Chet Kapoor, who would go on to sell two companies to tech giants IBM and Google, once started at the very bottom – as an intern’s intern at NeXT under Steve Jobs. But why? Because he was “fascinated” by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and would take up any role which kept him in the shadow of the late Apple founder. He even took a lot of computer classes just to land the internship at NeXT.
He was intern’s intern at NeXT
“I was the guy who got coffee for the guy who made coffee. It didn’t matter what I did. Janitorial services, dishes – I was 20 yards away from Steve Jobs,” Fortune quoted Kapoor as saying.
Jobs himself often stressed being close to entrepreneurs and visionaries and learning in their shadow during one’s formative years. Kapoor echoed that idea, saying, “The experience you will get from working with really smart people will pay you dividends you cannot imagine. It’s not the company you work for, it’s the individuals you work with that define you,” the outlet further reported.
At the time, Fortune reported, Kapoor was juggling multiple roles, interning at NeXT, working in fast-food chains, running a consulting firm, and pursuing his studies simultaneously.
“What I tell college graduates is to find a set of people you want to really work with, convince them that they need you, and then pay them to let you work for them,” he advised per the Fortune report.
Who is Chet Kapoor?
Chet Kapoor is the CEO of AI company DataStax, a role he has held since October 2019. Before that, he served as the VP of Google for three years from 2016 to 2019.
From 2007 to 2019, he served as the CEO of Apigee, a software company, which was acquired by Google in 2016 for $625 million. The company attracted big clients, including Netflix and Target, and later raised $87 million via IPO.
For a year, he also served as the Vice President of IBM and the CEO of Gluecode for six months, the company which IBM later bought.
He started his career with NeXT Computer and served in various roles at the company for four years. His second job was with BEA Systems for two years as its VP. The software company was acquired by Oracle.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a member of the World Economic Forum Unicorns, the Wall Street Journal CEO Council, Forbes Technology Council, and Fast Company Impact Council.
“Every individual goes through three different stages in their career. They are individual contributors, they manage people, and then they lead managers,” Fortune further quoted him.