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Things I wish I had known

Things I wish I had known

A presentation I gave at my old high school about things I wish I had known when I was leaving school.

Will Critchlow

October 24, 2011
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Transcript

  1. In 2005, we made a go of it – we

    made £36,000 in revenue and learnt the value of getting things in writing
  2. We didn’t make a business plan – we got talked

    into college, then “sensible jobs” – which earnt significantly more than the business initially h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/ianvisits/5458806574/  
  3. Hang out with people who are smarter than you: you

    will come to resemble the people you hang out with
  4. Business friends rock – you don’t get a network at

    “networking events”. Just like you don’t make friends at “friend events”
  5. No, you can’t have a pony – you aren’t owed

    anything. Make your own way. Lead without permission Idea unashamedly from: http://media.b-list.org/presentations/2008/djangocon/reusable_apps.pdf Not   yours  
  6. Curiosity is your best asset – I learnt Python and

    Django to (help) build our video store. It made $15,000 in its first month
  7. NBED How to get hired – example of Ed Anyone

    can get hired – don’t scatter-gun CVs. Choose where you want to work and impress the hell out of them A  guy  younger  than   you  lot  made  this  to   impress  us  
  8. “For everyone who comes in here talking about the team

    they are going to hire, there are three others out there that did hire people” h"p://www.bothsideso>hetable.com/2011/01/28/on-­‐leadership-­‐teams-­‐success-­‐happiness/  
  9. “You need to make cold calls every single day otherwise

    your business will wither and die”. We didn’t. It didn’t.
  10. Once you leave college, it’s not cheating any more –

    attribute sources, but copy away. Give yourself unfair advantages h"p://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/whats-­‐high-­‐school-­‐for.html    
  11. From here on out, do something you love – if

    you don’t, you’re “doing it wrong”
  12. I hope I’ve given you some useful advice. Remember as

    you make your way into the world that most people don’t know what they’re doing “Never compare your inside to someone else’s outside”
  13. Director > [email protected] > twitter.com/WillCritchlow Distilled > www.distilled.co.uk Will Critchlow,

    Head of R&D Feel free to give me a shout with any questions or for any further advice you need.