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My history with hiring university students and recent graduates for technical positions has not been a good one.

In my first company (~15 years ago) we tried hiring recent university and technical college graduates for junior developer positions. I was struck by the near carbon copy similarities between most of the resumes. Very few of the tech students / graduates had any meaningful experience, and even fewer had done any hacking on the side to develop their skills. Their resumes consisted primarily of the projects they had done in school and non-related jobs. I remember getting a bunch of resumes from one university where they all described the exact same project – an elevator simulation done in Java. It was impossible to differentiate between the people.

Fast forward to a couple years ago when I was recruiting founders for Year One Labs. We were looking for people – even if they didn’t have a specific idea – to pair with other founders, get started on an idea, etc. and I met a young and super smart guy who was still in university. He had been hacking since he was a kid, but had stopped because of school. He was trying to get back into it (because I asked him about what he’d been doing lately hacking-wise), and this was his response (paraphrasing):

“I’d love to, but the schoolwork is so heavy, I don’t have any time. In my program [Computer Science] you have to pick two out of three: schoolwork, dating or hacking. I have to do the schoolwork, and dating … well … I am human …”

Far be it from me to deny anyone the pleasures of dating. But being overloaded with schoolwork is asinine.

The university had taken a promising hacker and turned him into another clone. (Side note: In this particular case, I’m confident the guy I’m speaking about will figure it out and pursue his dreams, university-contraints or otherwise. I’m not trying to insult him personally.)

I asked a few other students if they felt the same way, and they did. I didn’t do a statistically relevant survey of a large student population, but it was enough evidence for me to remain frustrated with the university system.

Today, we’re hiring co-op students at GoInstant. And lo and behold I’m seeing some of the exact same issues. Every resume is almost identical. The cover letters are the worst: either they’re all working together to write the same thing, using the same template, or being coached by the university on how to write a proper cover letter. Maybe all three. But it’s impossible to get through even a handful without giving up. A minuscule percentage of the applicants have done any side projects using newer technologies. I don’t think a single applicant had a github account. But they’re all learning Java! Yay! 15 years from when I started recruiting students, and they’re still doing a lot of the same things. And good portion of applicants are including completely non-relevant work experience (I really don’t care if you worked at a fast food restaurant), presumably to fill up the “pre-requisite” 1-2 page resume. If I hadn’t seen this sort of thing before it might be easy to assume that the fault lies only with this one university, but that’s not the case. I’ve seen these issues before.

Universities (and technical colleges) need to come up with a way to lower the “old school” coursework and allow students to hack. Students need to be hacking on side projects that use newer technologies. It’s not just about new technologies, it’s about genuinely learning by doing. If they need to get credit for it as part of the university program, figure it out. But if students aren’t coming out of university with more “real-world” and practical experience building stuff we’re doomed. Even Walmart uses Node.js. If you think new technology and experimentation are the exclusive domains of startups and “Silicon Valley” tech companies, you’re sorely mistaken. I would propose that universities cut a class per semester and replace that with a semester-long side project. Put some constraints of some kind, some guidelines, but then let the students at it. If the professors aren’t capable of grading the work because they’re not familiar with new technology, bring in industry folks that can help.

Bottom line: Universities have to find a way to provide students with the time and space to do more hacking. I know some of this is going on already, but we need more of it.

And students: While I feel for your situation and the fact that your coursework is ridiculous (and probably, for the most part, extremely dull), and I appreciate that it’d be nice to meet someone from the opposite sex occasionally and “mingle” … you need to find a way to stand out from everyone else and do something for yourself and your career. You might think of university as an investment in yourself – and it is – but you can be doing a lot more to invest in yourself by hacking away on side projects. Try Codecadamy for example. Life’s hard, you can’t wait around for the school system to change, so figure it out.

Take out non-relevant work experience from your resumes. I don’t care if you were a salesperson at The Gap. I don’t care if you flipped burgers at Burger King. And I don’t care about your grades. They’re not a real reflection of your ability to hack like crazy in a startup. And if you’re going to write an insanely generic cover letter that makes you look like everyone else, you might reconsider writing one at all. Your goal is to be memorable – in everything you do. Creative writing may not be your strength as geeks, so tackle the problem in another way. I remember once getting a cover letter in code. The guy’s cover letter told me to go to a website and input a command. It spat out the cover letter in a cool format from there. Smart. Creative. Different.

