Navigating a Successful Tech Career: Understanding the Tradeoffs of Each Decision

Abstract

If at first you don’t succeed, fail fast — and learn from your mistakes. Drew will share lessons learned from more than two decades in Silicon Valley, marked by bold ideas and spectacular failures. He later applied those lessons to help European startups enter the global marketplace — this time avoiding many of the pitfalls he encountered early in his career.

This talk offers candid insights into the realities of innovation, risk and resilience — and how failure, when embraced thoughtfully, can shape a smarter path forward.

Speaker Bio

Drew Banks is a seasoned tech entrepreneur and executive with a passion for visual communication, disruptive innovation, global hyper-growth, low bureaucracy and fast execution.

His nearly four-decade tech career began in 1982 as an intern at SAS Institute while he was a student at NC State University, earning dual bachelor’s degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. After graduation — and a two-year detour in New York City exploring the performing arts — Banks earned his MBA from MIT Sloan and moved to San Francisco, where he has lived for more than 30 years.

In Silicon Valley, Banks has done it all — from leading teams at large companies to launching startups. A self-proclaimed accidental entrepreneur, he founded a startup that failed, and now uses the lessons he learned to advise others on how to grow, fund and exit successfully. He is especially drawn to early-stage European companies with global potential. His work with Prezi and Drops are strong examples of this profile.

With a broad and unconventional career, Banks brings a unique perspective on how to build a career that stays engaging and true to your passions.

He is also a published author of four books — both business and fiction — and is currently working on his fifth, along with a screenplay.