Now
Last updated: May 2026
Current Status
I'm three weeks into my first MBA course — 706 Marketing Strategy. It's an accelerated program and my first time in graduate school, so there's been an adjustment getting back into academic rhythm at this pace. I came in with 20 years of IT experience and some hands-on digital marketing and ad campaigns under my belt. What I'm finding is that the gap between “I've run successful campaigns” and “I understand the full psychology of customers and non-customers” is wider than I expected — the analytics and optimization layers go deeper than I realized. It's been honestly surprising and rewarding.
Learning threads
I'm reading the textbook by my course professor alongside supplementary material connected to each week's topic. I'm currently focused on situation analysis — specifically, mastering SWOT as a framework and its application. I built two new Python/Streamlit tools during the first week of the course: one for learning STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) and one for learning SWOT.
My study method has shifted since the pre-program period. The volume and pace here is intense, so I've been deliberate about avoiding burnout. I'm keeping study sessions to 2–4 hours a day maximum, using active recall and the Pomodoro technique — letting the brain rebuild neural pathways between intense focus blocks.
Separately, the course has pointed me toward two concepts I'm casually exploring as time allows: evolution in digital marketing authenticity technology (particularly around click fraud prevention) and evolution in data collection privacy techniques (separating consumer identity from data, de-identified frameworks).
Something I'm sitting with
I came into this course assuming marketing was mostly advertising, and that products could be neatly categorized with attributes in a database — a very IT way of thinking. I'm realizing now how much more it is. Competition isn't just products with similar features; it's products that answer the same underlying customer need, even if they look nothing alike. A customer choosing between a gym membership and a meditation app isn't comparing features — they're choosing how to solve the same core need.
I don't have this fully internalized yet. But I can feel it shifting how I see my own consumer behavior, and I suspect it will fundamentally change how I design products in the future — less “what does this do” and more “what need does this answer for someone who might not even articulate it that way.”
Building
Current course tools
CMO Desk
An interactive Streamlit app that teaches Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) within a full 5C situation analysis framework. Users work through 15 pre-authored business scenarios — conducting a structured 5C analysis first, then making STP decisions, answering concept checks, and studying theory with 51 flashcards. Built in week one, substantially revised by week three.
SWOT Check Tool
A Streamlit app for practicing SWOT analysis and TOWS strategic pairing with corporate/industry scenarios. Includes a basic mode (categorize factors into quadrants, rate their importance) and an advanced mode (pair internal and external factors into actionable strategies). Also rough-drafted in week one and revised as the course progressed.
Previously built
LBO Value Creation Bridge and Accounting Simulator (Dual-Perspective) — now finished and nearing public release. Both had their UIs overhauled. Blog posts to follow.
Side projects
Teaching myself LLMOps by building — two custom MCP servers and a customized LibreChat server so far.
Watching
Nothing outside of course materials right now — the textbook, assigned readings, and videos from my professor are where all my learning attention is going. The pace doesn't leave much room for browsing.
Next up
Next course is MBA 705 — Organizational Strategy and Policies, starting in about four weeks. No prep work underway yet.
Once I'm more settled into the academic rhythm, I want to return to self-studying finance on the side.
Previously
March 2026 — Pre-program self-study focused on the three financial statements, debits and credits, and accrual accounting. Built an LBO value creation bridge and a dual-perspective accounting simulator in Python/Streamlit. First course (MBA 706 Marketing Strategy) was scheduled for May 2026.
For my full background and the story behind the pivot, see About.