Career Workshop

Engineer to Manager? Founder? CEO?

Michael Wolfe
Stanford BS/MS, CS, 1991
Michael.wolfe@stanfordalumni.org
Michael.wolfe@joinwire.com
 Where to start? Where to go?

Board

CEO

Founder

VP ?
Director

Manager

Contributor

You are Small Medium Large

here
What do they have in common?
 Geeks!
BS/MS, Mechanical Engineering BA Math, MBA
Polytechnic Institute NY Dartmouth, Harvard

BS/MS/PhD, Chemical
Engineering
U Mass, U of Illinois Math/CS
Harvard

BS, Electrical Engineering

MS, PhD Computer Science Math/CS
Princeton, Berkeley Harvard

BS/MS/PhD, Chemical Eng. BS/MS Electrical Eng., MBA

U of Wisconsin, Minnesota Rice 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”

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

Small Medium Large

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”

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

Small Medium Large

 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

Board

CEO

Founder

VP

Director

Manager

Contributor

Small Medium Large

 My story

BS/MS, CS,
Vice Vice
CS 198 Director,
President, President,
coordinator, Engineering, General CEO,
Analyst Engineering, Products &
instructor, Founding Manager Founder
Founding Services, Co-
intern, TA, Employee
Employee Founder
RA
 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.
 Was this the accomplishment?

Getting Getting Getting Getting a big Getting VCs to

someone to promoted brought in company role fund me
hire me early

BS/MS, CS, Vice Vice

Director,
CS 198 President, President,
Engineering, General CEO,
coordinator, Analyst Engineering, Products &
Founding Manager Founder
instructor, Founding Services, Co-
Employee
intern Employee Founder

i.e., what someone else gave me?

 Or this?
•Technical •How to work •Direct sales •M&A
fundamentals •Professionalism •Managing •Press and analysts
•Networking •Corporate Culture managers •Large company
•Communication •Recruiting •Strategy and politics
skills •New product finance •Fundraising
•Applying development •Messaging and •Vision and
technology •Working in teams positioning direction
•“Personal •Basic management •Planning and
management” skills forecasting

BS/MS, CS, Vice Vice

Director,
CS 198 President, President,
Engineering, General CEO,
coordinator, Analyst Engineering, Products &
Founding Manager Founder
instructor, Founding Services, Co-
Employee
intern Employee Founder

• Deciding what I liked

•Learning the necessary skills
• Building the right network
 Who is this all about?

It’s not about It’s about YOU Oh, actually it

THEM is about THEM

• Getting • What do • Your team

them to hire you want to • Your peers
you do? • Your
• Getting • What are professional
them to your network
promote strengths • Your
you and customers
• Getting weaknesses • Your board
them to ?
fund you • Find
situations to
learn what
you need.
 There is such a thing as a bad question

Not so good questions Good questions

What will look good on my What will build the skills that I
resume? need?

What will make my teachers, What will make me happy?

parents, peers happy?

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

good manager?

What do venture capitalists What do I think my business

want to see in a business plan? plan should say?

How do I convince people I’m How do I actually be good?

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? Useful
only one place
Company
• Political landscape Your products Your strategy
• Your competitors Company legacy

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

Team
• Management Interpersonal Listening
• Presentations Teamwork
Professionalism
Personal
• Intelligence Motivation Self awareness
• Discipline Humility Curiosity Confidence
Useful
Everywhere
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

Lots of voices whispering

into your ear….

“I want to be a “I need to be a
millionaire CEO in 5
before I’m 25.” years.”

“Everyone else “I didn’t go to

is going to Stanford to build
Google.” web pages.”
 Small vs. Large

• Uncertainty • Focus and Specialization

• Lack of structure • Structure and support
• No support • Politics
• Drama • Systems
• Pivots and twists • Legacy
• Innovation • Scale
• Equity focus • International
• Isolation • Mentoring
• Business class upgrades

Small Large
 Management vs. Individual Contributor

• Communicating
• Leverage
• Team building
• Firings
Management • Planning
• Strategy

• Expertise
• Innovation
• Problem solving
Contributor • Technology
• Control
• Focus
 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 Wolfe
Michael.wolfe@stanfordalumni.org
Michael.wolfe@joinwire.com