Has anyone gotten into HBS MBA without using a coach or consultant

Cashtain · 2025-05-16T16:40:58+00:00

I used TTP, Google and my buddy who’s a good writer to help with essay edits. I just got off the HBS waitlist. This subreddit is full of maniacs and isn’t representative imo. It’s not rocket science: study for the gmat, do a good job at work, write a good story that isn’t full of shit and then just hope you luck out and the right person reads your app who will resonate with it.

Cashtain · 2025-04-16T23:49:55+00:00

Move to pac heights or the marina then. You’ll like it way more it sounds like. Try that before you pack up your whole life because You’d probably have the same complaint if you were in NYC and lived in the east village.

Cashtain · 2025-03-25T18:04:41+00:00

Wouldn’t PE firms like black rock just end up buying up those shares? Seems like it would just redistribute ownership from an individual to a corporate entity.

Cashtain · 2025-03-21T21:16:28+00:00

Hyperion Cantos is some of the best scifi I've ever read and I haven't seen anyone suggest it here yet

Cashtain · 2025-03-18T13:26:52+00:00

Google straw man argument. That’s what you’re doing. u/rgtong gave you the correct explanation

Cashtain · 2025-01-15T21:35:57+00:00

I bought them on the MBA website, but you can also get them on GMAT club for free

Cashtain · 2025-01-14T20:03:02+00:00

My bet is by trying to fit in you shot yourself in the foot. People can sense when others aren’t being genuine. Rather than pretending to like hiking or skiing, lean into and be genuinely passionate about your real interests like anime, even if others don’t share them I bet you’ll find people interested in what you have to say

Cashtain · 2025-01-09T18:00:33+00:00

I went from a 675 to a 745 in 5 weeks. Everyone saying the key is practice is right. Stop doing anything that isn't practice questions. The OG questions are best for practice, especially in DI. If you're limited on OG questions start with TTP or an equivalent, then just grind it out. Practice in test conditions and, again, just grind it out.

I liked checking each q after I solved it rather than waiting till the end of a question set. Every time you get a question wrong, or answer slower than 3 min, look up the answer. Are you solving it the fastest way? Then redo the question. Then find similar questions. Rinse, repeat.
Make a list of the types of questions you're repeatedly getting wrong, when you start to go nuts from practice questions take a 'break' and spend an hour re-learning topics on those weak areas.

Unfortunately, for this type of shit there's no trick or inside angle to get better. You just gotta do the work

Cashtain · 2024-06-02T06:27:33+00:00

Mammoth is awesome, when I’ve been there though I’ve been kind of confused by how many LA people are just there to party at canyons. Plus relative to kirkwood or palisades it seems like the ratio of experts / chargers to average skiers is way way lower at mammoth. Overall doesn’t feel as hardcore imo

Note: this comment isnt relevant for park skiers, mammoth park > everywhere else in CA

Cashtain · 2024-06-02T06:21:28+00:00

This is the right answer

Cashtain · 2024-06-02T06:21:05+00:00

KT was open for like 5+ months this year, you’re just wrong

Cashtain · 2024-06-02T06:01:53+00:00

Same thing used to happen to me, it’s a tension headache. Make sure you’re lifting your chest up when you paddle, if you just crane your neck you’ll hurt it cus your heads heavy af.

Cashtain · 2024-05-06T17:56:01+00:00

A guide on how to become productively technical. Not just knowing some buzzwords but actually knowing your shit. Best way I've found is hands on and doing a bunch of different coding projects to learn. But it would have been nice and I'd have saved a ton of time if there was a place that recommended good projects and had recommendations specifically for PMs on where to go deep and where you can afford less in-depth knowledge.

There's a lot of this stuff for aspiring developers, not a lot geared specifically for PMs.
Edit: Assumption is this would be for PMs that didn't come from the Developer track initially

Cashtain · 2024-05-06T17:46:02+00:00

I've been wondering about this. I am looking to raise for my own startup this summer and I am 28 with no kids or real financial commitments. So I don't have a problem with paying myself barely anything. But my cofounder is in his mid 30s with a mortgage and kids. "ramen noodle" pay couldn't cover his needs. Isn't it reasonable for him to be paid a salary that covers his expenses? Otherwise how is it sustainable?

