• Luisa Zhou has built a career around teaching people how to start their own six-figure-plus businesses working for themselves.
• When she started out on her corporate career, she was an introverted and "unnoticed" employee. But by the age of 30, she was the owner of a multimillion-dollar business. 
• What helped her the most: She focused on sharing her accomplishments, changing how she thought of herself, and developing confidence as a skill.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

"After working with you for years, I still have no idea if you are actually good at your job." 

A coworker kindly shared that with me a few years into my corporate career.

I was shocked but I shouldn't have been. As a not-so-confident introvert who found it difficult to speak up in meetings, or talk about my accomplishments without feeling like I was bragging, I was at a disadvantage when it came to sharing my wins. It also didn't help that growing up, I'd been taught to be humble and let my work speak for itself.

That moment was a huge wake-up call. I realized that if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life being overlooked, something — namely, me — needed to change. Here are three tactics that helped me develop my confidence and go from an unnoticed employee to the owner of a multimillion-dollar business before 30.

SEE ALSO: I built a multimillion-dollar business in two years. Here are 3 templates I used to make my first $10,000 in 3 months.

1. Show your accomplishments instead of telling them

I once listened to a colleague spend 20 minutes sharing his enthusiasm for his latest project. By the time he was done, everyone listening — including his boss and boss' boss —  knew how passionate he was about his job, what wins he'd achieved for the company, how hard he worked, and how much more revenue his latest project was estimated to drive.

The best part was that he'd done it all without once coming across as bragging.

How'd he do it? He described the process of what he was working on. He shared how he'd come up with the project idea, the obstacles he'd overcome, how excited he was by the wins, and what he hoped to accomplish. No wonder he was promoted to manager at least two years ahead of anyone else his age.

I took this lesson to heart when I was building my first online business. Instead of telling people how awesome I was, I shared the beliefs and teachings that I was passionate about. (For example, I shared why I disagreed with common advice in my industry and what I recommended doing instead.) 

This allowed me to naturally — and easily — showcase my accomplishments and stand out from my competition.

Read more: I went from earning $65 an hour to building a multimillion dollar business on my own in two years. Here are the 4 most important steps I took.

2. Change the story you're telling yourself

Have you ever said to yourself, "That's just not me"? 

I used to all the time, especially as I was building my first business. When I saw other entrepreneurs confidently promoting themselves while I sat on the sidelines, I made myself feel better with, "I'm an introvert. That's them but that's just not me."

As I struggled to grow my business while I watched theirs take off, I realized I had two choices:

I could continue telling myself that the things I needed to do to succeed simply "weren't me" (and accept failure as a result). 

Or I could acknowledge the truth: I was telling myself the story that I was an introvert as an excuse for not doing the uncomfortable things I needed to do to succeed.

Spoiler alert: I chose the second option. I asked myself, "What would I do if I was the confident introvert who felt passionately enough about her work to share it with the world?" Then, I did it.

And that's how I started doing daily livestreams on my Facebook page, posting content daily to my social-media accounts, and pitching myself to potential clients.

As a result of changing the story I was telling myself, I stopped using my personality as an excuse. Making this shift allowed me to gradually start feeling more confident promoting myself and sharing my content, which is the No. 1 reason I was able to build a profitable business.

3. Think of confidence as a skill — and develop it accordingly

I used to think of confidence as a trait that you were either born with, or without.

Gradually though, I realized that being confident is not a characteristic. It's a skill. What's more, like any other skill, it can be developed. Take learning to read, for example: First you learn to read at a first-grade level, then a second-grade level, and so on. 

You can do the same with building your confidence by identifying milestones that help you move from one level of confidence to the next.

At the beginning of my business, it felt impossibly scary to record a video. So I worked my way up to doing that. First, I set myself a goal to write a post and share it on social media. Then I pitched a small blog to write an article for them. Only after I'd done those two steps and built some confidence around sharing my advice did I then record my first piece of video content.

Each time I repeated this process, I built a little more confidence. Gradually, that's how I went from feeling scared of recording a video to being comfortable speaking on live streams that are viewed by thousands.

It doesn't matter what your personality is or how introverted you might be. Improving your confidence is a skill that can be mastered. And once you do, it can truly transform your life.

Luisa Zhou is the creator of the Employee to Entrepreneur system, which teaches people how to leave their day job and start their own six-figure-plus business working for themselves. She's been featured in Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, Success magazine, and more. Get her free blueprint forbuilding a profitable online business that frees you from the 9-to-5.

• Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison announced that the company would be renaming the company's employee engagement survey in a message to workers on Thursday.  
• Ellison also addressed the "tremendous" shifts that stores have undergone lately, acknowledging that "change is never easy."
• Business Insider spoke with six current and former Lowe's workers who all cited flagging morale within the stores over changes like role eliminations and a scheduling system overhaul.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison addressed store workers in a message announcing the company's annual employee feedback survey.

Business Insider reviewed two pictures of the message from Ellison, which employees say went out Thursday.

"In the past year, we've undergone tremendous change and growth to position us toward becoming the leading home improvement retailer," Ellison wrote. "Although change is never easy, because of your hard work our sales performance in first and second quarter has outperformed our closest US competitor for the first time in over a decade."

Lowe's did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Read more: Lowe's workers say morale is reaching an all-time low as the home-improvement giant rolls out changes to stores

Ellison explained that Lowe's "re-designed" and "renamed" its annual employee opinion survey this year, in order to better "align with the core behaviors that drive our mission and areas that have a direct impact on associate engagement." 

The survey will now be called Lowe's BEST, acronym for "building, engagement, and success together," and is set to run from October 14 to November 1.

"One of our core behaviors is to show courage, and I ask you to demonstrate that by raising opportunities that need to be addressed," Ellison wrote. "My commitment to you is that the leadership team will use this feedback to make Lowe's an even greater place to work."

Are you a Lowe's employee with a story to share? Email acain@businessinsider.com.

SEE ALSO: Costco, Lowe's, Sam's Club, and 12 other stores that will be closed on Thanksgiving this year

DON'T MISS: A look back at Lowe’s journey from small family hardware store to retail giant

SEE ALSO: Lowe's exec apologizes after hawking a power drill as perfect for 'Hispanic pros with smaller hands'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This new solar-powered home development store is coming after Home Depot

• Playboy's best selling issue sold over 7 million copies and the magazine made $12 million in revenue that same year.
• Hugh Hefner's empire became an iconic part of popular culture, but later struggled to keep up with new competitors, and failed to pivot online fast enough.
• Today, Playboy is a shell of what it once was, but is attempting to rebrand itself to appeal to younger generations.

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Following is a transcript of the video.

Irene Kim: Playboy used to be everywhere. Its best-selling issue sold over 7 million copies. In the early 2000s, Playboy's logo could be found on everything from jewelry to tattoos, and Bunnies were all over movie screens and reality TV. But Hugh Hefner's gone, the original Playboy Clubs have closed, and magazine sales have shrunk to less than 4% of what they used to be. So, what happened?

In 1953, former copywriter Hugh Hefner saw a demand for a gentleman's magazine. Recruiting 45 investors who cobbled together $8,000, a young Hef was ready to launch what would become Playboy. Originally, Hefner wanted to call it Stag Party, but was challenged by Stag Magazine, so a friend suggested the name Playboy, and it stuck. But Hefner himself came up with Playboy's now iconic logo. He thought a tuxedoed rabbit would be "cute, frisky, and sexy." With no office to work out of, Hef put the first issue of Playboy together in his apartment on the kitchen table. The cover and centerfold featured Marilyn Monroe. But Monroe never posed for Playboy. Hefner bought old photos a struggling Monroe had posed for under a pseudonym, having no idea they would eventually end up as a magazine feature. The star was never paid for her Playboy debut. Regardless, the first issue was released in December 1953. A huge success, the magazine sold out of all 70,000 copies at $0.50 apiece.

Hefner immediately invested his profits back into Playboy, expanding his staff. Circulation grew quickly, partly because of the magazine's lack of competition. But not only was Playboy one of the first to publish colored photographs of nude women, its Playmate concept set it apart from the rest. Each issue featured a "Playmate of the month," starting with Hefner's then girlfriend and subscription-department employee Charlaine Karalus, aka Janet Pilgrim. Hefner described Playmates as women who could be "the new secretary at your office" or the "girl who sells you shirts and ties." In other words, a wholesome woman you could meet in real life, not a distant, professional model. The photo layouts were a seduction, with the Playmate slowly revealing more and more until being fully nude in the centerfold.

By the end of the 1950s, the magazine was selling a million copies a month. And while it was a popular joke to claim that one only bought Playboy for the articles, the magazine did establish a reputation for literary excellence, publishing in-depth interviews with all sorts of cultural icons and excerpts from esteemed writers like James Baldwin. Even when its first true competitor, Penthouse, launched, Playboy stayed on top, with print sales peaking at 7.1 million copies of the November 1972 issue. Playboy made $12 million in profit that year. That's $73 million today. Playboy grew to be more than a magazine; it was a lifestyle. Hefner expanded Playboy Enterprises to include the Playboy Clubs, designed to embody the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle marketed by the magazine. 50,000 members joined the original Playboy Club in Chicago in its first year. Soon, there would be 23 Playboy Clubs around the world.

Bobbie Walters: It was an incredible place to be. It was magical.

Kim: That's Bobbie Walters. She worked as a Bunny at the Playboy Club in New York City and, later, Miami.

Walters: In New York City, there were 100 girls there. There were six different floors. So you could enjoy a show, you could enjoy a gourmet dinner, or you could dance to disco music, or you could just go down into the Playmate bar and have a drink.

Kim: As for what it was like to work as a Bunny...

Walters: The training was one week long. Once we got to the Playboy Club and got on the floor, we learned how to do the Bunny Dip. Tape: OK, once again, let's see the Bunny Dip down just so.

Walters: Which is an extremely ridiculous thing because you're standing on 6-inch heels, leaning backwards, serving liquor.

Kim: Bunnies had to follow strict rules dictated in their Bunny Manuals.

Walters: It told you all about the rules and regulations, how the costume was supposed to look.

Kim: Bunnies also had a specific greeting for guests.

Walters: So, you would walk up to the table slowly, and they would just be looking, "Oh, my God, there's my Bunny," and then you'd just approach a table and say, "Good evening, I'm your Bunny, Bobbie."

Kim: And the Bunnies were what really drew people to the Clubs.

Walters: You could get a scotch and soda anywhere, but you couldn't get a glimpse of a Playboy Bunny.

Kim: But the 750,000 Playboy Club members and 60 million magazines sold yearly wouldn't last forever. Despite their early success, all the Playboy Clubs were closed down by 1986. They had been losing money for years. The changing social and political climate shifted public perception of the clubs. Rather than being daring, they were now seen as degrading to women. And the rise of 1980s video porn was giving the print magazine competition. As magazines like Stuff and Maxim entered the market, circulation continued to decline through the '90s. Playboy also made the fatal mistake of not moving online fast enough. As the internet boomed, online searches for Playboy would literally return ads for their competitors. Playboy tried to offset its losses by licensing out its trademarked logo. Billions of dollars' worth of merchandise with the bunny logo were sold. Playboy merchandise did particularly well in Asia, especially China, despite laws prohibiting the magazine from being sold there. But it wasn't enough. The high sales numbers only returned small licensing revenue for Playboy. Hefner tried to revive his empire with a venture into reality TV. In 2005, he signed up for an E! reality show that followed his life with his then three girlfriends: Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. "The Girls Next Door" aired in over 150 countries worldwide and ran for six seasons. It made Hef and Playboy a visible part of early 2000s pop culture. Despite its decline, Playboy helped launch successful careers for the likes of Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith, while stars like Naomi Campbell and Madonna graced its cover. President Donald Trump is particularly proud of his Playboy feature. But by the time the company finally placed its full archives online, it was too late. When Hefner passed away in 2017, Playboy seemed directionless, and investors had been losing money for decades. With circulation at an all-time low and reported losses of $7 million a year, the magazine was scaled back to release only quarterly. But it isn't over for Playboy just yet. In September 2018, the Playboy Club in New York City reopened, complete with waitresses dressed as bunnies, and the magazine is rebranding to appeal to a younger generation. The 2019 summer issue featured not models or actresses, but instead, three activists. Women also now play a significant role behind the camera. It's a clear contrast to Playboy's origins, when women had very little autonomy. Whether Playboy's efforts to be more empowering can save the magazine remains to be seen. A lot has changed since Hugh Hefner started Playboy, and it's unclear whether it'll survive. But there's always the logo, and that's a billion-dollar legacy.

Join the conversation about this story »

• LGBT students are more likely than their non-LGBT peers to value a commitment to diversity and support for gender equality from their future employers, according to an analysis by employer branding specialists Universum.
• Universum runs an annual survey of trends of thousands of college students, asking new entrants to the workforce what they look for in potential employers.
• LGBT students were also more likely to look for work in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industries, and for non-government and non-profit organizations.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

October 11 is National Coming Out Day, and the next generation of LGBT students and workers are looking for employers with a commitment to diversity and a strong sense of social responsibility, according to an analysis provided to Business Insider.

Employer branding specialists Universum runs an annual survey of tens of thousands of college students, asking new entrants to the workforce what they are looking for from their future employers.

Universum provided Business Insider an exclusive analysis of which job attributes self-identified LGBT students said were important to them compared with their non-LGBT-identifying peers.

Read more: Where US business students want to work: Disney over Deloitte, Apple more than Goldman, and Google above all

About four-fifths of the self-identified LGBT sample were in Gen Z, with millennials making up most of the remaining fifth. Universum defines Gen Z as those born in 1997 and after.

Universum asked students about 40 employer and job attributes, broken into four groups of ten each: employer reputation and image, people and culture, remuneration and advancement opportunities, and job characteristics. Students are asked to list up to three attributes in each category as being most important to them in their future careers.

LGBT students were more likely to rank certain attributes as being important to them than their non-LGBT peers. Here are eight categories that had a notably higher ranking from LGBT students than non-LGBT students:

LGBT students were more than twice as likely as non-LGBT students to rate support for gender equality and commitment to diversity and inclusion as being important characteristics of their future employers. They were also more likely to value corporate social responsibility, ethical standards, and opportunities for international travel or relocation.

Universum also asked students to select up to three industries from a list of 20 that they would like to work in. LGBT students were much more likely to say they wanted to work in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry, educational and scientific institutions, and NGOs and non-profits than non-LGBT respondents:

• Read more:
• 30 high-paying jobs of the future — and the skills you'll need to get them
• The 20 wealthiest private universities and colleges in America
• From hair salons to bars, here are 30 industries dominated by millennials
• From cafeteria workers to principals, here's what everyone makes in a public school

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes and spends his $19.2 billion

• Caroline Stokes is the founder of an executive headhunting and executive coaching company and host of the "Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter" podcast.
• A first interview is a lot like a first date: A hiring manager can tell whether you're interested in being there.
• Stokes says it's key to know why you're interviewing and to be incredibly familiar with the company or product before coming in.
• Part of knowing the company means knowing the things it could work on. And be ready to show healthy disagreement — it'll assure your interviewer that you won't be toxic in disagreements.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hiring managers can sniff out whether someone is truly interested in a role or just coming in for an interview because they're trying to escape their current situation. Interviewers can also easily tell whether you've actually made the effort to learn about their company and the product or services they offer or if you're just along for the ride. Here are five ways to impress the hiring manager on your first interview.

SEE ALSO: I'm an executive headhunter and emotional intelligence expert. Here's my 3-pronged solution for making salary negotiations easier.

1. Know why you're interviewing

Interviewing for a job isn't that different from going on a blind date. If you're not excited to be there, the hiring manager (or your date) will know immediately and wonder why you bothered to show up. If you appear to be going through the motions and if you seem to be there for all the wrong reasons, the hiring manager will most likely dismiss you as a candidate the minute you walk out the door.

When the hiring manager asks why you're interested in the position, your answer can't be, "because you contacted me" or "because my friend referred me." Your answer must convey your enthusiasm — and most importantly connection — for the opportunity. Offer an authentic reason you agreed to come in for the interview by conveying curiosity about the position as well as your belief that this is an exciting career opportunity.

2. Test out the product before you go

The best way to have a dynamic, deep conversation about the company and its products or services is to give products a trial run before you show up for the interview. That might mean getting on YouTube and watching every product launch and tutorial video you can find. Before you interview, be curious about the product and the company. Seek out the company's history, the trajectory of its growth, and ways its products and services have changed over the years. This will allow you to have a collaborative conversation about the company's goals and offer suggestions on how to solve problems and make improvements.

