connerburt

(Paraphrasing)

"Living in New York, you get the sense that your part of the crowd. You see, everyone works in the city but wants the freedoms of a yard, family, and quiet that the suburbs promises. So every morning I would wake up at the same time - before sunrise. I'd put on my suit and hop in my lackluster car to head towards the train station.

The first thing we'd do is grab a coffee and the wall street journal. After working all day, and returning home around dark to a sleepy kid and tired wife, I'd prepare to do it all again the next day.

Then one day I woke up. I was standing on the subway platform, waiting for the train. We were like cattle. All in a row, stamped from a common mold with our Wall Street Journals and coffee in hand. We'd heard our way into the city, and graze back at night. One day I woke up. I realized that Venture Capital in NYC wasn't what I wanted."

Don Aquilano of Allos Ventures spent some time last night eloquently painting this picture. It stuck with many of us, as he talked about the merits of Indianapolis as a city and his diversified experience in the business world and venture capital.

Digging into the weeds, he simplified venture capital into a few key points that'll stick with me:

• Of 122 companies that he's invested in, just 1 has hit it's revenue projections.
• Venture capitial is simple: It starts with selling yourself and raising $, vetting and investing that money in early stage businesses, and allowing general and limited partners to reap the benefits when + returns happen.
• As simple as that sounds, the average fund follows a 10 year timeline, and follows a stark J-Curve: "The lemons ripen faster than the pearls".
• Don shared a number of stories about the types of companies and teams he invests in: most importantly, it seemed like a theme was "the stuff you learned in kindergarten matters." Integrity, passion, make the people around them better, etc.

Thanks to Don - everyone certainly learned a lot about careers, venture capital and entrepreneurship!

 

It’s not often that you get to sit in the Governor’s office...at his conference table...with a group of whip-smart young folks who can fire questions and receive honest answers. Instead of giving you a recap of our meeting, I’d like to take a step back and offer a high level view of what the Fellowship offers. I'll contend that when you peel back the onion, the core of the fellowship lies in the opportunities presented.

My favorite childhood film (Sandlot), includes a scene where Babe Ruth enters a dream and speaks to the Benny the Jet Rodriguez:

“Let me tell you something kid; Everybody gets a chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance, either because they're too scared, or they don't recognize it when it spits on their shoes.”

As opportunity spits on our shoes, it’s all about doing something great. When talking to my colleagues and friends in the fellowship, I realize they’re driving to do great things for the fellowship and their host companies alike, taking advantage of the opportunities presented. Here’s a few tidbits I’ve heard thus far:

Orr Fellows at one company are in the process of writing the largest parking solution’s RFP in the past five years--one night last week they worked from 12pm to 5am in an effort to crank it out. Another, working in sales, has thousands of dollars out in proposals he hopes will close (after working for a little over a month). One fellow has a C-level title, and another has become the most senior consultant in his firm. Outside of host companies, I’ve heard a passionate startup pitch from a fellow who's dreamed up a simple yet innovative solution to solve a problem he’s recognized in his space. I might add that he knows exactly how many cents per dollar of income go to spending versus a seed investment in his business--a true entrepreneur.

The list goes on . . . And so I’m sure you’ll hear about many more accomplishments and stirrings over the next few years, but remember that the folks in the fellowship are what makes it special. No one I’ve met has been scared to tackle challenges, and as we share in each other’s successes, the expectations only get higher.

So after dwelling on this for a bit, my takeaway from the first few months of the Fellowship is that you've got to PICKLE THE BEAST. In the Sandlot--taking advantage of opportunity is dubbed "pickling the beast"...a stunt that involves stealing a baseball from the world's meanest dog.  It's never been done before, and rumor has it that those who did were never seen again. Dramatic? Maybe. But pickling the beast is at the core of every Orr Fellow, and what we're looking for as we recruit the class of 2011. 

If you're ready for it..start by applying here. 

In hope that I can associate many more blog posts with life lessons from Disney movies,

Conner