Megan Bristol '07
Position: Host, Wheel Travel Far podcast series; COO, The Long Cruise
Industry: Media & Entertainment
Lesson Learned: Slightly understaff. A lean work environment keeps people hungry and reduces the need to be territorial over projects.
A year after graduating, I started working at the Rubicon Project under serial entrepreneur Frank Addante. I knew nothing about online advertising, but after two years of "in the trenches" training, I acquired the skills I needed to get my job at Facebook, the 'Best Place to Work' according to Glassdoor.com. Life at a startup demands a scrappy mentality. There is no training manual on your first day, but that freedom pushed me to think outside the box, find new solutions and make an immediate impact.
The entrepreneurship program at LMU fostered the sink-or-swim attitude needed for taking big risks. In Professor David Choi’s entrepreneurship class, our grade for the semester was determined the last week and was based on a presentation to a panel of venture capitalists. It perfectly simulated real life. There was no opportunity for extra credit or a chance to do it over again. We had one shot and we had to make the most of it.