Guest post by Tuan Pham, Silicon Valley Bank

Tuan_PhamI’ve dabbled in blogs here and there, but never consistent enough, to make my presence meaningful. The reason is on certain things, I tend to be a perfectionist – (I’ve always wanted to perfect my jump shot and the sky hook, random thought) and have always wanted to deliver the right things at the right time. I should’ve known better -> minimum viable product.

Well for my first post, I’d like to share with you a huge win I’m proud of in every single way. SVB recently extended a summer internship offer (thanks Pamela for pushing this!) to a graduating senior at University of Massachusetts Boston management school. That student has impeccable work ethic and credentials. In addition to having an internship with a top financial institution, he paid his own way through Uni by way of working almost full-time at a restaurant while simultaneously taking on a full course-load. I’m not in a position to make a direct hire, but given the choice, I’d choose this student any day. In our startup world, he hustles and executes with no excuses.

I’m proud because most students at UMB, by necessity, have to work to pay their own way for school. There’s a unique kind of toughness to that, that like other characteristics, deserves admiration and respect.

I’m proud because SVB found a great candidate from UMB (and also 5 other students) who deserved this opportunity; one that from personal experience will allow them to work with great people and make a positive impact on their growth.

Finally, this student took a bet on SVB. He is a graduating senior who would’ve received a full-time offer elsewhere. Working with startups and founders, I can relate to making bets on what you think is right (of course, failures are accepted). Thanks for making a bet on us. You won’t find a more supportive team at SVB. On top of that, its going to be our mission to make sure you succeed and make this an awesome learning opportunity – one I’m privileged to be a part of on a daily basis.

I should thank Dan (http://danallred.tumblr.com/) for pushing me to share my thoughts regardless of how imperfect I think it is, and Jeff (@jiffylu) for introducing me to Mark Suster’s post, “Whose Life are You Going to Change?” (@msuster) that have affected me in profound ways and helped articulate the human purpose to my work at SVB.

Here’s to more thoughts and your comments. -TP

Tuan Pham is with the Accelerator Group, Early Stage Technology at Silicon Valley Bank. He is a graduate of UMass Boston. You can find this post, as well as additional content on his blog “living, learning, and laughing.”