Hey you listening, it’s going down just like this

(1) You know, . . . → Read More: Homework for PROD: Interpret “I’m a VC” Lyrics]]> The PROD homework for next week is to interpret one paragraph from the “I’m a VC” song lyrics (below the video). Use (your participation (class) number modulo 10) + 1 to determine your paragraph and be ready to discuss it in class.

I’m a VC

Hey you listening, it’s going down just like this

(1) You know, I just want to tell you, tell you:
It’s been great gettin’ to know a little about you, about you.
And I wonder, should we be together?
Should we commit to each other for today and forever? Forever.

(2) Hey, you’ve been on my mind.
Been at least a few hours since I’ve seen your slides
Since I met you at the Rosewood, or was it South By
Time for us to talk about our future lives.

(3) I know you, you want me, I might want you, too.
Let’s share your deeper secrets and find if I can trust in you.
I like you, just maybe, you’ve got a clue.
Meet my partners on a Monday, we’ll see if they can dig you, too.

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC,
I drive around in a Prius and I eat all the sushi
I’m a VC, who are you?

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC,
It takes more than Powerpoint Slides to impress me
I’m a VC, who are you?

(4) Hey, will you ever learn?
It’s all about the feelings, not the legal terms.
When you mentioned NDA, I got concerned
- we don’t sign no NDAs -
Don’t want to fall in love and then get burned

(5) Twenty pre? I can’t believe you think that’s cheap
For a company you started with your dog last week.
Let’s back up, let’s do Bucks, I’ll wear my favorite Khakis
You can buy the Lattes and we’ll climb under the term sheets

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC
I’m the guy people stand in line to meet me.
I’m a VC,
Who are you?

(6) Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC
Don’t go with friends and family, because you complete me.
I’m a VC,
Who are you?

(7) Series A: I like what I see
Series B: You are the one for me
Series C: Don’t dilute me
Series D: Starting to get cold feet
Series E: Oh no!
Series F: Where is my IPO?
Series G: Getting low
Series H: Time to go

(8) Hey, do you feel it baby?
Because you know VCs, I’m a definite, maybe.
- that’s between a yes and a no –
Sorry I’ve been gone, I’ve been a little crazy
At the end of the day it’s all about the Hamilton’s, baby

(9) I know you, you seem great
I love what you are debuting
But I’ve got so many other deals that I’m now reviewing

(10) It’s not you, it’s just me
I’ve got so many wooing
Like the Chinese knock-off of what your team is so good doing

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC
Can’t take a leak without people who pitch me
I’m a VC, I’m a VC
Who are you?

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC
With my Wonder Twin powers no fucker can beat me
I’m a VC,
Who are you?

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC
Stanford, Harvard educated, even MIT
I’m a VC,
Who are you?

Cause I’m a VC, I’m a VC,
If you need to find me check out Facebook, LinkedIn, or tweet me.
I’m a VC,
Who are you?

Hello,

Do you want to work on a wide diversity of technologies? Do you enjoy working with both, systems and coding?

If so, then Google’s Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) role might be interesting for you. For our Site Reliability Engineering Team we are looking for students who . . . → Read More: Job Offer: Google Site Reliability Engineering]]> And now, a word from one of our sponsors, Google. –Dirk Riehle

Hello,

Do you want to work on a wide diversity of technologies? Do you enjoy working with both, systems and coding?

If so, then Google’s Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) role might be interesting for you. For our Site Reliability Engineering Team we are looking for students who will graduate in 2012 or who have recently graduated. They will bring fresh perspectives to solving problems, along with the technical and soft skills needed to keep Google’s services growing and reliable!

Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) is the engineering group responsible for the reliability of Google’s production systems and services. SRE takes care of Google’s most important user-visible applications as well as its core infrastructure and makes Google’s services fast and reliable for hundreds of millions of users. This mission critical team combines software development, networking, and systems engineering expertise to build and run large scale, massively distributed, fault-tolerant software systems and infrastructure.

Desired requirements:

• Software Engineers: Python, Perl, C/C++, Java developers + Unix/Linux systems knowledge, IT infrastructure
• Systems Engineers: Unix/Linux experts with scripting/coding skills (in C, C++, Perl, Python, Java)

What makes a good Software Engineer within SRE? How does this differ from other software development roles?

