First Full Time Job

How Will You Measure Your Life?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 by Brandon Russell

Success is measured differently by each person. The school you attended, the company for which you work, the balance in your bank account, among other criteria, are all yardsticks by which people measure personal success.

I was recently handed an article by my CEO, asked to read it and share my thoughts.

The article came from the Harvard Business Review, and was authored by Clayton M. Christensen (Yes, the Clay Christensen who penned The Innovator's Dilemma - the penultimate authority on disruptive technology, and a great read for anyone interested in technology and how it interacts with and impacts society.)

The article, titled, "How Will You Measure Your Life," discusses the common pitfalls college and graduate school students experience when plotting their futures - and puts forth a simple, yet poignant truth - success is defined by how you, not others, measure your value and merit.

A Harvard Business School professor, Christensen's theories on management, disruptive technology, and leadership serve as the foundation of his lectures as he empowers his students to dissect real-life organizations and understand how decisions and practices, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, can have a major impact on an organization.

That's all great, but I know those of you who have bothered to continue reading are wondering, "How does this relate to me? Why is this relevant to the Orr Fellowship, and why do they let you write these blogs, Brandon?"

I was getting to that. But first I had to lay some groundwork. On the last day of class each semester, Christensen asks his students to turn these theoretical lenses on themselves. How have their decisions, even small ones, impacted their lives, and eventually led them to where they are today?

He asks them to study themselves, and find answers to 3 simple questions:

How can I be sure I'll be happy in my career?

How can I be sure my relationships with my friends and family become an enduring source of happiness?

How can I stay out of jail?

Okay, the third question is a little odd, but Christensen was classmates with former Enron President and current resident of the Englewood, Colorado Correctional Facility, Jeffrey Skilling - so it's relevant.

After reading the article, I turned these lenses on myself and the decisions I've made that have led me to where I am, and have reached out to others in the Orr Fellowship to do the same here's what I've found:

1) How can I be sure I'll be happy in my career?

This was big for me. Like many other Orr Fellows, and I'm sure many Orr Fellowship candidates - I had offers for distinguished post grad jobs from companies whose names have serious brand equity, companies where my entry-level paycheck would have allowed me to purchase many leather-bound books and housing that smells of rich mahogany, but with me, as with the other Orr Fellows I included in my little experiment - it isn't all about the money, the title, or the bravado that comes from saying, "I work for Company X."

We joined the Orr Fellowship and took positions at high-growth startups because of the opportunity the program offers. The opportunity to network with professionals and leaders in the community, to grow personally and professionally, and the opportunity to create strategies for our lives. What the Orr Fellowship lacked in glamour, our clout, it has made up in spades through the opportunities we've been afforded.

Orr Fellowship companies are some of the best places to work in Indiana, and the entrepreneurial spirit in each organization, and the dedication to the personal and individual success of each employee is something you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere but a high-growth startup.

2) How can I be sure my relationships with my friends and family become an enduring source of happiness?

I know. This is a blog about work, and business, and technology, not the Dr. Phil Show. But, It's time to get personal. Plus, let's face it - to be productive at work, you need to be happy outside of work, and vice-versa. Relating this to my, and others' time in the Orr Fellowship, the common thread was the relationships I've developed within the program ARE an enduring source of happiness for me. Digging deeper, it's not just the relationships with other Fellows that add value to our experiences, it's our relationships with our non-Fellow co-workers, our executive sponsors, and the people who speak at our Business Leader Meetings, who augment our experiences.

Yes, as Orr Fellows we spend a lot of time together and get to know each other on a personal level. But our culture as an organization, goes beyond that. We develop common bonds. We become friends. And these interactions, both positive and negative, ensure we continually grow as professionals and as people.

3) How can I stay out of jail?

I don't really need to go into much detail on this one - it's pretty self explanatory. Just don't do anything illegal. One Fellow went a philosophical on us and asked, "Why does jail have to mean prison?" He continued, "I think sometimes people build jails for themselves as a result of the choices they make, so I would challenge everyone to not only stay away from the illegal, but go one step further and stay away from the immoral, the ill-advised, and the unjust, as well. I'd challenge us to live lives of which we can be proud, not just try to stay out of jail - because a lot of guilty people aren't in prison."

At the end of his article, Christensen offered one extremely sage piece of advice, and that's how I'll end this post.

"Choose the right yardstick."

Only you know what's best for you. Do not measure your success by how others measure you. Choose the path that will allow you to be happy in your career, happy in your relationships and interactions with others, and keep you out of jail.

