Michael Anderson on finding the right fit
Before joining the Dropbox Rotation Program, Michael Anderson explored technology from different perspectives
Yale alum and former outside linebacker Michael Anderson spent his college summers in the Bay Area pursuing his interest in technology. He joined the Dropbox Rotation Program after graduating a year ago, and he now works on Dropbox for Business operations and strategy.
Where do you call home?
I was born and raised in Palo Alto and went to school at Yale in Connecticut.
You studied economics at Yale. How did you choose your major?
I actually started off wanting to major in computer science, and I also played on the football team. There was one required class that conflicted with the football season. So I did everything I could in computer science, but economics was my most logical next choice.
I knew I wanted to work in the tech industry, but I also realized fairly quickly that I wasn’t going to be the best software engineer. I wanted to come at it from a different angle, but I also wanted to understand the technology behind it.
How did you first get interested in technology?
Growing up in Palo Alto, I felt like I had startups in my backyard. I worked for a couple of startups in high school and early in college. I got to see what it was like to be five people in a room together on University Avenue trying to do something.
I guess I caught the bug early. I also knew, when I was going away to school, that I was most likely going to want to end up back here.
Tell me about the path that led you to the Dropbox Rotation Program.
After getting some experience with really small startups, I decided it would probably be a good idea to get some experience at the opposite end of the spectrum.
I spent a summer working at Apple, somewhere between finance and research and development, and I got to see what a very large corporation was like. After that, I wanted to get more experience on the finance side, so I worked at an investment bank out here the next summer.
That was an eye-opening experience. I realized in about week two out of twelve that I wanted to be working for the companies I was covering, not the other way around.
Some of the analysis I did that summer moved Dropbox to the top of a list of companies. So I decided to go after the top three or four companies on that list, and Dropbox was number one.
Tell me about the experience of going through the program. What did you learn along the way?
Having a chance to do a bunch of different roles and try out different things really broadens the horizon, especially for someone fresh out of school and not exactly sure what they want to do.
DRP is also a really good study in product-market fit. You end up with a solid understanding of what on the product side is working and what can be improved, then on the market side, what it actually takes to get a person or a business to commit. Where those two meet is a really great case study for why DRP exists.
Taking that with me since the rotations ended has been really beneficial. When you reason from first principles with customers in mind, it’s really helpful to any team you join after DRP.
What are you working on now, and how did you end up there?
I’m on the Dropbox for Business operations and strategy team. I tried to stay as technical as possible throughout the rotations, working on some coding in account management and some data analysis in user operations. I used those as a litmus test for what would work best.
The thing that attracted me to this team was that it’s very project-based. I’m still very early in my career, and I thought projects would be the best learning experience, continuing with the rotational aspect from DRP.
Does your experience in college and on the football team play into the work you do now?
Yes. My schedule was pretty crazy in college. I’d have to wake up every day at 4:30 in the morning. You have to be very organized when that’s happening every day.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m the most organized person, though, because there are some pretty professionally organized people here. (laughing)
The thing that has helped me is just the dog days of football camp or off-season workouts. Whenever it’s a tough day, I know that I’ve made it through tougher.
Tell me about a highlight of your DRP experience.
I think Halloween was really a highlight. The DRPs went all out for Halloween. It was about halfway through our first rotations, so we were starting to get our bearings. It was a really fun event.
What have you learned about yourself over the past year?
I learned that I like ambiguous environments. I think with more ambiguity comes more opportunity. It’s up to you to define the structure.
There can be a conforming aspect to working at a bigger company, and smaller startups can be very unstructured. I really like the medium ground here.
What are you most looking forward to next?
I’m really excited for Dropbox in the next year. When I interviewed in November 2012, we basically fit in a little corner of this office, and now we have four floors. I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like in a year.
Learn more about the Dropbox Rotation Program for new college graduates.
