5 lessons from a 13 -year -old Big Four career

This trial also filed is based on a conversation with Joshua Lee, a 45-year-old serial entrepreneur and venture capital partner in Brea, California, who began his career to Ey (then called Ernst & Young). The following has been modified for duration and clarity.

I obtained my UCLA diploma in June 2000 with a diploma in commercial economy and a minor in accounting.

My accounting minor led to unexpected opportunities. I spent a lot of time with teachers who advised me to apply for companies recruited from campus, which included Ernst & Young (EY).

But the real inspiration came from my uncle Jack. After my father’s death when I was young, Uncle Jack intervened as a paternal figure. He worked at BDO Global and encouraged me to speak with consultants and in the shade of his colleagues so that I can decide for myself if Big Four Path Was right for me.

It was – Ey turned out to be the best place to launch my career

Working there came with good, evil and ugly. The learning curve was stiff, but personal growth was exponential. I was going to feel like the least experienced person there and I would go out knowing that I brought real value. My confidence was built with each client and project.

Another highlight was people. I formed deep ties of friendship and camaraderie in the trenches – dealing with impossible due dates and late nights, and meetings of the surviving board of directors that come out of the rails. I am still friends with my classmates from my first year in Ey and my colleagues over 12 years ago.

But Professional exhaustion is real. Long hours, tight deadlines and constant pressure to perform can descend you if you do not set firm borders to protect your mental, physical and spiritual well-being. And like any major organization, politics and bureaucracy can be exhausted. In the end, it is an accounting firm managed by accountants. Metrics often prevail over the strategy.

In 2013, after 13 years, I decided to leave and launch my own business after I realized that the stay would only be money and title. My faith played an important role, showing me EY was not where I was supposed to be. Work on ey Entrepreneur of the year The prize – a global program that recognizes exceptional entrepreneurs – opened my eyes to how much I admired people who made jumps of faith, and I knew that I had to do the same.

However, my experience at EY has become rocket fuel. It gave me the grain, confidence and the game book to succeed in any professional arena.

After sold my fintech ardius startup in Gusto in 2021, I taken a sabbatical To redefine what “retirement” means for me. It is less the lack of work and more of doing what I like with the people who are close to my heart. I am now back to construction and investment, after having co -founded both Gumshoe Ventures and a new startup with my 15 -year -old son called admit, who helps rationalize the College admission process.

Here are the five largest lessons that I took with me of my time in Ey:

1. Take calculated risks

At EY, you are trained to identify risks. However, success follows from learning to identify opportunities and take advantage of it. You cannot succeed unless you are ready to get out of your comfort zone. Some of my proud moments came when I felt like I was Holding on the verge of failure.

This pressure pushed me to accomplish things that I did not think of being able, such as the launch and scaling of my fintech fintech entirely remotely at the height of the COVVI-19 pandemic. In the absence of meetings in person, we built the team, closed our seed tower, managed compliance and acquired, while sailing in a highly regulated space.

As an investorRisk identification helped me determine the best founders. Some people run towards risk and can see the opportunities that others do not do. We love the founders who take educated risks and want to solve very big problems, because it is the game changers.

2. Family first

I have seen too many colleagues miss birthdays, weddings and others Important milestones due to work. It is easy to get caught up in the bustle. Of course, I also had trouble with that. But friends come and go. Change of jobs. The family is forever. If you have no nearby family, build a community that feels like one and you present.

I do not regret missing specific events as much as I regret being physically present but of mentally verifying and thinking about work. Today I Prioritize the family First of all. I have been married to my wife for 20 years and I have four children. I create harmony by building a structure in my day, like committing to school departures, team sports and homework.

Over time, I stopped chasing “the balance between professional and private life” and I rather focused on “on”Harmony Work-life. “Some weeks are intense, others are lighter, and is ok. What matters most is to define coherent expectations, so your team and your loved ones know what to expect.

3. Rule 80/15/5

Ancient Senior partners at EY gave me this framework from the start: 80% of people will love you, 15% are undecided and 5% will not, no matter what you do or say. Focus on these 15% and try to win them. Do not forget to feed the 80%. But stop losing sleep on 5%.

It still affects me today. However, it improved when I get older, maybe because I still care but I don’t have as much time or energy to worry about what others think of me.

4. Read – It’s a superpower

Reading is the most underestimated key to success. I recommend “The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership“Or any book by John C. Maxwell. Like all John Maxwell’s books, I love this book because it is practical, timeless and grows with you as your leadership evolves. One of the first lessons that have remained me,” sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn “, which recommends failure as learning.

This state of mind has changed the situation with regard to venture capital and startups; When the “losses” are inevitable, to consider them as lessons instead of failures kept me resilient, curious and always by advancing.

Some of the most impactful laws for me include the law of the lid (your leadership capacity can limit the growth of your organization), the sacrifice law (you must abandon to increase) and the connection law (take the time to understand personal motivations before pushing your team to find out more).

5. Be adaptable

In Ey, we had this theory called chaos theory: in chaos, there is order. We were trained to see chaos and live there. It meant staying calm and stifled, and learning to pivot quickly. Over time, this state of mind strengthens muscle memory.

Startups work in the same way; They are unpredictable. The markets change, but the best founders know How to adapt. Investors see it too. We do not seek perfection; We are looking for people who learn, adapt and pivets.

Waiting for perfect conditions slows you down. The best goal is precision. The best leaders make intelligent and timely decisions with the data they have and know that they can adapt quickly.

I remain in contact with Big Four accounting firms. They all know that we are in the early stages of a Arms racing AI It’s already Redefine the way they workwho they hire and how they earn money. Companies will not say it (yet), but the entry -level roles are quietly Replaced by AI. The demand moves to experienced talents in technology – data scientists, AI engineers and consultants that can manage robots as easily as customers.

Companies that win will not only use AI; They will have to build around him. The future of professional services is not human vs machine; It is a human machine. As such, the Big Four run to understand the formula and which will get there first.

EY representatives did not respond to requests for comments.

Do you have a story to share on work in the four big ones? Contact this publisher, Jane Zhang, at janezhang@businessinsider.com.