3. Know the pain points

By doing this level of research on the company and its products, you will have a level of credibility that allows you to create a connection with the hiring manager immediately. Then use your expertise — whether it's in engineering, business operations, data analytics, growth hacking, etc. — to show the hiring manager the unique perspective you bring to the table. For instance, you can say, "This is what I can see from my perspective, and what you can do to improve," whether you are talking about ways to attract early adopters or ways to offer more targeted messaging to consumers.

4. Don’t be afraid to disagree

Hiring managers like candidates to demonstrate how they would communicate negative information. They want to make sure your disagreements won't lead to a toxic environment. You want to show that even if you have a different opinion, you can play well with others so don't be afraid to express your disagreement during the interview. One way to demonstrate your ability to disagree without drama is to show you can have a healthy discussion even when you have a differing point of view. One way to introduce this is to ask the hiring manager: "I actually have a different perspective. Would you like to hear it?" 

5. Whiteboard it

If an interviewer asks how you would solve a problem and there's a whiteboard in the room, be ready to use it. Hiring managers want to see how you think through problems and solutions, so take the opportunity to walk them through your thought process by writing the building blocks of your strategy on the whiteboard. Invite them to brainstorm with you. And don't worry about getting the answer wrong. The whole purpose is to show them how you problem-solve and invite others to participate. 

If you're uncomfortable using the whiteboard, you could bring your laptop to the interview and have a chart prepared to show them how you thought through a similar problem. You can show how you solved the problem as well as the final outcome. This can create a great dialog and powerful interview presence. 

Armed with this mindset you should have greater confidence and be seen as a candidate the company truly wants to hire.

Caroline Stokes is the founder of FORWARD, an executive headhunting and executive coaching company designed for global innovation leaders. She is the host of The Emotionally Intelligent Recruiter Podcast and author ofElephants Before Unicorns: Emotionally Intelligent HR Strategies to Save Your Company.

• Charles Schwab is the namesake founder of the financial services company that was a pioneer in low-lost cost investing.
• We spoke with Schwab about his new book "Invested," detailing turning points in his business' life, and discussed what business is like in the new no-fee trading world.
• C-Suite Insider is a collection of exclusive interviews with leaders of the world's largest companies.
• Visit BI Prime for more stories.

Charles "Chuck" Schwab has made his name synonymous with personal investing.

Schwab, 82, is the namesake founder and chairman of the financial services company that was a pioneer in bringing low-cost investing to the masses. Business Insider spoke with Schwab over the phone at the beginning of this month, on the day his firm announced it would be eliminating fees for all trades.

It was a move largely in response to no-fee upstarts like Robinhood, and competitors TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, and Fidelity followed Schwab, despite a tough reception in the market.

Schwab is overseeing more changes at his firm, as it adjusts to a low-interest-rate environment (most of its revenue comes from interest on assets). But as Schwab shows at length in his new memoir, "Invested," this is far from the most difficult time he's been through.

In our interview, we discussed turning points in his San Francisco-based business over its 48 years of operation, and ended by taking a look at where it stands today.

The following transcript excerpts have been edited for clarity.

May 1, 1975 — The day that changed everything

Richard Feloni: A day that might be the most important in this whole origin story would be May 1, 1975, when regulators abolished fixed rate commissions. What was investing like before that? 

Charles Schwab: Well, for the average Joe, it was so expensive that you became discouraged. And not only walls in terms of the pricing or the way they did things, but also the delivery of it. The delivery had to be usually through very expensive, commission-driven salespeople who had a record of not always doing things in your best interest. They led so many stories with bad outcomes, so it was sort of a jungle.

Feloni: What was your emotional reaction to discovering the news this was changing?

Schwab: I was totally excited at the fact that we had a unique position of lowering rates substantially while the major leader in the business, Merrill Lynch, raised their rates. That left a huge gap between what they were charging for their transaction capabilities and what I was doing

I was thinking about developing an incredible business for the individual investor that would be beneficial for them; lower rates and lower barriers to get in it to investing, and a whole different method of delivering investment services.

Feloni: Was Wall Street in an outrage or a panic over this change?

Schwab: Well, there was lots of consternation among Wall Street people. They thought, "Oh, my goodness, our ability to create all these wonderful research reports. Who's going to pay for it?"

The industry had been guarded for years, been protected by fixed rates — I mean, that's what you call a monopoly, or a government-sponsored monopoly. And all this came down and all hell broke loose.

Building a company in his name

Feloni: As you were building out Charles Schwab in the wake of this, did it feel like you were taking a pioneering approach at the time? Where was your head at during those early days?

Schwab: You mean how many arrows did I have in my back? There were too many.

Feloni: How did you know that this was something that was worth pursuing, then?

Schwab: I have absolute and complete empathy for the individual investor.

You can imagine the industry was like the post office — every stamp costs the same — and all of a sudden it had all this structure that was built around it. And of course it led to many, many firms going out of business or using merging to get out. I ought to show you the graph of the names and the consolidations that happened in the next 10 years. It's pretty amazing.

Feloni: When you were building out your team, what were you looking for when you were hiring someone to take over a significant amount of responsibility that you would have to pass to them?

Schwab: The number one thing to me was, well first of all they'd appear to be quite intelligent — at least measured against me, which was pretty easy. But they also had to have an interest in investing. Someone had to be thinking about the issues that investors had or were feeling at that time. 

In the early days, it was very hard for me to hire people with any kind of a résumé. We were a startup company that was flying by the seat of our pants, and we had no certainty of success in front of us. So who'd want to put their life's work in my hands, so to speak? You had to have a pioneer's kind of perspective.

Selling to Bank of America

Feloni: Bank of America approached you in late 1980, and then the deal goes through in 1983. You wrote that this was a validation for your company. How did the deal feel?

Schwab: Well, when you got the stamp of approval from probably the most recognized bank in the world, that was pretty impressive to me. I thought that would really enhance the reputation of our company and really the business of the company.

Feloni: It didn't end up as planned, of course. Looking back on it, what would you say your main lessons are from your experience under Bank of America? 

Schwab: I learned an awful lot being associated with a massive company. Big board of directors, 60-70,000 employees, a Bank of America branch on almost every corner in California.

It was sort of awesome in some respects. Imagine walking into a room with 27 people at the board, sitting with the wonderful leather bound reports there in this enormous room, and you're on the 60th floor of the Bank of America building. You're looking out the window and say, "Jesus, what happened to me?" I was the youngest guy in the room [he was 46 when the sale went through]. It was an amazing moment.

Feloni: Did that change your perspective of how you saw yourself and your own company?

Schwab: Well, fairly soon thereafter, there was disappointment at how unengaged these people were. I was the largest individual shareholder in the bank — something like one percent of the company — and so I had a keen interest in having this company run well. The majority of the board didn't have that. As I got into it deeper and deeper, I saw all the flaws.

You only got on that board if you had a lot of public prestige. That's how they selected their board members, not based upon their commitment to making the company run better.

I thought financially it'd be a great long-term win, but it turned out to be a short-term loser.

Pivotal year of 1987

Feloni: And 1987 really sticks out as a significant year for you and the firm. So first of all, you buy back Charles Schwab from Bank of America. How did you know that it was time to do that?

Schwab: There was two years of dissatisfaction and negotiations that led up to that moment in time. And I finally was so exasperated with the situation, I resigned from the Bank of America board in order to go ahead trying to organize the buyback of our company, whether it was going to be hostile or friendly or what. I didn't know. But I entered into a company that didn't fulfill the promise to me in terms of its long-term growth and they had nothing but problems. It really stunted my growth as a company because there were so many things I had to do, we needed to do, in order to build a company that would serve our clients.

Feloni: When you finally have the company back under your control and the dust settled, did you regret ever selling the company in the first place?

Schwab: No, no, no. I'm probably way too much of a positive guy. I have no regrets. I would do it again.

I just remember it as a very positive stepping stone in my development of Schwab and my personal career. I was damn lucky to get it back!

Feloni: You took the firm public after that. This was the second attempt, and the first time it failed. What was different the second time? How come it became successful?

Schwab: Well, we were four years along. We'd been owned for a while by Bank of America, so we had the credentials. We were a completely different company. We were two or three times the size and had major significant advisors, whether it was auditing firms or law firms, and a track record of enormous growth.

Feloni: And then you top it off with the market crash on October 19.

Schwab: It was a big year!

Feloni: What was going through your head as that was happening?

Schwab: Well, I knew there was a major earthquake in the business, but I'd been through a couple of those before and I knew that it wasn't going to be the end of the world. But I needed to pull all the stops out in terms of making sure that we survived this, to have ourselves in place for the next upturn. Not easy. It's emotionally just absolutely draining, and the work is hard, and it's trying to instill confidence in other people that the direction you're going is the right direction.

I think I was just lucky in many respects about my emotional makeup.

Feloni: Well after surviving that downturn, what did you take from that that allowed you to deal with future downturns or just states of panic in terms of leading your company, and assuring both your employees and your clients that things were going to be OK?

Schwab: I studied the stock market. A lot of us studied the stock market movements of the last hundred or 200 years. I had a lot of confidence based upon my sense of what was happening; what happens in panic markets and how things are created in these down moments that might go on, the severity might go on for several months as such. But human behavior goes to some extremes in terms of emotional responses.

You look at the logic of the economy, the basics of what's going on.  Know the industry you're in; know what happens over time periods, and it gives you the confidence to see your way through the maze.

Reinventing the company in 2004

Feloni: Well, I want to get back to even just this idea of your evolution as a leader as well. So in 2004, you had a rough year and you had to fire David Patrick as your CEO. You said that sometimes it takes a founder to make the hardest decisions for the company.

Schwab: For sure, absolutely. I actually wrote a letter one time on this when Microsoft was having a problem. I thought Bill Gates needed to settle this thing. He's the only guy in the world that could move that company in a different direction. In my case, only I could really make the really, really tough decisions because I needed to maintain the confidence of our remaining employees — 80% remained. It was the nadir of our company.

Feloni: So at that point, did you see that in order to keep going forward you had to essentially reinvent the company?

Schwab: Essentially, it was a reinvention. At the time I didn't quite put it that way, but looking back on it now it was a reinvention. We've moved from simply being a so-called transaction specialist to basically a full-service company. And where we had a relationship, we moved from transactions to a relationship with our customers.

In the early days, you would look at me and say it's basically a transaction or a discount company, pure and simple. Today, I hope our clients think of us in having a much more engaging relationship with us. They can have people who talk to them weekly, or they can elect to have a less engaged involvement, just do things online and never talk to anybody at Schwab. At least they have choices.

No more commissions

Feloni: As for the announcement of omitting stock ETF and options commissions, can you give me insight into what the timeline was for making this decision? When did this first come up as an idea to be discussed?

Schwab: Oh, I've been contemplating this for years.

It's a fulfillment of something I've wanted to always have. I've been a great fan of Google for many years, and the offering called "free" is a pretty incredible, liberating thing to have. We'll have a very successful business. People will come to us to do business and we'll be able to charge them for other kinds of things, but the fundamental access to equities is now free. What an amazing achievement to do that in 40 years — from fixed rates to zero.

We first really started talking about it at least 10 years ago. At least.

You'll see we've been going down ever since 40 years ago to now we're at $4.95, and hell, that's pretty darn close to zero as it is. We used to say we did transactions for tips, so why not take the tips away and just make it zero?

Feloni: After this announcement today, the stock fell around 10%. What was your reaction to that?

Schwab: I thought that was a wonderful recognition by the marketplace that we were doing something extremely important. And you can say well, it only went down 10%. I think people have the confidence we have a fundamental business that will continue to grow indefinitely and we took out the last barrier to that sense of great value here at the company.

You see the reevaluation that they put on the whole industry. I just think it was the right thing to do.

Low rates

Feloni: What about getting through this low rate environment and the challenges with that?

Schwab: It doesn't trouble me. We're at the heart of one of the greatest capitalist countries in the world, America. We have an economy that will continue growing at 2-3% per year for as far as the eye can see. A company under that umbrella of growth will continue to innovate, and create new values and new services for people, and new employment, all those things. There will be times of some downside. The optimism that I have about the future is pretty robust, and this company is simply the heart and soul of what capitalism's all about, creating wealth for people.

Feloni: And are you preparing for rates going lower?

Schwab: Maybe interest rates are going to zero [laughs], I don't think so. I don't think you're going to be able to hit zero. There's no lender alive that's going to borrow at zero, except the US government, maybe. But economies go through cycles, and there'll always be some interest rate there.

Subscription services

Feloni: Your company has been pushing a subscription service for financial planning.

Schwab: It's a way of doing it where it's not incentivized by how large your account is. We just need to give you a great fundamental service. And the more you have, the more we're going to make.

Feloni: Do you see the broader industry going in that same direction, with subscriptions?

Schwab: I don't think they can afford to. I don't think, their business models don't permit it. We have a very low cost of doing business. We're probably the lowest cost of doing business of any significant financial services company. We've run our company really with the attitude that we want to keep our costs low so that we can provide wonderful service with technology at our back.

I think one of the areas that I worry about a lot is that there are 10,000 people retiring every day. Most of them don't have adequate sums, or worry about will they have enough money for the remainder of their life. How do you manage that issue? So we'll be introducing some services that will really help people manage their limited resources through the remainder of their life by really helping them to organize their assets and their resources to do a better job of it.

SEE ALSO: Charles Schwab on Charles Schwab: The founder explains why the firm just axed commissions as broker wars reach a fever pitch

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman said his firm's rough early days taught him why every entrepreneur should be prepared to be in 'psychological pain in a way you haven't before'

• Rob Siegel, a lecturer in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and partner at XSeed Capital, details where WeWork went wrong.
• Specifically, the company lacked proper governance, which "everyone was willing to tolerate while the valuation kept rising."
• You don't have to break rules or norms to achieve massive growth, according to Siegel. 
• Here's what company leaders can learn from WeWork's example. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

WeWork has sparked many a conversation about the right way to build a business. In Rob Siegel's entrepreneurial-finance class at Stanford, students evaluate issues around governance, like the benefits and downsides to a leader's power over an organization. 

To Siegel, the most important lesson from WeWork is that of proper governance, or the system that's set up around how the business itself is controlled. This is complicated by the fact that there's no formal legal definition of what "startup" actually means and that corporate law does not yet have rules on the books about how they ought to be governed.

"WeWork doesn't appear to be fraud; it just appears to be horrific governance that everyone was willing to tolerate while the valuation kept rising," Siegel told Business Insider. 

WeWork's design and branding was unique, which allowed it to stand out among other companies that have operated in the shared-office-space segment for a long time, like Regus, which also offers office space. WeWork did a good job of hiring the right people and touted a culture where people hustled hard, then partied harder.

Is it possible to extricate the culture that was a byproduct of that governance from the growth that defined the company? In short, the answer is yes: "I do not believe, and nor have I seen, that great companies need to have horrifically toxic cultures," Siegel said.

Disproportionate growth could go hand in hand with proper governance 

There are plenty of examples of well-run companies that were able to achieve growth with good governance. Siegel doesn't buy into the belief that the only way to achieve disproportionate growth is by breaking rules and the law.

"It happens sometimes, and by the way, when there's great amounts of money to be pocketed, it creates potentially horrific incentives for people to cut corners," Siegel said. "But that doesn't have to be that way. In the end, leaders decide how they want to lead and what companies they want to build."

In order to be a great company in a crowded playing field, leaders have to make sure they practice good governance. 
This extends beyond growth in valuation: Leaders should also consider how they'll be perceived by other companies, potential hires, and their customer base. 

For example, according to how a University of Michigan professor characterizes it, WeWork serves as a cautionary tale against full executive control, such as the kind that former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann enjoyed — and before him, Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos and Travis Kalanick of Uber.

How WeWork's governance should have been organized

The principles of good governance are well known, according to Siegel, and include balanced boards and not giving undue power to one person for related party transactions. These principles "should be baked in from the beginning," he said. When individuals have super-voting rights over other shareholders, that creates a conflict with a core tenant of good governance: to provide governance as it aligns with the interests of all shareholders, and not just one party. 

"In an instance like WeWork used to have, the former CEO, with 10x+ the voting rights per share, could do whatever he wanted," Siegel said. "That's just bad hygiene."

Siegel uses the term "hygiene" to describe the idea that if corporate governance is kept clean, the company tends to look better (and smell less).

However, good hygiene might be difficult to enforce in an environment saturated with capital. If an investor isn't willing to give super-voting rights to a founder, they may "lose out on a deal" when other investors give privileges to the founder, thus losing out on the potential upside as well.

