1 year of steep learning curves
One year. One year already. It feels like three, but it is only one. And it has just finished.
One year ago I was 31. I had been working in the digital sector in Italy, a country where devoting yourself to a job in tech is often times more a mission than a career path.
One year ago I had just finished working for a lead generation startup, where my background in business and finance helped the founders in making data-driven decisions.
One year ago my life has changed: I have moved to Berlin and discovered a new world of learning opportunities.
And I will quickly tell you how.
When I had just moved and I was looking for my space in the city, I decided to talk to people of varied background to build my own view of the German capital. And in this process I received one advice that has really changed my mindset:
“Aim for steep learning curves. Optimize for learning rather than for job titles”
And that’s what I did.
After one year in Berlin, I can now tell you what that means. And why you should care.
I have joined a company builder as Entrepreneur in Residence, taking full ownership of a startup project called Visualbots.
I have started with a solution in mind but limited knowledge of the problem we were trying to solve.
I would have never said I could have done sales. Nor understood any UX. Nor done public speaking. Nor managed people with a skillset completely different than mine. At least not in one year only.
What has just ended has been a year of steep learning curves, where I have understood that how fast you learn is a lot more important than how much you know to begin with. That attitudes are much more important than experience.
I have learned about product management, customer development and user onboarding, but also about goal setting, communication, team management.
I have built and launched my first product.
I have led an amazing 5 people team.
And I have decided to share this experience at the intersection between product, management and entrepreneurship, in the hope that you too will optimise for learning opportunities, rather than job titles.
My journey has started one year ago. This new writing journey starts here.
You can find my first article linked here below. I would appreciate if you’d take a moment to read it (and clap, if you find it interesting).
Have a good journey,
— Livio
03/10/2018
