Entrepreneurship Principles with Josh Schostak
MCMP’s Winter 2022 Summit concluded with Josh Schostak, Senior Associate of New Business Operations & Customer Experience at Compass.
Josh graduated from the University of Michigan in 2014 with a B.A. in Political Science and Government. The following year, he completed the Ross School of Business Masters of Management Program.
Josh’s post-grad career track started in the sales development program at E&J Gallo Winery, the largest wine company in the world. For two years, he sold wine to major retailers and chain restaurants. Josh told us that through this experience, he improved his interpersonal and sales skills through hands-on experience.
However, Josh wanted to move to New York, and he landed a job at VaynerMedia, a media consulting service focused on digital marketing. There, Josh had three roles: an Account Community Coordinator, a Brand Strategist, and an Account Executive.
After two years at VaynerMedia, Josh’s next step in his career path was working at Compass, a real estate technology platform. Compass created the first end-to-end real estate platform and is very customer-focused – Josh even called it customer-obsessed. Josh started out as a Marketing Associate at Compass in 2018. He climbed the ladder to become a Senior Marketing Associate in early 2021, and in January 2022, he took the role of Senior Associate of New Business Operations & Customer Experience.
Josh outlined Compass’s 8 Entrepreneurship Principles:
Dream big
Move fast
Learn from reality
Be solutions-driven
Obsessed about opportunity
Collaborate without ego
Maximize your strengths
Bounce back with passion
Josh emphasized that in your career, it’s important to be able to identify what you’re good at. He recognized that he was great at building relationships, project management, and finding solutions to people’s problems. This helped Josh hone in on the areas where he could best contribute.
Josh also told us lessons he’s learned throughout his post-grad journey:
Your career path isn’t always linear and that’s okay
Learn what you’re good at – agnostic of the subject matter
Be 50% better than the person next to you, but still be approachable and personable
Create relationships and rapport with coworkers in other departments
Work hard, be patient, and be a good person
Find a mentor
Feedback is a gift
Be your own best advocate
In the Q&A portion of Josh’s presentation, he advised us to use our contacts and our network; they truly are invaluable. He also noted that the Sweetland Writing Center at the University of Michigan is extremely helpful, and suggested that students take advantage of it. Josh’s favorite parts of his job at Compass are helping to build a business within a business and being able to work within many different disciplines within the same company.
