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But then he realized: "in order to be a professional scholar, you have to dedicate a vast majority of your career to writing esoteric books that only 50 people will understand."
So instead, he got into the technology industry with a job at Apple, where he helped build eWorld, Apple's version of America Online.
Next, he started a company called SocialNet. It failed.
A friend of Hoffman's, Peter Thiel, recruited him to join a startup, PayPal. It sold to eBay in 2002.
Then Hoffman went on a long trip to Australia. There, he decided to create an Internet company.
It's still around.
It's LinkedIn.
Today, it's worth $19 billion – and Hoffman is its biggest shareholder.
It's been a pretty impressive career. Want to know how Hoffman did it? Want to know the guiding principles he followed?
You're in luck.
Last year, Hoffman and an entrepreneur friend of his, Ben Casnocha, wrote a book together called "The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career."
To mark its one year anniversary, Hoffman and Casnocha created a visual summary of the book. They've allowed us to republish it here for you.