- OpenAI’s chairman Bret Taylor reveals he leans on the advice of former Google and Facebook executives on the value of embracing new opportunities in tech. Ditching the planned career path has worked well as he’s taken on roles like co-CEO at Salesforce and chair at Twitter: “Especially in Silicon Valley, there’s just unique moments, and you just have to be self-aware and aware of the market.”
There’s no perfect playbook for navigating the frenzy of Silicon Valley.
But one tried-and-true method is simply listening to the advice of those who have already found success—something Bret Taylor, now chairman of OpenAI and cofounder of Sierra, has embraced throughout his career.
One of the most valuable pieces of advice Taylor learned came from what the former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt told former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, the OpenAI leader recently said on the Grit podcast.
“If someone offers you a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat,” Taylor recalled of Sandberg’s 2012 commencement address to Harvard Business School graduates.
“I do think, especially in Silicon Valley, there’s just unique moments, and you just have to be self-aware and aware of the market,” he added.
Opting to be flexible, rather than rigid, in one’s personal and professional lives will not only provide happiness, it’ll also lead to a career upgrade, according to Taylor. For him, that’s translated to résumé lines like being the CTO of Facebook, chair of Twitter, and co-CEO of Salesforce.
“Most of the unhappiest people I know are rigidly following a plan and not observant of their own happiness or observant of the opportunities around them,” Taylor said.
Be human, and be realistic, former Silicon Valley CEO says
At just 44 years old, Taylor already has a long history in Silicon Valley, having served in leadership of over a half-dozen tech companies. But on top of being nimble, he said, being grounded in his career has also been critical to navigating tough situations, like being a leader during Twitter’s sale to Elon Musk.
“I’m good in a foxhole,” he said to the Grit podcast host, Joubin Mirzadegan. “I don’t freak out… What I try to do is, take a breath, take a step back, analyze the situation, and say, ‘What’s the most important thing I can do right now?’”
Taking a top-down view of a situation can not only help resolve the feeling of being overwhelmed, but also regulate negative emotions that can easily creep up on leaders in running a business, like impostor syndrome.
“I don’t pretend I’m immune to emotions or something like that, but my experiences have developed the calluses that you need to deal with these complex situations and not freak the cows,” Taylor continued.
But overall, being successful takes hard work and thinking outside of the box to solve the world’s most pressing issues—a lesson Taylor said he learned from the computer science pioneer Alan Kay, who led technological advancements at Xerox.
“There’s this Alan Kay quote: ‘The best way to predict the future is to invent it,’” Taylor said. “And that is like my operating principle, and I want to impact the future, and I want to help invent it. I think the idea of sitting on the sidelines and drinking a Mai Tai at a beach doesn’t give me joy at all.”
