The document is a presentation by Rick Turoczy about his career path after graduating from Whitman College with an English degree and philosophy minor. It summarizes that after initially working as a lacrosse coach and nanny, he had a failed attempt at becoming a literary agent and then spent over a decade writing and editing for startups before co-founding an open-source startup community called PIE that has supported hundreds of companies. He emphasizes embracing variety in learning and being comfortable with discomfort in one's career.

1. A SERIES OF
HAPPY ACCIDENTS*

2. * HOW WHITMAN PREPARED ME
FOR THE STARTUP CAREER I
DIDN’T EVEN KNOW I WANTED

3. DISCLAIMER

4. I MAY MAKE DATED REFERENCES TO A WHITMAN OF
YESTERYEAR; FLY OFF ON TANGENTS; USE INDUSTRY-
SPECIFIC LEXICON THAT IS, HONESTLY, AMORPHOUS, AT
BEST; AND BABBLE NEARLY INCOHERENTLY FOR WHAT
SEEMS LIKE AN ETERNITY. YOU CAN ALWAYS END YOUR
SUFFERING BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND ASKING ME
TO ELABORATE, CLEARING YOUR THROAT LOUDLY,
COUGHING WHILE BLURTING OUT EXPLETIVES, OR
SIMPLY BY GETTING UP AND WALKING AWAY.
IT’S COOL. I GET IT.

5. SO WHO AM I?
AND WHY DO YOU CARE?

6. ENGLISH MAJOR

7. ALMOST HISTORY &
PHILOSOPHY MINOR

8. DUMB JOCKImage courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtcooper25/7021437345/

9. WOULD-BE GEEKImage courtesy IBM

10. SO, IN SHORT, YOUR USUAL,
WELL ROUNDED,
LIBERAL ARTS GRADUATEImage courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/yqakent/8756660312

11. SO I LEFT WHITMAN
AND WHAT WAS THE
FIRST JOB I HAD?

12. WELL,
I WAS A LACROSSE COACH
AND A NANNY. DUH.

13. SO WHAT WAS THE FIRST
CAREER OPPORTUNITY
I HAD?

14. LITERARY AGENTImage courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/quattrostagioni/6363562459

15. WHAT COULD GO
WRONG?

16. 💩

17. Image courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/design-dog/10538897554

18. SO,
NO GOLD WATCH.
NOW WHAT?

19. WTF IS A
STARTUP?

20. WRITING
AND EDITING

21. A DOZEN YEARS
OF STARTUPS

22. BUT STILL,
SOMETHING WAS MISSING

23. OPEN SOURCE

28. COCA-COLA, DAIMLER, FACEBOOK,
KICKSTARTER, INSTAGRAM, INTEL,
GOOGLE, NIKE, TARGET, TWITTER,
VERIZON…
AND MANY, MANY, MANY MORE

31. PIE ALUMS ARE CURRENTLY WORTH
MORE THAN HALF OF A BILLION
DOLLARS AND EMPLOY ALMOST A
THOUSAND PEOPLE

32. IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN,
I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT TO BE
DOING THIS. I’M JUST LUCKY.
REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LUCKY.

35. BUT ENOUGH
ABOUT ME

36. WHAT DO I WISH I
HAD KNOWN HERE?

37. THERE IS NO
“CAREER PATH”

38. EMBRACE THE
RANDOM VARIETY OF
LIBERAL ARTS LEARNING

39. FIND COMFORT
IN BEING
UNCOMFORTABLE

40. FOCUS ON THE
ASSIGNMENT

41. DON’T LET ACADEMICS
PRECLUDE LIFEImage courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/lyza/48034431/

42. ENJOY
YOUR MAJOR EXAMS

43. WHAT YOU KNOW IS FAR
MORE APPLICABLE THAN
YOU REALIZE

44. COMMON SENSE
IS NOT COMMON

45. ONE PARTING
THOUGHT…

47. IF SOME DUMB JOCK FROM
20TH
CENTURY WHITMAN CAN
JUST BUMBLE INTO THIS,
IMAGINE WHAT YOU CAN DO

48. THANK YOU!
@TUROCZY
RICK@PIEPDX.COM