"LPs care about upside," Siegel said. "They reward upside. LPs made a lot of money in Uber and clearly there was a very toxic culture in that company under Kalanick. And yet, the LPs didn't send the money back that they made — they cashed the checks."

Good governance is easily discernible, yet the dynamic caused by the incentives of tolerating poor governance could result in a situation like WeWork. 

"In a world where the balance of power has shifted to founders and entrepreneurs, investors don't always do what might be 'right' from an operating perspective but might be 'right' from an incentives perspective," Siegel said.

Why WeWork initially got away with poor governance

The reason WeWork got away with poor governance was because it was built on a transformational idea. Companies found value in flexible business spaces that they could rent without signing long-term leases.

"The bottom line is, when you have things that are transformational, there's a hype cycle that goes with that," Siegel said. "And sometimes evaluations run ahead of the actual optics, and then, as gravity comes back, some companies will make a transformation and some companies won't."

WeWork was a transformative company, but it lacked defensibility, meaning its business model could be easily copied. Its message was appealing, but there was a low bar to entry for the field. WeWork's competitors could, and did, catch up.

"If you go to a Regus, it's more conservative, maybe a little older," Siegel said. "They've got this brand Spaces. I was in a Spaces in Sao Paulo last month, and it felt very much like a WeWork vibe."

So companies have already begun to replicate what made WeWork unique, while having proper governance in place. The question now is where WeWork can differentiate itself. 

"It's not that hard to recreate what WeWork has done," Siegel said. "What WeWork has done is the branding, the vibe, the people they hire. But there's nothing that prevents other companies from doing the exact same thing."

SEE ALSO: A top professor is already teaching WeWork in his venture-capital class. Here are 5 lessons that investors need to know.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Ray Dalio shares what he's learned from his succession plan at the world's largest hedge fund

• The fintech industry continues to grow, with the sector raising a record $39.57 billion globally in 2018, according to research conducted by data provider CB Insights and reported by Reuters.
• With the fintech market projected to be worth over $300 billion by 2023, the key question in the world of fintech is shifting from how to raise capital to how to intelligently spend it.
• Business Insider spoke with four leading fintech companies who have completed significant capital raises to understand how the founders allocate their money.
• Each leader has a distinct philosophy, but it's clear that successful fintechs find a balance by investing in technology, products, and people.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The global fintech market raised a record $39.57 billion from venture capital investors in 2018 through 1,707 deals — up 120% from the previous year — Reuters reported in January 2019 on research conducted by data provider CB Insights. 

And the fintech space is showing no signs of slowing down, with the market forecasted to be worth in excess of $300 billion by 2023, according to a Global Fintech Market report. That means the key question in the world of fintech is shifting from how to raise capital to how to intelligently spend it. 

Adam Hughes, president of Avant, an online lending company focused on personal loans for the near-prime market — in other words, "riskier borrowers"— told Business Insider that consumers are expecting banks to move with the times. 

"The 'Amazon Effect' means that consumers are now demanding better levels of service and digital banking and lending capabilities," he explained.

Business Insider spoke to four successful fintech founders about the steps they took after raising funding — several of which involved a bigger investment in tech — how they made those big decisions, and how those steps have gone on to impact their businesses.

SEE ALSO: You've raised funding for your startup — now what? 8 founders reveal the must-take financial steps

READ MORE: I've founded 9 companies and now run The Founder Institute. Here's my advice for startups figuring out how to raise and spend their funding.

Investing in fraud prevention and detection technology

Hughes oversaw an initial seed funding round of $1 million for Avant, which he raised through family and friends in 2012. The business has since brought in a further $600 million in institutional equity capital, said Hughes, including their most recent Series E round of $325 million in 2015.

"After we raised equity capital, the theme we wanted to execute on was using better data and technology [to] provide our target customers [a] much more affordable and transparent product online," said Hughes. "We saw that the 'near-prime' customer wasn't being served by the banks, and that customer segment was having to settle for sub-prime products — and our view was they really shouldn't have to based on their credit profile." 

For Avant, that meant focusing on fraud prevention and verification. Over seven years, Avant has put around 25% of equity raised into building a true risk identification and mitigation system that is over 90% automated for the customer. Avant's sister company, Amount, is the technology behind the Avant platform, and partners with large financial institutions.  

But more than simply a good customer experience, this fraud system is key to Avant's business model — and has helped it to secure major institutional investors, including General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and August Capital.

"Having confidence in a proper verification system is critical, and it is something that investors have really gotten behind," said Hughes.

Hughes and his colleagues also found that traditional banks want to buy into top-line fintech rather than simply develop it themselves — and investing in fraud prevention and detection technology has allowed Avant and Amount to stand out among the pack.

"Investing in verification has been instrumental in identifying the leading edge that banks are interested in. We can provide them a digital fraud prevention tool that they can use across their own individual products," he said.

Bringing in smart tech and smarter people

Nick Molnar was in his early twenties when he had a vision to turn an installment payments system into a millennial-friendly fintech sensation. His company Afterpay, which allows online shoppers to buy items and pay for them over four interest-free installments, has moved aggressively from a small startup in Australia into the US and UK online retail space, and currently has a market capitalization of around $8 billion, according to MarketWatch.

The cofounder and CEO said that he found that the dynamics of raising capital were "very different in the Australian market than it is in the US." Molnar and his cofounder Anthony Eisen floated on the Australian Stock Market (ASX) in 2016 — only nine months after the business launched — to gain access to capital so that they could focus on growth. 

"We were very pleased with the decision to list on the ASX, as it gave the company the financial resources needed to realize the value of the business," he explained. "And, importantly, with our public balance sheet, we were able to demonstrate the highest level of business compliance and the ability to guarantee payment settlements to our retail partners — a critical factor to our business success."

Molnar said that the top priority after listing on the stock market was managing scale, and this was achieved through investing equally in people and technology.

"We focused on attracting top talent to the company with expertise in retail, commerce, and payments technology, as well as expanding our platform capacity and accessibility to meet the consumer and retailer demand for Afterpay," he said. Afterpay has more than 500 employees globally, and since launching in the US in May of 2018, it has a staff of around 100.

Their latest investment has been in tech, as they look to be market leaders in focusing on helping their retail partners grow.  

"We invested in the Afterpay Shop Directory, a highly visual and intuitive way for shoppers to find brands and specific items to buy," said Molnar. "This directory has become a critical customer acquisition tool for our retailer partners and a strategic differentiator for the business. In July 2019, it referred nearly four million customers to US retailers — with some retailers seeing more referrals from Afterpay than the largest social media sites."

Going from zero to $8 billion in under four years has taught Molnar that keeping on top of great talent is the best way to spend their money. 

"Looking back, there is always room to improve," he said. "We continue to focus on attracting the best talent across all of the markets in which [we] operate. To date, Afterpay's best talent has come from executives and internal teams' own network, our board of director members' network, and recruiting based on Afterpay's growing brand in the US."

Zeroing in on product marketing — and steering clear of a minimum viable product

In 2014, CurrencyFair, a marketplace where money isn't exchanged across borders but stays in the country of origin, allowing customers to avoid bank conversion fees, became the first platform in the world to break the $1 billion barrier in money-matching transfers, The Irish Times reported. 

Today, the peer-to-peer lender is launching its services in the Asian market, focusing on Singapore, Hong Kong, and China. 

CEO Paul Byrne has worked for three fintech startups, and thinks that the key to scaling up after equity funding is understanding markets rather than individual customers

"My counsel for anybody launching a business is that you should spend the majority of your time and money on product marketing ... as opposed to being tech or sales led," he told Business Insider.

Byrne oversaw CurrencyFair's most recent equity raise of $22 million in December 2018, which came from institutional investors as well as the acquisition of Hong Kong-based Convoy Payments. This capital raise has seen him double down on his fintech philosophy, plowing the funds into product marketing for the move into the Asian market.

During the company's recent launch in Singapore, it conducted a series of financial wellness events, as well as a formal launch event at Raffles Hotel. This was all to help raise awareness of the product in a small and networked market. Byrne and other executives are also speaking at fintech conferences around the world to raise brand awareness. 

"You need to really understand the way customers buy, and really understand the actual scaling aspect of going from your first five or 10 customers to 150 to 200 customers, because that's really where successes gets counted," he said. "Everyone is too focused on minimum viable product. You have to understand the market need, as opposed to [what] the first few customers want. MVP is just your users determined by you, and a couple of early-stage customers doesn't necessarily translate into 'this is what the market actually will buy.'"

Going back to the basics and investing in the talent that got the company to where it is today

For Jason Brown, CEO and cofounder of the San Francisco-based smart app Tally, which helps users automate management of their financial commitments and deploys add-on services such as automated student loan management and credit score improvement, an injection of cash is a time for grounding and ensuring the fundamentals remain in tact.

"Every time Tally raises money, I give the same talk internally, comparing it to a long road trip where we need to stop for gas every once in a while in order to continue on our journey," said Brown.

From starting in 2015 with $2 million in seed capital, Tally has completed a further three funding rounds that have brought in $90 million in total, with more than half of that coming in June of 2019. Despite these large numbers, Brown recommends companies be prudent about celebrating dollars raised.

"It's definitely important to make your existing team feel appreciated and supported, but the most significant moments to celebrate are when the company is shipping product and delivering value to customers," he said. "Companies should be judicious with their money, prioritizing the things that move you toward your vision. This means going beyond providing frivolous perks, but rather finding ways to better support your team functionally and emotionally in order to grow the business."

Tally's latest round of funding has a two-year plan attached to it to invest the money back into the business. 

"We'll be investing about half of our money raised in hiring talent across the organization," said Brown. "A good part of the other half will be put into marketing so we can bring the benefits of Tally to as many people as possible."

The company is planning to double headcount in the next year, with a particular focus on scaling its engineering team. It will also be investing significantly in brand and marketing efforts, including various paid acquisition channels such as social media and national television commercials.

• Student-loan debt in the US is at an all-time high.
• The consequences of student-loan debt have a domino effect: Millennials are delaying life milestones because they can't afford them.
• Democratic presidential candidates have proposed policies to offset the cost of college.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

America is suffering from a student-loan debt crisis.

While wages have increased by 67% since 1970, according to a 2018 Student Loan Hero report, college tuition has increased at an even faster rate. Consequently, student debt has reached record levels.

It's part of the Great American Affordability Crisis. Coupled with the fallout from the recession and a high cost of living, student-loan debt has made it difficult for millennials to save and has forced them to delay milestones like getting married, buying a house, and having kids.

Democratic presidential candidates have been proposing policies to offset the cost of college. Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a $1.25 trillion plan to forgive most existing student-loan debt and provide universal free college. John Delaney, Rep. Seth Moulton, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have proposed student-debt forgiveness or subsidized college for students who go into national service.

Meanwhile, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and the entrepreneur Andrew Yang have offered proposals to reduce the cost of college and the burden of student loans.

Here are 11 facts that show just how dire student-loan debt in America is.

SEE ALSO: College is more expensive than it's ever been, and the 5 reasons why suggest it's only going to get worse

NOW READ: People are fleeing the US to keep from paying off their student loans

1. The national total student debt is now over $1.5 trillion.

The average student-loan debt per graduating student in 2018 who took out loans is $29,800, according to Student Loan Hero.

2. College tuition has more than doubled since the 1980s.

From the late 1980s to 2018, the cost of an undergraduate degree increased by 213% at public schools and 129% at private schools, adjusting for inflation, Student Loan Hero reported, citing stats from The College Board.

During that time, annual tuition rose to $9,970 from $3,190 for public schools and to $34,740 from $15,160 for private schools.

Wages, meanwhile, have increased by 67% since 1970, according to a 2018 Student Loan Hero report.

3. More than 3 million senior citizens in the US are still paying off their student loans.

Young people aren't the only ones paying off debt. More than 3 million Americans ages 60 and older owe more than $86 billion in unpaid student loans, INSIDER's Kelly McLaughlin reported, citing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data seen by CBS News.

To pay it off, they're turning to their Social Security benefits, CBS News reported.

4. As of May 2018, 101 people in the US owe at least $1 million each in student loans, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing the Education Department.

Costs for professional degrees are rising too. In 2013, only 14 people in the US owed $1 million or more each on their federal student loans, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing the Education Department. By 2018, that had increased to 101 people.

Interest rates for graduate students increased by more than 6 percentage points from 2004 to 2012, according to The Journal.

Consider Mike Meru, an orthodontist who owed $1,060,945 in student loans as of May 2018 and is expected to face a $2 million loan balance in the next two decades, The Journal said.

Meru's situation shows that, despite high salaries, becoming a doctor, a dentist, or even a lawyer isn't the path to wealth it once was.

5. Black families carry more debt than white families and are more likely to default on their loans.

Black graduates with a bachelor's degree default on their loans — meaning they do not make a payment for 270 days — at five times the rate of white graduates, a January 2018 Brookings Institution report found. They are also more likely to default than white college dropouts.

A recent Wall Street Journal report found that graduates of historically black colleges had 32% more debt than students at other colleges and that most had not paid off any debt in their first few years out of school.

Carrying student loans keeps the wealth gap between black and white families startlingly wide: A Levy Economics Institute study last year found that with student debt, young white families had 12 times as much wealth as black ones; eliminating that debt lessened that to just five times as much wealth.

6. As many as 40% of borrowers could default on their student loans by 2023.

The 2018 Brookings Institution report followed students who were paying loans up to 20 years after graduation and found that the rate at which people defaulted on their loans continued to rise 12 to 20 years after graduation.

By analyzing the rate of default 20 years after graduation for those who started college in 1995 and 2003, the report predicted that nearly 40% of borrowers could default on their loans by 2023.

7. Of people who use a bankruptcy-assistance service to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, 32% carry student-loan debt.

Of the people in that group, student-loan debt made up 49% of their total debt on average, a new LendEDU study of users of the service, called Upsolve, found.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection is used to liquidate the assets of people with limited incomes who can't pay back all or a portion of their debt. The goal is to discharge the debt.

Student-loan debt, however, is generally non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Read more:An astounding number of bankruptcies are being driven by student loan debt

8. Some US workers would even ditch vacation time for help paying their loans.

Even after graduating and landing a job, workers say they're still desperate for help paying off student loans.

Of people with student loans, 63% said they would give up paid time off in exchange for help paying off student loan debt, according to a new survey by job marketplace ZipRecruiter provided to Business Insider.

Workers said they would forgo an average of two months of vacation time in exchange for debt relief, though a staggering one-fourth of Americans would give up as much as five months PTO.

9. Student-loan debt is the reason 13% of Americans in a survey conducted last year said they decided not to have kids.

That's among those ages 20 to 45, Business Insider's Shana Lebowitz reported, citing the survey from The New York Times.

Student-loan borrowers are also delaying or refraining from buying a house, because they can't afford it.

"I don't feel comfortable taking a loan on a house while having student loans," Boone Porcher, a supply-chain consultant who owes $32,645 after five years at a public university, previously told Business Insider.

Another graduate, a water-resources engineer who graduated from a public university with roughly $25,000 in debt, told Business Insider, "I feel like buying a house is a total pipe dream at this point in my life, but I'm tightening my belt as much as possible to save for a down payment right now."

10. Some have drawn parallels between the student-debt crisis and the subprime-mortgage disaster.

The rate at which student-loan borrowers can't pay their debt looks a lot like the rate at which people could not pay their mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis.

As of 2017, default and 90-day delinquency rates for student loans hovered at 11%, according to a report by Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions. Delinquency rates during the mortgage crisis peaked at 11.5% in 2010.

The report found that those with lower debt were actually more likely to default, since those with more debt tend to have degrees that lead to higher-paying jobs. Those with less initial debt, meanwhile, likely dropped out without a degree to get a better-paying job.

That's not the only parallel between today's student-loan crisis and the financial crisis: Total US consumer debt was higher in the first quarter of this year than it was in 2008, a Marquette Associates analyst told MarketWatch last week.

11. Nearly 50% of millennials who have or had student-loan debt think college wasn't worthwhile.

In a recent INSIDER and Morning Consult survey, when asked whether it was worth attending college based on their current financial situation and their student loans, about 21% of respondents said "definitely not" and about 23% said "probably no."

Unsurprisingly, respondents who are still paying off their student-loan debt felt worse about having gone to college than millennials who had already paid off their debt.

