Prior to SunRun, I was headed toward a career in venture capital and then realized I wanted to apply my knowledge of finance more directly to helping change the world.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I delivered lectures, and I was also a consultant for international companies in finance, both private equity and big venture capital funds.
I wanted to be a venture capitalist and join Sequoia Capital. They've financed and helped built some really special and enormously successful companies, including Google, Yahoo, Paypal, YouTube, Cisco, Oracle, Apple, and also Zappos.
I'd been a great angel investor, but professional venture capital was clearly not the right thing for me.
At first, the only thing that I learned was to save. Then I learned about mutual fund, then later on direct stock investments. I also went into small businesses and even real estate.
I started off with a company, InfoSpace, with my own funding. The company was listed among the most successful companies and I went on to start Intelius and Moon Express. Now, I focus my time on using the skills of an entrepreneur to solve many of the grand challenges facing us in the areas of education, healthcare, clean water and energy.
I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I started my own software company in high school and went to college to study entrepreneurship.
Every venture capitalist says at some point, 'I wish I could run this company myself' - to be the entrepreneur instead of the investor.
I don't think a lot of people have been entrepreneurial about venture capital.
Early in my investment-banking career, I realized I was on a path that others had set out for me.
I try getting in front of as many opportunities as possible, but in the late '90s, I had no idea that I'd end up being CFO of a technology company. I'd no idea what venture capital was.