This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Joshua Lee, a 45-year-old serial entrepreneur and venture partner in Brea, California, who started his career at EY (then called Ernst & Young). The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I graduated from UCLA in June 2000 with a degree in business economics and a minor in accounting.
My accounting minor led to unexpected opportunities. I spent a lot of time with professors who advised me to apply for companies recruiting on campus, which included Ernst & Young (EY).
But the real inspiration came from my uncle Jack. After my father passed away when I was young, Uncle Jack stepped in as a father figure. He worked at BDO Global and encouraged me to speak with consultants and shadow his colleagues so I could decide for myself if the Big Four path was right for me.
It was — EY turned out to be the best place to launch my career
Working there came with the good, the bad, and the ugly. The learning curve was steep, but the personal growth was exponential. I’d walk into rooms feeling like the least experienced person there and walk out knowing I brought real value. My confidence built with each client and project.
Another highlight was the people. I formed deep bonds of friendship and camaraderie in the trenches — dealing with impossible due dates and late nights, and surviving board meetings that go off the rails. I’m still friends with my classmates from my first year at EY, and my colleagues from over 12 years ago.
But burnout is real. The long hours, tight deadlines, and constant pressure to perform can drain you if you don’t set firm boundaries to protect your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. And like any large organization, the politics and bureaucracy can be draining. At the end of the day, it’s an accounting firm run by accountants. Metrics often win out over strategy.
In 2013, after 13 years, I decided to quit and launch my own business after I realized staying would only be about the money and title. My faith played a significant role, showing me EY wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Working on the EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award — a global program that recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs — opened my eyes to how much I admired people who took leaps of faith, and I knew I had to do the same.
Still, my experience at EY became rocket fuel. It gave me the grit, confidence, and the playbook to succeed in any professional arena.
After selling my fintech startup Ardius to Gusto in 2021, I took a sabbatical to redefine what “retirement” means to me. It’s less about the absence of work and more about doing what I love with people I care about. I’m now back to building and investing, having co-founded both Gumshoe Ventures and a new startup with my 15-year-old son called Admisio, which helps streamline the college admissions process.
Here are the five biggest lessons I took with me from my time at EY:
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1. Take calculated risks
At EY, you’re trained to identify risk. However, success stems from learning to identify opportunities and capitalize on them. You can’t succeed unless you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone. Some of my proudest moments came when I felt like I was teetering on the edge of failure.
That pressure pushed me to accomplish things I didn’t think I could, such as launching and scaling my fintech startup entirely remotely during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With no in-person meetings, we built the team, closed our seed round, managed compliance, and got acquired, all while navigating a highly regulated space.
As an investor, identifying risk has helped me determine the best founders. Some people run toward risk and can see the opportunities that others don’t. We love founders who take educated risks and want to solve really big problems, because these are the game changers.
2. Family first
I’ve seen too many colleagues miss birthdays, weddings, and other significant milestones due to work. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle. Of course, I struggled with this as well. But friends come and go. Jobs change. Family is forever. If you don’t have close family nearby, build a community that feels like one and show up for them.
I don’t regret missing specific events as much as I regret being physically present but mentally checked out and thinking about work. Today, I prioritize family first. I’ve been married to my wife for 20 years, and have four kids. I create harmony by building structure into my day, like committing to school drop-offs, team sports, and homework.
Over time, I stopped chasing “work-life balance” and instead focused on “work-life harmony.” Some weeks are intense, others are lighter, and that’s OK. What matters most is setting consistent expectations so both your team and your loved ones know what to expect from you.
3. The 80/15/5 rule
Former senior partners at EY gave me this framework early on: 80% of people will love you, 15% are undecided, and 5% just won’t, no matter what you do or say. Focus on that 15% and try to win them over. Don’t forget to nurture the 80%. But stop losing sleep over the 5%.
It still affects me today. However, it’s gotten better as I get older, perhaps because I still care but don’t have as much time or energy to worry about what others think about me.
4. Read — it’s a superpower
Reading is the single most underrated key to success. I recommend “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” or any book by John C. Maxwell. Like all of John Maxwell’s books, I love this book because it’s practical, timeless, and grows with you as your leadership evolves. One of the first lessons that stuck with me was, “Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn,” which reframes failure as learning.
This mindset was a game changer when it came to venture capital and startups; where “losses” are inevitable, viewing them as lessons instead of failures has kept me resilient, curious, and always moving forward.
Some of the most impactful laws for me include the Law of the Lid (your leadership ability can limit your organization’s growth), the Law of Sacrifice (you have to give up to go up), and the Law of Connection (take time to understand personal motivations before pushing your team for more).
5. Be adaptable
At EY, we had this theory called the chaos theory: in chaos, there is order. We were trained to see the chaos and live in it. That meant staying calm and level-headed, and learning how to pivot quickly. Over time, that mindset builds muscle memory.
Startups operate the same way; they’re unpredictable. Markets shift, but the best founders know how to adapt. Investors see it too. We’re not looking for perfection; we’re looking for people who learn, adapt, and pivot.
Waiting for perfect conditions slows you down. The better aim is precision. The best leaders make smart, timely decisions with the data they have, and know they can adjust quickly.
I keep in touch with partners from Big Four accounting firms. They all know we’re in the early stages of an AI arms race that’s already redefining how they work, who they hire, and how they make money. The firms won’t say it outright (yet), but entry-level roles are quietly being replaced by AI. The demand is shifting toward tech-savvy talent — data scientists, AI engineers, and consultants who can manage bots as easily as clients.
The firms that win won’t just use AI; they’ll have to build around it. The future of professional services isn’t human vs. machine; it’s human plus machine. As such, the Big Four are racing to figure out the formula and who will get there first.
EY representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Do you have a story to share about working in the Big Four? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at [email protected].
