Chasing Ideas in The Big Apple

A few days ago I looked at my resume from 4 years ago. I had done research  with a business school professor, interned at an investment bank and a  think tank and focused on analyzing major economic policy decisions throughout history in major world powers. At the time, I had done a good job of seeking out opportunities that interested me and pursued them the best way I knew how. Looking at my resume at the time, I was clearly interested in business, government, economic policy and the civic sector.

Fast forward 4 years (and a new election!). Looking at the time since I’ve done much the same - more business, more government, a little less on the civic sector and a little more in tech. I had learned that while I enjoy research if something is done with it, I find it incredibly boring to just read and analyze for the sake of it. I learned that I could never see myself in finance, but I did really enjoy strategy consulting and that as much as I love politics, I’m not nearly conservative enough to work with them all day long. Looking back, I also wish I had spent more time on building hard skills, rather than padding my resume with names and titles.

I can’t help but wonder, as I sit in read articles about the Democratic Primary between Martin O’Malley and Andrew Cuomo and randomly come across my resume from 4 years ago (i.e. now) what I will reflect on. Deep down I think I know what it might be, but I’ll refrain from sharing until I at least get a little deeper into my next bullet line at Kiwi Crate.

But deep down I think I know what it might be.

I’d pardon myself for going off topic, but first you’d have to actually have a topic, so who cares. I’ve been reading a lot about the drama going on at the University of Virginia, where its President Teresa Sullivan was recently forced out due to her perceived lack of vision for the school. Specifically, the rector Helen Dragas believed that Sullivan lacked a bold strategy to move the school through the economic times and the changing landscape of education due to innovations in technology.

The whole thing is a mess, and sounds like a tremendous case study for failure in leadership, strategy and organization. First, the entire ordeal was done in secret. Dragas worked behind closed doors to secure votes, didn’t consult students or faculty and apparently never bothered to meet with Sullivan herself to voice her concerns. Second, rather than at least have a formal board vote following securing votes, Dragas went straight to Sullivan with the threat of removal without any formal meeting to discuss the issue at-large (i.e. she didn’t even bother to tell all of the board members once she had a simple majority). Third, instead of having an open dialogue with the entire community about the strategic direction of the school - much like Dartmouth College is currently doing - Dragas made a top-down swoop when she didn’t see immediate results (Sullivan has been in her post for less than 2 years).

These events have thrown the campus into a frenzy, with donors, students, faculty and administrators equally up in arms. The center of it all is Helen Dragas and she simply cannot stay in her position if the school is to move forward. Governor McDonnell has opted to not “meddle” in the affairs, leaving no outside authority to come in and help remedy this tenuous situation. What the school needs is a strong, effective and courageous leader who does not do things behind closed doors and can effectively build a coalition with all the parties involved and move the institution forward. Helen Dragas is not that person.

I don’t even know the last time I blogged. Or tweeted. Or read Techcrunch (or PandoDaily, it wasn’t that long ago). Or cared to.

After interviewing with seemingly every startup on the planet, I got burned out; I just didn’t care anymore. Answering the same question 10 thousand times was beyond exhausting. And realizing that I didn’t know a single thing, or realizing I didn’t exactly know what I wanted didn’t help either.

Finally, somehow, someway I got hired. Well, sorta. An internship in Product & Marketing, two areas I know jack shit about. My first day was easy enough…watch some YouTube videos. Sure I can do that.

Then came some  questions. Do you have Lean Startup? No. Can you code HTML or CSS? No. Have you managed campaigns before? No. At some point I wondered whether my boss would ask me…well what CAN you do!? (Build federal market entry strategies and write white papers?)

But you know what, I’m going to get up super early tomorrow, buy what I need to buy, read what I need to read and do my best to not make myself look stupid. And for the first time in months, I’m actually excited about tech.