Some say “two out of three ain’t bad,” but in this case it’s not enough. I don’t want kids flunking out of school (although I have tried on occasion to convince students to quit … I mean … defer their studies for awhile), and I certainly don’t want to stop people from dating, but if more university students don’t start working on side projects, hacking, learning new technologies and differentiating themselves, we’re losing out on the opportunity to develop great new talent that could do so much more.

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I got into computers fairly early because of my father. He went back to university in 1986 in his early 40s and did a BSc. in Computer Science. I was 11 years old. Our first computer was a PC of some kind; I don’t remember what it was, but I remember it was expensive, $7,000+ or so. My father then went on to work “in computers” for 15 years. I say “in computers” because that’s what everyone called it back then, it was easier than explaining what he really did.

Strangely enough, I didn’t really get into programming. I’m not sure why, it seems like it would have been a natural fit. But I did get a very healthy appreciation for technology, and was well ahead of my friends. I remember BBSs and later on MUDs (which I still love, although don’t play. I even started coding in C and C++ for a MUD that I was running; it was insanely fun.) I remember going to a summer camp where we learned Logo.

At the time, computers weren’t particularly prominent in schools. They existed, but all we were really doing was word processing. I remember Typing Tutor from “computer class” in high school where kids were just learning how to type. Pretty silly by today’s standards.

Today, my seven year old son in Grade 2 has computers in his class. Some schools are experimenting with iPads at even younger ages. A lot more kids will grow up with a lot more technology. That’s a given; there’s a lot more technology that’s easily accessible. But unless the education system starts teaching programming in schools, a lot of that technology will go to waste.

Almost five years ago I wrote 10 Things They Need to Teach in Highschool. I should have put programming at the top of the list, instead of the bottom.

But more than teaching programming, we need to encourage and incentivize kids to create things. Build things. Invent things. Knowing the mechanics of coding is one thing, but being inspired, motivated and rewarded for building stuff is key. That’s what will help create more entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are builders. We like to build things. I was inspired by my parents and what they had done as entrepreneurs, and I’m sure there’s some genetics involved as well … but kids spend so much time in school and can be so influenced by their years there that I’m certain more could be done. Teach kids to code. And teach kids to build. Actually, I think most kids already know how to build, and a lot of kids want to build stuff … but they need the educational system to endorse and reward their activity, otherwise they can’t get through the system successfully. It’s not as simple as saying, “get out of the way” because the system is the way, and at least while kids are in school (particularly in the earlier years) they have to play by the rules. So the rules need to change.

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Watching my two kids play, it’s striking how different they are. My younger son (4) turns everything into a make-believe game. Give him two sticks and suddenly they’re space ships. Give him a handmade car (which we built recently at the Halifax Art Gallery; it’s meant to be Jeff Gorvette from Cars 2) and he’s doing a race through the hallways of the place for an hour. His imagination is incredible.

My older son (7) has a great imagination as well, but he’s also much more practical and analytical. It makes sense because he’s older, but he’s always been that way. Give him two sticks and they’re two sticks; he may want to see how far he can throw them or whack them against a tree to see them break … but they’re still two sticks. If someone suggests to him that they’re lightsabers and we should battle as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, he’ll absolutely join in and participate … but he’s not creating fantasy worlds around himself. His practicality and analytical approach to things helps him solve puzzles, ask insightful questions, and stick with things that need resolving.

It seems to me that startup founders need a healthy dose and mixture of both imagination and practicality. One without the other makes you an incomplete founder and leader.

I think it’s possible to work on and train both your imagination and analytical skills. There are hobbies for example, that help with both. Take photography. It’s creative and imaginative, but requires a keen eye, technical know-how (if you get past basic cameras), and good timing. Drawing is another good example. On a personal level, I’m hoping to work on both photography and drawing this year. I’d like to take more pictures and learn how to take better ones. That’s part of the reason I’ve put my Instagram stream at the top of the blog; to remind and inspire me to keep taking pictures.

