Build a Path for Entrepreneurs, and Create New Jobs in America
How to Restore Our Culture of Achievement,
We’ve got a PROBLEM right now.
Our smart people are doing
the WRONG things.
If we can get them to do the RIGHT things,
it will TRANSFORM THE COUNTRY.
The majority of our TALENT is flowing to finance, consulting, and law…
…and NOT ENOUGH to job-creating enterprises in our communities.
They’re going to BIG cities like New York
Not to places that
really NEED them
Major banks and consulting firms spend
TENS OF MILLIONS each year recruiting at
major college campuses.
From 2008–2013, more Harvard graduates went into finance, consulting, or law
THAN ANY OTHER PATH.
23% MED SCHOOL (12%); GRAD SCHOOL (7%); TEACH FOR AMERICA (4%)
13% UNDECIDED (13%)
21% MEDIA, ARTS, SPORTS, COMMUNICATION (11%); IT, INDUSTRY (10%)
36% FINANCE/BANKING (11%); MANAGEMENT CONSULTING (11%); LAW SCHOOL (14%)
7% NONPROFIT, GOVERNMENT, MILITARY (7%)
WHERE THEY’RE GOING:
~1,630 Seniors
“If I go to career services, they’ll tell me
straight out that
THEY ONLY HAVE FINANCE AND
CONSULTING JOBS for me to look at.”
It’s like we’re INVESTING in layers of frosting and NEGLECTING to bake the cake.
That means there ISN’T ENOUGH TALENT flowing to businesses that use these services.
Businesses that
CREATE NEW JOBS
Businesses that
BUILD THRIVING COMMUNITIES
Businesses that
CHANGE THE WORLD
So what is the result of this
WAR FOR TALENT?
Jacques-Philippe Piverger (MPOWERD) Anu Duggal (F Cubed) Miles Lasater (SeeClickFix)
Jon Oringer (Shutterstock) Jen Medbery (Kickboard) Angus Davis (Swipely)
The U.S. economy is currently
NOT PRODUCING ENOUGH of its next generation of serial entrepreneurs.
If the U.S. had generated as many startups for 2009–12 as it had in 2007, the country would have
produced 2.5 MILLION NEW JOBS.
We need to get our smart people
BUILDING THINGS again.
BUILDING THINGS IS HARD.
Over FIFTY PERCENT of businesses
FAIL in their first THREE YEARS.
I know this firsthand.
My first company FAILED within the first two years.
But I OVERCAME the failure and became CEO of Manhattan GMAT and
now FOUNDER of Venture for America.
I got to meet President Obama too.
->
I worked alongside a more EXPERIENCED ENTREPRENEUR.
I learned THREE important lessons about entrepreneurship.
1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS A PROCESS
Like with everything else, you become a better entrepreneur OVER TIME.
Rovio Entertainment was around for six years and underwent layoffs before the “instant” success of
ANGRY BIRDS.
BILL GATES cofounded a company called Traf-O-Data that lost thousands of dollars and shut down before he started Microsoft.
SAM WALTON’s first Arkansas store went under before he started Walmart.
Entrepreneurs are forged through
EXPERIENCE.
2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS ABOUT PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATION BUILDING
Not just CREATIVITY or having a GOOD IDEA
There’s an aphorism that
A people hire A’s B people hire C’s
C people hire losers
“SLOW TO HIRE, FAST TO FIRE”
A common saying in the startup world…
You’re hiring someone not to do the job, but
to do or INVENT A BIGGER JOB when the company expands.
A common saying in the startup world…
“SLOW TO HIRE, FAST TO FIRE”
Cultures get built from the BEGINNING, so whoever joins a company takes cues from
whoever’s already there.
“SLOW TO HIRE, FAST TO FIRE”
A common saying in the startup world…
It’s much easier to build a WINNING TEAM if the first few players are extraordinary.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
–MARGARET MEAD Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and cultural anthropologist
3. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS ABOUT
VALUE CREATION
THE FUEL OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
Value creation leads to
NEW BUSINESSES and JOBS.
Andera, a software company,
EMPLOYS ALMOST 100 PEOPLE in
Providence, RI.
Its founder, Charlie Kroll, wasn’t
always set on becoming an ENTREPRENEUR.
In 2000, Charlie was a senior at Brown University and
wanted to be an INVESTMENT BANKER.
To his surprise, he didn’t
get the position he wanted.
He recovered from his disappointment to START
Andera, and the rest is history.
IMAGINE if Charlie’s story
were the NORM rather than the
exception.
HOW LONG would it take to generate
THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS, opportunities, and even
industries?
What our country has been
SEEKING a formula for
VALUE CREATION =
How can we
encourage our top
people to TAKE RISKS and
BUILD NEW THINGS?
7.5
A friend once told me about a PRINCETON GRADUATE named
Cole.
Cole studied Math and went to work for a HEDGE FUND directly
out of school.
At age 24, he makes well into SIX FIGURES.
By conventional measures, Cole has achieved the AMERICAN DREAM.
And yet, how excited are you about
COLE’S TRAJECTORY?
I’ll admit I’m
NOT TOO PSYCHED either.
Now, imagine someone you think
could take on RISK.
Someone
WELL-EDUCATED, WELL-SUPPORTED, FREE OF OBLIGATIONS.
Someone like…
COLE!
If we can get smart hardworking people like Cole to build businesses around the country, our best and brightest
will build ENGINES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH.
? ?
But how?
I created an organization called
to solve this problem.
We solve the problem in TWO ways.
1. Help growth companies ACCESS THE TALENT
they need to THRIVE AND EXPAND
Venture for America Selection Day
Members of Venture for America Class of 2013
2. Train our best and brightest to become
BUSINESS BUILDERS & ENTPREPRENEURS
We want to give rise to a virtuous cycle of
INNOVATION BUSINESS BUILDING
JOB CREATION
100,000 NEW JOBS BY 2025.
Our goal is to help create
Today, Venture for America is a multi-million dollar organization…
…with 108 Fellows…
…and 100+ more Fellows on the way…
Columbus, OH
Las Vegas, NV
New Orleans, LA
Providence, RI Detroit, MI
Baltimore, MD
Philadelphia, PA
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Miami, FL San Antonio, TX
St Louis, MO
…working in startups in cities across the nation.
Let’s put people to work solving problems and building businesses.
“Andrew is one of those rare visionaries who puts dreams into action. This book is a roadmap for young people in designing their careers, a playbook for policy makers for rebuilding our cities, and a path forward to moving entrepreneurship back to the center of the American economy.”
–ARIANNA HUFFINGTON Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post
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