• “Generalists”; people who like to work on a wide diversity of technologies, or those who haven’t yet decided where they want to specialize (versus those who know they wish to focus deeply on one or a few areas).
• People who like problem solving, troubleshooting complex problems, optimization, and systems with many moving parts.

If you are interested in the Site Reliability Engineering role, please sign up on this form. You can find more information about the role here and here.

Google did not provide a form, however, we’ll help you get in touch, so just check in with Prof. Riehle.

. . . → Read More: Promotion of Christoph Elsner]]> Today, Christoph Elsner passed his Ph.D. exam and thesis defense. Congratulations, Dr. Elsner! Below, please find some photo impressions from the proceedings!

. . . → Read More: Erich Meier on Strategic Product Management in PROD]]> Today, Erich Meier, top product manager at Methodpark AG and member of its board taught us about strategic product management. Thank you, Erich, for teaching us!

First, a good course has a clear learning objective; the extent to which you achieved that objective is measured in an exam, be it oral or written. The learning objective is . . . → Read More: Why Students Should Not Learn From Lecture Slides Only]]> Some students prepare for exams by using the lecture slides only. This is highly problematic on many accounts and a recipe for failure in an exam.

First, a good course has a clear learning objective; the extent to which you achieved that objective is measured in an exam, be it oral or written. The learning objective is typically conceptual like “gain intermediate-level competence and skills for software system analysis using UML” or “learn and practice agile methods on an advanced level”.

In general, learning the lecture slides is only a small part of what you should do to achieve the learning objective and ultimately do well in an exam.

The slides from a course, typically from lectures in that course, excerpt only a part of the relevant knowledge (and obviously provide no particular skills and experiential competence). It is smart to look at the slides because they are an expression of how a lecturer thinks about the topic, but nevertheless they are only a small part of the content defined by the learning objective.

For one, they are only a small part because they are typically less comprehensive than an appropriate textbook. So you should also be following the lecturer’s recommendation and work with a book or other materials, either as guided by the lecturer or in self-study. Such self-study helps you deepen your understanding and works towards achieving the learning objectives. You may want to do it in a team.

How much self-study? Here is the math for a 4 SWS / 5 ECTS lecture like PSWT. 4 SWS equals 60h of work. 5 ECTS equals 150h of work. Thus, next to attending class for 60h in total you should be performing additional self-study work of 90h in a given semester. That self-study should involve deepening your understanding of the week’s course content, but also should involve going beyond that.

Why would you go beyond what was said in the lectures? As stated above, the lectures themselves can only address a subset of what you need to understand to fully achieve the learning objective. Think about it in mathematical terms: What you need to understand is a multi-dimensional space, and a lecturer can only provide you with an understanding of the fundamental dimensions of that space. Combining the dimensions and fully exploring the space is ultimately up to you. It is called “transfer” or put more basic, “thinking for yourself”.

This, ultimately, is what a lecturer hopes to achieve: To teach you to think for yourself and be able to apply what you learned in new situations. Emancipating you with knowledge and competence to solve problems that were not addressed in class but fit the learning objective. You can’t learn this from slides. You can only learn this from applying yourself to the topic and exploring the space yourself. Thus, exams, which are supposed to determine how well you achieved a learning objective, at the high end explore the extent to which you are able to solve problems on your own.

Please register for AMOS or PROD on StudOn as soon as possible. Both classes are oversubscribed. If you got “wait-listed” it doesn’t mean you won’t get in. We will . . . → Read More: AMOS and PROD Filling Up Fast; Please Take Survey]]> If you intend to take AMOS in SS 2012 please take this survey. It will remain open until the last week before the semester starts.

Please register for AMOS or PROD on StudOn as soon as possible. Both classes are oversubscribed. If you got “wait-listed” it doesn’t mean you won’t get in. We will make a selection based on team formation and not on who came first. But first, we’ll try to take more students. The main issue is (mostly) not a limit in the number of students that we can take, but a limit in the size of the available room. Last year, students had to sit on beer benches, and that’s not really acceptable.

For AMOS, we need to know which role you want to play. Is it a 5 ECTS Product Manager (Scrum: Product Owner) or a 10 ECTS Software Developer (Scrum: Team Member) role? For this, please fill out this survey and let us know your email address at the end.