There are lots of ways that you can push yourself to be more imaginative and more practical at the same time. And that balance will help you be a more successful startup founder and leader.

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I’m just starting the process of changing a great deal in my life. It starts with my professional life, where I’ve taken on a role as VP Product with GoInstant. That’s the catalyst for a lot of other change as well.

Most of the moves I’ve made in my professional life have been fairly drastic. You could plot the path in an evolutionary sort of way, but it certainly was never intended that way or planned. It’s hard to plan entrepreneurship. Many of the changes I’ve made have been fairly blind – jumping in with both feet – confident that “it’ll all work out in the end.” That level of confidence has allowed me to get through a lot of difficult situations. It’s been my lifeboat more than once, keeping me afloat when everything felt like it was sinking. And that confidence allows me to take risks, go left instead of right, and hopefully persevere to big success.

Ultimately, the most frustrating times I’ve ever had weren’t a result of jumping in blind and taking on new challenges; it was the gaps between those moments (when I was stuck) that killed me. I’ve had a few colosal moments of inertia. I spent 10 years with my first company. It experienced a lot of big, blind, risky change, but the last few years or so were painful. I stayed too long, got too comfortable and ignored my own personal desires and goals. There were reasons (read: excuses!) that I used internally and with others to justify the inertia, but it was bullshit. I knew it then, and I certainly see it now.

Change isn’t always good. But it has all the potential in the world to make your life better if you go out and seek it. Waiting for shit to happen isn’t the answer. For all the stress and frustration that exists when you’re in the middle of something, doing it, trying to make it happen, investing your life, your energy, your money, your soul — trust me: it’s much worse and more hopeless in the gaps, when you’re doing none of those things at all.

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Recently I announced that Year One Labs was mostly complete; at least our active incubation phase. Instead of rehashing that, I’ll just re-publish this part of that post:

Year One Labs was the perfect antidote to my experiences just prior to starting it (which involved trying to build a company in the recruitment space during a recession). The ability to focus on a bunch of different projects, take a step back, build my network, rinse and repeat on the lean startup methodology, etc. were all fantastic experiences. I learned an insane amount, just as I had prior to that as the CEO/founder of a startup. But now, I want something different. It’s time for me to do something new, leveraging my collective experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and partner at Year One Labs to take on new challenge…

And today I’m announcing that I’ve joined GoInstant as VP Product.

GoInstant enables a shared browsing experience with no downloads or plugins. It works on any browser and on mobile devices. There are lots of use cases, but the initial focus is on enabling better sales and support through shared browsing. Instead of describing the product at length, here’s a video from TC Disrupt, where CEO and co-founder Jevon MacDonald presented:

Here are some of the reasons why I’ve made the move:

1. Team: For starters, I’ve known Jevon MacDonald for a few years. We’ve never worked together, but I’ve always been impressed. I don’t know the rest of the team as well, but I’m getting to know them quickly, and it’s a stellar technical crew led by co-founder and CTO, Gavin Uhma. There are always risks creating new teams (when founding a startup) or joining existing teams, but it was critical for me to trust the people and 100% believe in our ability to succeed together.

The team also extends to the investors. Jevon and Gavin put together a stellar group of investors, including some that I’ve met, spent time with and know. Their reputation, experience and ability to add value is incredible. This is important for a company that has big goals.

You can learn more about the team and investors here: http://goinstant.com/our-company/.

2. Product & Tech: GoInstant is a very cool product. It has some incredibly interesting use cases (some are obvious, some less so), tied to a genuine vision that’s really big. I’ll save some of my thoughts on that vision for later, but it was important for me to find a product that I could understand, see immediate value in, and see future potential in as well.

The fact that we’re going into a B2B market is also appealing. GoInstant will charge money for something customers need to do their jobs better. The clarity that comes with that is nice. We don’t have all the answers, but there’s a clear direction we’re heading in around the product and the product roadmap.

As an aside, while this isn’t a huge deal for me, the fact that there’s actual IP behind GoInstant is interesting. Execution is king, but underlying GoInstant is a serious amount of technology that’s not easily replicated.

