Meet Luke Brickman, the Tech-Start-Up Enthusiast Making His Mark
by Amir Bakian / Partner content from Ascend
“Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” – Roy Bennett
Startups were previously considered a new form of IT enterprise. However, with tech becoming more prevalent in almost every industry, startups are essentially defined by their capacity to innovate, scale, and expand. So even when a company addresses a non-tech problem, technology is at the core of almost every tech-enabled company’s response and a fundamental aspect that sets a startup apart from its competitors.
At 19, Luke Brickman is already establishing his presence as one of the top entrepreneurs to watch out for in the tech-start-up sector. The passionate entrepreneur is known as the youngest hire in Twilio history. Twilio is an American company based in San Francisco, California. It provides programmable communication tools for making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, and performing other communication functions using its web service APIs.
Luke plays the sales development representative role, a position he has proved to be equal to the task. At Twilio, Luke has never missed a quota and has always been a top performer. His performance track record stretches back to when he worked as a recruiter for an ed-tech startup, where he recruited notable talent to be part of the then engineering team. He has carried forward the same spirit and devotion, evident in the milestones he is marking in the tech-start-up space.
By being born into an enterprising family, Luke grew up with a passion for business. He was always interested in the business realm and aspired to build his own empire as a child. Luke did not want to pursue the same road as his friends, as he had mapped out a set business path. He was inspired by a desire to think outside of the box and create something original.
Luke spent most of his free time learning from his mentors and parents to better grasp the entrepreneurial process. His parents raised a seed round for their firm during his final year of high school, one of his most notable anecdotes. Luke became entangled in the process, leaving him less time to concentrate on his studies.
As a result, he almost failed his final exams because he stayed up until 4 am helping his parents craft their pitch decks in front of some major investor meetings, leaving him with little chance to study. However, his efforts paid off, and they successfully raised $1.5M, a significant achievement.
“I never went to college. I was accepted into a few colleges but decided to pursue a career in tech sales. I applied and persuaded the hiring manager at Twilio to hire me without a degree. I’m now one of their top performers,” says Luke.
Some of the biggest challenges Luke faced were when he was still discovering himself during his high-school years. He was constantly distracted by the real world and just wanted to skip to being an adult. His hard work and dedication have seen him overcome this and many other challenges to find his way to success.
Luke’s advice is to never give up on something you want; you can always find a way. Don’t fear failing, but fear not trying.