Career Path Of An Entrepreneur At An Early Stage Startup
Jorrel's career path began with academic exploration, starting in pre-Haas business at UC Berkeley, then econ stats, eventually landing in political economy, alongside diverse internships in sales and marketing, content writing, and cybersecurity consulting; after college, experiences in operations and data analysis led to the founding of "a full fledged, YC backed, and venture backed company," marking the beginning of an entrepreneurship journey now involving running multiple companies and navigating the challenges of fundraising and customer acquisition.
Entrepreneurship, Data Analysis, Career Exploration, Start-up, Internships
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Jorrel Sto Tomas
Entrepreneur, Founder
Early Stage Start Up
UC Berkeley
N/A
Economics, Political Science, American Studies
Technology
Business Strategy
Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. Explored different academic paths in college (pre-Haas, econ/stats, political economy) to find the right fit, demonstrating adaptability and self-awareness in career exploration.
2. Gained diverse internship experiences in sales/marketing, content writing, and cybersecurity consulting, showcasing a broad range of interests and skills development.
3. Transitioned from operations and data analysis roles to launching a venture-backed startup (Ramp Labs), highlighting a progression toward entrepreneurship and leadership.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Please include any internships or jobs you had before your current role.
Absolutely. In college, I studied political economy. However, I didn't start in that field. I initially enrolled at UC Berkeley as a pre-business major, taking some business classes.
Finding that uninteresting, I shifted to economics and statistics, aiming for a more technical path. Realizing that was outside my wheelhouse, I found a middle ground in political economy within the International Area Studies department.
During that time, I had a variety of internships. I worked as a sales and marketing intern for UC Berkeley Executive Education, and as a content writer for a boutique marketing agency. I also interned in cybersecurity consulting services.
My experiences in college weren't drastically different from what came after. After graduating, I worked at Flexport as an operations associate, managing freight movements globally. I then transitioned into data, working as a data analyst.
Following my first data analyst role at App onboard in Santa Monica, I continued in data-focused positions. This led to my entrepreneurial journey, where I launched a YC-backed and venture-backed company called Ramp Labs in November 2021.
Since then, it's been non-stop. I currently run a couple of companies, handling fundraising and customer calls. That's essentially my pathway from then until now.