Yahoo Finance A Powerhouse Tech Exec on How to Grow a Company (and Your Own Career)
Working women get all sorts of advice: Lean in, lean out, ask for a raise (but don't ask in the wrong way), be aggressive-but not too aggressive. We're also told to nurture our personal lives, lest we end up forgoing families or love or travel or friendship in service of our careers. It's confusing and maddening, and we're all still struggling to figure it out.
"This Woman's Work" is an ongoing series meant to highlight how women in different industries are living their lives. We hope to show that there's no one "right" way to succeed. There are so many ways, and so many different experiences.
Julie Samuels, the executive director of the nonprofit member organization Tech:NYC, knows a thing or two about career success. In the past, she worked as a lawyer and on Capitol Hill, and she's largely to thank for Tech:NYC's prompt success: It only publicly launched in May, but already the company has garnered sizable attention, both in New York and around the country. Samuels is working to grow the business, which works with elected officials on issues that affect tech companies. "We had a really successful launch, and we've had a lot of interest since then," Samuels says. "We already have almost 300 members, and that's amazing. We are so lucky and so thrilled, but one of the challenges now is how to effectively and efficiently grow into those big shoes. There's a lot of work to do." And just how does she plan to do it? Here, she shares her smart strategies for building a business, blowing up your career, and asking for that highly sought-after raise.
What was your career path to Tech:NYC?
Before Tech:NYC, I ran another organization that worked with really small start-ups, mostly on Capitol Hill in D.C., on various issues that impacted those companies' ability to grow and create new technology. Before that, I was a lawyer with an organization called the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is a nonprofit digital civil liberties group. I had a really funny job title: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents, which was hilarious and awesome. In a lot of ways, that was a dream job. When I had worked at a law firm before that, I was always looking for something where I found a bit more meaning and that was more mission driven. I've always cared about internet freedom and the promise of technology and the possibility of the web to create a more flat world-one where people have access to information and increased opportunities.
What exactly does Tech:NYC do?
Tech:NYC is a coalition of hundreds of New York tech companies and investors who have come together to support the ecosystem here in New York, to make sure that New York is friendly to tech companies and to make sure the tech industry is really integrated into the fabric of the city.
What has been the biggest challenge so far and how have you dealt with it?
A big challenge is saying no. We're an organization that represents so many amazing companies, so many amazing people in tech, who really are passionate about the issues and New York City and making both the city and industry better than they already are. There are so many opportunities to do that-there are so many events we want to be a part of and so many issues we want to be pushing at a policy level-but there are only so many hours in the day. So it's really a challenge to stay focused and do a few things really well, instead of many things less well.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to start their own company?
Listen to all the advice that everyone else gives you and understand it, but don't lose sight of what it is you are trying to build. Finding the right balance between taking that advice and remaining true to your vision can be a real challenge. The key is finding the right leadership, whether it's board members, your own personal mentors, or investors. So, identify those people and bring them in. You can't go it alone. You need to get people on your team, literally and figuratively, to execute your vision. You're never successful if you do it on your own.
Listen to all the advice that everyone else gives you and understand it, but don't lose sight of what it is you are trying to build.
What do you look for when you're hiring new talent?
I look for hard workers who are really organized, who are not too proud to change a light bulb and who are not too shy to sit in a meeting with the governor. For a small, growing team, you need people who are willing and able to do anything at either end of the spectrum. It's all hands on deck. And it's really fun because you're all part of the same thing, working for the same goal. But you can't be too proud.
Do you have any tips on asking for a raise?
Go in with information. See what some of your peers are making or what people in the industry are making to base [the request] in data. Sometimes that data is easy to find and sometimes it's impossible to find, but you want to make your case. You need to say, "This is what I should be getting paid and this is why." Make the case for what you've done well and how you have, in your current role, progressed. Show that you're growing. That can be incredibly persuasive. But the most important thing is to ask for that raise. The worst thing your supervisor can say is no, but you will have asserted yourself in a meaningful way, and that's an important dynamic to create between managers and employees.
What's the best piece of career advice you've gotten?
Think about what kind of jobs you might want ten years from now. Go on the internet and look up those job descriptions. See what kind of experience they're looking for. Try to fill those requirements in the interim. That can be quite helpful. But the truth is, in my own experience, my career has taken so many interesting turns that whenever I've tried to do that, something has diverted me on my path that I didn't see coming. The most important thing you can do is to be open to those moments and be in a position where you can take the risks you want to take. The most rewarding moments in my career have all come from taking some kind of unplanned risk.
What's the worst piece of career advice you've gotten?
The worst advice I ever got was to stay on a path that was safe because it was safe. There are times in people's lives when they can take risks and there are times when it's much more difficult. Do you have a mortgage? Do you have a family? All those things really matter. But in the moment when you have the ability to take risks, you should. You can miss a lot of really cool and interesting opportunities if you don't.
What are your tips for staying organized?
I try to come up with a good balance between how much I'm on email and how much I'm not on email. In a perfect world, you only look at an email once–you either answer it, archive it, or forward it on. You get it out of your inbox immediately. In order to do that effectively, I try to focus on the things that open up my calendar a little bit. I catch up on work on Sunday nights before the week starts. It's also important to organize your life in a way where you take time away from work and spend time with friends and your family. Otherwise you're going to burn out and neglect some important relationships in your life, and that can spill over negatively into your work.
You Might Also Like
