VC to Grads: Forget the Future, Have Fun Now
It's the time of year where colleges across America start teeing up impressive commencement speakers to impart a few words of wisdom to degree-clutching seniors. But University of Colorado Boulder is getting a jump on the competition by inviting a big name to address their soon-to-be MBAs this week.
Who was the speaker? Venture capitalist Brad Feld who, among many other accomplishments, founded TechStars to nurture budding entrepreneurs. Feld knows plenty about making it in business, so which bits of career wisdom did he share? Not any you were probably expecting. He posted his laid back advice on his blog today:
Don't worry about money right now. You can always get a job that pays you plenty of money. Don't worry about your resume. Don't worry about "am I positioning myself the right way for something five years from now." I know way too many 45 year olds who have plenty of money, have done all the right career things, yet are unhappy with where they are in life, where they live, and what they do. Don't be that guy or gal.Feld sounds a bit like he's telling students to do what they love and live in a place they love and the rest will work itself out -- tips which, on first blush, seem a lot like the 'do what you lover' advice my fellow BNET blogger Penelope Trunk has called the worst ever. But on closer inspection both Trunk and Feld are making similar points.Start by choosing the place you want to make a life. If it's Boulder, figure out how to stay here. If it's New York, there's an easy United flight that gets you there in under four hours â€" take it the day after you graduate. Just go and figure it out when you get there. Don't talk about "I'm going to live there some day" â€" go get in the middle of wherever it is that you want to build a life.
Next, choose a domain that you want to dedicate your life to. If you've dreamed of being an investment banker or consultant to Fortune 1000 companies since you were 10, then Goldman Sachs or McKinsey is looking for you. If you want to be an entrepreneur, working at an investment bank or consulting firm for a while is pointless. Be an entrepreneur starting now.
Finally, make sure you are living your life. You are young and hopefully have plenty of time on this planet. But don't wait because you never know when the lights are going to go out.
Trunk argues that rather than driving yourself crazy with insanely high expectations for your career, just start doing things you enjoy, focusing on lifestyle and evolving as your preferences change. By trashing 'do what you love' career advice, Trunk is arguing against agonizing over your perfect career path and failing to enjoy and experiment now. Feld agrees -- planning ahead is fruitless, live where you want to live now and get the job that appeals to you currently, not the one you think will pay off later. Who else has signed off on this philosophy? Steve Jobs. In a commencement speech at Stanford, he told students that the present is for enjoying:
For the past 33 years I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.Do you agree with Trunk, Feld and Jobs that too much strategizing and forward planning is actually bad for recent grads?
Read More on BNET:
- Want to Be More Productive? Kill Your Career Goals
- The Worst Career Advice: Do What You Love
- 15 Tips on Choosing a Career for Recent Grads