Tech Talk

I benched a personal best of 155lbs 10 times morning (which means I can pretty much bench my weight 8-10 times which is pretty good), but that's not what inspired me to post a blog...

Last night Me, Mike, and Pat gave a 'Tech Talk' on the Virginia Tech campus to a small group of computer science students. Basically we talked about Webmail.us, our development environment, our projects, the technologies we use, and we answered a lot of questions. I think it went well and we had a good time. One question that I did not get to answer was from a student who wanted to know what it was like to start your own company in Blacksburg because he was pondering the idea. Pat gave a great answer, but I couldn't help but think about this on the drive home.

My advice to anyone who is coming out of college and thinking about starting their own company is simple. As long as you are ready to put in long hours and are not afraid of failure, I think you should go for it. I think you will fail. But that's OK. Life is short, if you take that high paying job at IBM and Microsoft, that is the safe thing to do. It takes absolutely no courage to be that person. It will also prove to be unrewarding and boring in two years. Even if it's exciting work, you haven't learned the tough lessons that go along with starting your own company. You haven't learned how to fail, and you won't appreciate what it means to really work hard. If you are 22 and coming out of college, there is no better time to learn life's tough lessons. You have no kids, no mortgage, no obligations. It doesn't take a lot of money to start a company, you basically need an apartment and a work ethic. There is no better time than the present.

If you have an idea, a passion for that idea, and are not afraid of failing, GO FOR IT!!!

Of course, if you are afraid of failing, or you just don't have a great idea, I suggest working for a small company as a first step towards starting your own company. At a small company you will see and experience what the owners of the business are challenged by on a daily basis. You will see it's not easy. But this is great experience. After you work for a small company you will quickly realize that either that's the life you want to live or it's not. Perhaps you will find out that you do belong at a big company. Whatever the case may be, don't be afraid to take chances every once in awhile. That's my advice for all you graduates, good luck with whatever you do decide.