A series of happy accidents

How Whitman (and a liberal arts education) prepared me for the startup career I didn't even know I wanted

1. A SERIES OF 
 HAPPY ACCIDENTS*
2. * HOW WHITMAN PREPARED ME 
 FOR THE STARTUP CAREER I 
 DIDN’T EVEN KNOW I WANTED
3. DISCLAIMER
4. I MAY MAKE DATED REFERENCES TO A WHITMAN OF YESTERYEAR; FLY OFF ON TANGENTS; USE INDUSTRY- SPECIFIC LEXICON THAT IS, HONESTLY, AMORPHOUS, AT BEST; AND BABBLE NEARLY INCOHERENTLY FOR WHAT SEEMS LIKE AN ETERNITY. YOU CAN ALWAYS END YOUR SUFFERING BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND ASKING ME TO ELABORATE, CLEARING YOUR THROAT LOUDLY, COUGHING WHILE BLURTING OUT EXPLETIVES, OR SIMPLY BY GETTING UP AND WALKING AWAY. 
 IT’S COOL. I GET IT.
5. SO WHO AM I? 
 AND WHY DO YOU CARE?
6. ENGLISH MAJOR
7. ALMOST HISTORY & 
 PHILOSOPHY MINOR
8. DUMB JOCK Image courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtcooper25/7021437345/
9. WOULD-BE GEEK Image courtesy IBM
10. SO, IN SHORT, YOUR USUAL, 
 WELL ROUNDED, 
 LIBERAL ARTS GRADUATE Image courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/yqakent/8756660312
11. SO I LEFT WHITMAN 
 AND WHAT WAS THE 
 FIRST JOB I HAD?
12. WELL, 
 I WAS A LACROSSE COACH AND A NANNY. DUH.
13. SO WHAT WAS THE FIRST CAREER OPPORTUNITY 
 I HAD?
14. LITERARY AGENT Image courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/quattrostagioni/6363562459
15. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
17. Image courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/design-dog/10538897554
18. SO, 
 NO GOLD WATCH. 
 NOW WHAT?
19. WTF IS A STARTUP?
20. WRITING 
 AND EDITING
21. A DOZEN YEARS OF STARTUPS
22. BUT STILL, 
 SOMETHING WAS MISSING
23. OPEN SOURCE
28. COCA-COLA, DAIMLER, FACEBOOK, KICKSTARTER, INSTAGRAM, INTEL, GOOGLE, NIKE, TARGET, TWITTER, VERIZON… 
 
 AND MANY, MANY, MANY MORE
31. PIE ALUMS ARE CURRENTLY WORTH MORE THAN HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS AND EMPLOY ALMOST A THOUSAND PEOPLE
32. IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN, 
 I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO BE DOING THIS. I’M JUST LUCKY. 
 REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LUCKY.
35. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME
36. WHAT DO I WISH I HAD KNOWN HERE?
37. THERE IS NO “CAREER PATH”
38. EMBRACE THE 
 RANDOM VARIETY OF LIBERAL ARTS LEARNING
39. FIND COMFORT 
 IN BEING 
 UNCOMFORTABLE
40. FOCUS ON THE ASSIGNMENT
41. DON’T LET ACADEMICS PRECLUDE LIFE Image courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/lyza/48034431/
42. ENJOY YOUR MAJOR EXAMS
43. WHAT YOU KNOW IS FAR MORE APPLICABLE THAN YOU REALIZE
44. COMMON SENSE IS NOT COMMON
45. ONE PARTING THOUGHT…
47. IF SOME DUMB JOCK FROM 20TH CENTURY WHITMAN CAN JUST BUMBLE INTO THIS, IMAGINE WHAT YOU CAN DO
48. THANK YOU! @TUROCZY RICK@PIEPDX.COM