• Job creation for public teachers have not kept up with growing student enrollment, resulting in a 307,000 shortfall in teaching jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
• The data sheds light on the ongoing teacher shortage: teaching jobs increased at the same pace as student enrollment until 2008, when 60,000 jobs were lost after the Great Recession.
• Teachers have gone on strike in recent years calling for higher wages and more funding — and new strikes may be on the horizon next week.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The student population is growing — and not enough teaching jobs are available to keep up.

A new report found that since the Great Recession of 2008, the country lost 60,000 jobs in education. Not only that, but 247,000 more teaching jobs should have been created to keep up with growing student enrollment as the population increases. 

This has resulted in a shortfall of 307,000 teaching jobs — meaning there are over 300,000 educators currently needed right now.

The data sheds light on an ongoing national teacher shortage. Back in 2008, teaching jobs increased at the same pace as student enrollment. Since the Great Recession, or after 60,000 jobs were lost, job creation in education never kept pace with the growing student enrollment.

Read more:Teachers in the US are spending $500 of their own money on school supplies like crayons and chalk, and now they're turning to a viral hashtag to ask strangers for help

Other data centers have similarly staggering estimates of the teacher shortage crisis. The independent research group Learning Policy Institute estimated a 112,000 teacher shortage in 2018.

The study uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed by the liberal think-tank Economic Policy Institute. Educator jobs include mostly K-12 public school teachers, but also administrators, guidance counselors, and paraeducator.

America's teachers say they're underpaid and overworked — and they're fighting back.

Elise Gould, senior economist at EPI and author of the report, attributed the shortfall to dwindling wages and decreased funding for public education.

Teachers are paid an average of $60,000, though the rate varies depending on which state they work or the type of school. For context, that's the average salary of a personal trainer or event planner, as Business Insider's Melanie Weir points out.

"I think that when we think about any jobs that you want to fill, I think you need to pay more to get the qualified teachers that you want," Elise Gould, senior economist at EPI and author of the report, told Business Insider. "That means dedicating more money into school budgets to make sure students are getting the teachers that they need."

But the barrier to entry for teachers is pricey, as all states require they have at least a bachelor's degree. While the cost of college soars (as does student loan debt), school teachers earn nearly 21% less on average than other professions that require a college degree. Thirty years ago, the pay gap was just 2% less. 

Many teachers work multiple jobs to make ends meet, according to the Pew Research Center. Over two dozen teacher revealed to Business Insider that they spend as much as $1,000 of their own money on school supplies that should be provided by administration.

Government public school funding has also declined: 29 states provided overall less state funding for students in 2015 than they did in 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Some states have responded to the shortage by hiring more substitute teachers, but these positions require much less training than full-time educators. Some states just require they be over 18 with a high school degree. Other schools are turning to international teachers to fill the gaps, CNN reported.

Teachers had gotten so fed up with the low wages and insufficient funding that they went on a nationwide strike in 2018, resulting in some wage growth and increased funding for individual states. Yet the gains may not be enough — talks loom of a potential strike in Chicago and Colorado as early as next week, the CBS and the Colorado Sun reported.

If you are a teacher with a story to tell, email aakhtar@businessinsider.com.

• Read more

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Public-school teachers reveal the 7 hardest things about their job

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31 teachers across the US reveal their exact salary, and how much of it goes to paying for school supplies like chalk and pencils

Teachers reveal the 7 things they wish they could tell parents — but can't

SEE ALSO: 20 photos that show much being a school teacher has changed in the last 50 years

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Slack and Flickr, says 2 beliefs have brought him the greatest success in life

• After poor public performances by some of Silicon Valley's hottest private companies, venture capitalists are decrying the traditional IPO process in favor of direct listings.
• The unconventional strategy for going public removes some of the more expensive and tedious processes associated with going public, and allows investors and employees to bypass a traditional lockup period following a public debut.
• Many VCs blamed banks for overinflating share prices ahead of an IPO to profit off the fees they collect, but VCs stand to directly benefit themselves from a direct listing because they are able to sell at the opening price.
• Direct listings are marketed to founders as a cheap, fair alternative to founders looking to make a public exit, but that is not always the case.
• Some investors told Business Insider that a direct listing would be ideal for founders that want to avoid the scrutiny of an investor roadshow that precludes a traditional IPO.
• Check out Business Insider's special series — Founder Frenemies — for more stories on Silicon Valley's changing landscape for startup funding. 

With his long hair, proclivity for walking around barefoot and reputation for partying, WeWork founder Adam Neumann could have been straight out of central casting for a fictional "tech CEO" in a movie. 

That over-the-top persona is also what made Neumann a liability for WeWork in the eyes of straight-laced, conservative IPO investors. Neumann never had the chance to meet, or spook, investors in a pre-IPO roadshow for WeWork— he was ousted from the CEO job the week the roadshow was supposed to kick off, and the IPO was subsequently shelved.

WeWork's cancelled IPO is now at the center of a broader Silicon Valley reckoning, as venture capital investors and others obsess over an IPO alternative called a "direct listing." The direct listing has been framed as a way for tech startups to list their shares without being beholden to an outdated process created by Wall Street bankers and designed to benefit their clients. 

But direct listings are still a new, relatively untested concept that may not provide the all-around salvation some expect. And while venture capital investors bash an IPO system they say is broken, their sudden zeal for direct listings is, in at least one major sense, the result of a problem they created themselves.

The "founder friendly" movement in which VC investors deferred to startup founders, no matter how quirky or extravagant, has produced a crop of richly-valued companies with unconventional executives in the top job. And as many of these companies now look to go public, they're finding that an offbeat founder CEO is not always a selling point during a roadshow.

A direct listing provides a convenient way to skip that conversation.

"When you do a direct listing, you don't have to put them up there," said one VC firm founder about inexperienced or unpolished management teams. "There's a negative side that the VCs see, but they can hide it behind the direct listings," he said.

In a direct listing, a company simply lists its shares on a public exchange and the stock begins trading. There's no banks underwriting the offering, setting a price and selling it to institutional shareholders, as happens in an IPO. And while insiders, like VC investors and early employees, can sell shares right away in a direct listing, the company itself does not raise any capital.

Lise Buyer, the founder of IPO advisory firm Class V Group, describes direct listings as an interesting alternative to IPOs that will work for certain companies but that's currently wrapped in a lot of hype: "It's the new shiny object that is aggressively and brilliantly marketed."

"Ride the positive narrative" and avoid the hedge fund questions

For now, direct listings exist more in the realm of theoretical and wishful thinking than reality. To date, only two companies — Spotify and Slack — have opted to go public this way. 

But according to a recent Bloomberg report, Airbnb, the home-sharing service valued at $31 billion, is leaning towards a direct listing instead of an IPO when it goes public in 2020.

That could help the company avoid uncomfortable questions about its management team's qualifications. Brian Chesky, the cofounder of Airbnb who serves as CEO, has a background in industrial design and has never held a high-level role at any other company. Although Chesky has grown Airbnb into a juggernaut, his public company experience, and lack of the traditional engineering or business background, would likely get a hard look during an IPO roadshow, the founder of the investing firm speculated. 

"You could make a case for companies to just ride the positive narrative and just go out there with a direct listing because you don't want to answer all these extremely scrutinizing questions from some hedge fund guys," said Synovus Trust Company portfolio manager Dan Morgan about startups with novice or quirky CEOs.

In years past, a seasoned executive might have been brought on to take the reins as the startup neared its IPO. But with founders now revered, and in some cases calling the shots thank to special supervoting shares, many of the most valuable startups are helmed by founders who may or may not have the chops to run a public company.

"A CEO/Founder with a quirky personality would be fine to do a direct listing and avoid all the scrutiny of a road show," Morgan said.

Still, he stressed, everything changes after company's first earnings call as a publicly traded organization. And in the case of WeWork, he believes that even a direct listing wouldn't have saved it from a brutal reception in the public markets: "The model was not sound as there appeared to be no roadmap to profitability."

The times have changed and IPO "needs innovation"

Of course, plenty of unorthodox founders have made it through the roadshow process and gone on to lead successful publicly-traded companies. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously caused a stir by wearing a hoodie to the pre-IPO investor roadshow. Seven years later, the stock is up 374% and Facebook is worth $514 billion.

And the two companies that have recently gone public through direct listings were not trying to hide unpolished or inexperienced CEOs from criticism. Slack founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield is one of the tech industry's most respected, serial entrepreneurs, with a track record that includes creating photo sharing site Flickr and selling it to Yahoo for $20 million in 2005.

Slack had an optimal business model and enough brand recognition to pull off a direct listing in June, said Jyoti Bansal, a startup founder and tech investor who is a big believer in the potential of direct listings.

Bansal attended a special, invite-only summit earlier this month devoted to the merits of direct listings. The event took place in San Francisco and was organized by several VC firms in the wake of the disappointing Uber and Peloton IPOs, and the WeWork implosion.

"The way the IPO is done today is almost like a 25-year-old concept. It just needs innovation" said Bansal, who is the cofounder and CEO of enterprise startup Harness and cofounder of venture firm Unusual Ventures.

"Twenty-five years ago the primary purpose of IPO was that people didn't have access to growth capital, so you had to go to public markets to get growth capital. Now, everyone has it," he said.

Class V's Buyer says the notion that direct listings are a cheaper and more democratic process than traditional IPOs is partially true. Since the company isn't raising funds, it doesn't need to work with a traditional underwriter and thus does not need to pay the associated fees. Still, she noted that a company must pay some banker fees, register with regulatory bodies like the SEC, and participate in an audit, all of which are costly undertakings.

Spotify paid $32 million in fees for its 2018 direct listing, according to Inc, compared to the $102 million that Uber paid in its traditional IPO.

No lock-up is a big benefit — for some

Clearing the path to a liquidity event is critical for VCs who have sunk tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars into startups.

Buyer also noted that direct listings — which allow employees to sell all their vested shares right away, without the traditional several month "lock up" period of an IPO — could incentivize valuable employees to cash out and jump ship.

"I don't think it helps with [employee] retention. It actually is perhaps the opposite," Buyer said of direct listings.

And for recently-hired employees with unvested stock, a direct listing can leave them at a disadvantage if the stock sinks.

In the case of both Slack and Spotify, the companies achieved peak share prices in the first weeks or months of trading, and have only lost value since. That means early investors were able to cash out at near-peak pricing while employees with unvested stock and retail investors were left holding shares that were only becoming less valuable.

"Those who sold on Day One at Slack got a better price than those that sell today," said Buyer.

SEE ALSO: This is going to be a record year for $100 million-plus startup investment deals — and it has the unexpected side effect of forcing startups to grow up way faster

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• Dan Schawbel is a bestselling author, speaker, entrepreneur, and host of the " 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel" podcast, where he interviews world-class humans by asking them just five questions in under 10 minutes.
• He recently interviewed Brian Grazer, the Hollywood film producer behind "Apollo 13" and "A Beautiful Mind," as well as the author of "Face to Face."
• Growing up dyslexic, Brian had difficulty reading but was able to learn from human conversations.
• Grazer learned that people only share their precious insights if they feel trust, interest, and safety.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Upon quitting law school after one year, Brian Grazer pursued a career as a producer focused on TV projects for Paramount Pictures in the early 80s. There, he met friend and business partner Ron Howard, embarking on one of the longest running partnerships in Hollywood history. Together, their films and TV shows have been nominated for 43 Oscars and 195 Emmys. He won the Best Picture Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind." In addition, Grazer produced hit films like "American Gangster,""Apollo 13,""The Nutty Professor,""8 Mile," and "Liar Liar." His films have generated more than $13.5 billion in worldwide theatrical, musical, and video sales. His more recent projects include TV series "Wu-Tang: An American Saga," and his new book "Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection."

In the below conversation, Brian shares how face-to-face conversations have benefitted him, how having dyslexia impacted his career, how he recovered from two poor interactions, how technology and human connection work in tandem, and his best career advice.

Dan Schawbel: How have face-to-face conversations impacted you personally and professionally?

Brian Grazer: I was acutely dyslexic in elementary school. I couldn't read at all. It was incredibly troubling, difficult, shameful and hard to read. I realized that I could learn by looking at people and if I look at them and have human conversations, I could reach their heart. I might not be able to reach them literally, but I can reach their heart and they can reach mine. I was able to learn so much that it enabled me to have all the success I have today. Every bit of the success I have today, on every movie, there's a direct relationship to that and face-to-face human connection.

Dan: Can you give an example of a poor interaction you've had and how you corrected it using the power of face-to-face conversation?

Brian: With Dr. Jonas Salk, it took me about a year for him to agree to meet. Then, when he said yes, I had so much pre-anticipatory anxiety that when I approached him, I literally barfed. Then I fainted and he came down to help me and then I became revived. Then we had a conversation and it could have ended, but he was so humane and I recovered in a way that I was able to connect to my core self and we became friends to the final end of his life. 

I had the opportunity to meet Michael Jackson. He came to my office and I asked him to please take off his famous black glove. I asked him if he could remove it, and he looked at me as though he was going to leave because he was offended by the request. I really felt like it would be impossible to connect with him if he had that affectation. He did remove it, but I wasn't sure what was going to happen. When he removed it he became an entirely different person. He was the most articulate, communicative and instruct individual on choreography, lyrics, melodies and dance. He was able to speak to all of that with such clarity and with a different voice. His voice became more elevated and just regular. 

With face-to-face communication you feel somebody's spirit. It builds trust and with trust, people share valuable insights they wouldn't share ordinarily. People only share the precious insights that they contain if they feel deep trust, interest, and safety.

Dan: I always say use technology as a bridge to human connection instead of letting it be a barrier between you and the relationships you seek. How can we use technology to create more human relationships?

Brian: You use technology to create more human relationships by searching and accessing who is interesting to you, what is interesting to you, what subject might be interesting to you, and who defines that subject. Use it for all of the information that will lead you to a human connection. You first want to know who you want to meet and why, and then once you know who you want to meet and why, you want to be an excellent communicator with them so that they feel like they're getting something out of it as well. All of that is available because of technology. It absolutely augments and enriches human connection. But, if you're using it all the time when you're around people or in elevators or walking the streets in New York, you're human connections will be eliminated. They work together in tandem.

Dan: What are some of the biggest lessons you learned early in your career that were useful later?

Brian: To be an active listener and have smart, alive, and energetic eyes. I learned to come to the table with at least three valuable assets that I could offer that person. I come to the table always with a subject that could be interesting to them. You want to come to the table with something that is valuable that's enriching their life, not just your life. I come to every conversation with a little piece of paper that has three subjects, insights, facts or news events that night that are not easily found. I come with three pieces of information, or ideas, that can benefit someone else's life.

Dan: What is your best piece of career advice?

Brian: When you are faced with a big decision like buying a house, taking a job or quitting a job, always do what's inevitable. Do you think it's inevitable you can afford the house? If the answer is yes, then buy the house. Try to imagine what's inevitable to you. It is inevitable that you will stay at this job for five years? Do you like it enough? Is it enriching you enough either financially or educationally? If the answer is yes, then don't quit. If the answer is no, then quit. 

Subscribe to the "5 Questions with Dan Schawbel" podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Overcast, or others.

SEE ALSO: Former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth shares the best early career lessons that changed the trajectory of her life

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• Before getting their commercial driver's license, long-haul truck drivers must pass the CDL exam.
• The CDL exam varies from state to state, but certain questions on safety, driving an 80-foot vehicle, and sharing the road with others are the same.
• Here are 15 questions from a sample CDL exam. You need a score of 80% to pass. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Not just anyone can control a vehicle that can be up to 80,000 pounds.

Before long-haul truckers can start working, they need a commercial driver's license. One requirement for that is passing the CDL exam.

There are several classes of the license, including A, B, and C. Class A, the most common, allows the holder to drive a truck and a trailer weighing more than 26,001 pounds. You can also get a variety of endorsements to transport hazardous materials or double or triple trailers.

The exam varies from state to state, but certain questions on safety and sharing the road with others are the same.

Here are 15 questions from a sample CDL exam, provided from Driving-Tests.org's database of previous exams. You need a score of 80% (12/15 questions correct) to pass.

SEE ALSO: Truck driver salary varies by almost $20,000 across the US — here's where truckers make the most, ranked by state

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Meet the 2019 class of Wall Street's rising stars.

From starting a hedge fund before age 30 to running their own alternative-data shops and helping lead $27 billion investments, this group of young finance leaders is in a league of its own.

It was harder than ever this year to select just 25 people. We received hundreds of entries from bosses, colleagues, recruiters, and others working in the finance industry.

Our selection criteria: We asked that nominees be 35 or under, based in the US, and stand out from their peers. Editors made the final decisions.

We've included people with a variety of roles and experiences from companies including Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and the New York Stock Exchange.