If you've read this far, I applaud, and thank you. I can be a bit long-winded. If you'd like to read Clay Christensen's full article, and turn this lens on yourself (I'd recommend it), Click Here.

Like a good whiskey

Sunday, August 7, 2011 by Alec Synnestvedt

The Orr Fellowship just keeps getting sweeter as time passes.

When I was going through the recruitment process almost a year ago, I was all kinds of fired up about the chance to be mainlined into a high growth Indiana company. The prospect of learning from host company executives and Indianapolis business leaders in my first job out of DePauw University had my mouth watering. The idea of gaining more experience in two years than most college grads get in five thrilled me. And in December, after I earned a position in the Orr Fellowship and my host company, T2 Systems, I could hardly wait to get started in June.

But I also had a lot of unanswered questions. I had no idea what life as an Orr Fellow was like. As a creative writing major, I didn't know what to expect from the tech industry. And, being from Detroit, I wondered about what life in Indianapolis had in store for me.

Maybe you, like me, are excited by the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship. (You would be silly to regard it as anything other than a wonderful opportunity). And maybe you also want to know more about what it comes with. So my next few posts will constitute a snapshot of my experience so far, a month and a half in.

Here are some of the things I did today:

Attended a Venture Club of Indianapolis meeting with Chris Palmer and an executive at my company. Our CEO spoke on the guest pannel.
Helped develop my company's social media presence
Worked on my salesforce database skills while sending messages out to customers
Had a bbq pork sandwich and a beer in the office as part of our thirsty Thursday tradition.
Wrote this post.

Questions? Email me at alec.synnestvedt@orrfellowship.org

Orr Fellow Alum

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 by Fellow Stories

Name: Brennan Knotts
School: Indiana University

Brennan Knotts is currently the Director of Marketing for Xemion web design directory and MobileDeveloper.net, a directory for mobile developers. As a former Orr Fellow, he spent 2+ years working for his host company Cantaloupe.tv and co-founded Pocket Tales, a social reading game for kids whose investors include east coast-based Startl and Dreamit Ventures.

Welcome to the newest Orr Fellows and congratulations! This post is for you. It's a short collection of advice I received or wish I'd received when I entered the Orr Fellowship. Follow this plan and you will earn the full potential of your salary in the Fellowship, which if no one told you is actually a lot more than that number on your paycheck.

1. Schedule drinks/coffee/lunch whatever with alumni as soon as you can

One of the smartest things I ever did as an Orr Fellow was reach out to alumni before I even started work. I'll admit it wasn't a master plan of mine - I just happened to meet some cool Fellows and wanted to hang out with them more (okay, I was in no condition to drive so I crashed on their couch and got brunch the next morning).

Not only did I build lasting friendships during those early days, but I received advice on my career and life that is still useful 4 years later.

I can promise you no alumni will turn you down. Even if they're not local they will make themselves available for a phone call. Just ask and be respectful of their time.

2. Don't ever miss a business leader meeting

I'm proud to say I never missed a business leader meeting during my tenure. No one is handing out trophies for this accomplishment, but you owe it to yourself to take advantage, exploit even, the opportunities you get during your two years.

Sometimes you will be tempted to believe that working late the night of a business leader meeting is more important than attending the BLM, but I assure you it isn't. Unless your boss is demanding you stay (in which case, we need to have a talk about that boss...), find a way to go.

At some point you'll grow tired of hearing someone else's "how I made it" story. You'll become restless and want to stop all this meeting and talking and start doing.

THAT's when you'll know you've internalized everything you've learned from these stories, because when you boil each down to its simplest element, each is a story about someone who went out and DID something.

3. Get a side project

Your work at your first job post college will not be intellectually stimulating. You'll hear this a million times but for some reason you won't believe it until you experience it yourself. (I think the bottom line is that only 20% of the meaningful work anyone does is the hard-thinking type of work and the other 80% is the tedious execution work, but that's for another post to debate...)

This is an advantage for two reasons: 1) because it allows you to learn the blocking and tackling of being in the working world, learning to work with people, prioritize your tasks, work effectively in meetings, etc. and 2) when you get home from work you're not emotionally and intellectually drained.

Use this leftover energy to work on something meaningful to you. Learn to code, start a business, help run a non-profit, pick up the guitar, start a blog, write for someone else's blog - just do something. You will never have as much available energy as you do at your entry-level job.

This side project also has the benefit of giving you something interesting to talk about when your networking with alumni.

4. Think big

Indiana is a big greenfield. That might be true literally, but I mean it figuratively. There are so many ways for you to leave a permanent mark on this community. Get an ambition and take up a cause. No idea is too big. You decided to come to Indiana so take advantage of the fact that it's not New York or San Francisco and that you can actually get access to the movers and shakers in the community and that everything hasn't "been done before."

