Follow your heart but still need to work your ass off !
It was a privilege to have David Hornik from August Capital and Nadine Terman from Solstein Capital as our guests in Reputation Management class at GSB.
As I heard David Hornik talk about his background and how he ended up in Venture Capital, one couldn’t help but feel the strong undertone of David following his heart and not being satisfied until he found what he really felt passionate and incredibly in love with. David took a pretty twisted road on his journey to being a venture capitalist. He received a BA from Stanford in Computer Music, an M.Phil in Criminology from Cambridge University, and a JD from Harvard Law School. He practiced law at a top notch law firm in the Bay Area for several years.
David was a pretty successful lawyer but deep within his heart, he knew that he wanted to be associated with startups. There wasn’t a clear path from being a lawyer to working with startups. He was persistent and had the courage to listen and take steps towards following his true passion.The words from Steve Jobs “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” were ringing through my head as I heard David. These words seem like cliche to most of us, but there is that uneasy and raw truth to it that makes it obvious but also extremely difficult. David clearly followed his heart and found something which he really loved. The end result is for all of us to see. He has received Venture Capitalist of the Year award few times and has been honored by Forbes Magazine as a member of its Midas List of top Venture Capitalists.
In her talk, Nadine gave us insight into working in a male dominated industry of finance and what was it for a woman to rise through the ranks at Goldman Sachs and finally starting on her own. It’s gut wrenching to hear that in America, in the 21'st century it was still the case that women weren’t expected to wear pants in certain office settings. It just drives me nuts that this antiquated thinking still exists in the most developed nation. What do you think happens in other parts of the world ?
Nadine stressed the importance of making lemonade even when presented with lemons. She was in an industry unfriendly to her but she still excelled. She worked hard, ensured she was the most prepared person in the meeting, identified her allies and made the most of very challenging circumstances. Besides the work ethics, she stressed the importance of giving back to the community. As part of giving back to the community, she ended up getting back a lot more in return and this was never part of the plan.
In summary, the speakers through their personal stories emphasized the key aspects of finding out what one is passionate about and then going about working harder than anybody else to succeed. In order to really succeed, you’ve to work your ass off anyway, why not work on something you really love and care about. You will love every day of your journey and have a lot of fun along the way. Don’t give up in your pursuit of finding your true love, be it your life partner or your life work !
