Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

How did Precursor Ventures Managing Partner Charles Hudson find his passion for teaching?

18 Oct 2022 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, Charles Hudson recounts how he unexpectedly began teaching at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). He was first invited by Fern Mandelbaum, the creator of the Entrepreneurial Design Program (EDP), to be a guest speaker in her class without any preparation. The following year, Mandelbaum asked him to observe the class as a second set of eyes. At the end of that quarter, she offered him a spot on the teaching team, outlining the workload involved. Although initially scared, Hudson felt honored and decided to join, and he is now entering his fourth year of teaching, returning each fall because he finds the experience rewarding.

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So I'm curious, how did you start teaching and what keeps you coming back each fall?
I never envisioned that they would trust me to be in front of a classroom at the GSB. It was a funny story. So I teach the class with Fern Mandelbaum. She started the class. She is the creator of EDP. And one year she's like, hey, do you wanna come be a speaker in my class? I'm like, what do I have to do? She's like, you have to come up and you have to just show up and speak. You don't have to present anything. You don't have to prepare anything. I was like, probably manage that. So I agreed to do it. The next year she's like, hey, you should come like hang out in the class, like observe. Like you don't have to teach, you don't have to do anything. Just like, I'd love to have like a second set of eyes. At the end of that quarter, she's like, I want you to join the teaching team. And here's how much work it is. And she like totally sold me and I was a little scared. And I was like, But this is like a cool experience. It's an honor to be able to teach. So I'm going into my 4th year teaching.