Ray Ozzie is one of those OG software entrepreneurs.
He’s had a couple of big exits as a founder, including one to Microsoft for $120 million back in 2005 💰
Here’s Ray quoted in the book Founders at Work…
Frequently, people think just running from school out into doing a startup is the best thing to do.
But I think that getting some experience within a number of companies is really positive because you meet people and you start to develop patterns in your mind of the types of people that you need, and the types of people that you can trust, and the types of people you never want to work with.
In other words, don’t be so eager to go start your own thing.
It can be massively beneficial to work with and for established companies for a while. You gain experience and build skills while getting paid 🤑
And, down the line, it helps you figure out what your own thing should be.
(Btw, Founders at Work is one of my all-time favorite reads. Highly recommended.)