carolineradke
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1 year ago Podcast Cut in Riverside (Title: Full Length Podcast Cut)
CAPTION
Finding your passion, trusting your mentors, and paying it forward are three key components to finding career success according to Amit Patel, the Managing Director at Owl Ventures, and John Azubuike, Vice President at Owl Ventures. In this interview, Amit and John dive into a wide range of topics and share their advice on early career development, building confidence and courage along with some tips for students who are worried that their first job will determine the rest of their career.
INTRO CLIP
Short Post 2 (Amit Patel)
INTRO
Hello hello everyone (EXCITED AND WITH ENERGY) welcome back to Office Hours. A show about how to make a successful jump from college to young professional life. We know that landing your first job can often be an intimidating, complicated and stressful process, but its not impossible! (UP ENERGY) And we’re here to help by giving you access to some of the brightest minds in business to get their advice for how to build a successful career. Take what you can (short pause), pick what you like and listen for that stroke of brilliance that you can use to help you get hired.
I’m Caroline Radke and today with my co-host Brett we are chatting with Amit Patel, the Managing Director at Owl Ventures, and John Azubuike, Vice President at Owl Ventures. Amit and John have very interesting backgrounds, both in terms of professional career developments and personal challenges that each had to overcome. Much like anyone's career, their careers were far from being a linear path, and their advice today focuses on staying dedicated to your personal purpose and mission.
AMIT AND JOHN STORY:
There are many different ways to having a successful career. In our interview today, Amit and John, talk about three key components to their own career success which are focusing on finding your passion, trusting your mentors, and paying it forward when you are able to. Asking yourself if you really love what you are doing is so critical. Amit mentions that once you discover what you love, it becomes really hard to go back to something else. Finding that, holding onto it, and taking risks to pursue that can oftentimes be the determining factor in you enjoying the work you do. However, it is important to keep in mind that your career will fluctuate and you will have the opportunity to pursue so many different tracks. In fact, as John says, once you're in the real world, there isn't really a track, and that your first job is just that. You first job. It's really more of a stepping stone on a winding pathway of a multitude of opportunities for you to branch out and try something new as you learn throughout your career.
OWL VENTURES INFO:
Just to give you a little background on the firm, Owl Ventures, from a 1,000 foot view, is a purpose-built global organization to help scale transformative education companies. More specifically, Owl Ventures was founded in 2014, and is the largest venture capital firm in the world focused on the education technology market with over $2 billion in assets under management. Owl Ventures invests in companies at all stages from seed, early, growth, and later stages from all around the world. With its dedicated focus on EdTech, the team has the experience, distribution channels, information advantages, and a global network of Limited Partners, investors, portfolio companies, and strategic partners that can meaningfully change the trajectory of a company and can help entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of the education market. Their approach helps companies across numerous functions including distribution, talent, and building affiliations with top investors.
AMIT AND JOHN INFO:
Amit graduated from Rice University with a BA in Mathematical Economic Analysis and studied theatre and film at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and New York University. He also earned a MBA and MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Graduate School of Education. Before Owl Ventures, Amit founded Personal Academic Trainers, an afterschool tutoring company, and he sits on the National Board for uAspire, a nonprofit organization that demystifies the financial aid process in college. Amit has led investments in many of the world’s leading education technology companies, including Codecademy, which was acquired by Skillsoft, Securly, which was acquired by Golden Gate Capital, and Thinkful, which was acquired by Chegg. John graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's degree in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering and is now an MBA candidate at The Wharton School. He's been with Owl Ventures for three years, first as a senior associate and now as a Vice President. Before Owl Ventures, he worked with KEC Ventures and TCV. He has volunteered with Techstars and is a Board Member of Amethod Public Schools. Both men have an incredible wealth of knowledge that they share today from advice about the importance of mentorship to tips for students looking to get into either startups or venture capital. With that being said, let's not wait any longer and dive in!
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Raw Content: https://riverside.fm/dashboard/studios/office-hours-VN50E/recordings/1c407748-5810-4a4a-b424-ed1e181981d8?share-token=695a12d1decb61fca044&content-shared=recording
Transcript: https://riverside.fm/dashboard/studios/office-hours-VN50E/recordings/1c407748-5810-4a4a-b424-ed1e181981d8?hls=true