A glance at Jessica Nguyen's resume drives home the fact that she has an affinity for startups. So far, she's served as the first ever general counsel for three new tech firms in the Seattle area. But, interestingly, it didn't occur to her that she wanted to be a startup solo GC until she was working for an established tech giant.  

She had been a member of Microsoft Corp.'s legal department for about two years when her manager sat her down for a discussion. After telling her about his retirement plans, he asked her a question that countless managers have posed before: Where did she want to be in 10 years?