Mercury News Interview: Tina Seelig, executive director,
Stanford Technology Ventures Program

By Scott Duke Harris
San Jose Mercury News, May 11, 2009, 1E, 7E

Stanford entrepreneurship professor Tina Seelig jokes that as a schoolgirl she nearly flunked a home-economics class "after blowing up a chocolate pudding around the room."

Years later, after earning a doctorate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine, she decided to write a book about the chemistry of cooking. "I knew in great depth what was happening in my lab, but not in great depth what happened in my kitchen," she explains. "Once I learned, I had many fewer disasters in my kitchen."

In 1991, frustrated by the way books like hers were marketed, Seelig founded a company called BookBrowser, which placed computer kiosks in bookstores to help readers in the age before Amazon.

Today, Seelig teaches students about turning problems into opportunities as executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, where about 1,500 students each year from various majors learn skills in entrepreneurship.

She and professor Tom Byers, the program's founder and curriculum director, were recently honored with the 2009 Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering, recognizing their contributions to engineering education.

Quick with a laugh, Seelig recently distilled her life lessons in her latest book, "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World," recently released by HarperCollins.

The following is an account of a recent conversation with the Mercury News:

Q: In 1999, when you joined the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Stanford could already claim roles in the creation of Google and Yahoo, as well as many older tech firms. How has the environment for entrepreneurship changed over the last 10 years?

A: We were just a tiny little program. The program was in its infancy relative to what it is now.

Then, in 1999, when you told people you were teaching entrepreneurship to engineers, they said, "Why?" Now I don't have to answer that question. People say, "How?"

The world has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Students see the world as rich with opportunity. Our students are hungry to know how to get their ideas out of their heads and out of their labs into the real world. And that's entrepreneurship.

Q: So how do you teach entrepreneurship?

A: One of the things I talk about in my book is creating T-shaped people. This means people with a great depth of knowledge in at least one discipline, like chemical engineering or biology, and a breadth of knowledge across many skills. Across the top of the T are a knowledge of leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.

It's no longer good enough to be an individual contributor where you have a clearly defined role. You need to be able to work across disciplines. The classes range from traditional business topics such as strategy, finance and marketing, but also focus on leadership, dealing with innovation and negotiation— the softer skills that are very, very important. So it's about management and leadership.

Students shouldn't have to feel they need an MBA to learn these skills. One thing to keep in mind about Stanford is that the Graduate School of Business is terrific, but they don't offer courses to undergrads. And Stanford doesn't have an undergraduate business major. So this is a wonderful opportunity for us.

Q: Stanford students tend to be overachievers. How do you teach the Silicon Valley gospel about the value of failure?

A: Failure is the secret sauce of Silicon Valley. To prove this point, I have my students write failure résumés. After reading an early draft of my book, one of my students asked what a failure résumé looks like. In response, I added my own personal failure résumé in my book. I include many of my biggest mistakes, personal, professional and academic.

Every leader in every organization has made big mistakes. That's why we hire people with experience— we want them because of their successes and for what they have learned from their failures.

Q: But aren't some people just "born entrepreneurs." Can it really be taught and learned?

A: There are some people who are just optimistic and do that naturally, but it's absolutely teachable. That's what my book is about: How to see the world as opportunity-rich, and see problems as opportunities.

Q: The title of the book speaks to regrets and brings to mind that line about innocence lost in a Bob Seger song: "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." If someone had given your book to you when you were 20, and you took it to heart, how do you think your life would be different?

A: I would give myself more permission to take risks. I would be much less fearful of failure. I would be very comfortable taking a different route than other people take. I would know that I am responsible for making my own luck.

I used to think, the harder you work, the luckier you get— that's what my father said. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

You need to be incredibly observant, you need to be optimistic, you need to be fully engaged in the world. One of my favorite quotes is, "If you go somewhere and do not meet someone new, you missed out on an opportunity." This book grew directly from a conversation I had sitting next to someone on a plane.

Q: A publisher?

A: Yes. But that conversation was the start of a two-year process.

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TINA SEELIG

Position: Executive director, Stanford Technology Ventures Program

Age: 51

Birthplace: Philadelphia

Education: Ph.D., neuroscience, Stanford School of Medicine

Previous jobs: scientist, entrepreneur, multimedia producer, author

Family: Married, one son

Residence: Portola Valley

Other interests: hiking, cooking, painting

FIVE THINGS YOU DIDN"T KNOW ABOUT her:

1. She has authored several popular science books, including
    The Epicurean Laboratory and Incredible Edible Science.
2. Her son"s childhood interest in magic and baseball cards inspired her
    to create a line of games called Games For Your Brain.
3. Her past employers include Compaq and the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
4. She recently twittered about "Startup Love: An article I wrote for eHarmony
    about the parallels between starting a company and a new romance."
5. Her son attends Stanford rival USC.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12319508?source=most_emailed
Scott Duke Harris can be reached at sdharris@mercurynews.com or 408-920-2704

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Tina Seelig and Steve Ballmer (CEO Microsoft) on Entrepreneurship & Innovation, May 6, 2009

Tina Seelig's book What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 (2009)

Book Description: As executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Tina Seelig guides her students as they make the difficult transition from the academic environment to the professional world, providing tangible skills and insights that will last a lifetime. Seelig is an entrepreneur, neuroscientist, and popular teacher, and in What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 she shares with us what she offers her students— provocative stories, inspiring advice, and a big dose of humility and humor. Major life transitions such as leaving the protected environment of school or starting a new career can be daunting. It is scary to face a wall of choices, knowing that no one is going to tell us whether or not we are making the right decision. There is no clearly delineated path or recipe for success. Even figuring out how and where to start can be a challenge. That is, until now. These pages are filled with fascinating examples, from the classroom to the boardroom, of individuals defying expectations, challenging assumptions, and achieving amazing success. Seelig throws out the old rules and provides a new model for reaching our highest potential. We discover how to have a healthy disregard for the impossible, how to recover from failure, and how most problems are remarkable opportunities in disguise. What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 is a much-needed book for everyone looking to make their mark on the world. "Tina Seelig is one of the most creative and inspiring teachers at Stanford. Her book ought to be required reading. I wish I had read it when I was 20... and again at 50." (Robert Sutton, Stanford University Professor and author The No-Asshole Rule)

Web Links to Tina Seelig