Here's our list of the next crop of Wall Street leaders.

Additional reporting by Alex Morell, Bradley Saacks, and Dakin Campbell.

Adam Parker, 34, Center Lake Capital

Adam Parker has been focused on running his own hedge fund as long as he can remember. It's why he worked to get into the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, why he chose to join a relatively unknown hedge fund out of school instead of what was then one of the biggest investment banks in the world, and why he's already running $350 million at his own fund before the age of 35.

"People should do what they're passionate about," he said. 

His fund, Center Lake Capital, started with $30 million five years ago, but his strategy of making concentrated bets in under-the-radar software companies has attracted more capital. The firm just outgrew its shared offices in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City and is moving to its own space near Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, he said.

He started investing in college after he sold a GrubHub-like company he and a couple friends started. From there, he interned at the Lehman Brothers real-estate group in summer 2007 and was choosing between returning for a full-time position or joining the now shuttered Force Capital. He chose Force. 

"At the time, my parents didn't think it was the smartest thing, but that's what I wanted to do," he said.

After working as an analyst, he eventually interviewed with billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, and worked for Duquesne Capital until Druckenmiller closed the fund. He then went to PointState Capital, which was started by Duquesne veterans, and became a portfolio manager after just a year, running $150 million to start out.

Center Lake launched in 2014 with multiyear commitments from a few critical investors, Parker said. Now he believes the firm has differentiated itself because of the concentrated investments and specific focus within the tech world. 

"You have to be focused, because everything is a tech company now," he said. 

He foresees the fund getting bigger, even "multiples bigger, but not five multiples."

"We don't want to be a multibillion fund." 

Evan Feinberg, 32, Tiger Global

After growing up in central New Jersey, Feinberg started at the University of Pennsylvania with plans to be a lawyer and had no idea what investment banking even was. It took only a year for him to transfer into the Wharton business program, and the rest is history.

Feinberg worked at Morgan Stanley during the summer of the financial crisis and joined Silver Lake Capital, a private-equity firm in New York, after he graduated. There, he discovered how much he enjoyed working with early-stage companies. He joined Tiger Global six years ago as the hedge fund run by the billionaire Chase Coleman decided to expand more into the private markets. 

In that time, Feinberg estimates he has been a part of 40 to 50 different investments Tiger Global's private-investing team has made, including co-leading the firm's investments in the Brazilian financial-technology unicorn Nubank and the buzzy workout company Peloton. Both the investments were made earlier on in the companies' histories — series B for Nubank and series A for Peloton — a fact Feinberg is proud of.

Feinberg says he has been able to spend a lot of time around successful entrepreneurs and CEOs in his career — and has been able to nail down some traits that he believes lend themselves to future success.

He's looking for founders that are inspirational but also grounded, so they don't let their vision get the best of them, while also being able to get employees and investors to buy into the potential of the company. 

Jennifer Lee, 31, Edison Partners

Jennifer Lee is a vice president at the growth-equity firm Edison Partners with a focus on fintech investments. Despite being so early in her career, Lee, who joined in 2016, has already co-led several investments for the firm. 

This year alone, Lee co-led a $100 million series C round in the mobile bank MoneyLion in July and a $62 series B in the alternative-investment platform YieldStreet in February. She also serves as a board observer in both firms.

Lee brings a unique perspective to the growth-equity investing world. She previously served as the first sales executive for ForgeRock, an enterprise software company that launched in the wake of Sun Microsystems' acquisition by Oracle. Lee guided the company through series A, B, and C rounds that led to $52 million in funding. 

She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor's degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University. 

Ashley Serrao, 33, Tradeweb

It has been rough sledding for many private companies looking to make the jump into the public markets. However, for all those that have failed in their public debuts — or struggled to even get there — Tradeweb represents a success story.

That's thanks in large part to Ashley Serrao, who is head of US corporate development and investor relations for the electronic marketplace and played a critical role in the listing. Tradeweb popped 27% during its April initial public offering, helping the company raise more than $1 billion.

Serrao first joined Tradeweb in 2017 to work in corporate development after nearly a decade at Credit Suisse as an analyst. Initially interested in a career in equity research, Serrao developed a passion for strategy, dealmaking, and working with investors. 

Serrao graduated from Bates College with a bachelor's degree in economics.

Justin Zhen, 31, Thinknum

When joining the quantitative shop Strategic Investment Fund right out of college, Justin Zhen had big plans for how data could be used to help make investment decisions. However, it didn't take long to recognize there were some major gaps in the way firms were having to sort through unique datasets they found online.

Zhen left the fund in June 2013 and worked with Gregory Ugwi to take Thinknum live in April 2014, hoping to build one central copy of the web's data that would be more accessible to investors looking to use the information.

Fast forward five years, and alternative data has exploded, with some industry experts predicting the market will reach $7 billion in 2020. And while other startups in the space have faced tough times because of increased competition, Thinknum managed to raise $12 million in a series A round that involved ex-Visa CEO Joe Saunders. 

A Princeton graduate, Zhen holds a bachelor's degree in financial engineering. 

Ivan Brown, 33, NYSE Group

Ivan Brown is a NYSE lifer, having joined the exchange group immediately after graduating from New York University's Stern School of Business, where he was valedictorian. 

After starting as a business analyst working across the company, he soon jumped on the options team and has helped to essentially build the business from the ground up. For Brown, it represented a chance to immediately have an influence in an area of the market the NYSE was looking to grow. 

Brown would continue to climb the ranks, eventually being named head of options in April 2016. He wasted no time building up the NYSE's options markets, NYSE American and NYSE Arca, growing market share from 14.9% in the beginning of 2017 to 19.2% in earlier this year. 

A major focus of Brown and his team will be preparing for the transition of the options markets onto NYSE's new trading-technology platform, Pillar. 

Lucy Dobrin, 31, Providence Equity Partners

Lucy Dobrin is a vice president at Providence Equity, where she is responsible for a variety of technology and advertising investments. 

This has included the acquisition of the ad-tech company DoubleVerify, an investment in the data company EdgeConneX, and the acquisition and subsequent sale of Learfield, a sports-marketing company. 

Dobrin joined Providence in 2011 after working as an analyst in the financial-sponsors group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Dobrin points to several mentors who have provided her with guidance and trusted her with job responsibilities that she says have been critical to her professional growth: Harold Varah, who she worked under at Bank of America, as well as Providence Equity executives Davis Noell and Chris Ragona. 

Dobrin is a director on the boards of DoubleVerify and EdgeConneX. 

Thomas Sozzi, 29, Citadel Securities

As Citadel Securities looks to make a bigger push into acquiring more Wall Street clients, Thomas Sozzi will play an important role.

Sozzi is vice president of institutional equities at the Chicago-based market maker, leading the business development of Citadel Securities' equity and exchange-traded-fund (ETF) businesses for over 200 clients, including hedge funds, asset managers, and banks. 

Sozzi joined Citadel Securities after spending just over four years at JPMorgan, where he started as an analyst on the equity-derivatives desk and eventually spent time in institutional sales in the complex products for a variety of strategies. 

A graduate of the University of Chicago, Sozzi played on the football team and earned a bachelor's degree in economics. He has returned to school and is working on obtaining his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business while continuing to work at Citadel. 

Matthew Alfieri, 33, Centana Growth Partners

Matthew Alfieri blazed his own path to make his way on Wall Street. At the State University of New York at Albany, Alfieri cofounded the university's first student-managed investment fund. Despite not attending a school traditionally targeted by Wall Street's top firms, Alfieri was still able to nab a full-time position at Goldman Sachs as an investment-banking analyst upon graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

Alfieri spent nearly a decade at the bank, eventually serving as vice president at Goldman's principal-strategic-investments group, which makes strategic long-term investments in technology companies. While with the group, he led eight investments for the group and served on the board of directors of six companies.

In 2017, he moved across the aisle and landed at the growth-equity firm Centana Growth Partners, where he serves as a vice president with a focus on fintech investments and works with two of the firm's portfolio companies, Quantitative Brokers and Alaia Capital.

Peter Yongvanich, 33, UBS

The seed of Peter Yongvanich's fascination with markets was planted in childhood, when his father, a stock-market enthusiast, would send him to the store to buy him copies of Barron's. Flash forward a couple decades, and Yongvanich is running an entire stock-derivatives sales team at UBS and the youngest managing director in global equities at the firm. 

After studying engineering at Cornell University, Yongvanich started out right away with UBS in the Stamford, Connecticut, office in 2007 providing derivatives solutions to North American hedge funds, asset managers, and other financial institutions. Rather than focusing on maximizing any single trade, Yongvanich's strategy hinged on accruing sticky long-term relationships that would pay dividends over the long haul. 

It's paid off, as he's been a perennial top producer on his team. Early on, he helped boost tier-two US clients into top clients, and he had the foresight to raise his hand and shepherd an initiative to boost coverage of Canadian pension funds and asset managers, which proved lucrative for the firm.

More recently, he's led efforts to provide more bespoke, exotic derivatives and become one of the firm's specialists in executing complex transactions for investors. He's now the head of US institutional-equity-derivatives sales. 

Amanda Deckelman, 32, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Amanda Deckelman, a standout sales professional in Bank of America Merrill Lynch's fixed-income division, is a lifer at the firm, interning at Merrill while she was an undergrad at Notre Dame and then joining in 2008 as a first-year analyst in repo and short-term rates trading. 

That means she had a front-row seat as Wall Street, and the broader global economy, crumbled amid the financial crisis. Deckelman didn't just survive the chaos — including Bank of America's takeover of Merrill and the culling of thousands of jobs — she seized the opportunity and vaulted her career forward, working long hours trading the firm's debt book as a junior staffer amid the fallout. 

Her efforts gave her not only valuable experience, including an appreciation for liquidity and how quickly it can evaporate, but they also impressed superiors and set her up for greater responsibility. In 2012, she transferred to Chicago and moved over to the sales side on the same desk, quickly becoming one of the top revenue generators. Now a director running the repo-sales team and managing key relationships, she's the No. 1 producer in short-rates sales and a top-10 producer across fixed-income, currencies, and commodities sales. 

Wilson Handler, 34, Apollo Global Management

Wilson Handler is a principal at Apollo Global Management, and his nine years of deal experience with the private-equity behemoth has placed him on the boards of a handful of companies within his area of focus: the energy sector. 

Handler joined Apollo in 2011 and hit the ground running, immediately working on what would be his biggest deal during his time there. 

Apollo had just made a splashy hire from Riverstone, bringing on board Greg Beard to head up a fund dedicated to energy investing, and Beard hired Handler to be his associate. 

The first deal they worked on together was the backing of Athlon Energy, a fund that would acquire oil and natural-gas properties in the US. 

Apollo invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Athlon before selling it in 2014 for a huge profit to the Calgary, Alberta-based Encana Corp.

Handler said it remained the biggest deal he's ever worked on and set the groundwork for a nine-year working relationship with Beard, who led Apollo's natural-resources private-equity business until recently. 

Handler's background suits him well for any kind of transition period. He started off as an investment-banking analyst at Lehman Brothers in 2007 and worked there until its bankruptcy in 2009. The experience taught him to take things in stride. 

"When things are good, they are good but probably won't last forever," he said.  

Handler serves on the boards of Jupiter Resources Inc., CSV Midstream Solutions, American Petroleum Partners and EP Energy. 

Benjamin Pike, 35, Ares Management

Benjamin Pike is a principal at Ares Management and a key player behind the private-equity firm's push to profit from combating climate change.

Ares, which is raising money for a fund to support infrastructure projects that cut greenhouse-gas emissions and promote better use of natural resources, is relying on Pike to travel to places like Alaska to scope out investment opportunities. 

"I'm chasing things like electrical-vehicle charging, energy efficiency, and waste to fuel," Pike said.

One company Ares is eyeing, he said, takes the waste from oil, fat, and grease from food chains and turns it into diesel fuel that is better for the environment.

"There is a real dearth of folks who are doing this, which is why there is an opportunity," Pike said of his specialty, which he has honed ever since he was an analyst at Merrill Lynch in its energy and power investment-banking division in 2007. 

Pike spent almost two years at Merrill before joining Energy Investors Funds, a private-equity firm focused on energy and infrastructure investments. In 2015, Ares bought the firm, giving Pike an opportunity to bring his specialty to a larger platform. He hasn't let it go to waste. 

Talk to Pike, and he will give you the skinny on anything from how Alaskans pay way too much in taxes for their utilities to how there's too much pollution from oil and gas producers who burn gas into the sky. "You fly into North Dakota, and it looks like people have lit candles," he said. 

Pike thinks private equity can offer a solution by financing promising projects that help the environment. 

Sachin Bavishi, 35, Blackstone Group

Sachin Bavishi is a principal in Blackstone's private-equity group, where he focuses on new investment opportunities in technology, media, and telecom (TMT). 

This year, he was part of the deal team that put together the massive $27 billion merger between the data company Refinitiv and the London Stock Exchange this summer.

Bavishi joined Blackstone in 2013 from Wharton after spending two years at the private-equity firm Olympus Partners as an associate. 

While Bavishi works closely with Blackstone's other TMT dealmakers, one deal he was responsible for sourcing himself was the firm's acquisition of Vungle, the mobile-advertising company. 

Bavishi's childhood was split between the US and India. He grew up in Wisconsin until he was 11 years old and then moved to India with his family. It was the mid-1990s and a turbulent period for the country, marked by bombings and economic reform.

"I had to adapt to that environment," Bavishi said. "I didn't speak the language."

The ability to adapt is something Bavishi has kept with him throughout his career.

Sometimes, though, he's found it's worth it to be stubborn.

After working as an electrical engineer in college, he decided it wasn't for him and wanted to explore a career in finance. At the time, his university's career-services center was for business-school students only. 

"I showed up every day asking them to make an exception," Bavishi said. "I think they got tired of me showing up. I guess that paid off." 

The investment bank Piper Jaffray was the only firm that made a bet on him. He started there in summer 2007 as an analyst, beginning what would become a promising career in finance. 

Chloe Duanshi, 29, Rockefeller Capital Management

At Rockefeller Capital Management, Chloe Duanshi, the firm's head of quantitative research, pulls from her math and engineering backgrounds — as well as her love of fiction — to help clients understand their portfolios. 

Her role, simplified, is "to paint a picture of the considerations clients need to take into account" across asset classes and construct an all-weather portfolio.

"Every portfolio I build is a story about the investor," Duanshi said, since portfolios are tailored to investors' risk preferences and other considerations. A colleague praised her knowledge of every asset class. 

Because investors of all stripes have behavioral biases, "having a blueprint for the portfolio introduces discipline. Quantitative methods make this more tangible," she said. 

Duanshi, who is trilingual, joined the fast-growing firm in March after five years at Morgan Stanley and three at BNP Paribas before that.

Samantha Tortora, 32, BlackRock

After a March promotion to head of BlackRock investor relations, Samantha Tortora may be the youngest in her role across Fortune 500 companies.

She's had a quick rise at BlackRock, where she started as a summer intern. After finishing her applied-math degree at Columbia, she joined full time as an analyst in scientific active equities.

After 18 months, she started looking for a more entrepreneurial role and became the first employee on the investor-relations team. She now leads the group, which has grown to about six people, and takes pride in overseeing BlackRock's investor day, seen as a model for other companies.

And if leading investor relations for the largest asset manager wasn't enough, Tortora launched a corporate-sustainability program to engage with a wide group of stakeholders to advance sustainability at BlackRock. 

Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle, 28, Harlem Capital Partners

Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle built résumés that could have landed them at the finance jobs of their choice after graduating from Harvard Business School. They chose to go the entrepreneurial route instead, turning their experience in angel investing into a formal venture-capital shop, Harlem Capital Partners. 

Pierre-Jacques, a Northwestern University alumnus who started two businesses while in college, started off in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, while Tingle, a Wharton grad, did investment banking at Barclays. The duo worked in private equity at ICV Partners before business school.

ICV, a black-owned firm, proved a formative experience for the pair, in which they learned about the business from the front through back office. 

"Given the firm was minority-owned, I saw myself in the team," Tingle said. "The benefit of being at a middle-market private-equity firm was that we got access to everything. We were doing initial diligence on deals, we presented to the investment committee, and we met with CEOs and CFOs of companies one-on-one." 

They started HCP in 2015 to do angel investing and formalized the business with a fundraise. They're hoping to invest in 1,000 diverse founders over 20 years across industries. HCP focuses on women and minority entrepreneurs, demographics that Pierre-Jacques said receive only 3% of venture-capital funding. It's a big market, and they're not shy about being ambitious. The pair plans to invest in about 30 companies out of its first fund, with seven deals done so far. 

