Loujaine AlMoallim (MBA ’24) interviews Julia Austin, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, about her personal journey, her time at HBS, and her advice for HBS leaders.
Can you briefly tell us about your journey that got you to where you are today?
I was raised just outside of Boston by a civil engineer and science fiction nut father who taught me BASIC coding at the age of eight. I had no idea that at the time that it was novel to be a girl learning to code at my age in 1974. Despite my father’s best efforts to push me to get a business degree in undergrad, I ended up getting a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art. In addition to taking painting and drawing classes, I also took graphic design and Computer Aided Design (CAD) which, back then, required us to use the BASIC programming language to create simple images on IBM mainframe computers! I loved that my interest in art could be combined with technology and decided to try to find a job in that field after college.
The first half of my career, I focused on deepening my understanding of technology and business. I worked for a small trade association with six employees that had developed software for its members. It was like a startup; I got to do help desk support, crawl around on floors installing ethernet cables, and fly all over the country to conduct training sessions (my first teaching gigs!). I also worked with our contract engineers to debug programs and develop new features. I loved it and the experience validated that working in the field of technology was a career path I could enjoy. So, I decided to go to graduate school to hone my programming and leadership skills.
I graduated from Boston University with an MS in Management Information Systems which was an emergent field at the time. There were only 26 students in my program (and I was our class president!). From there, I worked in the IT department as an Applications Analyst (effectively, a product manager) at New England Medical Center, then I went to Coopers & Lybrand as a technology consultant to refine my business acumen, and then Partners Healthcare System which was essentially a startup formed as a result of the merger of two of the largest hospitals in the world – Massachusetts General and Brigham & Womens Hospitals. All of these roles allowed me to further develop my skills as a technology leader which not only included learning how to transform organizations with technology, but how to build and lead teams.
In 1999, I took a pivotal turn in my career where I dove deep into startup land and joined Akamai Technologies. It was a tough transition to work in a scrappy organization with little structure and a lot of ambiguity, but I loved it and never looked back. I went on to be a technology leader in the startup space for another two decades. I was an early employee at three successful startups, first Akamai and then VMware and DigitalOcean – all of which have gone public. I loved everything about bringing a founder’s vision to life and working alongside brilliant people to deliver products that delighted our customers. I was also very lucky to work with founders that valued their employees and created diverse and inclusive cultures that allowed me to raise three amazing daughters while I pursued my career as a single mom.
In 2015, I was lucky to be introduced to Professor Tom Eisenmann who invited me to become an Executive In Residence in the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at HBS. I then joined the faculty in 2016 to teach a product management course Prof. Eisenmann had created. In 2021, I created the course Startup Operations for the growing number of MBA students starting ventures while in graduate school. I continue to teach that course as well as the Startup Operations Studio course in the spring and the Startup Toolkit which is a Short Intensive Program in January. In addition to my responsibilities at HBS, I am a professionally certified executive coach working exclusively with startup founders, an advisor and board director for several startups, an angel investor, and a founder of a non-profit for founders who identify as women called Good For Her. Needless to say, while no longer an operator at a business any more, I am not bored!
How has your teaching experience been at HBS so far? What do you like most about the classroom experience?
I am in my ninth academic year at HBS and it has been an incredible journey – both in terms of professional growth, and at a personal level, having touched the lives of so many amazing students. My courses are all experiential which allows students to apply concepts to real world situations, namely their own ventures. It is incredibly gratifying when students are able to understand how concepts we discuss in class can actually impact their ability to lead and grow their own businesses. It also benefits our students aspiring to join a startup or create their own someday and for those thinking about going into venture capital. By working with founders of real companies in a learning environment, these students are as prepared to pursue these paths as the founders they work with in the course. There is nothing like hearing from alumni who share how they continue to apply my course’s concepts in their roles. Knowing that what we teach offers tangible value beyond the classroom is priceless to educators.
Your classes focus on startups and their operations. Could you give us a summary of the importance of this area of knowledge?
In the early stages of building a company, founders are often thinking about finding a hammer to hit a nail rather than taking a more holistic view of what their operating business will look like months or years from now. It can be so much easier to focus on what's right in front of them when the big picture can be a daunting, and even potentially paralyzing, concept. Despite what they may portray as “crushing it” to the outside world, most early founders are filled with doubt, imposter syndrome, and fear that their idea sucks or that they may not have the ability to run a business and lead a team. They also struggle with balancing their many “hats” as leaders and instead of handling the sometimes mundane things like finance, legal, and other operational duties, they tend to lean towards tasks that give them comfort because these tasks have to get done, the founder wants to do them, and they’re good at them. “I have no idea where we’re going and how to operationalize this business, but I know how to and love building stuff so that’s what I am going to do!”. This can be a great vibe when raising capital early on and investors want evidence that a founder is not afraid to get their hands dirty. But those same investors will be on these founders' backs soon enough if they haven’t stepped up and created a productive business. This is what my course aims to get ahead of – preparing students for the day to day operations that could kill their business if they don’t get it right. The learning objective is for students in the course not only to be aware of these operational duties, but to feel equipped to handle them as their businesses grow.
What recommendations would you give current and future HBS leaders when it comes to advising and mentoring in their position?
First and foremost, do not underestimate the fundamentals of your business. You can have a great product and lots of capital in the bank, but execution with a great team is what will determine if your business succeeds and fails. Second, everyone’s version of success is different. Make sure you are clear about why you are starting a new venture and what a great outcome would look like for you. Finally, if you have co-founders, share your definition of success with each other and be sure you have alignment. Once aligned, it’s a lot easier to consider how you will operate and scale your venture. I’ve seen so many new ventures fail because this basic alignment and operational considerations were not tackled up front. Take the time to have these conversations before you test a single idea and definitely before you raise capital and have other stakeholders involved in that potential for success.
Throughout your journey, what is the greatest lesson that you believe you learned and what is one piece of advice you would give people reading this?
I’ve learned many lessons, so it’s hard to just pick one! From a professional perspective, I learned that as long as I am learning new things and working with highly skilled people who are also good humans, anything is possible. On a personal level, no matter how much I’m learning and how much fun I am having fun at work, my family and friends are my first priority. To that end, my advice is to stay true to what you love to do and never compromise your core values. Even early in your career, when you may have less choices, ask yourself if the next opportunity will teach you something and/or allow you to hone a skill. Finally, be comfortable with the fact that careers are nonlinear. There will be twists and turns, unexpected events, and life challenges. It may not always be easy, but if you are learning and hanging with good people, it’s likely the journey will result in a gratifying experience (and hopefully a lot of fun)!
Loujaine (MBA ’24) is a Saudi Arabian who spent most of her formative years in Canada. After completing her undergraduate degree at McGill University majoring in International Management, she moved back to Saudi Arabia and worked in Consulting.
Julia Austin is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship where she currently teaches Startup Operations. Julia is also a certified executive coach, board member, startup advisor, and angel investor as well as the founder of Good For Her, a non-profit community for women founders that fosters their growth as they navigate their entrepreneurial journeys.