We ran a business bootcamp for non-business majors in 2018. We had 4 guest speakers. Good questions and good advice. Thanks for all the great advice AN, IM, WM, DB.

This is the advice that they gave. Adding some of my comments in blue too.

Do the work.

• Mark Cuban says, “Don’t follow your passion, follow your effort.”
• Be willing to do what others are not; be willing to mop the floor; work the night shift
• Think like an immigrant – live, breathe, own (your work); plan on 80+ hour weeks
• Actively seek opportunities to present / share your work to others; get more “at bats”
• Do great work with your assigned work before asking for greater responsibility
• Take care of yourself, AND also when you go after something. . really go after it
• Be organized; athletes are typically good at estimating the time it takes to accomplish work
• Don’t burn out; think like a corporate athlete. Run, run, run, rest, think, run, run, run
• Earn the right to choose your work; after you have relational equity, everything gets easier
  
• Use ChatGPT; don’t reinvent the wheel; it’s a great way to get started or proof-read your work

Connect.

• Be willing to look beyond the corporate titles, and ask good questions
• Connect with lots of people (not just those in your department)
• People do business with people.  Not Wells Fargo & Atlanta Braves. It’s “Bob” and “John”
• Put yourself out there; be the first to smartly introduce yourself, be likeable
• Be helpful; find ways to add value; have people WANT you be around
• Be present; no one likes a business robot.  Be present and listen to what people say
• You’d be surprised, the person sitting next to you may be your client in 15 years 

Deliver value.

• Ask, “how am I bringing value?”; treat your boss like a customer
• Learn what you are good at, like doing better than others
• When things don’t work out, forgive yourself. Laugh it off. Comedians “enjoy the bomb”
• When responding to negative news, be specific on what you will be correcting
• It’s all about skill set. What value do you bring? If a recession hit, what can you deliver?
• What’s your unfair advantage; what do you do WELL even though it comes EASIER to you?
• Examine your effort; if you did this exact same thing for 6 months = something worth talking about?
• Would someone be willing to pay for what you are working on now? Willingness-to-pay?
• Read a lot of Seth Godin’s blog
  

Get mentors.

• Think about what is in it for them; make it easy for them to help you
• Are you uplifting to them, or are you draining them?
• Remember: mentors are not life coaches
• Only ask advice from people you have a 50/50 chance of taking advice from
• Friends of your parents can be mentors, as long as there is a reason to connect
• Choose different people as mentors, depending on the specific questions you have
• Test the validity of the advice; not all advice is good, right, or even useful
• Over time, it’s good to evaluate particular “moves or decision” not just the mentors
• Listen to lots of podcasts from winners: entrepreneurs, VC, artists.  Spotify playlist here.
• Excuse for not learning in the age of ChatGPT = zero

Get Experience.

• Find out who is paying for the internship. If the business is paying for the resources (not corporate), then they will be more motivated to put the interns to work
• Don’t assume the company has “all the answers”
• Ask, “How are they doing it today?”  Ask, “What could they do better?”
• Learn critical thinking – how to break down problems
• Be consistent. You can’t believe that you are one way at work, and then different at home.
• It’s okay if you aren’t good at something; but you need to show willingness to learn and grow
• This is the creator economy – publish on KDP, write code on Github, play your song on Spotify
• Do (meaningful) work, even if it’s free; if you’re getting great experience & relationship = winning

Learn Business

• Non-business majors have the experience of “going deep” in a specific area
• Business students are more naturally confident; willing to share their perspective even though they have 60-70% confidence in their answers
• Some areas require a specialized degree, but business is more flexible
• On paper, everyone looks like qualified. Focus on intangibles – smart, intellectually curiosity.
• Make the complex simple, communications.  Be able to influence people
• Business is fascinating; behind all the brands and products are people with stories
• You can learn a lot of the business basics for free: Coursera, EdX, YouTube (A=L+E)
• Read a business article, then use ChatGPT to “geek out” on the topic for 1 hour

Start a business

• College may help open doors, but ultimately, [long-term success] is about your character
• Make your current employer your first client
• If you work for a company (W2), learn as much as you can. As an entrepreneur, no one is paying you to learn on the job
• Tap into the frustration when things aren’t getting done
• The market will tell you what it wants; follow the demand; respect the money
• Q: How do you know it’s not just a hobby.  Like Shark Tank when they say “you have a product, come back when you have a business.”
• Q: Ever feel like you took on too much? A: Yes, that’s the nature of the business. Say “yes”
• For every business, the biggest problem for all businesses is meeting payroll
• Most businesses get profitable in years 3-4 etc. . .do you have enough $$ to wait it out?
• Watch 20+ YouTube videos from Y Combinator (startup incubator); it’s gold
• You can start a business on the side; don’t think you have to be 1/0 or yes/no 
  

Be you. Hire the rest.

• Be confident, believe in yourself. Fortune 500 does not equal job security
• Are you a visionary, implementer, or operator; get a team of different people around you
• Q: Work with family? A: Yes, loyalty + execution + communications
• Hire for diverse mind set, but people who have the same values
• Remember: Employees will never work as hard (principal / agent problem)
• Understand when you work best (time of the day)
• Write things down; you don’t know what you think until your write it down
• Use ChatGPT as an executive coach; have it ask you probing questions so you “discover yourself”
• What is your Venn diagram (things you are good at, like to do, can make $$) here
  

Serve Clients.

• Be proactive. Don’t wait for direction all the time. Know the end-goal and push to get there.
• As [Mad Men] says, “‘the moment you get a client is the moment you start to lose them”
• Under-promise, over-deliver. Always go above & beyond
• Execute correctly, and on-time
• Manage expectations. It’s easier to say “yes”, but don’t shy away from real dialogue; understand the “spec” 
• Be a professional – the golden rule, “how would you want to be treated?”
• Be like John Stockton, pass the ball.  Make other people successful here.
• Work with high-quality clients; clients you learn from, clients who respect and like you; clients who share
  
• Surprise them with your professionalism; develop a brand for punctuality, clarity, insight, and fun

Do what makes your better.

• Do what makes you uncomfortable, but makes you better
• It’s not a straight path, you can’t script it out; be smart and flexible
• Don’t do the same job over and over again. Collect different experiences
• What are the macro-trends (what’s happening in society) that you believe in, and are under-indexed, and get involved in that.  What resonates with you?
• Do things that add to your narrative; a great tagline I heard once “have a story-worthy week”
• For young people – get diversity of opinions, also people who have more experience than you.  Older people like to give back
• Everything is about timing. If you still have passion, then don’t give it up