After four years in consulting, the Partners send you out to pasture — that is, to business school. And even though leaving the firm is mandatory, they still ask you to present a “business case” explaining why they should pay for your tuition. I told the Partners what they wanted to hear — that I was coming back, and that I wanted to improve my “business fundamentals.”

But that was bullshit. (Sorry, consulting friends!)

I went to business school to learn how to start a startup.

And it was one of the best decisions of my life.

🌉 For two years straight, I spent every waking hour learning about startups and venture capital.

I started two companies in business school: one that raised $500,000, and another that was acquired. I interned at two venture capital firms, mentored a founder whose company just crossed $1 million in monthly recurring revenue, and paid for my tuition by writing whitepapers for a think tank. I was the President of LAUNCH, UC Berkeley’s startup accelerator, and ran the Haas Venture Fellowship.

I also spent time book-learning: I read every startup book I could find, attended Berkeley’s top graduate and undergraduate classes on entrepreneurship, and won a half-ride scholarship for making an “extraordinary and lasting contribution to the entrepreneurship program.”

I left no stone unturned.

⭐ And now, I want to share with you everything that business school taught me about startups.

But I’m going to save you a lot of time, and even more money. You don’t have to spend every hour for two years or pay $100,000 in tuition— you just have to subscribe to Silicon Valley Outsider.

Because today, I’m starting a new series as a perk to my paid subscribers.

I will post a short overview for each topic publicly, and a longer, more comprehensive post for subscribers only. Subscribers also get exclusive perks:

• A video lecture from me along with each lesson

• Workbooks to help you understand venture math, startup metrics, and more

• Detailed book reviews to save you time reading (and uncover some hidden gems that I’ve never posted about publicly)

• And, most importantly, subscribers get a kickstart for their Silicon Valley networks. I’ll have my friends — the investors, founders, and operators some of the world’s fastest-growing companies — give guest lectures, and it’s precisely those sorts of introductions that have helped my career immeasurably over the years.

In short, subscribers will get my personal attention: I’ll help you make the transition to Silicon Valley and the world of startups.

👋 That’s all for now… for most of you!

Subscribers: let’s chat. Your first MBA 80/20 video, and your first Subscriber-exclusive story, is after the jump.

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