should i start my career at a big or small company?

Career WorkshopEngineer to Manager? Founder? CEO?

Michael WolfeStanford BS/MS, CS, 1991

Michael.wolfe@stanfordalumni.orgMichael.wolfe@joinwire.com

Where to start? Where to go?

?

Small Medium Large

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

You arehere

What do they have in common?

Geeks!

BS/MS, Mechanical EngineeringPolytechnic Institute NY

BS/MS/PhD, Chemical EngineeringU Mass, U of Illinois

BS, Electrical EngineeringMS, PhD Computer SciencePrinceton, Berkeley

BS/MS/PhD, Chemical Eng.U of Wisconsin, Minnesota

BA Math, MBADartmouth, Harvard

Math/CSHarvard

Math/CSHarvard

BS/MS Electrical Eng., MBARice University, Harvard

And these?

Almost all had technical co-founders

(but not necessarily as CEO)

Why did they succeed?

Because of their math/engineering training?

Or just their raw brainpower?

Or did they succeed *despite* being engineers?

Or innate leadership ability?

Or is this all just random?

The stories we know are one of two extremes.

Story #1: “working your way up”

Small Medium Large

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

This is probably how you thought the world worked when you were

growing up.

(And your parents still do…)

Story #2: “I’m the next Gates/Zuck/Dell”

Small Medium Large

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

This probably won’t happen

(although if you have the next Facebook in your dorm room, let’s talk after class…)

Most of our paths look more like this

Small Medium Large

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

CEO, Founder

General Manager

Vice President, Products &

Services, Co-Founder

Vice President,

Engineering, Founding Employee

Director, Engineering,

Founding Employee

Analyst

BS/MS, CS, CS 198

coordinator, instructor, intern, TA,

RA

My story

Thought #1

There is no defined career “path”

• There are simply a series of decisions• Where you start is just a first step• Take lateral moves and pay cuts

• You can be good at more than one thing• But make the decisions off of some basic principles

But now I’ll talk about a few guidelines to think about along the way.

CEO, Founder

General Manager

Vice President, Products &

Services, Co-Founder

Vice President,

Engineering, Founding Employee

Director, Engineering,

Founding Employee

Analyst

BS/MS, CS, CS 198

coordinator, instructor,

intern

Was this the accomplishment?

Getting someone to hire me

Getting promoted

Getting brought in early

Getting a big company role

Getting VCs to fund me

i.e., what someone else gave me?

CEO, Founder

General Manager

Vice President, Products &

Services, Co-Founder

Vice President,

Engineering, Founding Employee

Director, Engineering,

Founding Employee

Analyst

BS/MS, CS, CS 198

coordinator, instructor,

intern

Or this?•Technical fundamentals•Networking•Communication skills•Applying technology•“Personal management” skills

•How to work•Professionalism•Corporate Culture•Recruiting•New product development•Working in teams•Basic management

•Direct sales•Managing managers•Strategy and finance•Messaging and positioning•Planning and forecasting

•M&A•Press and analysts•Large company politics•Fundraising•Vision and direction

• Deciding what I liked•Learning the necessary skills• Building the right network

Who is this all about?

It’s not about THEM

• Getting them to hire you

• Getting them to promote you

• Getting them to fund you

It’s about YOU

• What do you want to do?

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

• Find situations to learn what you need.

Oh, actually it is about THEM

• Your team• Your peers• Your

professional network

• Your customers

• Your board

There is such a thing as a bad question

Not so good questions Good questions

What will look good on my resume?

What will build the skills that I need?

What will make my teachers, parents, peers happy?

What will make me happy?

How do I get a promotion? How do I learn how to be a good manager?

What do venture capitalists want to see in a business plan?

What do I think my business plan should say?

How do I convince people I’m good?

How do I actually be good?

Thought #2

Worry less about what “they” think(they don’t really care anyway)

• Work on your skills• Find out what you want

• Trust that if you are good, other people will see it and get involved with you

• It’s not them, it is you• But do find mentors

• Yes, you need to learn how to sell yourself, but you need a *product* to sell!

Do you have skillz?

• Political landscape Your products Your strategy • Your competitors Company legacy

Company

• Marketing Sales Support PR/analysts• Finance Strategy Engineering Innovation

Industry

• Management Interpersonal Listening• Presentations Teamwork

Professionalism

Team

• Intelligence Motivation Self awareness

• Discipline Humility CuriosityConfidence

Personal

Useful Everywhere

Useful only one place

Maybe the answer is “off the grid”

Hmm…I wonder which skills these teach?

(Hint: it is these)

Thought #3

Work on your skills

• Put yourself in challenging situations• Skills are transferable

• Your foundational skills can never be too good• Personal and professional are the same thing

There is no such thing as “job security”, only “career security” (if you got skills).

By seeking “job security” you may get neither job security nor career security!

The Stanford Curse

“I didn’t go to Stanford to build web pages.”

“Everyone else is going to Google.”

“I need to be a CEO in 5 years.”

“I want to be a millionaire before I’m 25.”

Lots of voices whispering into your ear….

Small vs. Large

• Uncertainty• Lack of structure• No support• Drama• Pivots and twists• Innovation• Equity focus• Isolation

• Focus and Specialization• Structure and support• Politics• Systems• Legacy• Scale• International• Mentoring• Business class upgrades

Small Large

Management vs. Individual Contributor

• Communicating• Leverage

• Team building• Firings• Planning• Strategy

• Expertise• Innovation

• Problem solving• Technology• Control• Focus

Management

Contributor

Thought #4

Know thyself

• Understand what you like to do• Leverage your strengths, work on your weaknesses

• Show humility and curiosity• Have the “I know nothing” / “I can learn anything”

attitude• Being smart at something doesn’t make you smart

at something else• Listen to the voices, but also learn to tune them

out

Typical question

Some of the suggestions included:• “Here is why Twitter sux…”• “Here is why Facebook sux….”• “Go where you’ll make the most money”• “Go where you like the product the most”

An answer

Your peeps

You will likely work with the same people, or people one degree removed, for your entire career

Thought #5

It is all about people

• Your friends• You community• Your team• Your network

• Your classmates (get to know them now, before it is too late….)

Q & A

Michael WolfeMichael.wolfe@stanfordalumni.org

Michael.wolfe@joinwire.com