#13 What Three Years At Faculty Taught Me About Intrapreneurship
Back in 2021, I was working at Dell Technologies as part of a newly established team focused on researching and developing AI solutions. At the time, it felt like working in a new startup within a large company. I enjoyed my work there, built a strong proof-of-concept (POC) with a solid team, and met some talented people along the way.
Despite having a good team culture and working on interesting tech, I felt something was missing. I felt that I wanted to step outside my comfort zone (cliché, I know) and seek a new type of experience where I could be more ‘entrepreneurial’ at work.
That’s when I found Faculty AI.
My Journey
I joined Faculty in December 2021, just a few days before Christmas, and received a warm welcome from my manager and the team. I started learning about Faculty’s history and its vision for the new year. At first, I inherited a legacy platform, which required me to spend some time understanding its intricacies in order to maintain and improve it.
The first year was challenging. I worked as a platform engineer, had some technical gaps to fill, and had to keep up with new ideas and the evolving product vision. However, with some guidance and support, I was able to get there relatively quickly.
Towards the end of 2022, I started working on the vision for a new exciting AI product. We went from building a proof of concept (POC) to adding it as a feature set on top of our platform, and later to creating it as a separate mature product. During this journey, I’ve built and gone through three incarnations of the product, experiencing all the ups and downs, as well as celebrating victories with the team. It’s been an incredible journey, full of valuable lessons like:
How to build a product from the ground up
How to find product-market fit
How to ship a new product
When and how to pivot during product development
I can’t share too many specifics, as some details are confidential, but let’s just say we went through three pivots and learned new insights from each one.
What was exciting about building a product from scratch was the opportunity to “mould” the software with the team and have a front-row seat to see its potential unfold for customers. This was the “entrepreneurial journey” I had been searching for.
Here are the four key lessons Faculty taught me about Intrapreneurship
1. Wear different hats when needed
You’ll often hear a common phrase when people ask if they should learn a new skill or improve an existing one.
“Jack of all trades, master of none.”
While I agree with that statement, the lesson I’ve learned is that you should have a core set of skills that you’re good at, but also the willingness to learn and work with new skills you’re not familiar with. This is also known as developing a learning aptitude.
For example, I primarily worked as a backend engineer, but I was able to tap into other disciplines like frontend, DevOps, and site reliability engineering when needed. This wasn’t an attempt to learn “everything”; rather, it was an attempt to help the business succeed. For example, if I had to wear a “front-end hat” for a month to make a project successful, I’d do whatever it takes (except CSS though).
Lesson learned: Having a core set of skills and an active learning aptitude is what makes entrepreneurs relentless.
2. Pace Yourself
Successful marathoners know how to pace themselves to avoid burnout and manage their energy throughout the race. The same applies to work. A startup environment tends to be fast-paced: things move quickly, competitors are racing alongside you, and countless decisions need to be made. However, what I’ve learned is that you need to learn the pace of your surrounding environment and be able to maintain your own pace for long-term success. Having this awareness helps you manage your energy and allows you to sprint when needed.
For example, when making a high-impact decision, take the time to think it through. Block out some “focus time” in your calendar if needed; don’t let the surrounding environment (i.e., the marathon) pressure you into acting too quickly. Once you’ve taken the time to develop a clear plan, switch gears and start running!
Lesson learned: How and when to switch between:
Careful Thinker: Analyse a problem, ask around, write down ideas, and come up with a solution.
Engineer on Steroids: Push code, test, release, and repeat!
3. Proactivity Helps You Become An Entrepreneur
First, let’s start with the definition:
Entrepreneur is an individual who starts or creates a new business.
Obviously I didn’t start a new business at Faculty, but given the nature of working at a startup and the “unbounded” environment, it felt like I was working as an entrepreneur within a company — or, as Gifford Pinchot defined it, an intra-preneur!
Pinchot and his wife coined the term “Intrapreneurship” in their 1978 white paper and described intrapreneurs as “dreamers who do”. These are individuals who take ideas and turn them into reality, no matter where they are.
Intrapreneur is an individual who acts as an entrepreneur within an organisation.
What I learned at Faculty is that developing a proactive mindset is key to intrapreneurship, and working at a startup can accelerate this by 10x. A proactive person is someone who makes things happen without waiting for them to happen.
Lesson learned: Being proactive allows you to (1) take action toward your career goals and (2) find opportunities to grow any business, just like an entrepreneur.
4. Pragmatism
I first learned about pragmatism when I read The Pragmatic Programmer (which I highly recommend for software engineers). At Faculty, I learned to double down on pragmatism and use it a guiding principle for overcoming challenges and taking advantage of opportunities. It helps you stay practical and grounded in decision-making.
This was reflected in how I worked, for example:
Building a quick POC to test new ideas with the team.
Planning capacity when reviewing our platform’s backlog.
Making quick improvements to in-house tools to reduce developer pain, while also knowing when to stop and prioritise other work-streams (remember the Snacking principle I talked about before).
Lesson learned: Being pragmatic helps you focus on practical solutions and adjust to any changes happening outside your control.
Takeaways
Develop your learning aptitude and wear different hats when necessary.
Pace yourself when working in a fast-paced environment.
Being proactive creates opportunities for both entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship.
Pragmatism helps you make efficient decisions to deliver value quickly.
Being proactive has been one of my strengths, regardless of what I pursue. If one thing does not work, I analyze it, pivot and try again in a different way. Thank you for your insights Shehab.