"We want to raise $1 billion in the next 10 years to tackle this mission," Pierre-Jacques said. 

They're not going it alone. Based on a connection from one of HCP's investors, the private-equity giant TPG said in June it would invest in Harlem Capital and Fund I. The firm also partners with KKR, First Round Capital's Dorm Room Fund, and the Consumer Technology Association.

David Haber, 32, Goldman Sachs

David Haber grew up a long way from Wall Street — and Silicon Valley, for that matter. The vice president in Goldman Sachs' corporate-strategy department was raised in Chula Vista, California, 10 minutes from the Mexican border. He was entrepreneurial as far back as high school, selling tacos at his public high school's football games, among other ventures, to make a couple extra bucks for gas money. 

At Harvard, Haber made friends with people who would go on to work at Airbnb, Facebook, and throughout the venture industry. And after several years post-graduation working with Rory Riggs, the serial entrepreneur and founder of Royalty Pharma, he took a job at Spark Capital, a Boston-based venture firm focused on media and consumer-internet startups. While there, Haber helped source and seed an early investment in Plaid, now one of Silicon Valley's hottest startups.

Eager to try his hand at his own company, Haber left Spark in 2013 to found Bond Street, a startup focused on small-business lending. The next year, Haber met Omer Ismail, a Goldman managing director then exploring a foray into digital banking. In October 2017, Haber sold Bond Street to Goldman for an undisclosed sum.

At Goldman, Haber took a role in strategy for its fledgling online bank, Marcus, and used the perch to meet for brainstorming sessions with senior execs. One of those was Stephanie Cohen, who was recently tapped by CEO David Solomon as head of strategy. Cohen asked Haber to make more than 50 Silicon Valley introductions as she put together her plan for Launch With GS, the bank's commitment to invest $500 million in women-led startups and investment managers. Haber later moved from the Marcus strategy team to Cohen's firmwide strategy team.

During his time at Goldman, Haber has deepened the bank's connections to the startup and venture communities — helping source an investment in the Argentinian banking app Uala— and explored how the investment bank could best deploy tech for its strategic advantage.

Jonathan Bailey, 34, Neuberger Berman

When Jonathan Bailey joined the $333 billion investment-management firm Neuberger Berman two years ago as the first head of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), some of his colleagues were skeptical about his role, which centers on integrating ESG factors across asset classes. 

One team said ESG didn't apply to their strategy. Fast forward two years, and Bailey has won them over — the group now integrates ESG into stock-buying decisions and "has come on a journey of understanding what this means and how it can help them improve that performance," Bailey said. 

So far, Bailey has built a team of seven to work specifically on ESG, and the firm now has about 140 employees globally that sit on various ESG groups. He has integrated ESG into asset classes that hadn't traditionally considered the factors, such as fixed income, and continues to build out new strategies. That work has helped win multibillion-dollar mandates "that we would not have won three years ago." 

Because ESG is still an emerging area of finance, there are few traditional career paths to Bailey's seat. His own trajectory started with a history degree from Oxford, followed by two years of consulting with McKinsey, where he modeled climate change for major companies. 

Then his career took a turn: He went to work for the president of Rwanda for a year, focusing on economic-development issues. After that, he went to Harvard for an MBA and master's in public policy. Next was two years at Al Gore's Generation Investment Management, then back to McKinsey and an affiliated nonprofit before joining Neuberger Berman.

Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, 33, MacKay Shields

The recession taught Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo about the importance of prudent financial management up close. 

One of the few industry jobs the economics major could find during the downturn was working the call center at Vanguard. The finance giant needed Spanish speakers to assist 401(k) clients, so she helped investors facing economic difficulties decide how they could make hardship withdrawals and other choices.

"It was a scary time and a very humbling experience," she said. 

Wilson-Elizondo then completed an 18-month rotational program, where she realized she wanted to work in the markets directly, rather than evaluating external managers. She joined the growing index desk, then went to the money-markets group. At Vanguard, she also learned how to code, a skill she uses in her current job to work on an ETF risk-management system. 

Coding "is something that helps distinguish me from everyone else because not a lot of people know how to put the tech with the portfolio management together," she said. 

Family took her to New York, where, in 2015, she joined MacKay Shields, a division of New York Life Investments. There, she is the firm's youngest portfolio manager and oversees approximately $7 billion for a global client base. In addition to her work on the active side, she helped launch the global fixed-income team's ETF business, which she manages.

Wilson-Elizondo and her team have overseen the creation of several strategies for Mackay, such as a high-yield ETF, an ESG corporate-bond portfolio, and a suite of enhanced products. 

Outside work, she's training for her second marathon — running provides her best ideas — and enjoys gardening and travel.

Becky Baker, 28, Fidelity

Covering consumer stocks like McDonald's was the luck of the draw for Becky Baker, who started at Fidelity after an undergraduate internship. Sectors are randomly assigned, but she couldn't be happier with consumer — or have performed much better.

"It's hard for me to imagine a group I could be more passionate about than the stocks that I own," she said.

Now an analyst and portfolio manager running the $560 million Fidelity Select Leisure Portfolio, her fund climbed 17% over the past year, putting it in the top 1% of funds in its Morningstar category. Baker makes bets on companies like McDonald's, which she reaped the benefits of overweighting, basing her thesis on how the company would climb from initiatives like mobile ordering and menu upgrades.

Baker can see firsthand how companies are implementing technology as a consumer herself. Last year, during a work trip to China for Starbucks' investor day, she visited multiple stores on the ground. 

"I went to buy a coffee, and they had to go back to the store and open a drawer and get a credit card reader out bc nobody had paid by credit card that day," she said. "That showed me how fast China is moving on technology."

The former collegiate runner has hung up her competitive racing shoes but still enjoys running for fun, including the Boston Marathon a few years ago. 

Gal Krubiner, 31, Pagaya

Gal Krubiner is accustomed to having hundreds of direct reports. 

The young entrepreneur leads teams in New York and Israel. But well before he cofounded the artificial-intelligence-focused Pagaya, teenage Krubiner had 700 kids reporting to him and his partners as a scouting leader in Israel. From that experience, as well as competitively flying radio-controlled helicopters, he fell in love with leadership, discipline, and "the ability to have big dreams and execute them."

Finance attracted him not long after his scouting days, when he started buying bonds, largely of Israeli companies, in his early 20s to learn more about markets on his own. Krubiner went on to study economics and statistics and then worked in London, where he learned about electronic trading before moving to Zurich and advising wealthy families and institutions.  

Read more:Investing startup Pagaya just raised $100 million in a bet that technology can reshape the consumer credit markets

Krubiner wanted to correct what he viewed as asymmetric information between the buy side and the sell side, with the latter sometimes having the upper hand. The best way to attack that problem was to "build the right machine that knows to spot good investments," so Pagaya was created.

Now the firm, led by Krubiner as CEO, uses artificial intelligence to evaluate and buy individual loans in the US, a departure from the traditional process of pooling debt and then selling it. Pagaya has issued $515 million of asset-backed securities, investing on behalf of pension funds, insurance companies, and banks. The company plans to enter other types of lending, including auto loans and corporate credit, and eventually a real-estate fund.

Sam Powell, 32, Gamut Capital

Sam Powell is a principal at Gamut Capital Management, a fund launched by two former Apollo Global Management executives in 2015. 

The firm has raised $1 billion and is busy putting all that money to work, this year buying a US iron-casting business from American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. for $245 million. 

A big part of Powell's role is expanding its technology-investment practice. So far, he has been assessing data centers and telecom companies, among other businesses, as possible investments.

"We have a whole list of companies on our watch list," Powell said. 

Powell started at the firm in January after spending four and a half years at Silver Lake, departing the company as a principal. Silver Lake, known for its technology investing, provided Powell with some useful expertise to support Gamut. While there, he helped managed companies like Red Ventures, a Charlotte, North Carolina, digital-marketing company Silver Lake co-owned alongside General Atlantic. 

"I'm trying to bring my technology experience at Silver Lake and employ it here at Gamut, but from a different perspective," Powell said, adding that Gamut is focused on value investing more so than growth investing. 

Powell is a graduate of Princeton University and a member of the Economic Club of New York, as well as the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle. 

Seema Amble, 32, Andreessen Horowitz

Seema Amble would be forgiven for not becoming a doctor. Both of her parents, born in India, counted themselves as such, and there wasn't a lot of finance talk at home. But Amble was largely interested in government and politics throughout high school and into college at Harvard, and that soon morphed into a fascination with financial technology. 

At Harvard, she began to recognize the global nature of economics, studying trade flows, global migration patterns, and development, and her curiosity was piqued. She joined Blackstone's financial-institutions group after graduation, back when the private-equity firm had an advisory arm. (She also interned at Goldman Sachs during her sophomore year at Harvard.)

After two years at Blackstone, she jumped to Altamont Capital Partners, a middle-market private-equity shop, to get more operational experience. In her time between jobs, she worked at a venture fund in India. While at Altamont, Amble was approached to help build an insurance business in Ghana. It was a perfect fit — she wrote her college thesis on how families in South Africa were able to smooth their income, a practice akin to insurance. 

In 2013, Amble returned to the states to sign up at Harvard Business School. By the time she left in 2017, Amble had also gotten her law degree. Despite the added workload, Amble was named a prestigious Baker Scholar, the highest academic award given by the school. She also spent time working for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

From Harvard, Amble joined Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, the firm's growth-equity team, out of San Francisco. One of her tasks for Goldman was to lead their activities in Latin America, where she saw tremendous opportunities for the democratizing force of financial services. In August, Amble joined Andreessen Horowitz as a partner to focus on fintech.

"Life is long, and you put together interesting experiences that make you a smarter, more well-rounded person," she said, explaining her career progression.

• An outside director, or independent board member, is considered the neutral party on a startup board. They typically have no major investment unlike a venture capitalist who represents their firm.
• This individual can be a confidant for a founding chief executive because they often bring operating experience to the table.
• Outside directors are in high demand as founders and investors jostle for control in the aftermath of WeWork's IPO disaster.
• Check out Business Insider's special series — Founder Frenemies — for more stories on Silicon Valley's changing landscape for startup funding. 

The adage goes: It's a board's job to hire and fire the chief executive.

That's a gross exaggeration. But in the hyper-competitive world of tech startups, the cold truth behind the saying helps explain the rising profile — and the demand for — a special "outside" member of the board who can bring clout and credibility during difficult periods of infighting and fractious management shake-ups. 

Often referred to as an independent board member, the outside director is a person who sits on a startup's board and has voting rights but is typically not an investor in the company. They don't have a financial stake, which makes them more objective than the venture capital partners looking for a return on their investment.

And in the wake of brutal board battles at Uber and WeWork, in which company founders were ousted from the CEO job, there's a growing appreciation on all sides for the role that impartial independent directors can play.

Outside directors "don't have millions of dollars riding on the outcome," said Mark Suster, a two-time entrepreneur and general partner at Upfront Ventures in Los Angeles. "They are truly more independent of (any) decision."

Andy Ruben, whose company Yerdle helps retailers like Patagonia sell used goods, is currently conducting interviews in his search for an outside director, his board's third.

The ideal candidate brings operating experience as a chief executive or operating officer at a retailer that Yerdle sees as a potential partner, who can provide the "voice of the customer."

"You're baking a cake, and you're putting in the right ingredients," is how Ruben puts it.

There are no rules for startups

Rules laid down by the stock exchanges require public companies to supply their boards with a majority of independent directors, but there are no such prescriptions for privately-held firms. That's made the process more haphazard for privately held startups, which typically bring on outside directors at various milestones, like raising new funding or preparing to go public.

On average, companies add three outside directors before going public, and as many as 40% of startups add their first outside director more than three years before an IPO, according to research by Brian Tayan, a researcher at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

Read more:WeWork's had a terrible month, and now CEO Adam Neumann is stepping down — here's everything that has happened since the embattled company filed to go public

Most often, founding chief executives recruit an outside director to the board who provides industry experience, said Tayan, who has surveyed dozens of entrepreneurs on their corporate governance. They're also looking for a management background, prior governance experience, or knowledge of banking and accounting.

Those individuals aren't too hard to find. Silicon Valley has a surplus of people with domain expertise and a supercharged network, said Niko Bonatsos, managing director of venture firm General Catalyst.

"Why wouldn't you utilize this eclectic bench of individuals to help the founders level up like an avatar in a video game?" he said.

Asana and Gusto, both late-stage startups that make tools for businesses, tapped seasoned operator Anne Raimondi to join their boards as an outside director earlier this year. She is a expert on executive compensation — something that public companies must disclose — having led operations at Zendesk before it went public in 2014. Her work at Asana and Gusto focuses on this strategy.

"As an operator, you're in the weeds. You're so close to the business," Raimondi said. Her job is to help them see around corners.

"Sometimes that help can be very threatening"

The outside director may also bring experience as a founder or chief executive. That's not always true of an investor on the board.

Mimi Chan, whose startup Littlefund lets people send money that's earmarked for savings instead of material gifts to the children in their lives, recalls an investor telling her she needed to take a closer look at what a competitor was doing. It shook her confidence.

She turned to an adviser who she considers an outside director, though her company is so young it doesn't have a board yet.

"Other venture capitalists, many of them, have not been in the founder's shoes," Chan said. "It's nice to have someone that maybe doesn't have all the answers but can at least relate to you."

Investors said they often see founders run to the outside director with problems. They may fear that a venture capitalist on the board will influence their ability to raise the next round of funding. The worst case scenario includes their removal from the company.

"When a company is not performing well, the instinct of all board members is to try to help," said Rob Chandra, an early-stage investor at Avid Park Ventures who teaches a class on entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. "Sometimes that help is taken and is constructive, and sometimes that help can be very threatening and can make the entrepreneur feel like they are at risk of losing their job." The founder may become reluctant to share information with the board that they think reflects badly on them.

The outside director's feedback "may have more credibility," said Bonatsos, the investor, because they're seen as a neutral party.

'Founder control' is not what it used to be

How independent an outside director is varies from board to board.

An angel investor may graduate from the role of adviser to board member. "There's a natural evolution," Chandra said, as they develop a relationship with the founder and show they add value.

Suster, who sold his last company to Salesforce where he became a vice president before joining the venture capital business, gives this unconventional advice to founders: Ask the candidate for a check.

"The funny thing is, when you write a $100,000 check, even if you're a multimillionaire, you feel a sense of ownership," Suster said. "'... Feeling that sense of ownership — that I have skin in the game — really matters I think for you to truly make good business decisions."

The demand for a competent outside director comes as the notion of "founder control" is being reconsidered across Silicon Valley and the broader investment community. Venture capital investors are showing less willingness to support founders like WeWork boss Adam Neuman, who amassed major company ownership before his forced departure. And the next crop of entrepreneurs are taking a more moderate approach.

Aditi Shekar is a first-time founder and chief executive. Her company, Zeta, makes a budgeting tool designed for couples and has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors.

She doesn't report into a board of directors yet, but Shekar said she is building good governance habits now. Every month, she sends an email with the company's financials to all of her investors and has a follow-up phone call with her lead angel, who she considers a board adviser-type, to go over what at Zeta went well and what didn't.

"If you know someone is going to check your work, you're just going to be a little more thoughtful about it," Shekar said.

• Read more from Business Insider's Founder Frenemies special report:
• Benchmark was the poster boy for 'founder-friendly' VCs, but after WeWork and Uber its reputation is looking tarnished
• Silicon Valley's founder-led startups have lost their shine with IPO investors. But the obsession with direct listings won't fix the bigger problem.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: WeWork went from a $47 billion valuation to a failed IPO. Here's how the company makes money.

• Working towards creating something, or doing something big, often necessitates putting other aspects of your life on the back burner.
• These six women found success through continual hustling. But they also found some adverse side effects.
• From health challenges like golf-ball sized cysts to heart palpitations, continual drive took a physical toll. While some say they don't regret that time, others don't think they benefited.
• All stressed that you shouldn't let your health become low priority.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Achieving anything big — be it starting a business, hitting the ground running at a new job, or creating something from scratch — often means putting your personal life on the back burner. When there's always more work to be done, it's hard to take your foot off the gas pedal. 

But that hustle often comes with costs — and for these six women, those costs were huge. 

Yes, their dedication, drive, and work ethic was met with great success. But that success came with tradeoffs, including life-changing impacts on their health, social lives, and relationships. 

So was it all worth it? Would they change their decisions? Here are their stories, their lessons learned, and their best advice to you.

