Tuck News and Events - Investiture 2006

Tuck Investiture

Roger B. McNamee T'82, co-founder and advisory director of Elevation Partners, gave the keynote address at Tuck's 2006 Investiture ceremony on June 10. McNamee is also a member of Tuck's board of overseers and cofounder of Tuck's Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies. In his spare time, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals in the Flying Other Brothers Band.

Keynote Address
It's a great honor to address you all today. The excitement level here is a wonderful thing. I would encourage each of you to bottle whatever it is you feel right now. Save some for future—you just might need it one day. My goal today is to help you focus your energy on the most important things in your life. Let me illustrate with a story.

Not so long ago—and not so far from here—a man was driving through the countryside when he saw a sign. It said, "Talking Dog For Sale!" Overwhelmed by curiosity, the man pulled off the road and rang the doorbell. The owner answered and said the dog was in the backyard. The man went back there and sitting under a large oak tree he found a fairly normal-looking Labrador retriever.

"Do you talk?" The man asked. "You bet," the dog replied. The man asked him, "So what's your story?" The lab looked up and said, "Well I discovered I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the country, so I told the CIA about my gift. In no time at all, they made me a spy and put me undercover on diplomatic missions. They figured world leaders would never expect a dog to eavesdrop on them. For eight years, I was the most effective spy in the CIA." The dog continued, "All that flying around really tired me out. So I switched to Homeland Security, where I did undercover work in airports. I uncovered terrorists and drug dealers and got a bunch of medals for it. A couple years ago, though, I retired, moved here, got married and had a batch of puppies." As you can imagine, the guy is amazed. He goes back to the house and asks the owner how much he wants for the dog. The owner says, "Ten bucks." The guys says, "Ten dollars? Are you kidding? That dog is amazing! Why would you sell him so cheap?" The owner says, "Because he's a liar. He never did any of that stuff!"

I think this story illustrates an essential element of life after business school. It's easy to focus on the wrong things and miss really important stuff. At any point in time from now on, your inbox will have a 100 items in it. If you are like most people, you will be tempted to start at the top of the pile and work your way down. That's certainly an option. But the reality is that of the hundred items in your inbox, only two really matter. The problem is to figure out which two. If you can master that, you will be very successful.

This will come as a huge shock, but the Tuck School did not teach you everything you need to know. Tuck has taught you many really important things, but some of what you learned here needs to be forgotten quickly. I'm here today to provide insight about things that will really matter to you in your career and personal life.

First, opportunity seldom waves a flag in front you. You have to look for it. My first boss at T. Rowe Price once told me, "Roger, always take on the role that no one else wants." His point was that young professionals with advance degrees generally flock to whatever worked last year…which leaves open whatever is likely to work this year. There's a saying about war: battles always take place at night, in the rain, at the intersection of four maps. Battles don't happen where or when you expect them. Business opportunity works the same way. It's never in the middle of the pigeon hole. It's always at the fringes, where no one is looking.

Second, your job and career are different. Your job is what generates the paycheck. Your career is the larger arc of your professional life. You may spend your whole career with one employer. But that's not common. Most of you will change jobs at least once in the next five years. You have to work hard and well at your job, but you also need to devote some time to your career. Think of it as investing in yourself. It may amount to no more than looking up from your foxhole from time to time. Or it may include executive education, extracurricular study, conferences, and the like. There will be times when you will be tempted to skip the career-focused stuff. You may be busy. Or perhaps you won't get credit for it at work. Please don't let that stop you. For the next five years, your job and career will be pretty much the same, so file this advice away and revisit it at your class reunion in 2011.

Third, professional networking matters as much as you have heard. Professional networking works in three directions: up, down, and sideways. All three matter a lot. If your years here were like mine, there was probably a fair amount of discussion on the role of mentors in career development. I'm a huge believer in mentoring. Mentors made an enormous different in my career and I hope they do in yours as well. Remember that mentoring relationships need to be bilateral If you give nothing back to a person who mentors you, the relationship is unlikely to last very long. Remember also that you will soon be in a position to offer good advice to those who follow you. It is a very satisfying thing to do, and I encourage you to do so.

Remember also that many of your most important networking relationships will be with your peers. There are two ways to view your peers—as competitors or colleagues. It's up to you, but I recommend the latter. The only way I know to ensure that you have constructive relationships with your peers is to make the first move. I always try to offer value from the first contact in any new relationship. I do so without any assurance that the other party will ever repay the favor. Many do not. But the ones that do have constantly surprised me. And those relationships are the foundation of my career.

Fourth, don't be afraid to be wrong. You don't need to be the smartest person in the room all the time. Test your hypotheses on people who are better informed than you. We live in a time when no one has all the answers. And the key to success is the ability to adjust rapidly to change. When somebody you respect says to you, "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," listen really carefully to what comes next. It will generally be something very valuable.

Fifth, try to extend your time horizon. It's really important to break away from the two-year horizon of business school. You are now beginning your career and the rest of your life. Be patient. Make good strategic choices. As long as you wind up in a good place, it won't matter so much how you got there.

Sixth, time is the most precious thing you have. It may not be obvious to you now, but from here on out you are playing for keeps. Many of you want to be entrepreneurs one day. My advice is to be patient on that front, as well. Entrepreneurship is really fun if it works, but a serious problem when it doesn't. A small number of people are blessed with the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. For them, entrepreneurship is pretty easy. For the rest of us, entrepreneurship is a much more risky proposition. Preparation really matters.

Seventh, do something you are proud of. My first boss once told me, "Roger, the investment business is not the world's highest calling." That didn't stop me from doing things I am proud of. No matter what field you enter, look for ways to make yourself—and your parents—proud.

Lastly, have a passion outside of work. For some of you, the passion will come from family. For others, it will come from something else. For me, music is my passion. When I was a student here, I was a mediocre guitar player and a lousy singer. But I played a gig every Tuesday night at a bar in town. And I never stopped. Fortunately, I play and sing a lot better now than I did when I was a student here! Tomorrow afternoon, my band has a gig back home in the Bay Area.

I've seen the statistics. You're all going to make a lot of money. You'll pay back your student loads and have enough left over to buy a Hummer. Fortunately, you went to Tuck, so you'll buy a Prius instead. Money will not be your issue. Your challenge will be to live happily ever after. That is your mission.