This guy was hired right out of college and worked his way up in a massive corpo...

dkokelley · on Oct 12, 2009

Also keep in mind, he graduated with a CS degree, not a business degree, and he's in a small business now.

"I was hired soon after college (computer science degree) and rose up the ranks from product development"

So this guy started with a CS degree, hired into product development for a major tech company, and was promoted from there.

I'm not saying that necessarily translates to starting a company, but I think his advice holds a little more knowing that he worked both sides of the equation (Product development and management).

dkokelley · on Oct 13, 2009

I apologize for the double post. I found this reply by Exec regarding his startup history.

"Yes. Here's my startup track record.

I started one that was a success and ran as intended.

I started another that was a failure. Mistake: bad market timing.

I joined another that was poorly run and I left after others refused to change. Later it failed as expected.

I joined another that is on track to do well. I'm still at it.

I'm involved in another that is on track to do well. I'm consulting.

I evaluate other startups for myself and various investment groups routinely."

mistermann · on Oct 12, 2009

I concur....successful one trick ponies should be taken with a grain of salt.