SEE ALSO: 'Everyone thought I had a dream job. Here’s what they didn’t know.'

The employee who was spread too thin

Bianca Harris

Founder and CEO, Skinary App Inc

To say Bianca Harris had a full plate during her two-year journey of working at a huge global corporation would be an understatement. Between the demanding travel schedule, a high number of people leaving the company, and an ever-changing job description, she was being pulled in all directions, and her personal life suffered as a result.

The balance of constantly giving 100% and learning new skills to fill in the gaps on her team did yield great results and huge accomplishments, but not without life-impacting consequences. "My relationship suffered, I gained 40 pounds, and I definitely aged five years in two from the huge amounts of stress and pressure I was under," she remembers.

Though truly proud of the work she did, she also wouldn't ever recommend for anyone to let their mental or physical health become a low priority. "In a moment of stress, always remind yourself, 'This is just a job,' and then do some self-care and dedicate yourself to a personal hobby," she advises.

The solopreneur who kept pushing through

Adrienne Nolan-Smith

Founder, WellBe

Adrienne Nolan-Smith was building her media company WellBe with a partner, but that relationship began to fizzle out. When she realized she'd be running the business on her own, her health took a turn. Between keeping up with her daily duties and also trying to grow the company, her cortisol increased rapidly, she suffered from hypothyroidism, and she developed adrenal fatigue which ultimately led to Hashimoto's.

"I hit a low where I could tell the burnout and fatigue was making me unproductive, and more than that, unhappy," she recalls. Despite the exhaustion, Adrienne knew she needed to continue working in order to keep her business afloat. 

In retrospect, Adrienne still believes she made the right choice in not giving up. However, she does acknowledge that her health should have been a higher priority. "If you feel that things are not right physically, mentally, or emotionally for you, yes, of course, you need to keep going, but delaying making your health or your personal life a priority or getting to the root cause of what might be going on makes both you and your business or your job suffer."

The dedicated researcher who quit out of necessity

Melody Wilding

Licensed Social Worker and Coach, Melody Wilding, LMSW

One summer night, Melody Wilding recalls canceling on a close friend's wedding weekend last minute. While she had been excited about the event, she was also consumed by guilt. "I couldn't shake the constant reminders from my inner critic that I had work to do and that I wasn't pushing hard enough."

At the time, Melody was working a high-pressure job as a researcher. Her days began at dawn, and commenced whenever sleep overcame her. The cycle continued for three years until she quit out of necessity. "I worked harder and longer to compensate for my insecurity until the stress broke me," she recalls. "I had heart palpitations and nightmares. I felt like a shell of a person."

Ultimately, Melody quit out of necessity. Once she stepped back, she realized the problem wasn't that she hadn't been pushing herself hard enough, but rather that she had been allowing other people's expectations to consume her — doing work she thought she should be doing without considering whether it was what she wanted. 

Now, Melody has opened her own career coaching practice, which, admittedly, still takes a tremendous amount of time, energy, and focus. However, she now has a new perspective: "Take stock of whether the ladder to success that you're climbing is leaned against the right wall and if your habits are sustainable."

The PR pro with too much dedication

Harper Spero

Business Coach and Consultant, Harper Spero Inc.

In 2011, Harper Spero was tasked with establishing and growing the digital department of a beauty PR firm. Around the same time, she began experiencing shortness of breath, brought on after only walking several blocks. Her doctor prescribed her drugs and inhalers, but nothing seemed to help.

Given that she had only just begun her new job, Harper continued giving 100%, despite her persistent health concerns. "I worked extremely long hours, was always available, and definitely didn't make myself and my health a priority," she recalls. "I was completely focused on keeping my clients and boss happy." 

After several months of her continued symptoms, Harper finally saw a specialist who discovered a cyst the size of a golf ball in her right lung. She ultimately needed surgery to have it removed.

Reflecting on the situation years later, Harper knows she should have prioritized her health over her work. "Listen to your body — you know what's best for you and your life. Work is certainly important but you can't be the best version of yourself if you're compromising your health and well-being."

The over-consumed hustler who set hard boundaries

Arielle Shnaidman

Intuitive Success and Brand Coach, Arielle Shnaidman LLC

During the three years Arielle Shnaidman was working in the startup world, her weekends were solely dedicated to playing catch-up. The reason behind the constant hustle was not a reflection of the companies she was at, but rather an all-consuming case of imposter syndrome. "I was working in marketing and always felt like I needed to be learning new skills, reading more, constantly upping my game to be a great marketer," she says. "I always felt behind."

Looking back on that season, Arielle doesn't believe her extreme habits were beneficial. "I was overloading myself with information and exhausting myself — I would lose my creative spark," she states knowingly. "The tradeoff wasn't worth it."

Arielle has since come to terms with the fact that success happens gradually and has combated her natural tendencies with hard boundaries. Things like Friday night dinners with her husband and no-work Saturdays are now non-negotiables in her life. "The way you spend your days is the way you spend your life," she advises. "Are you rushing? Are you panicked? Slow down. Enjoy."

The young and passionate entrepreneur

Adelaida Diaz-Roa

Founder, Movers // Shakers Colombia

At the start of her entrepreneurship journey, Adelaida Diaz-Roa was 17, hungry to learn, willing to implement, and ready to grow. Though fueled by pure passion, her habits were not sustainable. As her business grew, everything else in her life was overcome with work and her passion ultimately led to workaholic tendencies.

Now, years later and a seasoned serial entrepreneur, Adelaida's reflection on her past decisions is two-fold. "Was it worth it? Definitely," she states confidently. "I learned so much. It also afforded me the freedom to travel the world and learn a lot about myself and build my social network and my health back up after my burnout."

On the flipside, she's also come to recognize the lasting effects prioritizing work over everything else can have. Taking it all into account, Adelaida's advice to newer entrepreneurs is to absolutely commit to the business you are building, while also being aware of not letting other areas of your life sit on the back burner. "Now that I know how important health and relationships are," she says, "I wouldn't advise others to do what I did."

• According to private capital data company PitchBook, 2018 saw a record $1.2 billion in capital dedicated to the subscription box industry.
• Katia Beauchamp is the founder of Birchbox and Henrik Werdelin is the cofounder of BARK, both successful subscription services.
• The two founders talked with Business Insider about how they keep their companies relevant in an ever-changing market — advice that can be applied to any entrepreneur looking to get their business off the ground.
• Their secrets to success include looking at the trees, not the forest, and embracing uncertainty.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

When Katia Beauchamp launched her subscription beauty box service, Birchbox, in 2010, she was one of the first entrepreneurs to explore the idea of sending subscribers sample products on a monthly basis.

Her business took off fast, inspiring a wave of other subscription box services in its wake. In 2016, there were a record high of 70 venture capital deals for subscription box companies, according to private capital data company PitchBook. Those numbers dropped slightly in the following years (just 50 such deals were recorded in 2018), but 2018 still saw a record $1.2 billion in capital dedicated to the subscription box industry, PitchBook notes. 

Sometimes it seems like you can't even click open a new browser without seeing an ad for another new box. According to a 2018 report by McKinsey & Company surveying thousands of US shoppers, Dollar Shave Club, Ipsy, Blue Apron, Birchbox, and even Amazon Subscribe & Save were 2018's most popular options, although thousands of other companies are angling to catch up. 

Staying relevant for the future

As the subscription box market matures, major players like Birchbox (which had raised a reported $90 million in funding as of May 2018, according to TechCrunch) and BARK, makers of BarkBox, (which forecasted $250 million in sales for 2018, as reported by Digital Commerce 360 author April Berthene) have made big moves to stay relevant and top-of-mind for consumers. This often means thinking outside of the traditional box model to offer new and innovative products in new and innovative places, all in the service of keeping customers happy. 

Beauchamp's most recent pivot has been to introduce Birchbox products into Walgreens stores, in the hopes of reaching the everyday beauty and grooming consumer, or "someone who doesn't love beauty, is not passionate about beauty, and is not putting time into updating or changing the routine," Beauchamp told Business Insider. The partnership officially launched in October 2018. 

The customer Beauchamp is describing is a classic Walgreens beauty customer, but they might not be attracted to a Birchbox subscription — and that's exactly the point.

"Research shows us that the everyday consumer is often buying beauty and grooming as a part of another shopping trip, versus beauty as the destination." Beauchamp explained. "Our idea was simple: Go to where our customer already shops, and surprise and delight her with how we show up there. We created an efficient, intuitive, fun experience that leverages the care and convenience of Walgreens to really enhance consumer expectations for shopping beauty in that channel."

Although she was unable to share data about the expansion's success with Business Insider, given the venture's newness the partnership seems to be driving a "meaningful increase" in Walgreen's total beauty sales, according to Birchbox representatives.

BARK's cofounder Henrik Werdelin has seen similar success with his company's first subscription product BarkBox, which is targeted at dog lovers. When he and his cofounders launched the company in 2012, they "just wanted to make something nice for our dogs," Werdelin said, "and there weren't a lot of products out there in the world." 

BarkBox found traction very quickly, as people got excited about the prospect of monthly treats, toys, and other deliveries for their dogs. But the brand has also evolved a lot since day one. Werdelin specifically highlighted the importance of their customer service team and the dialog they have with their customers about what they like, need, and want from a pet-oriented subscription box.

"Now we build the products ourselves, and we build 35 new products every month. Then we start from scratch again, which means 430 new toys every year," Werdelin said. "From the outside, we look like a box business. But from the inside, we're more future-leaning. We're an organization that knows how to talk to their customers often and in an intimate way, and then rapidly create products and services [that fit their needs]."

Listening to their customers led to BarkBox's Super Chewer line of extra-durable toys for extra-tenacious dogs, which now has over 100,000 active subscribers and recently launched in Target stores all across the country. In the coming months, the company is also rumored to be leaning into even more unfamiliar territory: dog wellness. 

Both Wedelin and Beauchamp shared their advice for other founders looking to stay relevant or pivot their business to greater success.

Look at the trees, not the forest

First, Werdelin said, it's important to see your business as being built not like a forest, but like a set of trees. In other words, you shouldn't just stop when you've made one good product; be versatile and think about how else you can offer value to the people you serve.

"I think the word pivot sounds like something is going wrong, but I wouldn't say anything was going wrong with Apple when they launched the iPhone," Werdelin added. "When you see maturity in your business, it's time to do more for your customers and solve more of their problems. This requires internal agility, but is necessary."

Start by identifying customer problems and actually speaking to the people you serve, Werdelin recommended.

Keep the goal simple

Beauchamp makes sure she's clear on her goals when she sets out to try something new, both in terms of who she wants to reach, why she wants to expand, and how to implement that expansion. 

"Keep the goal simple and big," she said. "Think about your unique point of view. What is your vision? Why does this business need to exist? What is the value to the customer?"

Experiment before you go live

For both Beauchamp and Wedelin, success came from piloting new ideas and testing them before they went live. As Werdelin noted, you can't know what you need unless you're testing a lot of ideas and gathering data about how well those ideas work.

"You have to set up new product teams that are trying these things on," he explained. "For example, with [a new, upcoming line of] products, we had to run them in the wild under a different brand name first, to make sure the product would work."

Beauchamp also tries to maintain a sense of curiosity during testing, as this can lead to new discoveries.

"Come up with a simple way to test the idea and prove your hypotheses," she said. "Don't spend a ton of time perfecting the business plan; dive right in and get started. Ultimately, embrace your naivety — it can give you the freedom to tackle massive opportunities."

Embrace uncertainty

Beauchamp believes that her stamina for the shifting and changing elements of her business comes from embracing uncertainty. She often teachers younger founders to stay curious and embrace the idea that challenges will always come your way.

"I believe uncertainty is a constant," she said. "My comfort with the uncomfortable — or excitement for the unexpected — is what makes me able to enjoy it all. I'm very intellectually stimulated by the hard things and managing in uncertainty. You are never done understanding the needs of the customer. The context is always changing, so your job will always be evolving."

SEE ALSO: I built a multimillion-dollar business in two years. Here are 3 templates I used to make my first $10,000 in 3 months.

READ MORE: Founders and investors reveal the ultimate guide to scaling a startup — and common pitfalls to avoid

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• There is a wide variety of career paths to follow if you love science.
• Insider used data from the Occupational Information Network to create a list of amazing jobs for science-lovers.
• The list explains the average salary, job openings, and the basics of the job.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Did you start your mornings with "Bill Nye the Science Guy" as a kid? Did you ace your chemistry and physics classes in high school? Do you dream of wearing a lab coat to work?

If so, you might have a thing for science.

To find the top 12 jobs for science lovers, we used data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), a US Department of Labor database full of detailed information on almost 1,000 occupations.

One of the many things O*NET analyzes is how important science is to each of the 974 jobs in its database. We focused on jobs where science had an "importance" rating of 81 or higher.

We then used the BLS data to look for the median annual pay for jobs, which was last reported in 2018. We also listed the projected job openings (openings due to growth and replacement) from 2016-2026.

Finally, we made sure to note which jobs were labeled as "green occupations," meaning that they will likely evolve as a result of the green economy, which is influencing the demand of scientists in the field.  Any "green occupation" is likely going to have an increased employment demand in the years to come. 

As it turns out, most of these science-heavy gigs pay fairly well — but this doesn't come as a surprise, given that almost every occupation on the list requires an advanced degree (and all 12 require at least a bachelor's). 

So, if you love science and you're willing to go the extra mile in your education, you may want to consider the following professions:

Natalie Walters contributed to a previous version of this article.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best computer-science and engineering schools in America

DON'T MISS: The 27 jobs that are most damaging to your health

No. 8 (tie): Astronomer

"Importance" rating: 81

Average annual salary (2018):$105,680

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 200

Astronomers observe, research, and interpret astronomical phenomena to increase basic knowledge or apply such information to practical problems.

Common tasks include: preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, providing technical information or assistance to the public, directing scientific activities, collaborating on research activities with scientists or technical specialists, and developing theories or models of physical phenomena.

No. 8 (tie): Chemist

"Importance" rating: 81

Average annual salary (2018):$76,890

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 8,600

Chemists conduct qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses or experiments in laboratories for quality or process control or to develop new products or knowledge.

Common tasks include: preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, analyzing chemical compounds or substances, monitoring operational procedures in technical environments to ensure conformance to standards, collaborating on research activities with scientists or technical specialists, and maintaining laboratory or technical equipment.

This job is a green occupation. 

No. 8 (tie): Animal scientist

"Importance" rating: 81

Average annual salary (2018):$58,380

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 700

Animal scientists conduct research in the genetics, nutrition, reproduction, growth, and development of domestic farm animals.

Common tasks include: study the nutritional requirements of animals and nutrition values of animals' feed, advise about techniques that could enhance animal productivity, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, researching genetic characteristics or expression, researching livestock management methods, and developing agricultural methods.

No. 8 (tie): Chemical engineer

"Importance" rating: 81

Average annual salary (2018):$104,910

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 2,400

Chemical engineers design chemical plant equipment and devise processes for manufacturing chemicals and products, such as gasoline, synthetic rubber, plastics, detergents, cement, paper, and pulp, by applying principles and technology of chemistry, physics, and engineering.

Common tasks include: operational reports, evaluating characteristics of equipment or systems, developing technical methods or processes, determining causes of operational problems or failures, and designing industrial processing systems.

This job is a green occupation. 

No. 8 (tie): Veterinarian

"Importance" rating: 81

Average annual salary (2018):$93,830

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 4,500 

Veterinarians diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.

Common tasks include: prescribing medications, examining patients to assess general physical condition, analyzing test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment, operating diagnostic imaging equipment, and developing medical treatment plans.

No. 6 (tie): Internist (general)

"Importance" rating: 85

Average annual salary (2018):$194,500

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 2,100

General internists are physicians who diagnose and provide non-surgical treatment of diseases and injuries of internal organ systems.

Common tasks include: collecting medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals, treating chronic diseases or disorders, recording patient medical histories, diagnosing medical conditions, and monitoring patient progress or responses to treatments.

No. 6 (tie): Epidemiologist

"Importance" rating: 85

Average annual salary (2018):$69,600

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 600

Epidemiologists investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.

Common tasks include: planning biological research, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, communicating with government agencies, directing medical science or healthcare programs, and researching diseases or parasites.

No. 3 (tie): Microbiologist

"Importance" rating: 88

Average annual salary (2018): $71,650

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 2,200

Microbiologists investigate the growth, structure, development, and other characteristics of microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, algae, or fungi.

Common tasks include: researching microbiological or chemical processes or structures, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, cultivating micro-organisms for study, testing, or medical preparations, analyzing chemical compounds or substances, and researching diseases or parasites.

