I gave this talk at the University of Michigan's Entrepreneurship Hour (ENTR 407) in winter 2019. I wanted to share what I learned over the past 15 years of my career. Most importantly, how to not feel stuck if you haven't found your calling.

1. Brian Kelly
Co-Founder & CEO, Censys
ENTR 407 - Entrepreneurship Hour
February 15, 2019
Avoiding the Passion Pit
How to stumble through startups to find your career

2. About me
● Midwest by Mid-Atlantic
● Engineer by nature
● Empath by nurture
2012–15: Product Marketing @ Duo
2015–16: VP Product @ Nutshell
2017–19: Co-founder/CEO @ Censys
» briankelly.me @resetbrian 2

3. “What’s your passion?”
3

4. while (!passion)
{
try(learn);
}
4

5. Step 1. Get good at a craft you enjoy
Born in the 80s → NES
Teen in the 90s → BBS
Finished college in 2004 → C++
B.S. Computer Science, Virginia Tech
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6. Step 2. Get a (real) job
After college, I moved to DC and became a…
…government consultant??
2004–2006: Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton
“I want to build software products.”
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7. Step 3. Learn, then jump
Met another consultant like me that also
wanted to build a product company.
Move to Fort Wayne, Indiana? Sure!
2006–2010: [QA engineer, manager,
product strategy, sales,
support, founder?] 7

8. Step 4. Try. Fail. Risk. Do. (and repeat)
2010: VeriSign acquired TrustBearer Labs
Symantec acquired VeriSign’s security business
2011: I meet a new serial entrepreneur, help start OneID
2012: Career pivot, left OneID for another tiny startup in A2
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9. Pattern recognition
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10. 2014 2015

12. 12

13. 13

14. 14» Launching A Startup in 2017: A Founder’s Pocket Guide (SlideShare)

15. 15

16. A few tips to get started
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● Read – The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown
● Write – about your craft, about yourself
● Try – an internship, a job (censys.io/careers)
Thanks and good luck!