should i start my career at a big or small company?
DESCRIPTION
Notes from October 2010 lecture at Stanford Computer ForumTRANSCRIPT
Career WorkshopEngineer to Manager? Founder? CEO?
Michael WolfeStanford BS/MS, CS, 1991
[email protected]@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….)