No. 3 (tie): Biologist

"Importance" rating: 88

Average annual salary (2018):$77,550

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 11,00

Biologists research or study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and functions.

Common tasks include: planning biological research, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, providing technical information or assistance to public, analyzing chemical compounds or substances, and communicating with government agencies.

No. 3 (tie): Physicist

"Importance" rating: 88

Average annual salary (2018):$120,950

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 1,700

Physicists conduct research into physical phenomena, develop theories on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply physical laws and theories.

Common tasks include: designing computer simulations to model data so it can be more widely understood, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, analyzing geological or geographical data, collaborating on research activities with scientists or technical specialists, developing theories or models of physical phenomena, and instructing college students in physical or life sciences.

No. 1 (tie): Molecular and cellular biologist

"Importance" rating: 91

Average annual salary (2018):$79,550

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 3,700

Molecular and cellular biologists research and study cellular molecules and organelles to understand cell function and organization.

Common tasks include: design molecular and cellular experiments and interpret the results, recording research or operational data, planning biological research, researching microbiological or chemical processes or structures, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, and inspecting equipment to ensure proper functioning.

No. 1 (tie): Biochemist and biophysicist

"Importance" rating: 91

Average annual salary (2018):$93,280

Projected job openings (2016-2026): 3,200

Biochemists and biophysicists study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena.

Common tasks include: study living cells and organisms and their electrical and mechanical energy, researching microbiological or chemical processes or structures, preparing scientific or technical reports or presentations, researching diseases or parasites, researching genetic characteristics or expression, and supervising scientific or technical personnel.

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• Planning ahead and staying organized can feel great, but if you over-plan, you're might cross the line and become a control freak.
• If you have a type A personality, you may find it hard to let go and deal with life's unpredictability — but deep down, you may have a fear of lack of control.
• These three steps will help you learn to let go of your inner control freak, your fear of irrevocable mistakes, and remind you to rest now and then.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Many of us feel most comfortable when we think ahead, plan and prepare. But high-achievers, in particular, can fall into the trap of becoming a control freak.

Over time, demanding constant certainty from yourself and others can be tiresome — and frankly, annoying. Perfectionism, anxiety, and anger are all associated with a high need for control, which can obviously interfere with your relationships and happiness in a big way.

Although we may rationally know that life is unpredictable and perfection isn't possible, it can be hard to let go of Type A tendencies. My client, Katie, struggled with this as a new manager who was tasked with delegating more. Logically, she knew her teammates were smart and responsible. Yet she found herself constantly checking up on them. She stayed late to re-do their work.

At the root of it, Katie's inability to relinquish control came down to fear. Like many of us, she used control as a defense mechanism to deal with discomfort and worry. As we worked together, Katie learned to favor resiliency over certainty and control. She grew to shine in the face of setbacks. More importantly, she stopped over-functioning on behalf of others.

Curbing your inner control freak doesn't happen overnight. Letting go is a process, but these three steps can help you get started.

SEE ALSO: 4 ways to stop letting people walk all over you at work, according to a career coach

1. Challenge your thinking

Fear causes us to think in distorted ways, including catastrophizing ("If this relationship fails, I'll never recover") or accepting unnecessary blame ("I screwed up, so I'll fix it"). Challenging your need for control requires you to replace unhelpful negative thinking with realistic self-talk.

When you find yourself thinking along the lines of:

• My boss will rip this report to shreds because I made a few typos.
• One person canceled on the event/party, so now the whole plan is ruined.

Try asking yourself:

• Is my reaction useful?
• What others explanations exist (as to why they canceled last minute/ my boss is upset)?
• How would a person who is easier going to respond?
• What's the worst that could happen? (spoiler alert: it's never as bad as you imagine)  

Neutralizing negative thoughts helps ease the stress of everyday situations. You'll find you experience fewer unexpected catastrophes (and freakouts) once you embrace a growth mindset. The only thing we ever fully control is our response to a situation, so by changing the way you talk to yourself, you can arrive at a more balanced perspective.

2. Take small steps

Whether you're managing a project at work or organizing a family trip, you don't have to relinquish all control at once. Instead, start small. Hand off a single aspect of a project to a colleague. Trust them to do a good job, but know that if they don't, you can always give feedback and correct the situation. No mistake is irrecoverable. As you see the benefits of collaboration in action, your comfort zone expands. Delegating becomes easier, bit by bit.

At home, begin to ask for help often rather than shouldering all burden yourself. Create a to-don't list so you can prioritize more effectively. Start saying no to people or responsibilities. When you let go of what's not working, you make room for a life filled with ease and less difficulty. 

3. Reframe rest as recovery

Control lovers tend to be optimizers. They want to squeeze the maximum amount of productivity out of each and every day. But this can leave you exhausted and burned out. Taking downtime doesn't make you lazy; it's essential to do your best work.

Carve out time to play, let loose, and explore.  If you struggle with accepting the need for self-care, reframe rest as recovery. It's well-spent, productive time that's preparing you for your next big challenge.

As a recovering perfectionist myself, I know how hard it can be to let go of control. But resiliency, unlike control, is liberating mentally and emotionally. When you shed needless worry, you free up time, attention, and focus. You gain confidence that your strongest power comes from within – even if you can't control other people or outcomes.

• Netflix CEO Reed Hastings first publicly released his company's culture deck in 2009.
• In more than 120 slides, Netflix broke down its management and cultural philosophy to prepare potential recruits for what it would be like to work with the then DVD-by-mail operation.
• The company regularly updates its cultural philosophy in a memo on its website. But current document retains many of the core principles of the original.
• Business Insider breaks down the most bold, and at times controversial, slides that still hold up 10 years later.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Ten years ago, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings first publicly released his company's culture deck. In more than 120 slides, Netflix broke down its management and cultural philosophy to prepare potential recruits for what it would be like to work with the then DVD-by-mail operation.

The presentation, previously used as an internal onboarding document for new hires, offered a peek into the culture of the growing tech operation, which is now worth more than $125 billion and employs about 7,100 people around the world.

Some aspects of Netflix's management philosophy instantly stirred up controversy, like its high-performance culture, lack of a formal vacation policy, and aversion to "brilliant jerks." 

But the document also set an example for other employers, who have since adopted some of its aspects, or begun formalizing and being more transparent about their own cultures.

Top Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg once said the deck "may well be the most important document ever to come out of the Valley."

Netflix regularly updates its culture and management philosophy in a memo on its website. But the document retains many of the core principles of the original deck.

"The Netflix culture deck, when it came out, was certainly an innovative way to approach a corporate culture," Jodi Chavez, the president of staffing agency Randstad Professionals' life sciences division, as well as its executive search arm, Tatum, told Business Insider. "The majority of ideas in the deck are still very relevant today."

Here are the 10 most impactful takeaways of the culture deck that was published in 2009.

Vacation: "There is no policy or tracking"

Unlimited vacation is pretty common in workplaces today, especially in the tech sector.

But in 2009, it was still radical for a company to buck the tradition of allotting employees specified amounts of vacation days and tracking the time they took off.

Around 2004, a few years after Netflix went public, management decided to simplify its processes by scrapping its standard paid-time-off policy and allowing employees to take whatever time they felt was appropriate, as Patty McCord, coauthor of the Netflix culture deck and the company's former chief talent officer, described in Harvard Business Review.

Netflix says in its culture deck that since it didn't track the hours employees spend responding to work emails or working on projects on nights and weekends, during their personal time, there was no sense tracking their time off either.

People should be able to set their own work hours, and police their own vacation time, as long as they are able to do good work. "We should focus on what people get done, not on how many days worked," the deck says.

The company encourages management to set that precedent by taking vacation themselves, and telling the rest of their teams to do the same.

Unlimited vacation or honors-system-style policies have become more common in other workplaces as well, recruiters say.

"At Netflix, employees not only have control over their work hours but also have unlimited vacation," Chavez, at Randstad, said. "That's a policy growing in popularity with many companies, as it does give people more freedom to work and live the way they choose."

Process can hurt more than it helps

As with vacation tracking, the Netflix culture deck points out that too much process can get in the way of people being able to do their jobs efficiently.

The 2009 culture deck says there is "good" process that helps people get more work done, and "bad" process that can be a hindrance, even if it's designed to prevent mistakes.

For a company like Netflix, which is constantly adapting to evolving shifts in consumer behavior, those bad processes can be fatal. 

In another slide, Netflix points out that process can be great, until technology, new competition, or other factors shift the market:

"Company is unable to adapt quickly because employees are extremely good at following the existing processes, and process adherence is the value system," the slide says. "Company generally grinds painfully into irrelevance."

Cofounder and founding CEO Marc Randolph thinks Netflix's ability to adapt quickly, which stems from its culture, has set it apart from other media companies that are moving into streaming today, like Disney and WarnerMedia, and helped it survive against Blockbuster during the DVD era. It has proven itself willing to abandon what's working if a better process or business model presents itself, he said.

Read more: Netflix's first CEO details the ruthless decision-making and 'relentless focus' that could help the company win the future of TV

"Freedom and responsibility"

Where Facebook has "move fast and break things" and Google has "don't be evil," Netflix's cultural motto is "freedom and responsibility."

The idea is to hire talented people who are self-disciplined, and then get out of their way.

The deck says that the best way for Netflix to attract and nurture innovative people as it grows is to give them freedom. As such, it wants fewer rules, not more.

But it can only do that if its employees are responsible, self-motivated people; the type of people who pick up trash when they see it lying on the floor, as another slide in the deck says. 

Netflix's vacation policy is one way the company gives employees the freedom to be responsible for their own time off.

Another example is its expense policy. Employees can expense whatever they think is fair, but are encouraged to act in the company's best interest, such as only spending as much as they normally would while traveling, or disclosing gifts sizable gifts from vendors.

"If you're careful to hire people who will put the company's interests first, who understand and support the desire for a high-performance workplace, 97% of your employees will do the right thing," McCord wrote, in Harvard Business Review. 

An insistence on "high performance"

Netflix's ethos of freedom and responsibility ties into a culture insistent on "high performance."

The Netflix deck compares the video company to a professional sports team. Every employee should be playing at the top of their own fields. That means hiring and supporting top performers, and routinely firing those that don't measure up.

The culture can be intimidating to some staffers. It's not an environment for everyone, the document says. "Some people, however, value job security and stability over performance, and don't like our culture," another slide says. "They feel fearful at Netflix."

The candor in the culture deck was surprising when it was first released, though likely not surprising to anyone who had worked at Netflix, where honesty was a top value.

"It was unique that they were willing to share that with the masses," Ryan Sutton, a district president at Robert Half Technology, a staffing firm, told Business Insider. "It's different to truly take what is an internal look and put it out to the world."

The slide says the company is trying to get better at hiring only people who thrive in its high performance culture, which may have been part of the motivation for releasing the culture document.

"When we pushed it to the internet, we didn't do it so that everyone could read our treatise and copy the way we worked," McCord said during an August webinar hosted by Business Insider. "We did it so that our candidates could get a brief overview of what it would be like to work at Netflix and it would change our interview cycle."

Read more: WEBINAR: Patty McCord, co-creator of Netflix's famous culture deck, on avoiding common management traps

Adequate employees get the axe

Netflix's obsession with high performance means that merely meeting expectations isn't good enough.

"Adequate performance gets a generous severance package," the document says.

The company typically offers four months of full pay to salaried employees who are fired.

Routine firings also free up cash for Netflix to pay its other employees top dollar. "One outstanding employee gets more done and costs less than two adequate employees," another slide says. "We endeavor to have only outstanding employees."

This slide may have seemed bold when Netflix published it, but staffing professionals in the tech sector say it was a common practice at many tech companies, whether they publicly stated it or not.

"They wanted to be a leading company that was revolutionary, and in order to the accomplish that they needed top talent," Sutton, at Robert Half Technology, said. "Where did anything start in culture? Was this something that Netflix branded per se, or the culmination of a lot of really good entrepreneur techniques that companies had been refining for years, all the way back to Steve Jobs and Apple?"

The "keeper test"

Netflix has a method for weeding out adequate or underperforming employees. It's called the "keeper test."

Even today, it is one of the more controversial aspects of the streaming company's culture. 

The keeper test requires managers to ask themselves, how hard they would fight to keep a given employee if they were leaving for a competitor. People they would not fight to keep are fired.

There are no quotas for how many people managers need to fire, but they're told to conduct the keeper test regularly. Employees are also encouraged to frequently ask their managers to ask the keeper question to learn where they stand. 

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2018 that the test created a culture of fear within Netflix. One former employee told the publication he was constantly anxious about getting fired, and ultimately quit after a few years at the company.

Others appeared to have no hard feelings over being fired. Netflix's longtime chief product officer, Neil Hunt, for example, failed the keeper test in 2017 and was cut from the company. He told the Journal he had to "separate the emotion from the logic" to understand the decision.

Netflix told the Journal that employees are only fired for performance reasons.

Radical transparency

Honesty is at the heart of Netflix's culture. It values radical transparency, about as much as it insists on high performance. 

Netflix often follows up firings with emails and meetings explaining why that person got fired to their relevant teams, the Journal reported. 

Those emails can seem harsh, but they stem from the example that cofounders Hastings and Randolph set at Netflix early on.

Randolph, Netflix's first CEO, described in his memoir, "That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea," how Hastings used a PowerPoint presentation outlining his accomplishments and shortcomings to push him out of the CEO role.

Hastings made a "meticulous argument" for why Randolph was not fit to run the company alone, according to the book. Hastings then asked Randolph to step back into the president position, while Hastings took on the chief executive role. Randolph agreed, but he admitted in the book that the discussion "really hurt."

"A lot of the ways Reed and I treated each other translated into what Netflix became culturally," Randolph said in an August interview with Business Insider. "Both of us kind of shared this egoless decision-making where we could argue, we could fight, we could debate, but as soon as it became self-evident that something was right, it immediately didn't matter whose idea it was. We stood behind it."

Hard work doesn't matter

Netflix's document also tells current and prospective employees that it doesn't care how hard they work, or how many hours they are in the office.

The results are all that matter.

The most up-to-date culture memo acknowledges that great work usually takes considerable effort, but that effort is not how people are judged at Netflix.

"As workplace cultural evolved over the years, if you were there early or late the perception was you must be working hard," Sutton, at Robert Half Technology, said. "What companies have recognized it that some employees might be more efficient that others."

It's "healthy" for employees to interview with competitors

Netflix doesn't give annual performance-based raises or bonuses. Instead, it pays all of its employees at the top of the market for their particular jobs, and gives raises to keep up with the market.

In practice, that means people that have skills that are more in demand usually see their pay rise more quickly than others. 

Managers are responsible for aligning pay to the top of market each year. But employees are also encouraged to go out there and see what they're worth themselves.

"It's a healthy idea, not a traitorous one, to understand what other firms would pay you, by interviewing and talking to peers at other companies," Netflix says.

It's a bold stance, but also a practical one. "It's a lot of work to really keep up with what the market is," Sutton, at Robert Half Technology said. "The only way to know is to sell."

It also makes Netflix more attractive when vying for talent in hyper competitive fields of tech. Those people will always know they're being paid as well as they would anywhere else, and they'll have no fear about testing the waters to prove it.

"The importance placed on salary and tying salary to the value someone brings to the company is a major differentiator that really sets Netflix apart in the crowded employer ecosystem," Chavez, at Randstad, said.

No "brilliant jerks"

There's a limit to the "high performance" culture at Netflix

The company won't tolerate what it calls "brilliant jerks," or people who are talented but don't play well with others. The culture deck says the cost to teamwork is just too high. 

While the "brilliant jerk" may be a high performer, their attitude may make them impossible to work with, or make other people on the team dread coming to work.

This philosophy punctured workplaces in different forms before Netflix published its culture deck.

In 2004, Stanford professor Robert Sutton said in Harvard Business Review that toxic employees, no matter how talented, were not worth the fear and stress they provoked in other employees. The short essay, entitled "More Trouble Than They're Worth," argued that managers should institute a "no a------ policy" for hiring and promoting.

But it was still rare for a big company to publicize that policy as part of its culture. It's something more companies are starting to talk about today, especially in competitive fields, like tech, where people with highly sought after skills have the luxury of turning down companies with toxic cultures.

"Cultural hiring has really become increasingly important for candidates and clients in hyper-competitive environments," Sutton, at Robert Half Technology, said. "Every firm's department leader should think about, 'what is our culture?' and 'what are we looking for in perspective employees as it relates to a culture match?'"