Alumni Voices: Going into Oil and Gas after Acton

“I chose Acton because it offered a ‘no fluff’ education in entrepreneurship. Acton focuses on teaching the fundamentals of planning, launching, growing, and ultimately selling a business.”

Given the critical role that energy plays in our society and economy, and the history of oil and gas in our home state of Texas, it’s not surprising that a number of our alumni have pursued entrepreneurial opportunities and careers in the industry. This not only includes the direct sourcing and funding of oil and gas production, but also the materials and conduits needed to transport it, data and resources to improve extraction, expertise for site preparation, and many other energy facets.

We recently caught up with three of our alumni, each having entered this critical industry in a different capacity. They shared their own unique perspectives on oil and gas, the larger energy industry, and how Acton has shaped their respective careers.

The Alumni

Patrick Collins (’05) is president and CEO of Cortez Resources, an oil and gas acquisition, exploration, and production company based in Dallas, Texas. The privately held firm focuses on early entry in developing unconventional oil and gas plays in the United States. The company and its founders have participated in some of the major oil and gas discoveries of the last decade, namely, the numerous shales that have been explored and developed throughout the country.

Chase Nall (’11) is account executive for Strategic Accounts with Drillinginfo, the most complete source of oil and gas information, data and tools in North American and offshore waters. In his sales role with the company, Chase is responsible for booking new business and maintaining existing business relationships. As part of his relationship management responsibility, he also ensures that his customers remain engaged and are extremely satisfied with the tools offered by Drillinginfo.

Austin Swift (’11) works full time as a landman, where he helps his oil and gas exploration clients navigate the complicated details associated with securing mineral and other rights in desired extraction sites. In this position, critical to securing new oil and gas production sites, Austin has responsibility for running due diligence on new land lease opportunities, working to cure any title defects that exist, administering new and existing land leases, and building and developing industry relationships with other operators.

On Choosing Acton…

Austin

I chose Acton because it offered a ‘no fluff’ education in entrepreneurship. Acton focuses on teaching the fundamentals of planning, launching, growing, and ultimately selling a business. The other programs that I considered were more focused on the periphery of entrepreneurship (such as finance, management, and the like) and the nebulous opportunity to network within their career placement offices. My goal was to prepare myself for starting a business and Acton was the clear choice.

Chase

I chose Acton because it provided me, the customer, with what I was looking for. It offered to teach me the tools that I was seeking that would one day enable me to run my own business. At the same time, it helped me make sure I wasn’t taking my eye off what is truly important: a life of meaning.

On Pursuing a Career in Oil and Gas…

Patrick

I grew up around oil and gas, but never thought that I’d be in it. After Acton I worked briefly in research for a hedge fund, for about six or seven months, when I came to consider energy. I realized that it offered a totally entrepreneurial opportunity, fitting perfectly with everything that I learned at Acton. It also presented a lot of flexibility. After working for a landman for a few years, I raised a fund in 2008. My company introduced a new iteration of the fund in 2010.

Chase

Oil and gas fell into my lap, actually. I took a job working as a senior business analyst for a mentor of mine, because I wanted to learn more about how to be an entrepreneur and run a business. At the time, I wasn’t focused on the industry. I just wanted to learn at a great company with great leadership. When I was hired, it was a very exciting time for DrillingInfo. I felt like I could jump in and make a difference at the company immediately. It wasn’t until several months in that I really became engaged with the oil and gas industry itself, as I learned more about it and developed a broader view of the world and energy’s impact on it.

Austin

I have always been interested in oil and gas. Acton’s process and frameworks for finding your calling confirmed my passion for this industry.

On Acton’s Influence on Their Careers…

Austin

I use the principles I learned in Acton almost every day. That may seem like hyperbole, but it is absolutely true. Lessons I took from the Sales, People, and Opportunity classes have helped me obtain leases and grow our business. Acton changed the course of my life, and I am thankful for it.

