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My Big FTE Moment
I’m incredibly happy that I found MJ DeMarco’s books and this forum, even if it’s 25 years later than I would have liked. I have been an engineer, inventor, and problem solver since the early 1990’s, but usually (okay, always) for other people. My burning desire to solve problems and my equal desire to have the freedom to do so on my own terms has always been hamstrung by my perceived lack of business acumen.
In my 20’s, I made a few attempts at launching businesses, but they all failed within a year. I didn’t know any successful entrepreneurs or business owners, and I thought that I was just born without the proper business mindset. All my friends and family convinced me that my self-doubt was well placed, and that my best prospect was to work for a corporation or organization with deep pockets. I could design and invent with abandon, without any personal financial risk, while earning a steady paycheck. Sure, I would never get a big payout, but wasn’t the work its own reward?
I did that for a couple decades. I spent years in corporate research and development as well as university research laboratories. I loved the work most of the time, but I still had a gnawing feeling that something was wrong. I was not satisfied, and I never stopped inventing things in my garage, on evenings and weekends. But those endeavors were relegated to hobby status. I never tried to launch a product, since I had convinced myself that I was, “Not that guy.”
I missed what should have been a huge FTE moment back in 2006. I had just returned to civilian work after an 18-month military deployment to Iraq. I was working as a Research Engineer in a university DNA laboratory. While I was gone, they had built a machine under contract for the FBI. This machine was for automated preparation of DNA samples collected at a crime scene. It completely filled a 6’ table, weighed nearly 200lbs, and used many proprietary and expensive components. It worked, and it fulfilled the FBI’s requirements, but I looked at it with fresh eyes and, after much analysis, realized I could do the same thing with 1/20th the size and weight, and 1/50th the cost. I approached my boss with my idea, and he gave me a hundred reasons why I would fail. Further, he would not allow me to spend time working on my pet project.
I rebelled, in a passive-aggressive way. I made a folder on the shared network drive called “Mark’s Super-Secret Project” so everyone could see my work. In my spare time and after hours, I tinkered with my idea for the miniature DNA sample preparation machine. My work caught the interest of a friend and coworker (a software guy), and soon we were working on it together, usually on Saturdays at the awesome little coffee shop in our building on campus.
Then one day, during our weekly all-hands lab meeting, our boss said that the British government was soliciting bids (requests for proposals) for… wait for it… a miniature DNA sample preparation machine. They wanted to put several of them in mobile crime-scene vans so they could process DNA immediately. My boss lamented that the only thing he could throw at the proposal was the behemoth machine they had created for the FBI.
Holy crap! I was instantly vindicated! Further, my co-worker and I were able to immediately unveil a functional prototype! The university flew us to England where we made a live pitch. Long story short, after our pitch and full proposal we secured a 5 year, $10 million grant for our department. My boss never ate crow, and I never said, “I told you so!” I figured I would let my work do the talking.
A few weeks later, my boss handed me an offer letter. In further vindication, he was offering a new title, new position, and a fat pay raise. I was on top of the world! I accepted and signed the offer! I brought champagne home that night, and my wife and I celebrated! My friends and family shared in my success, and those events seemed to justify my choice of working for someone else, and not suffering the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur….
FTE moment: The following Monday, still riding high, I was at my desk when my boss walks in. He said that the university decided they could not give me the raise and promotion. It was not in the budget, and even if it were, since I don’t have a PhD, it would not be “appropriate” for me to hold that position.
He walked out. I sat there, stunned. I’m not spineless; after the initial shock, the depth of the betrayal and hypocrisy sank in. I immediately handed in my resignation. But do you think I used that massive wake-up call to vow, “Never again!” and to tear up the script? Nope. I left and went to another organization, where I added to their patent portfolio and never saw a dime. That is how deeply I had deluded myself that being an entrepreneur just is not in my own DNA.
Fast forward to a few days ago. For the past three months, I have been working on an invention (a design for a new product) for a friend of mine. Oblivious, right? But then, my friend sent a link to a YouTube video where someone talks about the books by MJ DeMarco. I bought both the Audible books, and just finished listening to both of them. The content of these books was like a 55-gallon drum of gasoline getting dumped on the tiny flame of entrepreneurial spirit inside me.
Now, finally, I say, “Never again!” It’s on like Donkey Kong!
