Friday, May 1st
It's a beautiful Friday morning, and this one feels different.
Today I wrap up the final two-hour student presentations for our six Marketing project companies at Tufts: five have been completed during the week, and the last one is this afternoon. Thirteen weeks of real work, real companies, real stakes. Most of this semester's projects are for companies that Derby Management knows well, which makes watching these teams present both thrilling and humbling. And as always, what makes this process genuinely different from every other marketing course you've ever seen is this: the company's management decides 40% of each team's final grade. Not me. Not a rubric. The people who actually have to live with the results. But the end of the semester — particularly in the spring, as we race toward commencement — also means it's time for something I look forward to every year.
The 3 Rules of Jack.
I've been delivering these to my Tufts seniors for 20 years. This year, I've added a fourth.
Rule #1: Always Be Connected — And Then Cherish It.
Being connected isn't enough on its own. LinkedIn exists. Email exists. You can technically be connected to thousands of people and never once ask any of them for advice, a referral, or a cup of coffee.
The real discipline is what comes after the connection — the cherishing of it. Nurture those relationships before you need them. Check in. Congratulate. Share something useful. The people in your network are your most durable career asset, and unlike your laptop, they appreciate when you pay attention to them.
Stay connected. Forever. Actively.
Rule #2: Commit to Continuous Learning.
You are leaving a wonderfully unique university, but the learning cannot stop.
Looking at the post-Tufts lives of my 2,000-plus alums, more than 50% go on to some form of advanced degree — MBAs, PhDs, certificate programs. But here's what I tell every class: whether it's a master's in data science or a course in cooking, yoga, or landscape painting — it doesn't matter. What matters is that you keep your mind consistently curious and constantly exploring new ideas.
Curiosity is a muscle. Use it or lose it. And it will keep you young far longer than anything else I can recommend.
Rule #3: Work Hard at Being Healthy.
This one is my new rule, and I mean it with complete seriousness.
Between 23% and 27% of Millennials — the largest population cohort in the United States — are now clinically obese. That number is directly tied to decisions about what we eat and drink in a world drowning in highly processed, over-sugared food and beverages. The decisions you make right now, at this stage of your life, about what goes into your body and whether you commit to some level of weekly exercise, will go a long way toward determining your future health and your future quality of life.
You have more control over this than almost anything else. Use it.
Rule #4: Break Some Rules.
Most of you already have jobs lined up. If that first role is the perfect fit — double down. Commit fully. Be the absolute best version of yourself every single day.
But if it isn't? That's okay too. Move. Pivot. Try something completely different for a year or two. At this stage in your life, that's not failure — that's intelligence.
In my own case, rather than heading straight to graduate school after BC, I joined the Peace Corps. That decision changed the entire trajectory of my life. I've had Tufts alums take year-long trips around the world. Finance grads who walked away from IBM to start gardening businesses. Students who swore they'd never go into sales — who are now VPs of Sales at major companies.
Life doesn't follow the plan. The plan just gets you started.
Break some rules. Just not the big ones.
Congratulations to the Class of 2025. Stay curious. Stay healthy. Stay connected.
And as always — always, always stay connected.
Have a great Friday, everyone.
— Jack
Jack is Managing Partner of Derby Management, a strategy consulting firm, and is the founder of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University, where he has been teaching for 20 years ago. Every semester's content is significantly updated with a heavy emphasis in 2025 and 2026 in AI's use in Inbound Marketing. At Derby Management, Jack and his managers architect and build business strategies heavily focused on sales and marketing processes, tools and tech platforms.
"Writing the Winning Sales Plan"
"Writing the Winning Business Plan"
www.derbymanagement.com
Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.
