Profile from Floodgate
When Ann was a little girl, her father would ask if she was doing things “world-class.” When she changed her career focus from medicine to engineering, she got a low-level clerical job at her school’s engineering department office. Copying, making file folders, donuts. How could she do this world-class? She made super straight copies, typed file labels and got to know the local donut shop so she could get fresh donuts. She figured no one noticed, but she was keeping her standards up for herself.
One day, the Department Chair asked her to give this random guy a tour of the campus. She did. Afterward, the guy said “You’re great. I’d love to give you an internship at my company.” The random guy was the head of Hewlett Packard. Thus, Ann started on a path that would make her one of the leading investors in Silicon Valley. Talk about world-class!