Creating feedback loops and the types of career advice you should ignore
“That was the point when I decided a lot of the established beliefs on what career progression looks like are irrelevant for this generation.”
On taking career risks
If you think you can learn from someone and they're moderately interested in investing in you, whatever the work is, you should just follow that person.
On working in venture
You're in the business of deploying capital, but startups don't choose you for your capital. They choose you for everything else.
On networking
In VC, network is literally everything. On the corporate side at a traditional company, being in the know about the internal culture and the politics would be the driver of your progression in the organization. There, internal networks is everything. For me, my superpower comes into play when I have this external network to flex.
On ignoring career advice
When I left consulting, I left after just one year. Someone told me, "You can only do that once in your career. Otherwise no one will take you seriously." That was the point when I decided a lot of the established beliefs on what career progression looks like are irrelevant for this generation.
On finding your passion
Growing up, my sister used to be good at swimming, so I quit swimming. She used to be a really good pianist so I quit piano. She used to be a really good trumpet player, so I quit, etc. At work, I tend to enjoy things that I'm good at because it affects how I feel when I'm actually doing it. Now, the thing I try to solve for, in whatever I do, is how to create a feedback loop as quickly as possible to figure out if I'm actually good at it. No matter how how passionate I am, if I'm not good at it, it's going to be tough.