10 Lessons Learned from 2014

One of my instagram pictures from 2014

I am grateful and thankful for 2014. This has been by far the most interesting and fruitful year in my professional career.

I am almost feeling like I jumped a level in this game. Let me try to share with you why I think so, building on 10 major lessons learned from 2014.

1. Profitable to stay unemployed for a while
   I have to confess that staying unemployed for a while definitely helps to understand better what’s going on in your career and helps to articulate your thoughts on what actually should be going on. When you are unemployed, especially after 1 month, you start to open your mind and relieve yourself of the “chief of something” title in your last position and start seeing your human resource through your own eyes. This is important as I realized it was the first time that I was unemployed for a given period of time after 20+ years. Back-to-back jobs is not something to be proud of as it seems. And certainly, leaving my LinkedIn profile without a current position didn’t turn out to be a problem after all ;) This is definitely a good start.
2. There is No ‘Work & Life Balance’
   The phenomena of so called “work & life balance” assumes that work is not life and somehow you have to balance it. This is stupid to say the least. Work is an enormous part of life and you can’t deny it. Don’t try to encapsulate “work” as if it’s an infection. Work should be a part of life that you love, otherwise it’s useless to try to make the money which makes you unhappy.
3. Don’t work with assholes
   I am sure you already know about this, but maybe you did not act on it yet. This low-level type of creatures are found in some corporate environments and they are quite consistent in how they act and behave. You somehow still expect some good out of them and they never fail to disappoint you. I have seen the worst of slander, manipulation, lies and tried to survive in it. It’s a useless waste of time. So upgrade your operating system and realize that success is made of creating value, not made of surviving backstabbing and retaliating. Get yourself out of it and find a better place to work.
4. People believing in you is the best gift you can get
   This is huge and I don’t know if my words would be enough to describe how I feel. If you have people around who are believing in you, sometimes to the extent of believing in more than you do yourself, you start to feel the wind beneath your wings and make yourself ready for a take-off. It’s a huge uplift these people are providing. Building motivation through your reflection in other’s eyes is incredible. The direction of where you want to fly is not important at this stage. It makes you realize that you can fly. That’s all that matters. Go find those people.
5. End of professional life is not an end
   The more time I put into thinking & planning the rest of my life in terms of work, the less I see myself in some other professional job. This was a weird feeling when I was declining some great job offers, then I started liking it. It’s really not an end, actually it’s a beginning; a good one. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a heir to any throne. I have to seriously work to make a living for my family. So it’s not about laziness or lack of discipline. Quite contrary to that, the motivation of working to build something of your own, a company, a product, a value is what struck me. It’s a great dope. As a result, I can say I am able to work more and more efficiently. I can smell great things around the corner as I try to become an entrepreneur again.
6. You can’t go anywhere without Family Support
   That’s right and it’s the greatest lesson learned. If you are transitioning your life and career as I am trying now, the one & only thing you should have is family support, period. I have to thank my wife who is supporting and pushing me in all my adventures so far. It is an invaluable asset to go further. The fact that my wife setting up a great social entrepreneurship business at the same time is another part of the story. We have the wind blowing from entrepreneurship at home. You could say I am following suit ;)
7. Nothing beats a great team.
   I am also privileged enough to bring together a great team going forward. This is the kind of a team that makes you feel invincible. This is the team you want to establish a company with. It’s almost like you can build any company or any great product and grow it with this team. The confidence that this team is radiating is huge. You just can’t do without, as simple as that. We will definitely break a leg!
8. Be patient! Somethings NOT happen for a reason.
   Recently, teaming up with great investors, we worked to acquire an internet company. The plan was to take the company for a late stage turn around and grow even further. It was almost too good to be true how the series of events unfolded as we were steadily progressing through due diligence period after agreeing on a price. Lawyers & consultants all rushing to finally put the SPA on the table. The guy just changed his mind without tangible rationale and it did not happen. It was like taking a punch in the stomach. I had hard time to fully comprehend at that moment. Far better opportunities kept coming up since then. Just work hard and be patient. Somethings not happen for a reason. Another great lesson learned.
9. Great investors are needed to make good entrepreneurs.
   This is beyond cliché. I find myself lucky to work with a great team of investors. The level of discussion just makes me wanna be better at everything. People have always been talking about “smart money”, I have seen it and I have tasted it. I like it so far. It is invaluable to have found the investors you want to sit down and discuss real nitty gritty stuff. Don’t move ahead with sub-optimal investors. Capital can be found easier than you think, but it’s really hard to find decent and smart partners in the form of investors. Go the extra mile to find the smart money rather than just money.
10. You can focus better going back to paper & pen.
    I realized this year that actually I am beginning to NOT like multi-tasking. I was always proud of it as I was wrestling with the overflow of concurrent information streams everyday. This is over. I am back to pen & paper to simplify & declutter my mind. Paper stops multi-tasking and it helps you focus. Paper is a good way of discussing with yourself on any topic. Stay away from the screen, just use your laptop to play music while you are dancing on paper. Believe me, paper will help you if you need to focus, decide, solve, etc. Just try it. (I love you Evernote, don’t get me wrong, this is not about you ☺)

It was really a good roller-coaster ride so far and the best part is we still have few more weeks, before we all hibernate into a christmas holiday. Looking at my agenda, I can say that December will also be full of adventures, with more lessons to be taken; who knows?

2015 will definitely be even more crazier, I hope to be able to share more lessons learned along the way.

I wish you all a great year in 2015…