Very Short Interview, Part 2

The end of the semester is rapidly approaching.  I revisited the entrepreneur that I interviewed at the beginning of the semester, Robert Minchin.  The first time I interviewed him, I had no idea what to expect from this semester.  I didn't realize just how often I would be thrust out of my comfort zone by assignments.  Now that I've done those tough tasks, I have a better understanding of what being an entrepreneur actually means.  Mr. Minchin is incredibly busy preparing for law school and editing full time, so we communicated via email again.  Here are the questions I asked and his response.

1.  Throughout this semester, I have repeatedly had to interview people about my product ideas.  How would something like this have prepared you for your entrepreneurial endeavors?

"When I was working with the start-up, we had to approach potential donors and ask them to invest in our product.  But more important than that was getting them to invest in us as entrepreneurs.  If people don't see the fire in your eyes and a passion for what you're doing, they won't buy in.  Doing projects like that can only help give you perspective on what it is like to do that with money on the line."

2.  My most recent assignment was a celebration of failure.  How has failure helped shape your career?

"I started out by getting my engineering degree at UF.  About 2/3 of the way through, I decided that wasn't what I really wanted to do.  However, you don't just throw away several years of hard work and study, so I finished my degree.  I didn't fail in the typical sense.  I just didn't land where I was expecting to after several years.  Next, I got my MBA from Harvard.  That was moving more towards the direction I wanted, but I still wasn't quite there.  This fall, I will be beginning law school at George Mason in DC.  This is exactly where I want to be.  I will be surrounded by an environment I love and a job I want to do.  it just took me a few tries to get there."

3.  What advice would you give to an 18 year old you?

"Don't be afraid to try new things.  I had my sights so set on engineering that I didn't branch out as much as I could have back then.  I would just liked to have tried a few more things back then when I wasn't as busy."

I felt more prepared for this interview than the last.  After all, I have done a few interviews between then and now.  I was encouraged by his advice to "try new things."  I think that is something we can all take to heart and benefit from.  ENT 3003 has forced me to do new things, and I will do my best to continue trying new things outside of this class.