Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. High school students say they never plan on working in a real corporate environment, and MBA candidates at Stanford are forgoing corporate gigs to start their own ventures. Peter Thiel has even launched a fellowship called “20 Under 20” to encourage kids to forgo college to start a company. The urgency to “found something” seems stronger than ever in Silicon Valley.
Not long ago, I met with a group of students from Lehigh University participating in a program called Lehigh Silicon Valley. Whenever I talk to groups of students like this, they often ask me for advice: “What supercool, guaranteed-to-go-public company should I apply to?” Or, “I have an idea for a revolutionary, totally disruptive new wine bottle opener. What’s the best first step?” Or, “I work best as my own boss. What’s your best leadership advice?” And, “How can I get funding for my big idea that’s going to completely change the world?”
In my 25 years in the tech industry I’ve done time at both big players and bootstrapping startups. In every case I’ve learned from success and failures, so I’m sure a brand-new grad who packs up his/her Honda Civic and drives out West to start the next Snapchat will learn a lot, even with the 90 percent probability of startups crashing and burning. I’m not sure that’s the most effective way to learn, however—it’s like learning by touching a hot stove. You don’t do that again. And ultimately, we want people to do it again. We need great minds to start great companies. But it’s hard, and it should not be done too soon.
My advice to freshly minted graduates is not to go to the next hottest startup as employee number 4, or to start your own company right away, but to go find a job at an interesting company where you can learn from and work with supersmart people. I would label most of these companies as “tech incumbents.” In previous blog posts, I’ve been vocal about the challenges facing the tech incumbents, predicting that many of these companies will struggle through the coming transition to the cloud. But I believe that’s because they will fall prey to the “Innovator’s Dilemma,” struggling to let go of the old playbook and pick up the new one—not because these companies are not populated by very talented people. On the contrary, from my personal experience working at an incumbent I can tell you it was loaded with very smart, hardworking, seasoned leaders who knew how to run a business at scale. And I’m still calling on the education I received there—and the people I met—right now.
Here’s the good news for the newest folks entering the workforce: Many of these companies will hire hundreds of grads and put them into positions of significant responsibility. This strategy is an excellent way to gain valuable experience and, crucially, to begin building your personal network. Smart people tend to gravitate toward other smart people.
I graduated from business school in 1995. And while I had aspirations to build the next big thing, I also had patience and the sense to realize I couldn’t do it on my own. I took a job at a fast-growing but definitely “near its peak” company, Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). I learned a huge amount in my four years at SGI, from a bunch of really smart people—people who have gone on to do remarkable things. One important conclusion I reached: The best opportunities come from working and living in the area where you intend to start your own company someday.
For any new graduate contemplating a career, you have a long runway. Most people work for 40+ years. Don’t be in a rush. Take the time to invest in yourself and continue learning. At our new company, Bracket Computing, we’re attempting the computer science equivalent of going to the moon. We’re trying to do something that has never been done before, not just a slightly better or faster version of what exists today. We couldn’t have done this work if it wasn’t for what we learned before. We collectively have years of experience in getting banged around by the realities of building a business, so we have a sense of where the land mines are and can now steer around them (or at least some of them).
Perhaps most important, though, we have built the Rolodex of relationships required to assemble the exceptional team that can get us to the moon. Because I can tell you, getting halfway to the moon doesn’t count. Nearly 20 years after my time at SGI, 10 percent of our new startup is populated by SGI alums. And more then 80 percent of the company is populated by people we have known in former jobs. As with everything, it’s always about the people—because great people make great products, and great products make great companies. My advice to the newest crop of talent: Go meet the people, regardless of what size company they are part of. Do a great job for them. The rest will follow.