Chase

Acton has impacted my career in a number of ways, but there are two that stand above the rest. First, Acton taught me to ask questions—good questions, simple questions—that really get to the heart of the matter. In sales, you shouldn’t be doing the talking; you should be doing the listening. When you ask good questions, listening is easy.

Second, Acton gave me confidence. There have been many times where it would have been easier not to ask for a big sale, because asking someone for a lot of money can be a scary experience. At the end of the day though, success in life is defined by how we handle ourselves during those types of moments. If I survived Acton, I can survive asking a CEO for a large sale. Business is business. Nothing more.

Patrick

There are so many examples over the years. Really, when you’re running your own company, everything you learned at Acton is very helpful. I’m not even sure that it’s all apparent, because these practices become so ingrained, they’re part of how you operate … How to hire, train, evaluate, deal with investors … Everything is affected by my experience at Acton.

On Their Challenges and Motivations While at Acton …

Patrick

I was pretty good at math, but I had a liberal arts degree. The financial modeling was a challenge … it was a lot of work. Business in general was new to me and I was starting from scratch. But the classes and teachers were compelling, including Operations with Jack Long and People with Ed Perry. I also was really driven by the competitions we had throughout the year. I ran both of our teams in the first semester, and I got a lot out of those experiences.

Chase

The Cash & Valuation course was incredibly challenging for me. I was in class with a lot of very intelligent people, who were also very financially intelligent. I had never undergone any formal training in economics, other than an intro course in college. Every case that we studied in Cash & Val was a rigorous exercise for me. It was very frustrating to have so much trouble wrapping my head around why these different financial measures were important to me as an entrepreneur.

As for my most motivational moment—I’m not sure when it happened, but it was when I realized that I could ‘hang.’ I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I’m stubborn and very disciplined. When I realized that I could work extremely hard and that it would pay off in the classroom, then it became a simple formula. I knew what success looked like and was able to back into how much work it would take me to reach that success. Then, everything fell into place.

Austin

Although the program demands a lot from students, I found it most challenging to stay motivated to do every case with diligence. You get used to the schedule, but the appeal of cases drops off quickly after the first month, so you get tempted to slack off on certain cases. Accountability to not just yourself but to the other students is very important at Acton. Looking back, this is also a form of support that helped me remotivate myself when I was tired or didn’t want to keep on a case.

On New and Current Students Interested in Oil and Gas …

Austin

The only advice I can offer is a lesson that I learned after Acton. I use the lessons from People and Sales more than any other class in my business. While in school, I never thought these would be the classes that would have the greatest impact on me after Acton, so take every case seriously because you’ll be surprised at the lessons you learn and how you’ll use them later on.

Chase

The energy field, at large, is the most entrepreneurial industry that I have found. If you are interested in how it works, there are resources and people that are more than willing to help you. I have been amazed by the openness of the industry. Many respectable and regarded individuals have taken the time to speak with me and share their enthusiasm for the field. It really is amazing. Don’t be afraid of or put off by the energy industry—it is a great place to work and it is full of great people.

Patrick

It’s really an interesting time to be in the oil and gas business. There is a lot that it is happening right now and a lot of opportunity. But it’s also an unusual business to get started in.

Unlike in other industries, there is never a direct route into oil and gas when you’re holding a finance or business degree. If you didn’t also study geology or engineering, you can’t get into most of the public or large private companies. Instead, you just have to figure it out and make your own way into it. The best route is to become a landman or to go work for a private bank or equity group that’s investing in oil and gas.

Chase

I’d like to add that, for lack of a better word, the oil and gas industry is noble. No matter what we as people want to build, create, destroy, or alter, we need energy to do it. I didn’t realize this when I started working in oil and gas, but it’s the noblest thing I can think of. We are helping humanity to achieve greatness. There are a lot of different voices out there weighing in on oil and gas, and each of them speaks some grain of truth. Listen to them all. Do yourself a favor and learn about the industry before you start to make opinions or decisions. If you’re like me, it will genuinely surprise you.