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Altos began at a poker table
Applying to business school
Ho Nam had applied to one business school, Harvard, which in those days was the only one that did not require the GMAT. He got in. Harvard had been his father's dream for him, and he wanted to go back East. Then, at the last minute, he changed his mind and decided to apply to Stanford too.
The last-minute essay
Stanford's last possible application date arrived while he was still writing the essay. His girlfriend phoned that afternoon to congratulate him on being done with applications, and he told her he was still working on it. He had missed the FedEx deadline, so he drove the essay to the Stanford business school, found the admissions office, and handed it in before 5 p.m. The receptionist told him to put it over there and never made eye contact.
Poker with Han
He got in and stayed on the West Coast, partly because he wasn't ready to leave his girlfriend. At Stanford he met Korean classmates for the first time, after a life with very few Korean friends, and they all played poker together. One of them, Han, was already married with a baby daughter named Christine, who lay in her little crib while the cards were dealt. The two never thought of working together, and years later they founded Altos.
Why do business schools ask for essays?
Test scores and transcripts show ability, while essays let admissions committees see motives, judgment, and how an applicant writes. Stanford's business school has long used an essay prompt asking applicants what matters most to them and why. Committees read hundreds of them for the same few seats, so a distinctive voice stands out. The school's admissions office runs on fixed round deadlines each year.
How did Stanford's business school shape Silicon Valley?
Stanford sits in the middle of Silicon Valley, and its business school has produced founders and investors who stayed in the area. Nike co-founder Phil Knight earned his MBA there in 1962, and he later wrote about how a paper he wrote for a class helped inspire his company. Stanford also gave rise to Hewlett-Packard, whose founders studied at the university and started the company in a Palo Alto garage in 1939. The school's location lets students meet entrepreneurs and venture capitalists nearby.
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