The Story of Hustle: Landing a Deal with Gmail Inventor, Paul Buchheit
Hustle is winning at all costs.
Hustle is having no shame in pursuit of goals.
Hustle is creative tactics to achieve results otherwise unobtainable.
As a young adults with many aspirations and dreams, Millennials and Generation Z’ers are often left wondering “what does hustle actually look like?” because our world is filled with banal platitudes like:
“working hard” and “chasing your dream”
“staying focused” or, my favorite, “you gotta hustle”
But what do these even mean? Seriously?
What does, “hustle”, look like in the day to day, where it all really goes down?
As a 22-year-old, aspiring founder, this is a story of mine. This is a story of 19 micro-decisions, where each micro-decision was an investment into the long-term, that led to an opportunity to connect with someone that could change my life, in the long-term, of course.
I hope you find inspiration from this, and even gain insights into what these banal platitudes actually look like in practice.
Hustle is…
- Taking the time to know yourself and where you want to be in 2 years, 5 years and 10 years
- Applying to the Y Combinator Startup School, without a startup, because you know you’ll co-found one soon
- Getting accepted by luck
- Not taking the shuttle and driving yourself to the conference because the shuttle, that all your friends took, was $20 more expensive and you are saving dollars right now
- Pull into the parking lot behind a really nice car (a dash of luck)
- Follow the car and park next to the car, knowing it’s probably someone with knowledge and influence
- Noticing the driver is Paul Buchheit , a Y Combinator Partner and the inventor of Gmail, indeed, someone with knowledge and influence
- Taking note of the car model and researching its history
- Tracking down Paul after the conference… when everyone else is eating refreshments
- Not pitching Paul about a startup idea like all of the other attendees (Oh I have them)
- Talking to Paul about Paul’s car
- Using the Rejection Challenge mentality to ask Paul for a ride in his car
- Getting rejected (in front of many human eyes)
- Paul offers, “Apply to Y Combinator and if you get an entry interview, I’ll give you the keys” (a dash of luck?)
- Accepting the offer and shaking hands with Paul before he realizes what he has done
- Leaving the event to go to Paul’s car
- Leaving the below note on Paul’s car
- Writing this blog and tagging Paul so he knows I am coming in 2019
- Reminding Paul, we shook on it :-)
That’s it. Quite a story, but really, it’s the micro decisions, my friends. Every moment that passes by is defining you and your future.
You know what’s the craziest thing?
What I’ve done is NOT revolutionary. This is common, everyday hustle. . This is how you should operate if you want to achieve the generally unobtainable results.
Will I be applying to Y Combinator in two years? Maybe.
But I’ve done enough introspective reflection that I know it is quite well possible. I also know, that what I sacrificed (some free pizza and beer) is incredibly minute compared to what could come from my actions.
Like I said, I don’t know if in two years I will actually be applying to Y Combinator. That’s almost impossible to know. But if I do go that route, this could jump start a powerful relationship with one of the top mentors in the program.
That’s the story and those are the micro-decisions. Remember this tale in your day to day and allow yourself to enjoy the fruits of your micro-decisions.
Tell me a story of yours in the comments.
Cheers
Also, obligatory shout out to Y Combinator for their Startup School. Great event. If you are in a Startup and looking to join the #1 accelerator in the world, apply today. They take all types of teams and founders.
- Single founders
- Family founders
- Old founders
- Extra-terrestrial founders
- Companies with growth
- Social causes
- New companies
- Spaceships
Stop asking questions and apply.
Originally published at www.andrewfrawley.com.
