Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/96436
alumni PETER JACKSON groupon ���Launch something, anything! Feel a sense of accomplishment not related to grades.��� 38 When Peter Jackson ���97 attended a talk about successful entrepreneurship at Northwestern University���s Kellogg School of Management in 2009, he had no idea that he would soon become part of one of this generation���s greatest Internet success stories. The speaker that day was Brad Keywell, a co-founder of Groupon, a website launched the previous year that offered local daily deals through group coupons. While Groupon had only just started on the path that would make it ���the fastestgrowing company ever,��� according to Forbes magazine, Keywell told an inspirational story about failure, creativity and taking risks. ���What impressed me most about Brad was his track record of understanding the pain in business processes and being able to build extremely successful companies around that pain,��� says Jackson. ���I knew this was a guy I could learn so much from.��� Within three weeks of cold-calling Keywell, Jackson signed on as an account representative at Groupon and was quickly promoted to divisional sales manager for the Midwest. He had no idea what the future would hold. ���All I knew was that we had already hired an incredible bunch of people ��� smart, funny, creative and innovative. It was an environment I knew I could thrive in.��� During the years since, in what Jackson calls a ���fantasy story,��� Groupon experienced one unprecedented success after another, growing to more than 70 million subscribers in 500 markets around the world. Today Jackson manages 30 salespeople across three states. The job involves grueling hours, intense schedules, innovative thinking and a sense of humor. He explains that communication, time management and strong salesmanship are the skills he relies on most. The ability to be creative in an extremely fast-paced environment has been one of the most challenging demands of his job, and one he has grown to appreciate. Latin Magazine ���Because of the uncharted territories Groupon has pioneered, we���ve created answers to questions that had never been asked before. It takes a ton of creativity to be able to do that at hyper-speed and see positive bottomline results.��� While a strong foundation in business has been invaluable for him, Jackson says non-traditional learning has been equally significant. After graduating from Latin, he went on to study economics at the University of Chicago and earn an MBA at Kellogg while working full-time. He credits his parents, Doris Jackson and Bernard Coachman, for the discipline and desire to continue his education while working. Jackson���s college and graduate school experiences provided him with an invaluable foundation of knowledge about human behaviors and business principles. However, he advises today���s students to also take advantage of the freedom and resources that are available to them in college, to take risks in a low-risk environment and to use their imagination. ���Launch something, anything! Feel a sense of accomplishment not related to grades. If nothing else, it may land you a job at a fastgrowing technology company.��� All joking aside, Jackson���s work with Groupon has given him a glimpse of the direction business will be moving in the future and the exciting opportunities that will be part of the landscape. ���Tomorrow���s most successful businesses, many of which don���t exist yet but will be household names five to seven years from now, will be nimble, fast-moving, creative problem solvers that will leave massive changes in their wake,��� Jackson says. ���Those businesses will need people who are starters, those who have a tolerance for ambiguity and those who vigorously hold onto those days in the sandbox, where anything was possible.��� ��� Evelyne Girardet