It’s important to remember that regardless of age, tenure, or experience… you are never too old to learn new lessons. I relate deeply to this “truism,” and this essay is centered on a piece of coaching, and some important learning that I experienced about a year ago.
In the fall of 2024, I had been asked to dive into a new role, and I was doing my due diligence investigating the opportunity to see if it was fit. I talked to various constituencies, board members, founders, and senior executives of the company and the more I dug, the more uncomfortable I became. Across my career of now over 40 years, I had worked for large public companies (e.g. The Coca-Cola Company) and a large private PE backed company, Bolthouse Farms. I had never been involved with venture backed startups early in their growth cycle which was the situation that I was “investigating.” As part of my investigation process, I went out to California to meet live with some of the team, and my concerns grew. There seemed to be dissonance withing the board, and certainly some “noise” between certain board members and management. I grew uncomfortable with the unsettled nature of the current dynamics, and my doubts grew on whether this opportunity for a good idea for “yours truly!”
In hindsight, I am thankful that my next move was NOT to bail, but to look for advice and coaching. While I had personally NEVER worked closely with a VC backed company, I did have a contact, the brother of a close friend, who runs a very prominent venture capital company in the bay, and I reached out to him for some advice. Knowing how busy he was (and is) I texted him asking for 5 min across the next day to so for a quick call. He texted back almost immediately saying he had 10 min. at 6pm later that day and to call his cell then. Later that day I found a quiet spot with good cell coverage and gave him a call.
True to his word, he was running between meetings/commitments and had 10 minutes to talk. Skipping the pleasantries, I dove into the situation and described the situation I was considering, and the “dysfunctional” dynamics that I was experiencing. Very quickly Tony (name changed to protect the helpful!) said “Bill, stop-stop… just because something is foreign to you doesn’t mean it’s not common for many!!!” That line ( ignore the double negative for now) literally stopped me in my tracks. He said that my experience working in large public companies, or for a large private company backed by a single PE firm, was limited and that it was common/typical for VC backed startups to have these dynamics. The “noise” among varied VCs on the board happened all the time in “Tony’s world.” The dissonance between different VC board members and management was common, etc., etc.
After being brought to a standstill, “Tony” suggested that if I could open my thinking, I could be very helpful to the company with its current dynamics and challenges… helping coalesce the board into a stronger, clearer voice for management… and that I could be productive coaching and helping the founders and other executives at the company grow and build skills as the company advanced.
To say the least, I took those 5 minutes of coaching and advice to heart. Late last year I dove into the role, and it’s been an incredible ride… a great learning one for me personally and one where I am working hard to have the impact that “Tony” suggested I could have. I wanted to share this story less about my current professional activities, but more about learning, growing and seeking advice/support/council late in one’s career. It’s easy and all too common for folks with decades of experience to think that have “learned all there is to know,” and that they are the “teachers,” and all others are the “students.” As my story shows, that one-way, myopic viewpoint is a limiting idea, and I am thankful for “Tony’s” nudge/advice… my professional life is richer and fuller because I listened to what he had to say!
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