Appendix A
How I Became an Entrepreneur
To Peter Clevenger, Wherever You Are
No one hated his or her job more than I. I mean, I disliked just about everything I could dislike about the last job I ever had—the boss from hell, the horrible hours, the boring, oh so very boring work—everything. The funny thing was, on the surface, it all looked great. But it's what is below the surface that really matters, eh?
Back then, I was a young lawyer fresh out of law school, working for a big firm in the big city making the big bucks. But it turned out to be fool's gold, and I was the fool: I had a pregnant wife and a baby at home whom I seldom saw because the hours were so tough. I was making more money than I ever had, but between student loans, diapers, and formula, we were still sharing one car. Maybe the worst part was the mind-numbing work. I spent all day, every day, in the law library by myself, researching and drafting memos and motions for cases I knew little about and would never get to argue. The firm figured we needed two years of seasoning before we were ready to cook.
And then there was my boss. A story is illustrative: One day she called me into her office and pointed to two huge boxes containing thousands of pieces of paper. “Those boxes are my client's paperwork for the past five years,” Linda said. “I want you to take them, go through them, and make a chronology of what happened when, with a document referencing each event.” “Sure,” I replied, adding, “when would you like ...
