Joshua Reeves: The Startup Journey: A Marathon, Not a Sprint [Entire Talk]

TL;DR

Building an impactful startup requires sustained curiosity, purposeful experimentation, and regular reflection on why the work matters. Choose colleagues you want to resemble, develop the ability to simplify complex problems, and balance academic curiosity with the tactical learning needed to overcome immediate obstacles. Meaning becomes clearer when products and processes are connected to the people they serve.

Transcript

It's a pleasure to be with all of you today. Part of the reason why I call Tina my Stanford mom is her son is named Josh as well. So there is that commonality in place. But it was 10 years ago I actually was running ETL. So this was a seminar that I used to manage as a part of BASES. I think I still might hold the record I took this class 14 quarte... Read More

Key Insights

• Curiosity and frustration with inefficiency are recurring foundations of Reeves's entrepreneurial outlook. His upbringing offered little direct exposure to technology, but his desire to understand how things worked later connected naturally with efforts to simplify processes and build useful products.
• Electrical engineering is valuable beyond its specific coursework because it trains people to understand complex systems. Reeves says the enduring benefit is the ability to reduce complicated problems to the few factors that matter in hiring, strategy, sales, software development, politics, or economic development.
• College is a period for discovering personal interests through experimentation. Reeves explored three laboratories and four different summer internships at Stanford, using each setting to investigate a different experience, industry, or subject rather than following a single supposedly correct route.
• Proactive outreach can create access to experienced leaders. During his freshman summer at Intel, Reeves emailed the executive team requesting brief conversations about what they did and why, and he met roughly half of them because he accepted the limited risk of being ignored.
• A career choice shapes personal development because people tend to become like those around them. Reeves recommends simplifying decisions about potential employers by asking which colleagues or leaders a person would want to resemble, instead of relying only on spreadsheets, funding amounts, and growth measures.
• Product management develops influence without formal authority. At Zazzle, Reeves was responsible for priorities and a roadmap but did not manage the people doing the work, so progress depended on his ability to inspire and influence rather than simply issue instructions.
• Academic learning is curiosity-driven, while tactical learning focuses on overcoming the next practical obstacle. Reeves left the Ph.D. path partly because he wanted his emphasis to shift from a 90-10 academic-to-tactical split toward a 10-90 split.
• Mission becomes tangible when a product is connected to the people it enables. Reeves saw Zazzle as a way for creators worldwide to earn money from their work, illustrated by Alejandro, a Uruguayan artist who uploaded paintings through an internet cafe and earned tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Questions & Answers

Q: How should students choose what to study in college?

Students should treat college as a period for discovering who they are, what they care about, and which subjects genuinely interest them. Reeves recommends experimentation rather than searching for one correct academic path. His own approach included work in three laboratories and four different summer internships, each providing exposure to a different experience, industry, or area of inquiry.

Q: Why was electrical engineering useful to Joshua Reeves?

Electrical engineering taught Reeves how to understand complex systems and simplify difficult problems into a few important elements. He does not rely on specific coursework such as Fourier transforms in his daily job, but he applies the underlying mindset to hiring, business strategy, product sales, software development, politics, and economic development. The transferable method mattered more than individual technical lessons.

Q: How can students connect with senior business leaders?

Students can send concise, respectful messages asking experienced leaders for a brief conversation and advice. During a freshman internship at Intel, Reeves emailed the executive team and requested 15 or 20 minutes to discuss what they did and why. He met roughly half of them. His lesson is that an unanswered email causes little harm, while outreach can create valuable access.

Q: Why did Joshua Reeves choose a software startup over a Ph.D.?

Reeves wanted to participate in solving a problem from beginning to end. That meant understanding a customer need, developing a solution, iterating on it, improving it, delivering it to the customer, and continuing the cycle. A software startup offered this practical involvement and shifted his learning emphasis away from primarily academic exploration toward the tactical learning required to overcome immediate obstacles.

Q: What does product management teach a new graduate?

Product management teaches prioritization, roadmap ownership, and responsibility for getting work completed. Reeves found it especially valuable because a product manager may not formally manage the people responsible for execution. The role therefore requires the ability to influence and inspire others without relying on commands, which becomes a useful skill for coordinating work and advancing a product.

Q: How should a graduate decide which startup to join?

A graduate should consider who they want to become like, because people gradually resemble those with whom they spend significant time. Reeves presents this as a simpler guide than building elaborate frameworks around funding, growth, and other company measures. The surrounding colleagues and leaders matter because they influence a person's habits, values, judgment, and professional development.

Q: What is the difference between academic and tactical learning?

