Paths Traveled
One of my favorite bloggers, Jeff Atwood of Coding Horror, recently dropped a post on how overnight success is a myth. The gist of the article is that while sometimes enterprises do see massive growth in a brief period of time that this growth is usually preceded by a period of struggle.
I would not define my company as any type of “overnight success” as to be quite candid we’re still on the runway. That said, after almost a year in business we have no debt, are profitable, and our revenues are increasing. So Jeff’s post got me to thinking: what is the career path I’ve taken to get to where I am?
Farmhand: Summers, 1988 - 1991
My first job, as a 13 year old, was working with a farmer who lived a quarter mile away from my family. The days started at 6:00AM and I was thrilled when I got off early at 7:00 in the evening. You haven’t lived until you’ve slogged through a muddy field at dawn carrying half your body weight in cold slimy irrigation tubes. Salary? $100 per week.
Paving crew member: Summers, 1992 - 1993
The first day I was using a pneumatic tamper to pack down soil around concrete sewage pipe. I was talking with my boss during a break and accidentally hit the trigger, sending the steel end of the tamper right into my mouth. The blow forced my right incisor through my lower lip. I still have the scar.
Groundskeeper: Fall, 1993
Ever tried to dig a posthole in northwestern Arkansas? You’ll have better luck on an interstate. Third worst job I’ve ever had.
Printer technician: Summer, 1994
This was actually kinda cool. I repaired laser printers and remanufactured laser printer cartridges. Unfortunately I was paid minimum wage and expected to work about 55 hours a week with no overtime.
Restaurant vent hood, grocery store, and USPS mailtruck cleaner: Summer, 1995
There is still a spot on my left arm that won’t tan because of a burn from the chemicals used to unlatch grease buildup.
Door-to-door jewelry sales: Fall 1995
Hands down the worst job I’ve ever had. I lasted exactly one hour after the two days of training were finished before I phoned it in. The moral of the story? I’ll work my tail off from dawn to dusk in ungodly heat but I won’t tramp along Main Street hawking crappy “microplated” jewelry.
Food delivery: Fall 1995
Exactly what it sounds like. I drove to restaurants, picked up food, and delivered it. The highlight was when this cute girl gave me her number. The lowlight was that they never paid me my hourly wage. I think they still owe me a few hundred bucks.
Acoustic ceiling installer: Fall 1995, Summers 1996
I was a road warrior, going as far as eight hours from home to install ceilings. I’m still proud of the fact that I earned a raise after a few weeks by finishing jobs estimated for five days in two. And I got overtime because I’d work from about 6AM to 9PM.
General labor at a greeting card company: Summer 1997
This job was so much fun. I had just bought my first motorcycle and the three other guys on the crew all rode as well. We’d get to work early in the morning to put in our eight, then we’d go to the pool for a dip and maybe a little flirting with the lifeguards. After that we’d go for a long ride through the Ozarks.
Financial product sales: Fall 1997 - Fall 1999
I got my SEC/NASD financial securities licenses during the last year I was in school. Got my first few clients by grabbing the local paper and cold-calling every single person in the paper. I soon figured out that the wedding and birth announcements as well as the obituaries were the best source of leads. But when a little old lady entrusted me with her life savings in the form of $100,000 in a brown paper bag I determined that my 23 year old stomach couldn’t handle that kind of responsibility.
Automotive sales: Winter 1999 - Spring 2000
Second worst job I’ve ever had. I was trained to cajole, insult, and manipulate customers. I hated every second of it and only lasted a month and a half before I found another job. Cajoling, insulting, and manipulating isn’t really my cup of tea. But I had a few customers actually tip me between $10 and $20 when I delivered them their cars. I’ve never been sure if that was a good or bad sign.
Small business telephony sales: Spring & Summer 2000
My introduction to bigtime corporate America. I worked for SBC and had to file SRFs to get my SROs or I was SOL. Thankfully I was recruited away within months.
Internet/technical sales: Fall 2000 - Summer 2001
It was the sunset of the Dot Com Bubble, but I still had a few months to make out like a bandit…at least until our vendors went out of business. I grew disillusioned and decided that I’d rather be a software developer as I’d always had a knack for programming.
Bartending: Summer 2001 - Fall 2002
Blowing off a good salary to do a blue collar job seemed like a great idea. In retrospect I think I had mistaken Office Space for a documentary. But I did find the time to work through a couple of books on C++.
Medical sales: Fall 2002
I closed a deal before they’d printed my business cards. Unfortunately I was the only salesperson to do so and the startup folded six weeks after I was hired. Never did get that commission.
Mold remediation sales: Winter 2002 - Summer 2004
This was a tough gig. I learned that unlike the city people, midwestern folksy folks won’t just tell you “no;” rather they’ll set meetings and reschedule, dodge phone calls, and string you along with “maybe.” The service we offered was good but I just couldn’t generate enough revenue to keep the business running.
Ceiling technician: Summer 2004
This was the job I had when I got married. I was working this remodel gig where we had to go in after 8:00, work all night, and then clean up after ourselves. Remodels are the worst. You get bombarded by tile dust, insulation, mold, electrical wire, mouse turds, etc.
Ecommerce manager / software developer: Fall 2004 - Spring 2008
I’d done three projects for money since 2002 (the first for free, the second for $300, the third for $1,800) and had developed a good working knowledge of the LAMP stack. This job was awesome. I was treated well, given free reign to manage my own time, and ended up with an office right across from the CEO. I doubled my salary (which is impressive, but not as impressive as the guy I worked with, who started at $10/hour and is now in the $150,000 range).
Software entrepreneur: Spring 2008 - present
My goal, even when I was bartending and studying code at night was to start my own software company. And I did.
Looking back at all that, I can see how my experiences have formed my work ethic. There are a few things that stand out:
- Failure: I’m not afraid of it because I’ve already failed miserably and survived. Five years ago I was up on stilts in the dead of night installing ceiling tile. I’ll do everything in my power to make this business a success, but if worse comes to worse, walking on stilts is like riding a bike.
- Air Conditioning: Working my ass off in the sun and rain, hustling heavy containers of ice, and being talked down to developed a strong appreciation for being treated politely, air conditioning, and comfortable shoes.
- Success: It’s relative. Some of the people I sold booze with are still making the rent that way and I bet they would consider me a huge success…even though I rarely feel that way.
