult it must be for those international students, foreign to the culture, language, food, with often times the hopes and dreams of their families and ancestors on their shoulders. Their plight and resolve fuel my passion to make Eyes On Campus the ultimate free resource, without barriers, for all students.

As Eyes On Campus seeks to be the "ultimate insider's guide to campus life", it will provide valuable insight into the intangibles of student life, academic balance, professor reviews, and social life, thus allowing international students to virtually explore a wide range of campuses without incurring the financial burden of crossing the seven seas for a campus tour. Eyes On Campus will not only provide a platform for International students to isolate campuses that fit their personality and academic ambitions but also provide a guide that exposes hot spots and restaurant options that provide a channel for socializing with others of similar interest. By doing so, perhaps in a very small way, Eyes On Campus can open doors to friendships and pave the bridge across the seven seas. Perhaps Eyes On Campus can provide a jump-start for international students to find the right home away from home; a place where they can receive a good education, enjoy the social life and make lifelong friends with whom they can one day sit around and savor a scoop of Haagen Dazs.

Foresight is 20/20

Eyes On Campus evolved to fill a core gap in the way students evaluate their campus choices. After all, the years post matriculation are the most sculpting and fun years of a student's life so why make that decision uninformed? In retrospect, I was fortunate that my alma-mater (UCLA) for the most part fit my needs; UCLA had a vibrant social scene, competitive D-1 athletic program, beautiful campus, warm climate, and a challenging academic curriculum, all of which molded nicely to fit my personality. However my decision to attend UCLA was not because of my due diligence in research; instead I showed up n the footsteps of Royce Hall Royce Hall for student orientation primarily based on hearsay and prestige. I had visited the campus but received a myopic view of only the best aspects of campus and student life. I read the brochures only to see more of the same, all of which skewed my perception of the reality at UCLA. As the fabled saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, and as I look back, there were many elements of UCLA student life that I was unaware of entering my freshman year. Nowhere did I read or hear about how daunting and overwhelming a campus of 40,000 could be. Nor did I read or hear about the theory bloated approach of my engineering curriculum taught by the brightest yet sometimes most apathetic minds.

Our focus for Eyes On Campus was to provide 20/20 foresight to students. But to do so, we needed to establish a platform for collaboration and peel away from the age-old approach of Campus biased brochures and student advocates who are paid to talk up their respective schools. Eyes On Campus provides a wiki-based overview platform for core elements of student life (campus, restaurants, transportation, etc.). For those of you unfamiliar with wikis, imagine that you have a blank canvas on the internet to write whatever you want about a specific topic, however your friend can see what you have written and add to it as he/she deems fit. Like this, as more eyes glance at your original article, the more refined and accurate your article gets.

Similarly, Eyes On Campus provides a blank canvas for the user community to contribute freely on what they feel are the most relevant points about the core elements of student life. As an example, student-users can enter their thoughts on the Student Culture of a campus providing insight into specific nuances that you would not otherwise find in campus brochures or guide books. Inaccuracies are socially regulated by subsequent users who can go to the page and make changes as they seem fit. The beauty of providing a blank canvas and a paintbrushes to the entire user community is to empower students to have a voice and give a platform for collaboration, hence ultimately creating the "Ultimate Insider's Guide to Campus Life". The best part is that the "Ultimate Insider's Guide" is always relevant and recent keeping in-sync with the dynamic nature of campus life where the student culture, restaurant options, teacher and classes, are all constantly changing.

The success of Eyes On Campus will ultimately be driven by the passion and enthusiasm of its user community. We aim to "strip schools naked" exposing their strengths and weaknesses. The Eyes On Campus team has laid the framework for students past and present to contribute their thoughts. So take this as our open invitation to you all to pick up your paintbrushes and start painting the truth about your campus. The canvas is empty. Be the first. Join our community and give the 20/20 foresight you and all other students deserve when making your campus decision.

Sign Up for Eyes On Campus

Is Eyes On Campus "Awesome"?

Tekzilla recently interviewed the CEO of Twitter, Evan Williams. Fittingly, he used Twitter as the medium to take questions. One of the questions that sparked my interest was "what advice would you give someone trying to build their own startup?" His answer was simple, but poignant: "Just do something awesome". The answer possibly mooched off of the Nike "Just do it" motto a bit, but it was a good one nonetheless.

This naturally made me ask myself, "is Eyes On Campus awesome?" Did this idea merit our efforts in launching a startup? The easy answer would have been to tell myself yes--but I wanted to dig deeper, and look at the devil's advocate position. The success of Eyes On Campus is entirely dependent on the passion of its user community in sharing thoughts and developing collaborative content. With so many websites already demanding the regular attention and time of internet users, is there room for another?

While this is a valid point, Evan Williams' elaboration on his answer validated my belief in Eyes On Campus:

"A lot of things are evolutionary, and it is easy to get caught up on what the geek subculture thinks. There’s lots of valuable businesses that can be built there, but I think that is where a lot of people tend to spin their wheels, and I’ve been caught up there before. When I’ve had more successful things, I’ve thought, 'Back to basics. What do I want? What do I want to see in the world?' And create that."

The Eyes On Campus team has a clear vision for what it wants to achieve. We want to revolutionize how potential students select schools and allow current students to draw from the intellectual horsepower and experiences of their peers while in school. This vision involves more than keeping up with the current trends or technologies--it seeks to make the years that many people label as the "best of their lives" even better. And we believe that the fulfillment of this vision meets Williams' criteria of "awesomeness". Thanks for reading.

The Journey Begins...

Business ideas are like relationships. You have your one-night stands--the ones that get you excited for a moment in time, but fizzle out after waking up the next day. Additionally, you get the ones that seem to have potential, but lose their appeal once the honeymoon period ends. And then every once in a while, you get the keepers. The ones that get you inspired to keep going even when the challenge of making it work seems insurmountable because giving up would do a disservice to something much bigger than yourself.

The future of Eyes On Campus might be uncertain, but our passion for this idea is not. Over the last two years, we've laid out requirements, surveyed the market, developed wireframes and mockups, and led the implementation efforts. Our mission of becoming the ultimate insider's guide to campus life has fueled our drive throughout this process. We aim to help potential students find the school of their dreams and assist current students make the reality of their experience even better than what they envisioned it to be.

Come join us for the ride. Sign up for a free Eyes On Campus account, and tell us what you think. The site is in its infancy and exists today as a blank canvas. If the site reaches its potential, it will “strip schools naked” and expose both their strengths and weaknesses. Rather than admire schools from a surface-level, students can dive deep in their cultures through Eyes On Campus and develop a bond never dreamed possible.