San Diego Mentor Connection

Shaan tells a story about a chance encounter with a successful businessman in San Diego that changed his perspective on entrepreneurship.

"Once upon a time, my dad was supposed to go to this meeting in San Diego and said I should come with him. I was a college kid at the time. My dad's flight got canceled, but he told me to go do the meeting anyway.

I meet this guy Neil Senturia who comes in as this ball of energy and charisma. He walks in 25 minutes late and immediately says, 'Get out your pen, write this down: if you have great customer service, you can run the world.'

This guy had an incredible career - he built a skyscraper in San Diego, wrote scripts for Hollywood films, started tech companies during the internet boom, married the woman who started 1-800-Flowers. He even invested in Chegg after bumping into someone in an elevator.

He took me to this restaurant where they had a special table for him with a paper tablecloth. He would draw diagrams and cut deals at this table. They would just bring out loads of food, and he'd walk away without having to pay.

On the way out, he handed me his book with a note in it. I read it cover to cover on the plane ride home. That's when I realized a book could be a tool to convert people into believers and fans of what you do.

I never talked to him again. He's still in San Diego, guest teaches at some school there, and has this mega mansion on the top of the hill. But that one day changed my perspective on what being an entrepreneur could look like - that it could be cool and have variety, and I didn't have to choose just one thing."