Imitation Before Innovation
The forgotten value of the apprenticeship
In today’s startup culture, I think we often overlook the value of learning a trade from more skilled operators. We all want the fast track. With unlimited information at our fingertips, we are prone to overestimate the speed and the quality of learning when we go it alone.
For the past few years, with the froth in the capital markets, it feels like many well-connected individuals are taking advantage and trying their hand at VC as first time fund managers. And every year, I see new college grads skip their first job to try and create the next Snapchat and Facebook.
I’m a firm believer in the value of an apprenticeship. I think venture capital happens to fundamentally be an apprenticeship business, and I’m still in apprenticeship mode today. From the outside, it may seem like such a simple model to figure out and master, but there are so many traps in this business that it’s important to have a guide to help avoid costly mistakes; it’s very easy to lose a lot of money and very challenging to make it. There’s a reason why so many venture firms fail to deliver a positive return and why the top quartile of funds remain nearly the same from decade to decade.
When young, first-time entrepreneurs with limited domain expertise hit a wall and ask me for advice, I’m always happy to give them some pointers. But often the advice that goes unsaid is that they would be best served by getting relevant experience first with a team that is already operating effectively in that area. It’s usually not my place to give that advice when they have already decided to try it on their own — and I don’t think it applies to 100% of cases — but I think it’s an important consideration.
Spiegel and Zuckerberg are total outliers and bad examples to follow. If you need a role model, there are plenty to choose from but two that immediately come to mind are Steph Korey and Jen Rubio at Away. (I just saw someone with their luggage earlier tonight.) The pair developed their marketing and supply chain chops while “apprentice-ing” for Warby Parker and others before launching their own D2C consumer brand with much success. There are so many opportunities today to learn from amazing entrepreneurs and getting the experience of operating within a fast growth startup should feel like a no-brainer to more people.
OK, here’s another example, but a bit weirder. We recognize Picasso for co-founding the Cubist movement and appreciate him today for that particular brand of art. But it wasn’t until well into his adulthood — near his 40s — that he began experimenting with this radical form.
Check out the more classic style of Realism in the painting above. Picasso painted that when he was 15 during his apprenticeship period with his father. He would spend another two decades fine tuning his skills before creating the genre that we associate with him today. He didn’t just pick up the paintbrush and immediately create revolutionary, geometric paintings. He mastered the foundational skills by imitating the masters, and only then did he innovate. Imitation before innovation.