Co-founding Hackers and Founders, now Verge, was my contribution in this regard. And although Verge has addressed a huge gap in the Indianapolis tech community, there are so many more big opportunities - and that's just the tech community. I challenge you to find your own big idea and go after it.

Are you looking for entry-level jobs in Indiana or business jobs in Indianapolis? Learn more about the Orr Fellowship at www.orrfellowship.org.

No Tree Luggers This Year?!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 by Allison Bowen

Yes folks, you read that right. Unfortunately, the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship is not taking on the challenge of lugging trees. You may think that it's because our new Fellowship class just couldn't cut it. While you might be correct (I'm a second year Fellow, I can say that, right?), the reality is that this wonderful program just didn't fit this year.

With the expansion of our new class, we've begun growing in other ways. For example, our business meetings just keep getting better and better - Gov. Mitch Daniels, Ellen Annala (CEO of the United Way of Central Indiana)... And more! Not to mention, we've all been incredibly busy with each of our high growth start-ups. Your first job is never easy, but since we are all holding a full-time position in such fast-paced and growing companies, our jobs keep up hopping even more.

So you may be wondering, what in the world will you do with your tree this year without Tree Luggers?! Here are a few options that we've been able to locate around the city:

The Indy Parks recycling locations:

http://www.sustainindy.org/press-events.cfm?news_id=356
- This is a list of the recycling locations – individuals wanting to recycle their trees here will need to bring the trees there themselves or find another group/company who is offering a pick-up service.

Pick-up: Simple Mans Tree Service

http://www.smts.us/
- Pick-up is $20. (Yes, we checked and they are highly rated on Angie’s List!)

Thank you to each and every one of you that has chosen to take part in Tree Luggers in the past. We certainly appreciate your generosity and could not have done it without you! Through the years we've been able to make some great donations and help out many worthwhile causes.

Keep an eye out in the future... Just because we're busy with our entrepreneurship careers doesn't mean we won't be taking the time to stop and help others!

Yay Entrepreneurship, Fellowship, and Good Times

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 by Alex Lau

What’s up every one.   My name is Alex. I graduated from Valparaiso University this past May, and joined Apparatus back on the 14th of June as part of the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship. I moved into an apt. in Broad Ripple on the 10th of June. It was a pretty quick turnaround from graduation. I had pneumonia between graduation on the 14th of May and moving to Indianapolis. That being said, I was very excited to get started because of being bedridden for so long. For fear of jinxing my experience, I have been hesitant to express how much I have enjoyed Apparatus and the Orr Fellowship. I’m going to focus on the Fellowship for this blog.

Reasons for joining the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship:


    -    My strengths met Apparatus’s needs currently, as well as 2,3,4 years down the road
    -    Large breadth of experience
    -    Exposure to many parts and different skill sets of a company.
    -    Social Network in a new city.
    -    2-year commitment.

After 2 months of working and attending Orr Fellow events, I’d like to make a couple comments on a couple of these expectations. Closer friends of mine from my home state of Minnesota have had some difficulties transitioning from school to work. Reasons include being in one position, and being in that position indefinitely. I have had some type of time commitment/goal since I was 5 years old (ie. elementary school; high school; college). It was tough imagining a stage in my life that “had no end” unless I said so. The fellowship provides that two-year commitment. It also provides a social atmosphere that eases the transition from college to the blob called work. I’m not saying that if you join the fellowship, you will have no struggles transitioning from school to work, but I will say that it helps. In my next blog, I will talk more about how the fellowship has enhanced my first job out of college.

Why havent you started a business yet?

Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Trey Buck

I get asked this same question, or some variation of it, a LOT. So many people are interested in the Orr Fellowship and the post-grads' careers that come through the program that this question is almost a staple of any new conversation struck. Similar questions include:

What do you want to do after you finish?
What kind of venture are you interested in? Technology jobs in Indianapolis? Business jobs in Indianapolis?
What's the next step in your entrepreneurial career?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

And the list goes on... and my answer is always the same: I need to wait and see. This sort of answer frustrates most listeners, as it probably should. Even worse, it frustrates me because I WANT to run a high growth start-up, full of all the excitement and wonder these sort of organizations are known for. And Im young. Now is the time to make mistakes, right? Without having to worry about not being able to recover from a bust, with plenty of time to recover my life and my career right?

