Entrepreneurship is a lot like playing basketball. The nerves going into a pitch meeting are similar to the nerves going into a big game; there’s performance pressure, and while you can grind to get ready, you can’t grind through a pitch or the plays on a court. It’s essential to practice, to believe in yourself, and to be resilient. If you have that strong base, you’re going to be able to draw from it for anything from a championship game to a high-stakes pitch meeting.
Troy Ruths (BS ‘08) didn’t set out to pursue a career in entrepreneurship, but as the Founder and CEO of Petro AI, he constantly draws from the lessons he learned during his college years on the court. In 2008, Ruths led the WashU men’s basketball team to their first Division III national championship victory, an accomplishment that ranks at the top of an extraordinarily successful college career. He was the first student-athlete in University history to win an Academic All-America honor. He is also among the top players in program history, ranking second in all-time scoring (1,801 points), field goals (672) and free throws (457) made. He is fourth in rebounds (709) and fifth in blocks (137) and games played (109). In 2016, Ruths was inducted into the WashU Sports Hall of Fame.
After graduating as valedictorian of his class with a degree from the McKelvey School of Engineering, Ruths considered moving abroad to continue his basketball career, but instead decided to attend graduate school at Rice University. His WashU engineering degree and PhD in Computer Science led to a job at Chevron, but he knew data science and AI were going to be the future, so he began Petro AI as a consulting shop. In 2018, after a Series A funding round, he began focusing on shale and expanded the company into an applied AI lab for rock physics and reservoir dynamics. As he has grown Petro AI, Ruths draws from two of the biggest lessons he learned on the basketball court: to do anything in life, you’re going to need a team; and you can’t give up.
He first learned these lessons during his senior year after teammate Sean Wallis was injured six games into the season, and the team had to completely restructure and find their stride again. He credits his teammates for stepping up and filling the void Wallis left in the lineup. The Bears’ next hurdle came when they didn’t win the regular season and entered the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid. But despite a number eight ranking, the Bears came from behind to win it all. Ruths views entrepreneurship to be similar to competing in athletics and credits his WashU basketball career for his ability to remain clear-headed in high-pressure situations.
“I think the biggest thing is you just can’t give up, and you can’t be intimidated,” said Ruths. “There are a lot of smart people and a lot of talent. On the basketball court, there’s always going to be someone who intimidates you with their size or skill. In entrepreneurship, there’s always another person who you think has it all figured out, and you’re intimidated by it. But I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that you have to have a strong relationship with who you are and who you want to be. If you have that, you can rebuild from any setback,” which is exactly what the 2008 Bears did.
“As an entrepreneur, you’re a leader, whether you want to be or not,” remarked Ruths. “You’re in a position of leadership for your employees, your investors, and your family. You may not want it, but it’s a mantle you take on in that role.” As the only starting senior on the championship team, he realized these leadership lessons early and has carried them into building Petro AI.
Ruths knows that as a leader, you need to keep things moving forward, whether you’re fighting for a championship win or the next big breakthrough at your startup. “There can be so much friction in every single gear, and then all of a sudden, they just start working. And you’ll enjoy it, but then you’ll get focused on the next sticky part, and you’ll want to scrap it all, and the cycle starts over!”