As some Gen Z graduates find themselves iced out of the job market, millions have slipped into so-called “NEET” status (not in employment, education, or training), unclear as to when their careers will finally be able to take off. For Roblox CEO David Baszucki, that sense of professional drift is familiar.
Although today he helms the $60 billion video game platform—and has a $5 billion net worth to go with it—when he graduated from Stanford University in 1985, he said his career prospects were anything but clear.
Like today’s aspiring professionals, it was tempting for him to lean on the advice of mentors, professors, or friends to figure out how to jumpstart his career. But Baszucki warns that mindset could lead you worse off. In fact, looking back, the best advice he ever received was to actually stop overvaluing what others think.
“A lot of my development has been trying to over time ignore advice I’ve been given,” Baszucki recalled to students at his alma mater. Instead, when you’re having a rough time, listen when people say “‘trust your gut.’”
Baszucki went from lost window cleaner to billionaire tech leader
