Very Short Interview No. 1

For my interview I spoke with Jason Tobin of Tobin Properties, a commercial real estate company. Jason is the President and COO of Tobin Properties, a family business he owns with his father. Jason has been working at the company for almost 20 years and has a degree in Business Administration.  I had previously worked with Mr. Tobin as part of my internship at the company this summer. I reconnected with him and he was happy to oblige me a short interview.

1. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
Jason is a very passionate entrepreneur. He told me that the absolute biggest thing about being an entrepreneur is to swallow your fear of failure. He said that people live their whole lives trying to avoid failure in whatever way they view it. They base their career choices, their social lives, everything around avoiding failure. But to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to accept failure as part of the process and a necessary roadblock on the way to success.

2. What should I try to get out of this course?
He recommended that I make a concerted effort to network with others and try as many new things as I can. Trying new things leads to ideas and inspiration, and networks of peers is immeasurably useful in ones career, no matter what that career is.

3. What do you wish you had been taught in school before becoming an entrepreneur?
Jason told me that the number one thing he wishes he knew before he started was the importance of details. In the property management business, an eye for details is key. The smallest piece of info, like the age of support beams, can lead to avoiding huge, expensive problems way down the line. Being detail-oriented is a skill he believes should be taught in schools.

My interview with Jason reaffirmed a lot about what I already thought was true about entrepreneurship. It seems that overcoming a fear of failure will be essential when setting down the path of the entrepreneur. I also need to make an effort to cultivate my network of peers now, because in college my peers could become real big players in the business world down the line. I fully intend to get as much as I can out of this course with the advice I've been given.