Yes. But no. A May, 2008 study by the Kauffman Foundation found that twice as many tech saavy entrepreneurs start businesses in their 50's as they do in their 20's, with an average age of start-up founders being 39. Not 20, not 25, not even 30. 39. To me, this says that experience is a great teacher, but more important is the kind of experience; being a former CEO of three failed start-ups at 30 might be great experience to lean on, but it probably isnt as effective as working within and learning how start-ups and small businesses should be run to build successful organizations. There is a proverb that goes something like "yesterday's tracks are tomorrows guides", and this is a perfect example of that; so, the first part of my answer to "why havent you started a business yet?" is: Why make the same mistakes you can learn from watching others?

There is a second part of my answer, that is more complicated but Ill do my best: circumstance. Start-ups, especially technology start-ups, need the right circumstances to survive and grow. The team, the idea, the implementation, the market, everything needs to be well understood and in place before Ill want to touch money. Many a good idea have failed because they were missing a piece of the entrepreneurial puzzle, and all the hard work, long nights, and missed sleep was wasted. The thing is, we usually never hear about these companies, the ones that fail. Thats part of what makes entrepreneurship so attractive: we really only hear about the successes, and so it seems (to the untrainted eye) that starting and owning a business is easy as apple pie.

For me, I will choose my opportunities wisely. And only when I am ready will I become that ever-so-coveted title of "entrepreneur." That could be tomorrow, or it could be never. The numbers (and my own brain) are telling me it will probably be a while. But then again, who knows?

Group Service Date Set for Fellows

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Katie Lindahl

The date has been set for the Orr Fellowship's Holiday Group Service Project! On December 20, we will head up to the Amazon.com fulfillment center in Whitestown, IN for Gift Wrap With a Smile, an opportunity for local Indianapolis non profits to earn extra money by having its volunteers gift-wrap products for Amazon's customers. For every gift wrapped, 75 cents is donated to the non profit.

This year Orr Fellows will be wrapping gifts to raise money for the Shepherd Community Center. Shepherd's mission is to break the cycle of poverty on the near east side of Indianapolis. Shepherd offers programs for children, teens, adults, and families, helping to meet their physical, emotional, academic and spritual needs.

The Service Initiative is yet another aspect of the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship that makes the Fellowship one of Indiana's best jobs. In addition to the Personal Service Initiative, which Natalie referred to in her previous blog, the Fellowship Group Service (FGS) is designed to bring Fellows together for a day of service where we can give back as one. One unified group, one cause. When you work at jobs in fast paced companies like we do, it's hugely beneficial to slow down and take a minute to appreciate all of the opportunities afforded to us.

Not bad for your first full time job, hm?

Giving Back. The Orr Fellowship Way.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 by Natalie Ciambrone

The propensity of students to give back to their communities while in college, rarely translates after they graduate (based on my observations). It’s not because we become bad people as soon as we leave a college campus, it’s because, frankly, the opportunities aren’t as accessible and finding time between working your first full time job and all the other responsibilities the real world brings new grads is often hard.

Through the Orr Fellowship’s Personal Service Initiative (PSI), Fellows give back to their local communities in whatever way they choose. Some prefer to mentor, others prefer to walk dogs at the Humane Society. Personally, I am reconnecting with a non-profit I was involved with during college. But no matter our interest, the Orr Fellowship allows us follow our own passions related to volunteerism.

When talking to prospective Fellows, I love to talk about the Fellowship’s PSI because it doesn’t allow us to put service on the back-burner. Rather, the Fellowship provides the extra motivation to give back in our own right. Plus, doing group service projects is another great way for our group (who all work in different entry-level jobs in entrepreneurial companies) to bond!

So, although the Orr Fellowship prides itself on the business connections it creates, giving back through the Personal Service Initiation is yet another unique opportunity of the program.

Learning Lessons

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 by Katie Veatch

You may ask – what am I learning? Well, I’ve been learning a lot of new things, but most recently, that you can’t trust a Wabash boy!! Yes, Blaine stole my picture to use in his blog. So, in response, here is another picture. Notice how Blaine isn’t fighting back in this one.

Something else I learned over the last week is to not take the people in your life for granted. I met some amazing people at DePauw, and over my four years there, they became like family. It is easy to think that those people will always be around, and then after graduation everyone splits off in different directions. Being back together with everyone at the Monon Bell game really made us all appreciate the time we have together. That weekend was one of the best experiences I’ve had.

