New Beginnings
It has been 22 months since I made one of the biggest decisions of my life to date….to quit a job that I was both very good at, and that paid me very well. A job that made me miserable.
I have learned so much since then, both in business and in life. I’ve worked with 2 startups, travelled around 7 Central and South American countries, and finally arrived to build a life in Sydney, working at NAB Ventures.
In Business
My 18 months experience working in startups taught me an order of magnitude more about business than the 5 years I spent climbing the ranks in investment banks.
I learned that people, culture and communication are EVERYTHING.
A smart, motivated and positive team that feels appreciated by management and understands the direction the company is heading in will be 5x as productive as the same team feeling overworked and lacking direction.
A management team that is transparent with employees about progress and failures, hiring pipelines and cash burn will earn the trust that keeps employees loyal.
I learned the power of story for founders. Whether it’s the story of how an industry is changing in a pitch to an investor or a customer story in a town hall to employees, a well-crafted story can help communicate a vision much more effectively than a list of features or a table of numbers.
I learned the importance of developing a community of passionate advocates. In an increasingly lonely and anonymous world, all around I see the rise of startups that give people a sense of belonging to a tribe. Think about Product Hunt, Crossfit, Kayla Itsines and Glossier.
I learned how ‘what got you here won’t get you there’. The working practices of your startup at 5 people won’t work at 20 people and will break again at 100. The only constant in startup life is change.
I learned about scaling a business operationally: from setting goals and measuring results, to employee onboarding, expanding internationally, hiring and product metrics.
Most of all I learned how much I love the energy of startups — the sense of mission and community, the feeling of being part of something that could one day have a significant impact on people’s lives.
In Life
Often I feel as though we aimlessly live our lives without direction, just following what the people around us are doing without taking the time to question whether this is really how we want to spend our time.
I took a step back from the endless cycle of bars and newly-launched Soho restaurants to spend more time doing the things I truly enjoy: reading books, spending time outdoors and playing sports.
And it was on last year’s annual holiday to Sydney that I realised how much easier two of these three things would be here. Sydney is an amazing city — it has a thriving economy, a wonderful climate and friendly people who have immigrated from all over the world. A decision that I had wanted to make for years — moving to Sydney for good — suddenly felt right.
So after 4 months of travelling in Central and South America at the end of last year, I’m finally here, and I’m so excited to build my life and career here.
Next week I start my career as a venture capitalist, and I can’t wait for the learning curve to go exponential again.
