Just-In-Time Growth
I worked in finance after college (the thing to do in 2007), but after about 20 minutes of the first day of training I realized it wasn’t for me.
I couldn’t quit — NYC rent and all — so, for the next two years I built a basketball recruiting tool on the side. It helped high school students with Division 2 and 3 aspirations get recruited. Parts of it worked, parts of it didn’t, and I loved it. I couldn’t raise money as the 2008 recession took hold and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I did realize that all I wanted to do was build stuff that solved real problems. It was a blast.
So, I asked a bunch of my new VC friends (the ones I’d tried to get to invest) what I should do next if I wanted entrepreneurship to be my career.
Most suggested business school. “It’s a great way to lay low during this recession, and it’ll build your business credentials.”
It seemed fair, and I hadn’t taken any business classes during undergrad, so I applied and got in.
While at UNC I spoke with our career counselor and the entrepreneurship professors about starting a business right after school, and they all suggested I try to get into VC first. “It’s a great way to build your startup credentials, and you’ll get a network of VCs, and you’ll make some money.” So, I did.
During my VC internship, I told my boss about my plan. VC for a few years, then start a company.
“Cool,” he said. “Want to get lunch?”
“Sure.”
“Great, let’s head up to the roof.”
“What?,” I asked, “Is there… food on the roof?”
“No,” he said, “but, if we go to the roof, it’ll give you a really good lay of the land. Then, maybe we can start mapping out all the possible places we could go for lunch. Then, we should probably enroll in an online university to get a nutrition certification so we can make a correct decision on what to eat. Then, maybe we’ll go speak with 20 accountants to figure out how much you can afford.”
He looked at me and rolled his eyes.
“If you want to start a company, go start a freaking company, especially if you know a problem you want to solve. When you run into an obstacle, learn how to navigate that obstacle in real-time. Everything you do that’s supposed to ‘prepare you’ will just push you further off track. Think about it like Just In Time growth — don’t do something so that you can maybe do something else in the future — do the thing you want to do now and deal with the blockers when they arise.”
The most direct route is the most direct route.