Not everyone sees the benefit of GoInstant. Some shrug it off and say, “It’s been done.” Or, “I’ve seen people try that ten times before.” Maybe so. But I find Chris Dixon’s thoughts on “the next big thing will start out looking like a toy” very apropos.

3. Stability & Speed: GoInstant is very much an early stage startup. Almost everything still has to be proven. But at the same time there’s a certain amount of stability as well. The company is well funded and supported by great investors. There’s a solid team in place already. There are other stabilizing factors as well that increase my confidence significantly. At the same time, they now need to accelerate like never before — the rocket ship is fuelled, prepped and ready to go. The course is reasonably plotted, and we’re off.

When you start a company, almost everything is unknown. Worse than that, you spend a lot of time doing operational/organizational things (read: things you have no choice but to do) and brainstorming/planning (read: waffling about, with lots of uncertainty). I genuinely love those moments in time at the very beginning of a startup where a few people and ideas coalesce into something amazing. But I’ve spent a lot of time very involved in those moments with Year One Labs. Now it’s time to jump onboard at a slightly later, but still very early and critical moment.

4. Fun: I’ve listed this fourth, but it should be much higher. I’m starting to make personal decisions in my life dedicated to less wasting of time and bullshit. I’m committing myself to having as much fun as possible in everything I do. It’s easy to lose sight of what’s important in life…

This adventure with GoInstant will be fun. The vast amount of change that I’ll be taking on won’t be easy or without stress, but the challenge is too fun to ignore.

5. Focus: Joining GoInstant as VP Product allows me to focus on a few very specific goals – primarily: building a kick ass product that customers love. I’ll be involved in a lot more than that, but I’ve got an almost singular mission. That level of focus is extremely appealing to me. It’s nearly polar opposite to what I’ve been doing at Year One Labs, which involved working on multiple projects and context shifting many times per day.

Along with dedicating myself to having more fun, I want to focus on simplifying my life as well. That’s something I’ve struggled with for a long time. This move allows me to shave off some extracurricular activities and spend the bulk of my time on GoInstant.

So there you have it. Life wouldn’t be worth it without change. And I’m about to embark on the next chapter in my life, embracing a huge amount of change, making a big bet and (hopefully!) having a lot of fun doing it.

As an aside, this blog will continue as always. The focus may shift somewhat, just as my life shifts. I hope you’ll stick around for the ride!

One final thing: If you’d like access to GoInstant, get in touch. Or sign up at GoInstant. We’re primarily interested in B2B SaaS vendors, but we’re exploring all kinds of opportunities.

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You need a sizeable ego to succeed in the world of startups and venture capital. Without that ego propelling you forward it’s going to be hard to wake up every morning, take the risks you need to take, and aggressively go after what you want. You won’t be able to negotiate from a position of weakness but make it seem like a position of power. You won’t be able to motivate others around you when things are crumbling. You won’t be able to power through 20-hour days and execute like a maniac. This is true for startup founders and it’s true for investors. A healthy ego is important.

I think of this as “startup swagger.” Every founder needs it and has a right to it. After all, starting a business is a big step – one that few people ever take – and that alone gives you the right to be proud. Unfortunately, swagger can be taken too far.

Founders and investors need startup swagger, without crossing the line into the domain of assholes.

Lately, I’ve been getting quieter. I’m rarely the most talkative in meetings, although that wasn’t always the case. There’s something to be said for sitting back, listening, and only speaking when you really want to make a point. I want to be more thoughtful and patient, but at the same time don’t want my voice going unheard or getting lost in the noise.

In thinking about startup swagger and assholes, I want to share some ideas on how to manage a healthy balance between the two:

