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Tony Fadell: Choose a Startup Like You Choose a University — What Do You Want to Learn, and From Whom?

By Tony Fadell · Investing · 1 min read

What is it you want to learn, and who is it you want to learn from? Just like you pick a university — you go for a certain program with a certain set of people. Why don't you do that when it comes to a career? I took the lowest job on the totem pole at General Magic because I wanted to work with the right team.

Key Points

Choose a startup like a university: what do you want to learn, and who do you want to learn from?
Don't go just for the company name — go for a specific team working on something you're curious about
The way you find what you want to do in life is by figuring out what you don't want to do — and the only way is by doing

What is it you want to learn, and who is it you want to learn from? That's the first question I ask anyone who interviews with me.

Pick It Like a University

Fadell: What is it you want to learn, and who is it you want to learn from? Just like you pick a university — you go for a certain program with a certain set of people, especially graduate studies.

Why don't you do that when it comes to a career? You don't just say I want to go work at Google or Apple. You want to go to a certain team with a certain set of people and work on something you're really curious about and want to learn about.

Don't just say 'I want to work at Google.' Go to a specific team working on something you're curious about.

The First Question in Every Interview

Fadell: That's the first question I ask anyone who interviews with me. What do you want to learn? I don't want the expert who says 'I'm the expert in this, you're going to hire me as the expert.' We're doing something new. You're not an expert because we're not experts either.

Most people start with data — where do I make the most money for my position? Start with the why. What's your curiosity? What do you want to learn? Then follow that.

First question: what do you want to learn? I don't want the expert. We're doing something new.

The Lowest Job at General Magic

Fadell: I took the lowest job on the totem pole at General Magic because I wanted to get in there to work with the right team. I didn't even know what they were doing. But it felt right.

I was barely living above the poverty line, working 80 hours a week. Because it was so amazing to learn — just like a college student. I learned from that, changed my opinions into data, found new opinions. Versions of myself — version one, version two, version three, version four.

Lowest job on the totem pole. Barely above the poverty line. 80 hours a week. Because the learning was amazing.

Find What You Want by Doing

Fadell: The way you find out what you want to do in life is by figuring out what you don't want to do. And the only way you find that out is by doing a bunch of stuff. Doing a bunch of stuff and refining it.

You find what you want to do by figuring out what you don't want to do. The only way is by doing.