Why Startup Apprenticeships are the Best Way to Build a Great Career
Apprenticeships aren’t just for welders. Startups aren’t just for coders. The best way to learn how to do something is to do it. Whether it’s bike-riding, basketball, or business. You practice and engage the real world. You spend time around others who are better than you to work with and learn from them. That’s how […]
How Your Obsession With Options Is Blinding You To Opportunities
One of the first steps in your personal emancipation is to realize that the world is full of options, and the few things currently in front of you are not the only from which to choose. But there is a difference between options and opportunities. Options are theoretical. Opportunities are actual. Options are statistical probabilities. […]
Don’t Rush to Careerify Your Interests
There is nothing wrong with turning your interests into a career. In fact, it can be one of the most wonderful and fulfilling ways to live. Doing what you love for a living is great if possible, and it’s a lot more possible than people realize. Don’t mistake me for saying it’s a bad thing. […]
5 Things I Learned Traveling Solo at 18
Ever felt unsatisfied with college? Many young people have. Ever felt unsatisfied enough to drop out, buy a one-way ticket to Guatemala, and travel for four months without a cell phone? 19 year-old author and traveler Jake Heilbrunn is the only person we’ve met who can say “yes” to that question. Jake wanted more than […]
Become a Digital Marketing Apprentice at Bay Area Startup!
If you’ve ever been passionate about writing, editing, advertising, and marketing, but never imagined yourself going into the ad agency world — if you’ve ever been fascinated with Facebook advertising, promoting a product on Instagram, and getting people to show up to events — if you’ve ever wanted to jump from just being in the […]
Reinventing the Apprenticeship for the 21st Century
The apprenticeship was once the go-to way to prepare yourself for a career. You would graduate from whatever formal schooling you had and go work closely with somebody who had learned all the things you wished to learn — oftentimes the hard way. After some time working with this person and applying your passions and […]
Dropouts and Opt-Outs: Ralph Lauren
“I never went to fashion school. I didn’t know what a designer was. I knew I had something, but I didn’t know what it was. And it could just have easily been nothing.” Ralph Lauren is an entrepreneur and clothing designer, and one of the best. His clothes are classically elegant, transcending momentary fashion trends […]
You Could Have Tried Harder: Thinking Differently About Effort and Responsibility
“At least I did my best.” This is the most common and the most effective excuse in the world. It’s very dangerous. There are two important things we need to know about this statement: There is no such thing as doing our best. There is always something we could have done better. We have to know when to stop […]
What My High School Business Teacher Taught Me About Entrepreneurship (and Business Classes)
There aren’t too many hours spent in class that I wouldn’t take back if I could. But like most people, I have one or two classroom experiences that I look back on fondly. Business class was one of those, precisely because it wasn’t a class. Our teacher was a local businessman. He wasn’t a teacher, […]
5 Ways Homeschooling is Like Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is more than just going out and incorporating a business. It doesn’t just have to be building a product or launching a service and claiming a slice of equity in a company. It doesn’t even have to be solely an issue of business. At its core, entrepreneurship is creative problem solving. Entrepreneurs are people […]
Why A College Internship Isn’t Enough
I don’t need more work experience, I had an internship in college! — Famous Last Words of the Underemployed College Graduate In my path talking with prospective Praxis applicants and with prospective Praxis business partners, I am often asked why the Praxis business partner experience is ten months and not just three, four, or six […]
You Don’t Need to Get A Second Degree — Here’s What to Do Instead
This is a quick post. Below is an e-mail I received from a friend about another friend of his who is thinking about going back to school to get a second degree because he is struggling to get a job in journalism. If you want to read more, here are three related posts: How to Get […]
4 Things a College Dropout Should Do to Prepare for Success
Over the past year I’ve had the opportunity to meet dozens of young people who have created a successful life for themselves outside of the traditional college — career path. They come from different backgrounds, with different skills and experiences, and different goals and interests, but they all share an uncanny ability to set themselves apart from their […]
The Professional Benefits of Being Clueless
“I have no idea what I’m doing.” – Dog Socrates I’ve written before about how I really don’t know anything. A common theme! My guess is that a lot of young people in the workplace (if they’re smart) figure out the same thing quickly. There’s one saving grace for people like us: the model. There’s […]
Dropouts and Opt-Outs: Travis Kalanick
“Stand by your principles and be comfortable with confrontation. So few people are, so when the people with the red tape come, it becomes a negotiation.” Travis Cordell Kalanick (August 6, 1976 – ) is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of the wildly successful ride-sharing service, Uber. Kalanick was like many entrepreneurs, a self-starter looking for […]