Michael Potter
- VP of strategic accounts, founder & CEO, Founder & CEO
- Adentro, Brookeside group llc, MBP NETWORKS LLC
School Information
School: San Diego State University
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2011
Career Information
Working For: Adentro, Brookeside group llc, MBP NETWORKS LLC
Title: VP of strategic accounts, founder & CEO, Founder & CEO
Industry: Consulting
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
Create a playbook and repeatable revenue growth model for early stage startups and companies within Atomic VCs portfolio.
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?Starting my own company and being able to leverage my personal network to help young founders achieve their vision by cutting their learning curb and avoiding early leadership and scale mistakes.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
A foundation and launch point for understanding what separates an entrepreneur, founder and employee; along with the experience to choose the best path confidently.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
Qualifications can be overrated, do not let fear or intimidation of not having the right credentials or background stop you. Dive in and start learning. You will close the gap faster than you ever imagined by showing up and starting each day with a positive attitude. Always ask for referrals, reviews and look locally first to leverage a network growth effect and urgency in a new market. Always be prospecting and creating pipeline for 3-6 months out.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
There was a lady that hated her HOA and demanded we paint her house purple with yellow eaves and pink accents. She was a boss and so fun to work with!
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
A no is just one step closer to the next yes when cold calling.
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
I have stayed in contact with quite a few peers from my group. Unfortunately moving back to the Bay Area made these harder to leverage but we are very much in touch and always cheering each other on and cheering each other up through difficult times because of our shared College Works Painting experience.
If you had to come up with a one line slogan for CW, what would it be?
critical winning preparedness
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
You will not be the best employee everyday, you will not be the best producer every day, you will not be the best manager everyday and you certainly will not be the best leader every day. But if you are even one of these, once a week and show up every day for your team, you will be the best entrepreneur you can be before you graduate. That is a great start to your career and life!
Many college students struggle to choose between an internship specific to their target industry or doing CW. What advice would you give them on this subject if they wanted to enter your career field?
College Works Painting’s ability to uncover and develop industry agnostic skills and mindsets are valuable to any company regardless of vertical or industry. A year building a network, team, sales funnel, operational strategy and owning your teams unit financials is more attractive to the type of positions you will want to grow into and give you a leg up on anyone who is just been making copies, observing full time employees but not actually owning the work or end results. As someone who hires and scales startup companies from the ground up across many industries. I would hire someone from College Works Painting before I hire most MBA graduates with less than 1 year of real work experience.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
If you know how to work hard, are plagued with innate curiosity and willing to step out of your comfort zone to learn what you know you do not know about the world – you are rare indeed and should shoot for the moon.
Last words of wisdom?
Paint and prosper folks.