Did He Really Succeed with No Experience in the Industry?

The tremendous value of experience is a Winning Moves business success pattern that I wrote about previously in my newsletter. But, if experience is so important, how does an immigrant rug salesman with no experience working for technology companies, and no formal technology education become one of the most successful angel investors in Silicon Valley? Does his impressive success imply that experience is not so important after all?

The article “Silicon Valley Cinderella” in the April 9, 2012 issue of Forbes, describes the success of Pejman Nozad. As Forbes explains, Nozad had “No MBA. No Ph.D. ‘No technical background whatsoever’ (his words). He’s never even worked in technology companies.” Yet, as Forbes reports, he is now a “VC investor with a net worth in the ballpark of $50 million.”

Does Nozad’s success imply that experience may not actually be that valuable?

As is typical when explaining business success patterns, we have to take a deeper look at how Pejman Nozad achieved such impressive results. Nozad may not have had experience in the strictest sense. But, define experience just a bit more broadly, and Nozad does, indeed, have it. And, his experience fits patterns associated with business success.

Nozad’s situation resembles success stories where someone starts in the mailroom and works their way up to tremendous heights. In a similar vein, rug salesman Nozad started in the “rug room” and worked his way up. Whether it’s the mail room or rug sales, both starting points involve providing a service to experienced players in a company or industry. Both are points to start without having specific skills in that industry. And, like starting in the mailroom, Nozad’s humble beginnings in the “rug room” brought opportunities for learning and for advancing to a more prominent role.

Nozad may not have been employed by a high tech company, but he had extensive interaction with and exposure to people who were, especially since Nozad was extremely strong at networking and connecting. As a supplier to the industry, Nozad learned about high tech from those he interacted with. Thus, Nozad was getting industry related experience and knowledge, although he did not obtain it the standard way. Yet with time, he essentially did have a form of industry experience that helped pave the way for his impressive success as a high tech investor.

So, what does rug salesman Nozad’s success in high tech tell us about the importance of experience?

It shows that experience is, indeed, valuable for success. But, exactly how the experience is obtained is far less important than whether it is obtained. And, although seeming like a possible counterexample, Nozad’s situation is essentially one more case where experience plays a valuable role in business success.

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One Response to Did He Really Succeed with No Experience in the Industry?

  1. What a fascinating story.

    Nozad recognized that he had a background in the technology industry and trusted in himself enough to pursue the opportunities he wanted and invest (both financially and time-wise) in his new direction.

    Many people with far more in the way of clearly relevant credentials shy away from getting in the game.

    Diana

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