Insights from Entrepreneur Noah Friedman (Questrom’17)

“For asymmetric outcomes, you need to take asymmetric action.”

That mindset has guided entrepreneur Noah Sanborn Friedman (Questrom’17) from his early days at Boston University to running his own venture fund and creating Uncharted, a thriving community for founders and innovators. His story proves that success rarely follows a straight line. Instead, it’s built on hard work, relentless curiosity, and a willingness to step into spaces where others might hesitate.

Say Yes, Then Figure It Out

At Questrom, Noah was always tinkering with ideas and reading TechCrunch. When he landed an internship at a startup and his supervisor was suddenly fired, most interns would have pulled back. Instead, Noah raised his hand: Can I report directly to the CEO?

The CEO agreed—and handed him a long list of deliverables. Noah worked long hours, asked countless questions, and delivered. By summer’s end, he was leading partnerships and strategy. Later, he pitched to keep working remotely during senior year, taking calls between classes.

The lesson? Don’t wait for the perfect role. When an opening appears, step in—even if you don’t yet know all the answers.

Resilience Through Setbacks

After graduation, Noah planned to join the smart home company full-time as chief of staff. But just as he was recovering from surgery, funding collapsed and the company shut down.

Rather than retreat, Noah accepted a new challenge: COO of an alcohol analytics startup at just 22. It was trial by fire—learning operations, raising capital, and managing people with no safety net. “I knew nothing about alcohol beyond being a college consumer,” he says. “But I said yes.”

That leap gave him credibility in venture capital and set the stage for what came next. When COVID hit, Noah co-founded a fund with a partner from AB InBev’s venture arm. Through persistence and storytelling, they raised $8M for their first fund, growing it into a $30M+ operation.

Setbacks aren’t endings—they’re detours. Failures can be first attempts in learning if you treat them that way.

Creating Opportunities Where None Exist

In 2021, investor Michael Loeb asked Noah how to reconnect young founders. Noah volunteered to host a dinner—and prepared like it was a performance. He memorized bios, planned the flow, and personally introduced every guest.

That first dinner drew heavy hitters like Gary Vaynerchuk. Soon, there were monthly dinners, Hamptons summits, and eventually Uncharted—a curated community of founders, investors, and visionaries.

“It’s not about cocktails and name tags,” Noah says. “It’s about putting the right people in the right room and structuring conversations intentionally. Being in the right room can change your life.”

Lessons for Questrom Students Today

Noah’s path underscores timeless lessons:

• Work harder than expected. Effort and follow-through matter more than being the “smartest person in the room.”
• Step into discomfort. Many of his biggest breaks came from roles he wasn’t “qualified” for.
• Fail forward. Every no was just fuel for the next opportunity.
• Leverage your strengths. His theater background turned into a superpower—storytelling, presence, improvisation—that now sets him apart in business.
• Use today’s tools. He urges students to master AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity—not just to make homework easier, but to accelerate learning and compounding growth.

The Bigger Picture

Noah often says: “The best founders, the best companies, are pretty hard to kill.” The same is true for people. Success comes to those who keep showing up, stay curious, and refuse to let setbacks define them.

So, how do you stand out?

By being brave enough to go where others won’t. By saying yes before you feel ready. By working relentlessly, failing forward, and remembering that even in uncharted territory, you can build something extraordinary.

Written by Dee Polat, ICF-PCC, Director of Alumni Engagement, and David Prabhu, PhD (Questrom MBA ’24).