“That self-discipline and drive, the foresight and focus on accomplishing a goal larger than yourself and more important than quenching your thirst (literally and figuratively) is what drove me to succeed in boxing and what drives me now to succeed in sales and other positions I may have in the future."
– Mike Benedesso

Mike works in New Business Development at Google as part of Google Cloud. He started out at West Point, where he was the Boxing Team Captain and a National Champion. He served in the Army for five years: first as an Executive Officer (XO) of a Military Intelligence Company and then as a Platoon Leader and Team Captain of the Army Boxing Team in the Army's World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colorado. There, he trained to earn a spot on the 2012 US Olympic Boxing team. Since leaving the Army in 2012, he has worked at Sony, LinkedIn, Google, and earned his MBA from UCLA.The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Determination - Mike didn't get into Google until his third time;  he is a case study in persistence and he talks about how boxing and the military prepared him for this.
2. Sales & Account Management - Mike provides a great depiction of an Account Executive role, what the sales aspects of this actually look like. Mike had no experience in this role, and has a great description of what life is like and why other veterans may like this
3. Google & LinkedIn - Mike has worked at both of these iconic companies and provides a good overview of what life is like here

Our Sponsor:

• Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books

Selected Links

• LinkedIn
• Sales
  • The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
  • SPIN Selling
• Websites
  • TechCrunch
  • VentureBeat

Show Notes

• 2:16 - Mike's Background
• 3:00 - How Boxing helped Mike prepare for his civilian career
• 5:38 - When Mike decided to leave the military
• 7:00 - Mike's first job search
• 9:20 - An overview of Mike's experience at UCLA's Anderson School of Business getting his MBA
• 10:40 - What lead Mike to LinkedIn
• 13:38 - What Mike's role as an Enterprise Account Executive Role looked like
• 15:40 - Signs that veterans may enjoy an Account Executive Role and indications you might not enjoy it
• 18:34 - What led Mike to Google
• 20:22 - What Mike's day-to-day life looks like at Google
• 22:00 - Advice for veterans seeking to work at LinkedIn, Google, or a highly-desired company like them
• 27:00 - A mistake Mike made sense the military and what he learned from it
• 29:29 - What habits Mike has had to break from the military to be successful in his civilian career
• 31:49 - Final words of wisdom