After my last meeting with Jason, the product manager from a web analytics company, I felt a bit rudderless. Going into the meeting I thought that I had nailed down my desired job title which gave me a sense of direction in my job pursuit. However the more he talked about product management (specifically in the context of software) the less appealing it became.

This was a setback for sure, but not a deterrence to reaching my goal of working in San Francisco as part of a team helping developing fun products that would one day reach a storefront.

Lucky for me I knew a creative visionary living in San Francisco who I could call on to give me some perspective. Patrick is a force in the design world whose high profile clients include Daft Punk, Microsoft, HTC, Paper’s Fifty Three, and relevant to our background together, Chima Designs.

Patrick’s valuable advice was to get involved in some fun startups, learn a bunch, build a resume and a reputation and take this to any company or design firm in the city to land my dream job.

His words took a lot of pressure off of me to “make the leap” right away to the big leagues.