Working for the Education, Not the Paycheck
As fraternity brothers at Virginia Tech, Brett Plano and Ryan Coudon first talked about creating a company together.Like many good ideas, the initial partnership plans were scribbled on a cocktail napkin — “or something like that” — probably while shooting pool, Coudon said.
“We had all kinds of crazy ideas — from coming up with an invention to starting a company,” he continued.
That was the summer of 1993, when both students were completing their engineering degrees and beginning to build their futures.
Despite dreams of owning a business, Plano and Coudon knew they needed to work for a larger company and learn the ropes before venturing into entrepreneurship. As fate would have it, both Maryland natives ended up working for Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., the region’s largest contractor.
Affectionately referring to the firm as Whiting-Turner University, Plano said he and Coudon never lost sight of their original partnership goal. And, by August 1998, the engineers were busy writing a business plan for their own contracting firm.
Jon on December 13th, 2005 7:01 pm
for us Rich Dad followers, not working for money is one of the key principles. Working for money leads to being a slave to a job, whereas working for knowledge always leads to a greater challenge and probably more income.
Debrun on December 15th, 2005 8:44 am
Oh my gosh… is she right?!
My friend who attends GA State keeps telling me that “getting an education is not about making money…but learning to keep money”.
Sorry…that’s not what they sold me on and yet I’m unemployed.
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