Stanford EntrepreneurEntrepreneurship isn’t a career, it’s a way of life

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20…Filed Under: ETL, entrepreneurship, lists

As I was perusing the EdCorner one evening, I stumbled across a podcast of Tina Seelig, one of the professors here at Stanford, talking about ten lessons she wishes she knew when she was 20. To many students I’ve met here at Stanford, Professor Seelig is a hero and I’m actually supposed to have the great privilege of meeting her both in Discovering Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship ASB. I’m extremely excited about this opportunity, and without further ado, I’ll give a recap of the ten lessons.

1. Every problem is an opportunity for a creative solution.

Also, the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity.  One example she gave is that she presented students in her class with $5. They then had a week to change that money into whatever kind of profit they could muster. Some may think that they made $10, $50, or maybe even $100, but in fact the teams averaged $200, and the greatest was $650. How’s that for only a weeks worth of creative problem solving? And, in case you were wondering, the winning idea was a 3 minute pitch that was sold to recruit students in the class. Others bought reservations for popular restaurants and then sold them to those who didn’t make reservations but were willing to pay to get in. One final idea that was particularly interesting is that students asked for donations after checking bike pressure and adding air if it was necessary. The reason why this is interesting to me is that the idea of asking for donations put the challenge of determining value into the hands of the beneficiaries - the students - and many of them ended up donating much more than the students could have been asking for.

2. The harder I work, the luckier I get.

This quotation, repeated by many individuals, really highlights one of the keys to my success. I’ve always been a person to go the extra mile in things I really care about, and one example that really paid off is getting into the school of my dreams.  Another thing that’s talked about is to do interesting things. Go to fascinating lectures. Meet interesting people. Travel to interesting places. Not only will you become an interesting person, you will learn a lot and have a ton of fun along the way. One final tidbit Professor Seelig provides is that the key to working hard is not only performing on the whole but also executing the details.

3. Find the intersection between your interests, your skills, and the market.

One comment that really resonated with me is the idea that passion isn’t enough. You also have to understand and appreciate the other two pieces. For example, if you have only passion but no skills or there’s no market, you have a hobby. If you only have the skills but don’t have the passion, you are working a job.

4. Try lots of things and keep what works.

This idea I have a bit of a problem with… I personally find myself either trying too many things (and thinking I’m unproductive) or not experimenting enough (and falling into a boring rut.) The personal balance may be a bit off, but I also know that there are too many things that I will find interesting and works that I don’t have enough time for. I already find myself too busy at Stanford, and I haven’t even experienced a small fraction of what the world has to offer. Overall, if you’re bored, you’re not experimenting enough. Tina goes on to say that if you’re not failing sometimes, you’re not taking enough risks. Failure is one of the greatest teachers, and I definitely agree to this through personal experience. An example from Professor Seelig is that for every book she gets published, she has two that are unpublished. One final idea that she left, and I think is really cool (and I will do), is to create a failure resume… I think the results will tell a lot about myself that I haven’t thought about.

5. Don’t have to wait to be anointed.

Entrepreneurs are individuals who make their own business cards. They are the people who decide what they do, and they realize that in order to get ahead you have to take on whatever responsibility is necessary. A quick quip for those working as employees - if you do the job, you will get the job! Therefore, don’t wait to be asked to do something, simply step up to the plate and do what’s necessary. If you do a great job, it should be recognized by your superiors, and eventually you should be rewarded proportionally.

6. It is a very small world, so don’t burn bridges.

In this world, there are only 50 people that really are the movers and shakers, and Professor Seelig noted that you will bump into them all over the place. As such, it’s a horrible idea to burn a bridge, especially with one of these individuals, because you never know when it is going to come back and hurt you. To put the idea as simple as possible, you should be proud of the relationships you maintain.

7. You can do it all, just not at the same time.

Again, this is another issue that is currently facing me. I want to do everything, all the time, and I’m realizing there is a glass ceiling (usually referred to as time) that limits what I can do and what I can’t do. Ultimately, it forces you to be creative and figure out what your priorities are. Here are the three things that are critical to Professor Seelig. Be okay with saying no vs. dropping priorities that you are already committed to and engaged with. Next, be willing to reassess priorities frequently. Finally, there is no such thing as a balanced life. An example that proved quite interesting is that former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said, “Work life is really long, but kids are little for only a short period of time.” I personally want to have a family, and I’m very unsure of whether or not I should make that a priority when I’m younger or when I’m older… At least it’s something to ponder.

8.  The little things matter the most.

When it comes to an interview, you should make eye contact, shake, thank you. After the interview, you should send a thank you note within 24 hours. It’s the little things like these that make a huge difference, and when I was fundraising for a summer program I might get into, I made sure to say “thank you” to all of the individuals that donated multiple times.

9. Team is about making everybody else successful.

Put simply, the more you make others successful, the more it comes back many, many fold. I personally don’t have a lot of experience working in dynamic, successful teams, but I think that she’s onto something with this one. I’ve read a ton of stuff about developing successful team dynamics, and all of them have something different to say. While I think it’s important to note that there are several characteristics of successful teams not noted - such as skill sets, similar goals, etc - I also believe that entering a team with this mentality increases the odds of success manyfold.

10. Never miss an opportunity to be fabulous.

If you’re not doing best work now, when will you do it? The key is to keep an open mind and let people run with the idea. Setting up premature expectation vs. leaving things a bit open-ended most times results in a cap with the mentality, “I only need to do X, Y & Z to get an A.” Professor Seelig instead wants to point people in a particular direction and realize the amazingness of the results they produce. This idea is very sticky and extremely contagious. The times I’ve been most impressed are when people are given a general sense of where to go with something and then they produce something that is absolutely phenomenal.

Conclusion

I don’t know if there is a day that has gone by recently where I haven’t been thoroughly impressed by something someone has said. The atmosphere for entrepreneurship is amazing here, and I don’t think there is an equivalent anywhere else in the world. Being that this podcast was relevant to myself and other college students, I found it intriguing and ultimately very beneficial. While I have my reservations about some of them, I look forward to capitalizing on a few of them in my day to day life.