My initial instinct was to jump right back into the corporate world – utilize the bitter feelings of being let go as motivation to join a competitor and exact retribution on a company by who I thought I had been wronged. Fortunately, this feeling was temporary, and I came to see the unexpected career setback as an opportunity to re-evaluate a new path forward. The first step was to consider what basic goals I hope to accomplish at this stage of life.
Two things came to my mind after reading this great piece of yours. 1/ “人无远虑,必有近忧“, or "If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand", which is a ancient piece of wisdom from Confusion Analects. 2/ “活在当下“, which I suspect is best translated to Carpe Diem as what you had in the article. It is so hard to balance between biased for action for the Now and patiently planting the seeds with an eye on the Future. What you have in this writing gives me a good framework on this tricky topic—thank you! And good luck on your new journey!
Leaving Intel to go to a startup where I was only paid in equity felt like a huge leap that risked a lot of the upward career trajectory I had invested in for so many years. It was an amazing change and I loved the early stage startup life. 2.5 years later I left that startup to grow my own startup and it felt like another big risk, but a step in the right direction for my personal career journey, similar to you. Now, it's hard to imagine ever working for someone else again. Not that everything's easy, by any means, but it's mine to make or break, along with my co-founders and the rest of the team, and it's super fulfilling.
I believe there's pretty much always a way to monetize things if you create good value that people want. Content businesses can take awhile to gain any real traction, AND they can turn into phenomenal flywheels with outsized returns (Content Inc. is a great read if you haven't yet read it) for those persistent enough to get there. I'm not interested in gardening, and somewhat interested in investing, but I'm always interested an entrepreneurial journey and wish you the best in it!
Awesome perspective - thank you for sharing it Bart. I hope I can achieve as much and feel the same way as you in the coming years. I'll put Content Inc on my reading list.
Two things came to my mind after reading this great piece of yours. 1/ “人无远虑,必有近忧“, or "If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand", which is a ancient piece of wisdom from Confusion Analects. 2/ “活在当下“, which I suspect is best translated to Carpe Diem as what you had in the article. It is so hard to balance between biased for action for the Now and patiently planting the seeds with an eye on the Future. What you have in this writing gives me a good framework on this tricky topic—thank you! And good luck on your new journey!
I especially love 人无远虑,必有近忧.... and will keep in mind going forward. Thanks for reading my piece - really appreciate you spending the time.
Leaving Intel to go to a startup where I was only paid in equity felt like a huge leap that risked a lot of the upward career trajectory I had invested in for so many years. It was an amazing change and I loved the early stage startup life. 2.5 years later I left that startup to grow my own startup and it felt like another big risk, but a step in the right direction for my personal career journey, similar to you. Now, it's hard to imagine ever working for someone else again. Not that everything's easy, by any means, but it's mine to make or break, along with my co-founders and the rest of the team, and it's super fulfilling.
I believe there's pretty much always a way to monetize things if you create good value that people want. Content businesses can take awhile to gain any real traction, AND they can turn into phenomenal flywheels with outsized returns (Content Inc. is a great read if you haven't yet read it) for those persistent enough to get there. I'm not interested in gardening, and somewhat interested in investing, but I'm always interested an entrepreneurial journey and wish you the best in it!
Awesome perspective - thank you for sharing it Bart. I hope I can achieve as much and feel the same way as you in the coming years. I'll put Content Inc on my reading list.
Love the clarity of thought and the frameworks you use to break down your thinking! Looking forward to the next piece.