Academic learning is driven by curiosity and allows a person to explore a subject for its own sake. Tactical learning means acquiring whatever knowledge is needed to overcome the obstacle directly ahead, then moving to the next challenge. Reeves values both forms, but startup work moved his preferred balance from a 90-10 academic-to-tactical split toward a 10-90 split.

Q: Why does a startup mission need to focus on people?

A mission gains meaning when the company sees the people affected by its products and processes. At Zazzle, Reeves viewed the platform as a way for creators to express themselves and earn money from their work. He highlights Alejandro, an artist in Uruguay who uploaded paintings from an internet cafe and earned tens of thousands of dollars each year through those creations.

Summary

In this video, the speaker shares his entrepreneurial journey, discussing his upbringing, college days, prior startup endeavors, and the creation of ZenPayroll. He emphasizes the importance of curiosity, exploring different industries, and discovering what interests you. He also highlights the value of academic and tactical learning and the power of introspection to understand what you enjoy doing and what you want to do differently. The speaker talks about the importance of values in building a team and having a mission, as well as the role of a CEO in setting direction, organizing, and leading by example. He concludes by encouraging listeners to find a problem that matters to them and start a business to solve it.

Questions & Answers

Q: Can you tell us about your upbringing and college days?

I was born in San Francisco and grew up in Marin County. My parents are both teachers and the first in their families to go to college. Though I didn't have much exposure to technology growing up, I was always curious about how things worked. The entrepreneurial journey my parents took to move to a new country inspired me. When I came to Stanford in 2001, I was excited to study electrical engineering as I loved understanding complex systems and the mathematical aspect of it.

Q: How relevant is electrical engineering (EE) to your current work?

While I don't use specific EE concepts like Fourier transforms in my day-to-day job, the ability to understand complex systems and simplify complex problems has been valuable. Whether it's in hiring, making business strategy decisions, selling products, or other areas, having the mindset to break down complex problems has been more valuable than specific coursework.

Q: What advice do you have for college students in terms of exploring different interests?

College is a time to discover who you are, what you care about, and what interests you. It's important to experiment, work in different labs, and have different internships to gain exposure to different industries and gain deep knowledge. Don't be afraid to reach out to people for advice or mentorship. Most people are willing to help, and as a student, you have the advantage of being able to reach out and ask for guidance.

Q: How did you choose the idea for your startup ZenPayroll?

We had prior startup experience and had all run payroll before. When we talked to customers and realized that a third of businesses get fined for incorrectly doing their payroll taxes and that many still do payroll by hand, it seemed like a problem that needed solving. We wanted to create a product that simplifies and automates payroll, making it easier for small business owners and improving the employee experience.

Q: What values are important to you and your team?

Our values include ownership mentality, where everyone in the company is treated as an owner and given the information to think like an owner. We also believe in building for the long-term, not just focusing on short-term outcomes. Transparency is another key value, as we believe in open and honest communication within the team. These values guide how we hire and organize the company.

Q: Could you explain the role of a CEO in a startup?

As a CEO, my responsibilities include setting direction and strategy for the business, organizing and communicating within the team, and leading by example. It's important to fire yourself from as many jobs as possible, delegate tasks to others, and focus on the long-term vision of the company. Hiring is also a crucial aspect of being a CEO, and a significant portion of my time is spent interviewing potential hires.

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Find a problem that matters to you and start a business to solve it. There are countless opportunities to create businesses that solve existing problems or invent new use cases for the future. Take the time for introspection and set aside time to think deeply about what you want to do and what problems you want to solve. Don't be afraid to reach out for mentorship and surround yourself with a team that shares your values and mission.

Takeaways

In conclusion, it's important to explore different interests and industries, use college as a time for self-discovery and experimentation, and set aside time for introspection. Building a team with shared values and a common mission is crucial. As a CEO, it's important to set direction, organize the team, and lead by example. Find a problem that matters to you and start a business to solve it. The entrepreneurial journey requires dedication, perseverance, and a passion for making a difference.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Joshua Reeves traces his entrepreneurial outlook to curiosity, discomfort with inefficiency, and an education that taught him to simplify complex systems. He argues that college is primarily a place to discover personal interests through experimentation, not a prescribed route toward a predetermined career, because the path after graduation has no single correct answer.

• Reeves chose startup work because he wanted to solve problems from beginning to end: understand customer needs, develop and improve solutions, and bring them to users. As a product manager at Zazzle, he also learned prioritization and the importance of influencing and inspiring colleagues without relying on formal managerial authority.

• The talk distinguishes academic learning, which follows curiosity, from tactical learning, which addresses the obstacle immediately ahead. Reeves values both, but his move away from a Ph.D. path reflected a desired shift toward tactical learning. He also stresses mission, introspection, deliberate career choices, and recognition of the people behind business processes.