has been working for money management firms for the last 15 years.
Before starting up his own venture
capital firm, Foster Bridge Partners,
Kilbride experienced what most head
coaches experience at one point or another ― he was fired from his job.
That prompted him to put some
thoughts down on paper for a magazine article which eventually was expanded into a book ― "A Man's Guide
to Getting Fired" ― that was published
in 2011.
"I had either been let go or left (on
his own) or fired from a number of
different jobs," he said. "In '09, there
were a lot of guys that were getting
laid off and losing their jobs.
"I thought I had some pretty good
advice from a lot of good people on
how to get through that period in my
life and it turned out to be one of the
greatest things to ever happen to me."
So he decided to share with others.
"It was really cathartic," he said.
While he was writing the book, it
was inevitable that it would happen,
too.
Kilbride got fired.
But he has always bounced back.
"The biggest thing you have to do is
reflect on what happened and why it
happened," Kilbride said, "and then
you really have to look inward, 'Ok, what are my
strengths? What are my weaknesses?'
"You have to take some time to be with family
and friends and try to distance yourself from the
layoff or getting fired. And you have to be as positive as you can every day about every little thing."
Like a fundamentally-sound basketball player,
you also have to finish at the rim.
"You have to get back out there," Kilbride said,
"and do what you're good at."
Not only do you have to get back out there, he
preached, but you have to give back. So that's what
he's planning on doing by endowing a scholarship
Getting the boot led Kilbride to write
his book on getting fired — and start
his own venture capital firm.
for the UW men's basketball program.
"I attribute a lot of what I learned in life from
my time at Wisconsin," he said. "I'm really excited
about giving back to the university because it has
given me so much."
Kilbride still has flashbacks to 1993 and the 1994
NCAA tournament exposure.
"It means a lot to me," he said, "and I think about
the guys a lot."
Moreover, he noted, "There are a lot of situations ― with work or family or with life in general ―
where I can apply all the lessons I learned from that
season and the Wisconsin basketball program.''
A Killer thought, if there ever was one.
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