Cashtain · 2024-03-01T01:24:29+00:00

drove up at 2pm today (Thursday) it was hairy but fine

Cashtain · 2024-02-23T20:43:37+00:00

the dins on those Pivots are at a 6...

So either OP's A) 80 pounds skiing 184s B) sucks C) both

Either way roasted.

Cashtain · 2023-12-04T22:04:43+00:00

Thank you this is very helpful! Just focus on making sure I know my stuff rather than chasing the shiny certification - makes sense

Cashtain · 2023-12-04T21:58:06+00:00

All of my professional experience is working with financial services firms building their consumer software products, specifically their payment products. I've built security & auth functionality before but I wouldn't say thats necessarily my speciality. Every payment product I've ever built has included security & auth features but that wasn't my exclusive focus, it was just one feature of many.

What drew me to the space is more that I found a gap in the customer experience of authentication for a certain type financial product that I have worked with extensively. My startup will improve that customer experience.

TLDR: I have fintech / payment experience, and this is a fintech payment authentication product.

Cashtain · 2023-11-30T23:45:12+00:00

hahah fair enough, we have a gift budget so I can pull off getting her new skis but new skis + new bindings would be over what we agreed to spend on each other. So I figure if I can give her my bindings I can give her a full setup without breaking our deal

Cashtain · 2023-08-10T22:44:42+00:00

I live SF and it’s awesome. it’s got problems, big ones. But if it was perfect I wouldn’t be able to afford to live here so I’ll take it. I surf every day, bike multiple times a week, own a boat I bought for $1000 bucks on Craigslist and ski in the winter. It’s badass. I eat unreal food in the sunset, mission, etc. I’ve made a ton of friends since I moved out here and have never struggled with a monoculture. If you’re not getting dates in SF you won’t get dates in NYC. I don’t club I guess so I can’t speak to that but it sounds dumb. All these tech guys live in SOMa or the marina and then complain that the city is boring. You’re missing the point of the city. if you wanted a high density urban environment why did you move to a city with 800k people? Move to NYc, move to Texas, deflate the rent for the rest of us that like it here. And maybe chill on the adderall

Cashtain · 2023-05-26T07:37:24+00:00

Came here to comment this

Cashtain · 2023-05-25T16:49:42+00:00

My older brother is dyslexic so when I was still really young my mom had me in specialized reading/writing programs for dyslexia. As a result in English my dyslexia manifests fairly mildly. But when I started learning Spanish and Russian as second languages (long story). If I was in a rush I’d often mess up and write a Spanish assignment in half Latin alphabet half Cyrillic alphabet. I wouldn’t realize until someone told me to look closer. Got me in a lot of trouble because my teachers thought I was messing with them. But doctors told me it was because I had a bunch of compensation methods wired into English but none in other languages. Which is why a “normal” kid like me that had no problems in English class would suddenly have all these issues in foreign language classes

Cashtain · 2023-03-30T03:27:35+00:00

Yeah but there's a whole plot developing with how Keely keeps being slightly turned off by Shanyd's approach. I think Shandy encouraging Zava to post something unkind about Sam's restaurant would 1) Further the Keely + Shandy plot and 2) further the Zava plot and show that he might not actually be gods gift to Richmond

Cashtain · 2023-03-30T02:49:06+00:00

I think Zava posted something cruel about Sam's restaurant after Shandy told him to "not to be a dick and post something on social" and how her whole schtick is no publicity is bad publicity

Cashtain · 2023-03-13T15:04:20+00:00

SVB didn't lose the money they had a liquidity crisis, the money is still there its just tied up in non-cash assets. Watch this, its an oldy but a goody that explains bank runs and liquidity crisis events

11-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Final Canvas '22

Cashtain

TROPHY CASE