1. Listen more than you talk. Filling the air with words for the sake of it is a form of pollution. Perhaps less harmful on the environment than CO2, but still…
2. Stop name dropping. I get it. You know a lot of VIPs. Me too. So what? If those VIPs aren’t materially helping you right now, I’m not particularly interested.
3. Share your past achievements. Don’t hide your past experiences and successes. Chances are you’ve got something special to share, so do it. Just don’t bash me over the head with it.
4. Be ambitious. There’s no shame in wanting to succeed, and succeed big. Be ambitious with your plans. Feel free to tell me that your startup will be worth $100M someday. Ambition and passion are a must for any startup founder (and frankly for any investor too.)
5. Be humble. Don’t go overboard aggrandizing your expertise, network, success, etc. There’s a good balance to be had between talking a good talk and recognizing when enough is enough. Someone once said to me (re: pitching & presenting to investors), “Don’t act like the smartest person in the room.”
6. Actions speak louder than words. The best way to impress people is to make things happen. Big things. And small things. Crazy audacious things and the nitty gritty that just has to get done. It’s pretty hard to talk your way to success, actual work needs to take place. But at the same time you can’t hide in a corner and work by yourself quietly and expect people to care. You’ve got to make sure people can connect you to the work and your accomplishments.
7. Don’t be lackadaisical. When given the opportunity to present your startup, do it and do it right. Respect people’s time and put in the effort. You never know what value you’ll get out of the experience.
8. Speak with purpose. People who speak clearly, loudly (but not too loudly) and appear engaged (think: good body language) are always going to garner more respect than those who speak quietly, mumble and slouch.

I’ve hesitated for over a week in publishing this post. Normally I write something, go through a couple edits and hit publish. In this case I’ve been waiting and thinking it over a lot. And it’s been nagging me; I actually get grumpier when I have writer’s block and don’t publish content at least once per week. Then I read The Top 10 Types of Douchebags in Tech and How NOT to Be One and decided to publish the post. So there you have it.

Don’t be an asshole. Feel free to swagger and put on a good show. Make sure you always deliver, and be cognizant that there is a line you can cross that’s hard to go back over again. Once people see you as an asshole, it’s hard to change that perception.

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Although I did complete a Psychology degree at university, I’m no psychologist. And I’m no self-help guru either. But the more I think about startups and entrepreneurs, the more I think that one of the leading causes of startup failure is lying. Not lying to other people, but lying to oneself.

People lie to themselves all the time. We’re so good at it we do it subconsciously. We bury the truth so deeply that it doesn’t come out until the walls are crumbling around us and our bank balance is bloody red. We mask the truth and apply a heavy reality distortion field.

But here’s the thing: We have to. Entrepreneurs have to lie to themselves. I don’t think we could get through it if we didn’t. The level of uncertainty entrepreneurs face is extremely high. We’re asked to make decisions on a constant basis with partial information and little experience. We need to sell a vision and a dream as much as reality, which is in essence a lie. We have to get up every day after being punched in the head and keep going. We know the odds of success are slim, and yet we keep going. When an entrepreneur succeeds it’s almost always because of drive and passion (luck and timing play a huge role too!) Drive and passion are there to mask the truth.

And yet, I think too many people lie to themselves too much. As a result, too much passion, drive and enthusiasm is pointed at the wrong things. Entrepreneurs stick with zombie companies too long, get burnt out beyond recovery, bang their heads against the wall until they collapse, make critical mistakes … all because they’re lying to themselves. And they believe their own hype. Positive feedback is wonderful as long as it doesn’t overly reinforce an entrepreneur’s lies. Reason, judgement and strategy are thrown out the window so quickly when things are going incredibly well or bad, in large part because the lies we’ve ingrained in ourselves either propel us to false heights or buoy us against disaster. Lie too much to yourself and your startup has a very good chance of failing.

Somewhere there’s a line between a necessary amount of lying and too much. I’m not quite sure where it is, but I’m keeping myself on alert, so I don’t delude myself beyond reason.

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I don’t know if Chris Brogan started the meme or not, but every year he publishes 3 words that will serve as his guiding pillars for the year ahead. Last year I didn’t publish 3 words; instead I stuck with one: Freedom. Looking back at that post from the beginning of 2010 I can reasonably say that I did find more freedom last year than in previous years. At least in some ways. I’ve also taken on more projects than ever before.

2011 is going to be a big year.

Here are my 3 words for 2011:

Create. Accelerate. Win.

Create: I’m an entrepreneur at heart. And I live to create things. I have to be careful not to create too much and take on more than I can handle, but this year is all about wiping the slate clean and starting new things.

