McGuire Alumni 5 Questions | Adam Tank ('15)

Adam Tank (‘15) is a bowler, and he likes to think of his life as a game of bowling. The lane is his trajectory, the ball represents an action or series of actions he can take, the pins are the goals he’s aiming towards and the gutters, or “bumpers”, are the guiding principles that help him navigate his way. What does he do? He plays the best bowling game that he possibly can, by doing his best to work to help others live up to their full potential and working to better the planet for generations to come. In terms of his position as Director of Software Solutions at Transcend, he tries to reach out to one local entrepreneur each month who can help hold him accountable for personal growth. 

5 Questions with Adam Tank ('15)

Q. What is most surprising about being an entrepreneur? 

A.  How many people glorify the journey. It's really, really, damn hard. Elon Musk said it best: "Running a start-up is like chewing glass and staring into the abyss. After a while, you stop staring, but the glass chewing never ends." But for real entrepreneurs it's a ton of fun. And it's worth chewing a lot of glass.  

Q. What was the most important lesson you learned in the Entrepreneurship Program? 

A. The value of sales. Sell before you build. “If you build it they will come” does not apply to entrepreneurship. If you sell it, they will come.

Q. What impact has the Entrepreneurship Program had on your career or life? 

A. The value of sales. Sell before you build. “If you build it they will come” does not apply to entrepreneurship. If you sell it, they will come.

Fun Fact: “I was once offered 12 goats in exchange for a friend I was traveling with in Lesotho, South Africa.”

Q. What do you consider your biggest entrepreneurial success? 

A. Employing talented people and building solutions that address the world's most pressing societal challenge: water scarcity.

Q. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? 

A. Just do it.