The transition from the college “bubble” to working in your first full time job in the “real world” can be tough, and now I’m realizing how important the Governor Bob Orr Fellowship has been in that process. At the Orr Fellowship Reception on the Circle last week, I was asked several times what my favorite part of the Fellowship is. My answer is simple: the people. Being a part of the Fellowship opened up more connections than I ever thought possible. It helps ease that difficult transition by surrounding you with friendship, guidance, and unique opportunities. The current Fellows have already become a social network and support system. We are all working in high-growth Indianapolis companies and can share our experiences and learn from each other. The alumni offer their experience and advice. The executives and directors are accessible and volunteer their time and energy to contribute to our personal and professional development. When I joined the Orr Fellowship, I was welcomed with open arms into this fantastic new group of people.

All of the candidates I met last week at the Reception on the Circle were incredibly intelligent and motivated individuals, and it was great to have a chance to get to know them. I’m looking forward to see who moves on to Finalist Day. And I can’t wait to meet my new group of friends… I mean the new class of Fellows.

So despite the fact that we’ve been trained to be enemies during our college careers and we might not like to admit it, Blaine, Ty, Natalie and I are all actually friends. Maybe sometime I’ll put up a picture where we are all being cordial. If only we can get Blaine to agree to take one…

A Day in the Life of an Orr Fellow

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

One of the questions that I commonly receive from Orr Fellowship candidates is, "What types of things do you do at work?" For most Orr Fellows this is a straight-forward question, but for me, the answer is a bit more long-winded.

When I accepted my offer with the Orr Fellowship, I also accepted an offer with ExactTarget. ExactTarget has participated as an Orr Fellowship host company for many years now. It differs from the rest, though, in that it offers a particular program for recent college graduates - the Catapult Rotational Program. The Catapult Program is designed to provide college graduates the opportunity to rotate through three departments within ExactTarget. It allows you to develop your professional skill-set while obtaining cross-functional experiences. Upon completion of the three two-month rotations, "Catapulters" are placed in a permanent position that allows them to deeply impact the success of both their department and ExactTarget as a whole.

Now, back to the question that I was previously talking about. When answering the posed question about my typical day at work, I generally describe my current and past rotations. My first rotation at ExactTarget was in the Human Resources department. I then transitioned to Customer Relationship Management. My third, and current rotation, is in Sales Operations. So what types of things am I doing during my time at the office? I'm currently preparing to lead a portion of our Sales Training On-boarding class that is now taking place. When a salesperson joins the team at ExactTarget, they go through a rigorous, two-week long training course. Within the first two days in my current rotation, my manager asked me to learn everything I possibly could about our Salesforce Integration application through AppExchange, while creating the presentaton from scratch, in order to set myself up to teach the group of new hires. Needless to say, I feel ready to go for next Tuesday's class!

After I've shared my experiences with these college seniors, I like to turn the focus on them. I ask them if there are other career opportunities that they're pursuing that allow them to join a company and immediately be able to make an impact within the organization. The answer is almost always a resounding "no."

So why do Orr Fellows get the leg-up when it comes to career-growth opportunities? From talking to several different employers and upper-level management, the overall consensus is that the Orr Fellowship has a reputation of supplying high-growth Indianapolis companies with talented, hardworking employees. I consistently hear these business leaders talk about how comfortable they feel putting these Fellows in a sink-or-swim environment because they always know that these young professionals will find a way to come out on top.

So when considering your first full-time job out of college, think about what I've said. If you're looking to grow professionally while making a positive impact in your organization, the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship might be for you!

And the Rivalry Continues...

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Natalie Ciambrone

As DePauw and Wabash students and alumni everywhere get ready for arguably one of the greatest sports weekends (for our schools at least), I can’t help but start feeling nostalgic. Even though I’m less than one year out of college, it’s weekends such as “Monon Weekend” that make me long to be back at DePauw.

But then I remember the stresses of senior year and am quickly snapped back into the reality that my entry level job isn’t bad! No longer am I balancing finding my first full-time job with senior seminar, other classes, and extracurricular activities.

At this time last year I was in the middle of the Governor Bob Orr Fellowship recruitment process – excited about the possibility of working in a high-growth Indianapolis company. Never did I consider that a year later I would be working closely with a couple of Wallys. But, despite our innate desires to compete with each other, the reality is that when it comes to doing great work, we are able to put aside our alma maters and come together.

And that’s one of the things I love about the Orr Fellowship. Not only has the DePauw/Wabash rivalry been enhanced (no longer does the distance between our schools hinder the pre-game trash talking), but it brings together individuals who might never have gotten a chance to meet/work with each other.

The sad reality is it takes more effort to find friends in the “real world” than on a college campus; especially when working with a small, entrepreneurial company where you could be one of only a couple 20-somethings in the office. So having that built in network of young professionals the Orr Fellowship brings together is a very unique opportunity.

(GO TIGERS!)