Accelerate: It’s time to move even faster. No one is waiting for me (or anyone else), and the old adage is certainly true, “If you want something done [right] do it yourself…” I can’t sit on the sidelines and expect things to happen. And I want to accelerate everything I’m doing, and help others accelerate successfully as well.

Win: I want to win. I want to win big. I want to win all the time. Winning is good. I know I’ll lose once in awhile, and I’m certainly going to stumble and make my share of mistakes, but I have no problem planting the proverbial flag in the sand and saying, “I want to win.” That’s not ego talking, it’s drive.

Create. Accelerate. Win.

The year is long. There are always ups and downs, emotionally uplifting moments and plenty of emotionally draining ones as well. As they say in hockey, “It’s a long season.” And during the year it’s hard to maintain momentum (or in my case, acceleration!) – we get tired, sick, beaten down, angry, sad, frustrated… But humans have an amazing ability to take a kick in the teeth, get back up and do even better than before. I want to maintain that inspiration throughout the year by using create, accelerate and win as my 3 words for 2011. Do what you need to in order to buffer yourself against all the craziness of life and get ready to kick some serious ass. Maybe it starts with 3 words of your own…

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Entrepreneurs need a very healthy ego to succeed. Many might be self-effacing and humble, but there still has to be a deep-seeded, positive sense of self and ego. Some might call it drive. That’s part of it. Courage and belief in one’s own abilities is also important. Natural leadership qualities and a desire to lead are driven by ego.

Ego is important. Without a healthy ego entrepreneurs don’t have the necessary internal reserves to survive the daily rigors of startup life.

But I’m generally not attracted to huge egos without the parallel humbleness that should come with it and the recognition that any real success involves multiple factors. It’s very rare that one person can take all the credit (or all the blame!) When a successful person openly recognizes that other factors impacted their success — luck, for example – I know that person has a healthy ego, the kind of ego that helped drive that person to succeed without putting them over the edge.

Those are the types of people I want to work with. People who believe they’ll be successful no matter what, but don’t have to flaunt that on a regular basis. And when they are successful, they recognize it wasn’t exclusively of their own doing. And when they’re not successful, they accept that and move on.

Far too often, egos get in the way of success. It gets ugly. It gets personal. That’s when ego is at its worse; “he said, she said” or “BSDs” that can’t work together (if you want to know what that acronym means, just ask.) Egos at that level need to be put aside for the greater good.

You either believe you can be hugely successful or you don’t. If you don’t, you need to look inside yourself and figure out why. It might just be there, a tiny spark of ego just waiting to explode. If you do believe you can be hugely successful, that’s great, you’ve got the makings of an entrepreneur. But don’t get caught in your own ego. Don’t get overwhelmed by your “greatness”. Use that inherent quality of ego (which too few people truly possess) and leverage it.

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Marc-Andre Cournoyer (ex-Standout employee, current CTO of SocialGrapes) doesn’t blog as much as he should. That’s a shame cause he’s a great guy, kick ass programmer, startup founder, and worth listening to. But he did write a post entitled Goals in March 2010 that got me thinking a lot about my own goals. I wasn’t ready to write anything publicly until I announced the acquisition of Standout Jobs. With that done, I can look to the future and the rest of 2010.

Hopefully I’ll keep doing this for years to come, and we’ll see if it helps me get things done. (Items in bold are already completed. And they’re not in any particular order.)

2010 Goals

• Start a new company in the B2C space (underway – and hiring!
• Learn how to code (in a very rudimentary way)
• Read more comic books (done: thanks to Marvel’s iPhone app!)
• Help more entrepreneurs get started and take their startups to the next level
• Push the Montreal startup community forward
• Write more frequent blog posts
• Become an angel investor
• Redesign my blog
• Increase traffic to the blog by 25%
• Surpass 4,000 RSS subscribers – on June 15, 2010 I hit 6,172 RSS subscribers.
• Get into an exercise routine (if there was a half-bold, I’d use it for this)
• Go on vacation more
• Simplify my life
• Organize my personal finances

I’m going to update this list as my interests and objectives change. We’ll see what it looks like going forward.

It may be late for a post on goals for 2010 (usually that’s a New Year’s activity!) — but bugger it, what are your goals for the next 6-7 months?