Adam Stachowiak

People are like, oh, you must be Canadian.

Well, yeah.

Maybe that's it.

But I was...

So I didn't go to college or to MIT or to a computer science school or get a degree in that.

I learned by messing with GeoCities that same year.

And that's so funny to even think about.

Started playing with WordPress, got a job and almost got fired from a company called IT Weapons.

Still around in Canada, itweapons.com.

One of the most formative moments in my career, I got hired into a sales role.

I could not do well because their sales style was so different from what I was used to.

And I was terrible at that job.

And I knew I was like so close to getting fired.

And I took it upon myself to be like, no, man, you're not getting rid of me.

Almost like you were with your guidance counselor.

I'm going to do this.

And so I defined the business development role for the company and started to add value beyond what they thought that I could add.

And they never really told me directly that I was like minutes away from getting fired, but I knew it.

I knew it, my soul, but I also saw the turnaround and the benefit there.

And it was, it was pretty awesome.