I am currently on a gap year in Nashville, TN. Being in this city inspired me to network virtually to find Brown graduates and that’s how I met Eric Reuthe–a tech and business consultant running his own company. Eric inspires me with the control he has over his career and life, embarking on adventures such as taking a year off of working and living solely off his stock. He also went from self-employed to Vice President at a quantum computing company in the blink of an eye! I wanted to share some of his advice through an interview because I know a lot of us are just starting to get a grasp of what we want in the future.
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How did you choose Brown?
It has always had a great reputation and I had a couple of relatives that had graduated from Brown and loved it. I was also a rower in high school and wanted to be at a school that had a very competitive rowing program.
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What’s a memorable experience from your time at Brown?
I don’t think you could publish that, but one of my most memorable academic experiences was a metaphysics and epistemology seminar with Roderick Chisholm and how much excellent debate there was on some very specific questions that forced you to reconsider some fundamental assumptions about logic.
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What did you major in and what did you pursue after Brown and why?
I was a Philosophy major but can say that I probably had the equivalent of minors in History, Biology, and Economics. I came close to pursuing a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science and that looked at doing a post-bacc and applying to medical school after working in the medical device industry for a few years. Ultimately, I decided to study Applied Computer Science.
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How did you know tech was right for you?
I knew tech was right for me because I loved immersing myself in it and working on projects and designing solutions. Staying current with technology was more of a passion than a vocation. I love the work that I do and it always felt natural to do it. 6 years after Brown I started my first tech company.
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What is your current position and job?
My current role is the VP of Engineering for Zapata Computing, a Quantum Computing software startup. I just started this year after being an independent consultant for over 7 years, as it was an opportunity to work with a lot of extremely talented and intelligent people in a collaborative setting.
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Any advice for undergrads at Brown right now?
Work hard, but pursue ideas and activities that feel less like work than others; play off your strengths. Don’t be attached to outcomes–you may end up in a place you least expect, but it may be the best place for you.
You can find Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericreuthe/