“Startup life”, while often over-hyped, is truly never dull. Throughout the journey, no matter what stage you are in, the adventures and stories continuously compile. With Packback, starting straight out of college, we’ve stacked up stories abound. I went on a particular journey several months ago that landed me face to face with one of the NFL’s all-time heaviest hitters: Ronnie Lott.
Through a stroke of luck, and a bump from our partners at Dashfire Ventures, Packback received a complimentary ticket as a guest of HireEdu to the national Education Innovation Summit, hosted by Arizona State University.
The full story of how I arrived in Arizona would likely require another blog post entirely, but I’ll sum it up here. Being a last minute opportunity, I booked the cheapest flight I could find ($283 –Spirit Airlines) and hopped on a flight to Phoenix. I arrived at around 12:30am, not having booked a hotel room, and was politely informed that sleeping for the night on the airport bench wasn’t an option. I finally conceded to a $50 hotel room for the first night, and waited anxiously the next day for a response from the numerous AirBnB requests I sent the night before.
For those unfamiliar with how it works, AirBnB is a service through which individuals can rent a room in the home of a stranger (often in a strange land). It’s socially secured by a “credibility system” –a user builds up a good reputation by accumulating positive reviews after several stays at various locations. This is how the resident ensures that they are not inviting a sociopath into the home (and vice versa). As a brand new member to the service, my credibility level sat at a hard zero.
Fortunately, I received notification that I had been invited in (for $35/night!) to a young couple’s home a mere bus ride away from the conference. When I explained that I would be arriving late at night, and leaving early each morning, the kind woman simply gave me a key code to open the front door. When I arrived the first night, the couple was sleeping in a room next to mine, and for two days I never once saw them (online credit card transaction). Let it be known that walking into a total stranger’s empty home at 11:00 p.m., taking a quick shower, and sleeping in a random bedroom feels about as bizarre as it sounds.
So why do I tell you this? Because the chaos of my stay, or rather the story it formed, ended up creating an opportunity.
The second night of the conference consisted of an eccentric outdoor dinner event, hosting keynote speaker Ronnie Lott (known previously as the ruthless NFL linebacker who once chopped off his own finger, but more recently as the highly connected investor and right hand man of Silicon Valley coach, Bill Campbell).
After hustling around wedging my way into conversations with major publishing executives (priority #1), I was late to grab a plate of food from the buffet and sit down for dinner. Pretty much every table was packed, but I managed to find one right in front of the stage that was oddly half-empty. Turns out my hunger had blinded me from reading the simple “reserved” sign, which of course justified the open seats.
While mauling away at a plate of steak and potatoes, a peculiarly large man taps me on the shoulder and says “hi”.
We shake hands and introduce each other. I tell the man that I’m from Chicago, but my focus is primarily hooked on the grub.
“So what are you doing here, Mike?” he asks.
I explain that I’m working on an ed-tech startup, and give him the Packback pitch –daily eBook rentals, enabling college students to “pay per use” while easing publisher pains from the used book market…
“Hmm cool. I like that a lot.” he says.
“And yourself?” I ask.
“I’m just here to learn about what these guys are doing. I find it all interesting” he says, quite nonchalantly.
I proceed onward plowing through the long-awaited meal. Suddenly the realization hit me.
“Wait, what’d you say your name is?” I ask.
“Ronnie”
“And where are you from?”
“San Francisco”
Ohhh. “Ronnie”, as in Ronnie Lott, that 4 time Super Bowl Champion NFL Hall of Famer they mentioned would be at the event. That’s the massive man I coincidentally sat next to while stuffing my face.
“Oh, hey aren’t you the speaker tonight?” I ask, attempting a conversational recovery.
He admits it in a very shrugged-off manner, unaccepting of any credit. His focus somehow stays on me.
“So do you learn anything when you come to these events?” asks Ronnie.
“Oh yea! This is huge for me with Packback. I completely lucked out, it’s kind of a funny story actually…”
I proceed to tell Ronnie my recollection of how I received a complimentary ticket and so forth, while explaining the necessity of going to such a major education technology event in the interest of publisher relations, prospective investors, etc.
Ronnie continually pats me on the back while laughing through my story. He leans over to a white haired friend sitting next to him.
“Hey Tom you’ve gotta meet this young man. I’m talking to him and I can’t help thinking this is a real entrepreneur!” says Ronnie.
The white haired friend just so happened to be Tom Kalinske, the former CEO of Sega in its glory days, and more recently serving as CEO, Chairman, or board member to a heap of leading educational companies.
As I continue telling more Packback tales, Ronnie repeats a phrase that struck a cord with me.
“I love it man. That’s what being a rookie’s all about”
At that moment it was obvious. Sometimes as a young entrepreneur, it’s easy to get carried away trying to act on the same level as the “big dogs”. While it's certainly necessary to stay on top of your game, you can forget that there’s a natural advantage to whatever stage you’re in. Everybody was a rookie at some point, and people like to remember the old days. Having somebody relate with your current situation is far better than trying to act like a “smartest guy in the room” and end up blinded by your own foolish arrogance. The "grey hairs" hold invaluable wisdom.
“Hey so do you mind if I mention you when I’m talking up there?” asks Ronnie, at the end of our conversation.
“No not at all, that’d be pretty cool” I reply.
Within twenty seconds of speakin on stage to the 500+ audience, and a total of four times thereafter, Ronnie points directly at me as an example of the type of young hustling entrepreneurs he loves to meet and help out.
Suddenly I wasn’t the annoying kid at the conference trying to butt into conversations. People started coming up to me wondering what the hell I told Ronnie. In my experience, getting a startup off the ground is all about momentum, and building an elite supporting cast one contact at a time. This particular incident gave me a boost in doing so, which ended up leading to concrete business progress.
Alas, the lesson I learned was simple: no matter what the circumstance, there’s probably a story. And where there’s a story, there’s a way to create an opportunity. …so tell it well.
