#7 - How to Stand Out In Your Career with Benjamin Birnbaum
Jul 28, 2023
This week on Guyset: Ben Birnbaum (co-founder of two businesses Terawatt and Keyframe) talks about the importance of having a differentiated perspective in order to stand out in networking and in your job, his first position, not knowing what you want to do out of college, and his advice for getting started. He mentions that it took him seven months of bad business plans with his cofounders before they found success.
Even if you aren’t interested in what he does particularly, which I’ll admit is way out of my league, stay for his career advice, it’s really solid. We talk about when to know it’s time to leave a job, the importance of writing things down, goal setting, and so much more. His advice is tangible and accessible to anyone at any level.
How to Build a Million-Dollar Career in Your 20s: Lessons from a Serial Entrepreneur
Career advice from Ben Birnbaum, co-founder of billion-dollar companies Terawatt Infrastructure and Keyframe Capital
Building a successful career in your twenties feels overwhelming when you're competing against thousands of other college graduates for the same entry-level positions. But what if the secret isn't competing harder—it's competing differently?
Ben Birnbaum, who co-founded two companies including Terawatt Infrastructure (which raised $1 billion), shares the unconventional strategies that helped him build a multi-million dollar career by age 33. His approach challenges everything you've been told about climbing the corporate ladder.
The Power of Having a Differentiated Point of View
The biggest mistake most people make when networking or job hunting? They don't have anything unique to say.
"Saying, hey, I want to learn about what you do, or I want a job—neither of those things are differentiated points of view," Birnbaum explains. "If you have something different and specific to say, people want to have a conversation with you."
Instead of generic outreach, Birnbaum recommends developing expertise in a specific area that interests you, then reaching out to industry leaders with your unique perspective. When he was interested in education technology, he didn't just ask for informational interviews—he approached executives with specific insights about how technology was disrupting classroom learning.
Networking Strategies That Actually Work
Stop calling people. Birnbaum's preferred networking methods:
LinkedIn messages with specific, thoughtful content
Email outreach using tools like Rocket Reach (a free Chrome extension that finds contact information)
Short, respectful emails that demonstrate your differentiated point of view
Pro tip: It's easier to get responses from executives at companies being disrupted by technology than from Big Tech leaders who are overwhelmed with requests.
Why You Should Seek Out Chaos (And How to Do It)
One of Birnbaum's core philosophies is "seeking out chaos"—deliberately choosing industries and roles experiencing rapid change. Here's why this strategy works:
1. Change Levels the Playing Field
"In periods of rapid change, judgment, grit, creativity, and humility punch above their weight," Birnbaum notes. When industries are transforming, experience in the old way of doing things becomes less valuable than adaptability and fresh thinking.
2. Less Competition for Leadership
"Most people become desperate in chaotic situations—if you're willing to lean in, competition to lead is simply lower."
3. Change Creates Opportunity
"Novel jobs and new opportunities exist either to try to cause change or in response to it. When you go first, you write the new rules."
The "Principal vs. Client Services" Career Framework
After reading "Consulting Demons," Birnbaum made a crucial decision: he would never work in a role where he wasn't a "principal"—meaning he wanted ownership and control over outcomes, not just to serve clients or execute other people's strategies.
This framework helped him avoid traditional paths like consulting, law, or accounting in favor of roles where he could drive results and see projects through to completion.
Ask yourself: In your current role or job search, are you looking for principal roles or client services roles? The distinction can dramatically impact your career satisfaction and growth potential.
The Seven-Month Strategy: How to Find Your Direction When You're Lost
Feeling lost about your career direction? Birnbaum and his co-founders spent seven months creating business plans they never pursued before landing on their billion-dollar idea. Here's his process:
Start With What You Have
"Write down what you do have and don't be shy about getting out in the world and pitching it to people."
Focus on Industry Over Idea
"I think you need the right market and a good team—whatever you think your idea is when you're starting a business, that isn't very unlikely the actual business."
Iterate Through Conversations
They started with slides containing single words, not full business plans. Through dozens of meetings and conversations, they refined their understanding until people started saying "what you're saying makes sense."
Goal Setting That Actually Works
Birnbaum credits much of his success to obsessive goal setting. His system:
Set goals every six weeks (not annually or quarterly)
Limit to 2-3 big goals at a time
Use an accountability partner or coach
Review constantly—he keeps his goals open in browser tabs
Analyze failures: If you don't hit a goal, understand why
This system forces harder decisions and keeps him honest about progress toward what matters most.
When to Leave Your Job: Two Different Scenarios
Birnbaum has quit two jobs for very different reasons, offering a framework for knowing when it's time to move on:
Scenario 1: Diminishing Returns
At McGraw-Hill, he realized he'd learned most of what the role could teach him and wasn't positioned for significant advancement. The learning curve had flattened.
Scenario 2: Finding Your Focus
At MV Transit, the role remained challenging and interesting, but he became increasingly focused on electrification opportunities. He didn't leave because he was unhappy—he left because he found a more exciting way to tackle the problem he cared about most.
The key insight: Both scenarios involved honest self-assessment about growth and opportunity, not reactive decisions based on frustration.
The Reality Check: Success Isn't About Finding Your Passion
"It hasn't [all clicked] and I don't think that you should expect it to," Birnbaum says about finding his passion. "There are no perfect circumstances. I like a lot of the things I do, some of the stuff I have to do I don't enjoy at all."
His practical approach: If you can check 5-6 boxes out of 10 on your ideal job characteristics, "you're way ahead of a lot of people."
Key Takeaways for Your Career
Develop a differentiated point of view before networking or job searching
Seek out industries experiencing rapid change where competition for leadership is lower
Choose principal roles over client services when possible
Focus on big markets with big problems to solve
Set specific, short-term goals with accountability
Start with what you have rather than waiting for the perfect idea
Write everything down and test your ideas through conversations
The Bottom Line
Building a successful career in your twenties isn't about having all the answers—it's about asking better questions, positioning yourself strategically, and being willing to lean into uncertainty when others pull back.
As Birnbaum puts it: "When you go first, you write the new rules. What could be more rewarding?"
The path won't be linear, and you won't love every moment. But if you can develop differentiated expertise, seek out change, and stay focused on big problems worth solving, you'll be positioning yourself for opportunities that others miss.
About Guyset
This post is based on an episode from Guyset: A Guy's Guide to What Should Be Talked About - a weekly podcast for guys in their twenties navigating career decisions, relationships, and life's biggest questions. New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Listen and connect:
Email: josh@guyset.com
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube: @theguyset
Website: guyset.com
Have a question about career strategy or entrepreneurship? Submit it through the website or slide into the DMs.
Timestamps:
3:44 Interview starts
4:29 Ben talks about his first job experience
8:03 We talk networking tips
10:17 Ben talks about how he started his 2 companies
16:59 We talk about balancing life and work
19:26 We talk productivity hacks
21:46 We talk about finding your passion
26:13 We talk about not knowing what you want to do
29:52 We talk the importance of writing things down
30:27 We talk about how to know when its time to leave a position/ company
33:15 Ben’s advice for recent college grads
36:00 Ben shares his framework for goal setting
36:27 We talk about being a first mover
Thank you for listening!
Send in any questions, things you want me to talk about, or things that should be talked about for guys in their 20s to josh@guyset.com
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See you next Friday.