I’m incredibly happy that I found MJ DeMarco’s books and this forum, even if it’s 25 years later than I would have liked. I have been an engineer, inventor, and problem solver since the early 1990’s, but usually (okay, always) for other people. My burning desire to solve problems and my equal desire to have the freedom to do so on my own terms has always been hamstrung by my perceived lack of business acumen.
In my 20’s, I made a few attempts at launching businesses, but they all failed within a year. I didn’t know any successful entrepreneurs or business owners, and I thought that I was just born without the proper business mindset. All my friends and family convinced me that my self-doubt was well placed, and that my best prospect was to work for a corporation or organization with deep pockets. I could design and invent with abandon, without any personal financial risk, while earning a steady paycheck. Sure, I would never get a big payout, but wasn’t the work its own reward?
I did that for a couple decades. I spent years in corporate research and development as well as university research laboratories. I loved the work most of the time, but I still had a gnawing feeling that something was wrong. I was not satisfied, and I never stopped inventing things in my garage, on evenings and weekends. But those endeavors were relegated to hobby status. I never tried to launch a product, since I had convinced myself that I was, “Not that guy.”
I missed what should have been a huge FTE moment back in 2006. I had just returned to civilian work after an 18-month military deployment to Iraq. I was working as a Research Engineer in a university DNA laboratory. While I was gone, they had built a machine under contract for the FBI. This machine was for automated preparation of DNA samples collected at a crime scene. It completely filled a 6’ table, weighed nearly 200lbs, and used many proprietary and expensive components. It worked, and it fulfilled the FBI’s requirements, but I looked at it with fresh eyes and, after much analysis, realized I could do the same thing with 1/20th the size and weight, and 1/50th the cost. I approached my boss with my idea, and he gave me a hundred reasons why I would fail. Further, he would not allow me to spend time working on my pet project.
I rebelled, in a passive-aggressive way. I made a folder on the shared network drive called “Mark’s Super-Secret Project” so everyone could see my work. In my spare time and after hours, I tinkered with my idea for the miniature DNA sample preparation machine. My work caught the interest of a friend and coworker (a software guy), and soon we were working on it together, usually on Saturdays at the awesome little coffee shop in our building on campus.
Then one day, during our weekly all-hands lab meeting, our boss said that the British government was soliciting bids (requests for proposals) for… wait for it… a miniature DNA sample preparation machine. They wanted to put several of them in mobile crime-scene vans so they could process DNA immediately. My boss lamented that the only thing he could throw at the proposal was the behemoth machine they had created for the FBI.
Holy crap! I was instantly vindicated! Further, my co-worker and I were able to immediately unveil a functional prototype! The university flew us to England where we made a live pitch. Long story short, after our pitch and full proposal we secured a 5 year, $10 million grant for our department. My boss never ate crow, and I never said, “I told you so!” I figured I would let my work do the talking.
A few weeks later, my boss handed me an offer letter. In further vindication, he was offering a new title, new position, and a fat pay raise. I was on top of the world! I accepted and signed the offer! I brought champagne home that night, and my wife and I celebrated! My friends and family shared in my success, and those events seemed to justify my choice of working for someone else, and not suffering the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur….
FTE moment: The following Monday, still riding high, I was at my desk when my boss walks in. He said that the university decided they could not give me the raise and promotion. It was not in the budget, and even if it were, since I don’t have a PhD, it would not be “appropriate” for me to hold that position.
He walked out. I sat there, stunned. I’m not spineless; after the initial shock, the depth of the betrayal and hypocrisy sank in. I immediately handed in my resignation. But do you think I used that massive wake-up call to vow, “Never again!” and to tear up the script? Nope. I left and went to another organization, where I added to their patent portfolio and never saw a dime. That is how deeply I had deluded myself that being an entrepreneur just is not in my own DNA.
Fast forward to a few days ago. For the past three months, I have been working on an invention (a design for a new product) for a friend of mine. Oblivious, right? But then, my friend sent a link to a YouTube video where someone talks about the books by MJ DeMarco. I bought both the Audible books, and just finished listening to both of them. The content of these books was like a 55-gallon drum of gasoline getting dumped on the tiny flame of entrepreneurial spirit inside me.
Now, finally, I say, “Never again!” It’s on like Donkey Kong!
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