Steve Ballmer’s Advice For Young Entrepreneurs

Yeah, I'd say a few things. Number one, folks have to find something that they're either passionate about or they develop passion about. Not every job or every career will you have passion about at the start, but sometimes that can really cascade. But you need to look – you've got to actually have a plan to see what's out there. Give an example: when I was an undergraduate, my dad worked for Ford, but I interviewed with about 32 different companies on campus just to learn: okay, what is it like to work in the back office of a bank? What does it look like to be an accountant? What does it look like to be a salesperson? I think it's really important to take that on as a mission to find a passion, not hope you randomly luck out and find one. So that'd be number one. Number two is hard work. There's absolutely if you're working harder than the person who's doing your job or your competitor, that gives you more grace, it gives you more opportunity to make a mistake because you're going to work it through, you're going to catch up. So I absolutely believe that hard work is critical. The thing I have learned I think a little bit since Microsoft is you need to still retain a little bit of brain space, a little more brain space to speculate on what may come next. If you become a dreamer, not going to work. If you become totally a grinder, not going to work. So that'd be number two. And then number three, let's face it, there is an element of luck. And I think people like to act like, 'Well, I'm a master of the universe because I didn't have any help, I did it all on my brain power, my hard work, and energy.' And I don't think that's fair. I think there is a clear element of luck in this game. So I would highlight those three things. Then when you become a leader of a business, I think there's important things to really think about. Number one, be long-term in your perspective. If you're trying to build something, things don't arrive overnight. Number two, I like to tell businesses to get in the waiting room – build new skills before you know you need them. You have to be building skills, building talent, do the recruiting, create a sense of optimism in your business. Colin Powell – we had him come speak one time to our executive staff and he emphasized that optimism is a force multiplier. Businesses really need that kind of optimism. Leadership is about thought leadership, it's not just about people leadership. If you're very charismatic and you're running off a cliff, more people are going to follow you off the cliff. So, damn, you better pick the right direction. Just a little bit of food for thought.

I agree with you. If you're trying to have that kind of drive to do something new, now for some people, I think people elect a profession where they say, 'Hey, I can make with greater certainty a very nice lifestyle if I pick this profession.' I'm sure some lawyers do that, and that's okay. It's not all about the money, it's not about getting rich, but hey, with relatively low risk, I have a chance of doing relatively well. This will sound a little bit off, but I think some of that is also true in getting into the investment business, whether it's venture capital or private equity or even advising corporations on finance. Those jobs pay well, and consulting. Capitalism works on this in the sense that if you look at top graduates of top schools who go into business, guess what? While the kids will say they don't care about the money, the jobs that pay do attract the highest percentage of the people. I'm a big believer that markets actually are very efficient. If you put an incentive out there and it appeals to somebody, it's going to work.