It is a great honor for me to share my experience in taking the SNOC course-Economic Analysis of High-Tech Industries provided by School of Management, Yale University in Fall 2020 semester. As one of the best universities across the world, Yale provided a high level academically experience, and a plenty of value-added content.

This course focuses on the cutting-edge information and business theories in this VUCA world. In the past three months, the class has discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tiktok ban, the Huawei crisis, the 5G revolution, the US election and many other up-to-date topics. Professor Ted Snyder, the former dean of Yale SOM and Chicago Booth, a legendary business school leader, has a very solid methodology to analyze the fact behind these events. He adopts an excellent approach in combining the business knowledge and the industry news together and presenting deeper insights. From the inspirational style of teaching, students feel like they have been developing the practical capability as the course going on, instead of being taught a great amount of knowledge.

Speaking of the value-added content, the diverse global audience participating in this SNOC has been a great resource, including the international students as well as the lecturers. For example, an MBA student from Yale SOM plays as the role of an investment bank mentor based on his background, and has provided tons of insights from investment bank point of view. The contents include a wide coverage from the investment 101 to the background story of the IPO of Snowflake. Besides that, Professor Snyder has invited several senior business practitioners including Neil Shen (沈南鹏), Jane Sun (孙洁) and other high level managers from Amazon and Facebook, and also professors from Chicago Booth to give the guest lecture. Their professional judgement and experience shown in those guest lectures has enabled me to get close to what they are thinking and truly broadened my mind.

One lasting but interesting topic about SNOC has always been the excellent and versatile classmates. In Economic Analysis of High-Tech Industries this fall, more than half of the classmates are from Yale SOM and Berkeley Hass business school with background in PE/VC and top high-tech companies. There are also many outstanding Chinese classmates from Renmin BS, Fudan and HKUST and rest from SEA, South America and Africa. You can not only learn from the professor and guest speakers, but also from your classmates. The professor always encourages students to ask questions, make comments and conduct discussions. Via the chat box function of Zoom, students could communicate more freely and actively. The group project is a good chance for students to learning from each other as well. From the communication, I could think and learn out of the box. Since I am only familiar with the high-tech industry in China and a few famous high-tech companies in United States, it is very exciting for me to learn the situations in other parts of the world.

As a concluding point, Yale SOM has brought us a great online-based course with the rich course content, well-designed structure and perfect delivery mode. All course materials are fully displayed in Yale’s online platform. Three teaching assistants are assigned functionally to ensure the smooth flow of class. These details are the pillars to support the entire program. Although the course lasts for almost four months with a plenty of course content and high level of workload, it is a great experience for students who are interested in the topic and the world-class online learning experience.