895: How to Break Into Start-Ups With Christopher Schroeder, Next Billion Ventures [Espresso Shots]

Christopher Schroeder is an entrepreneur, CEO, advisor and writer focused on interactive technologies and social communications both nationally and internationally. He is the co-founder of Next Billion Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs working in developing markets. Chris has also been the CEO for a number of organizations and startups including LEGI-SLATE; The Washington Post’s online platform, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive; and HealthCentral, one of the nation’s leading social consumer health and wellness interactive platforms.  After he graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in Diplomatic History, Chris worked as an investment banker. He then pivoted into political campaigning for the ‘88 Bush-Quayle presidential campaign. Chris is the author of best-selling book Startup Rising:The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East.  WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: How to break into the startup field (0:48/1:36) Why you should try to be the first person at work and “make things happen” (4:55) How to know if you should get an MBA or not (7:26) Why it’s important to seek out “counter narratives” (10:51) What the “highs” of being a venture capitalist/mentor feel like (13:46) What the ups and downs of the field are (14:46) Why having positive energy is so important (19:18) Why you should be persistent and not take things too personally (23:28) Why you should read books by authors:  Ben Horowitz, Reid Hoffman, Linda Rottenberg, Brad Feld If you want to listen to Chris’s main T4C interview please check out:  T4C episode #628