Entry-Level Positions for Aspiring CEOs and Co-Founders
Varun suggests that while an accounting background is valuable for entry-level positions, demonstrating the ability to execute projects and a "hungry and willing to learn" attitude are even more crucial, stating that they can "teach you to do anything" if the work ethic is present, regardless of academic background. The CEO/Co-founder also mentions that experience executing hard projects in a consulting manner would also be very helpful.
Accounting, Business Models, Consulting, Execution, Willingness to Learn
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Varun Bhuchar
CEO/Co-Founder
Boring Stuff
Dartmouth
UCLA Anderson: MBA
Film, Media Arts, Visual Arts, Political Science, American Studies
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Consulting
Honors Student, Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. An accounting background makes you an attractive candidate, but experience with business models and optimization is also highly valued.
2. While consulting experience can be beneficial, demonstrating experience in executing projects is more relevant than strategy work alone.
3. A willingness to learn and a strong work ethic are highly valued, potentially outweighing specific academic backgrounds or prior experience.
Transcript
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate or graduate student might consider?
It's interesting because I obviously did not study accounting. As of the taping of this video, I'm actually studying to get my enrolled agent certification with the IRS. I don't want to be a CPA, and I don't think I can go back and do my master's in accounting.
But I will say, I think the way to get your foot in the door has a couple of options, especially as I think about hiring for my own business. One, if you have an accounting background, I think anybody would be interested in chatting with you.
This job is not just accounting; it's also knowing how business models work and how to optimize them. I'm hesitant to say consulting, only because having done my time in consulting, I find that a lot of people don't really do execution. It's a lot of strategy work.
When we do our strategy work, we really have an eye on what is actually feasible for you to execute. We also stick with our clients when we execute it. So, if you have experience actually executing hard projects in a consulting manner, then I think this would be a good way for you to do it.
But there is a third way, which is essentially being hungry and willing to learn. I know I keep coming back to that, but I think that is the biggest thing I look for. If you are willing to do the work, I can teach you to do anything.
It really doesn't matter what your background is. If you really want to work with creators and have a passion for doing this, I think you can be trainable. It really doesn't matter where you came from. My degree is in film and political science, and I've actually got an MBA, but that's not to say this is the only path to get to this spot.