Career Path Of A Chief Of Staff At Mesh
Caldwell, a Chief of Staff at Mesh, initially pursued mechanical engineering but quickly transitioned to the startup world, "immediately left the field and went straight into startups," founding a company to help gaming content creators monetize their audiences. After further experiences in sales and online community monetization, Caldwell's career demonstrates a dynamic shift from engineering to entrepreneurial ventures focused on digital content and community building.
Career Exploration, Startups, Sales, Leadership, Overcoming Challenges
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Caldwell Clarke
Chief of Staff
Mesh
University of Maryland
UCLA Anderson School of Management - MBA
Engineering - Mechanical
Gaming, Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Caldwell's career path demonstrates that non-linear career progression is possible and successful. He transitioned from mechanical engineering to startups, gaining diverse experience in operations, founding his own company, and working in sales before becoming Chief of Staff.
2. His experiences highlight the value of diverse skills and experiences. His background in engineering, operations, founding a company, and sales provided a unique skillset for his current role.
3. Caldwell's entrepreneurial ventures, even though some failed, provided invaluable learning experiences that shaped his career trajectory and contributed to his success. This emphasizes the importance of embracing challenges and learning from setbacks in building a fulfilling career path.
Transcript
Here's the cleaned transcript:
**Q1: Career path**
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Any internships or jobs you had before your current role?
For sure. I graduated from the University of Maryland in 2016 as a mechanical engineer. I had interned in defense, which is a pretty standard choice.
But I kind of realized my junior and senior year it wasn't really what I wanted to do. So I graduated and did what every mechanical engineer reasonably would do: immediately left the field and went straight into startups.
My first role was running operations for a coffee and tea startup based out of the university. I did that for about a year, then founded my own thing. This is sort of where my career has focused since.
I founded a company trying to help gaming content creators, like YouTubers and streamers, monetize their audiences. That lasted about a year and a half.
Then I moved to — both that and the coffee and tea startup had failed for issues with sales. So I went to go learn sales at a gaming company called Skillz in San Francisco. I did that for about a year, left right before the IPO.
Then I moved to Mesh, which was my most recent role as Chief of Staff. That was basically helping online communities set up a space in which they could monetize the community they had built with advertisers.
Advizer Personal Links