Finding My Voice For Adding Value To You

I have been thinking about a lot about what exactly do I want my voice to be in this noisy tech ecosystem. How can I be different? How can I add value to you? How can I build a community of readers around my writing?

There is no shortage of blog posts written by all sorts of operators and investors these days. It’s no longer about not being able to find credible information. Its about being able to decide on what content to consume. Writing about the conventional topics that these people are already writing about is adding to the noise, wasting my time and not helping any of my readers.

So, from here on out, I have decided to document all my lessons from all my experiences, reading and conversations to shed some light on the tech scene from a beginner’s perspective. It is extremely overwhelming in the beginning for people that want to get into tech to get started on the right track. It is not an easy process to get to know what blogs to follow closely, who to follow on Twitter, how to tune out the noise, what publications to religiously follow, how to get introductions to people you want to build relationships with, how to get gigs within the tech communities and a hundred other things that are hard to figure out at first.

Now, I am still figuring things out daily. Everything is very dynamic. I would like my voice to be something that beginners turn to for understanding the fundamentals of everything and for learning from the small mistakes I make almost daily. The content of the blog might seem trivial to experienced folks. But I will try my best to make it worthwhile for people that are just getting started and are still exploring and are looking for a voice and an experience thats relatable.

So, basically, I will be sharing all the lessons, experiences and thoughts on anything and everything tech from a perspective of someone who founded a design company and went on to become a VC analyst intern to whatever is in store for me in the future.

Here’s a tiny but crucial lesson for today —

People always say its more about who you know and less about what you know. And this is truer in tech than in other structured fields like finance or consulting. In tech, for most jobs at startups and VC funds, there are no standardized processes. It’s mostly done through referrals in the networks. Its almost always an introduction thats get your foot in the door. Once you get introduced, it all depends on your curiosity to learn, hustle and smarts. Prior knowledge and experience are rarely the major initial filters. Knowledge can be learned on the job. Hardcore skills come with practice. But a work ethic and a curiosity to learn are inherent qualities that most people look for.

So, if you are a student looking to get involved with the techosphere, I would stop wasting time on making the perfect resume and cold emailing people with your resumes. I would start learning about the field I want to get into. More importantly, I would start building relationships and spread the word that I am looking for an opportunity.

Today, I got an email from someone whom I have not even met but spoken to on phone three times over the last six months. We keep in touch over text. She instantly thought of me when she got an email from a close contact about an exciting opening for the summer in NYC.

Now, you can either think that I got lucky or realize the fact that I sowed the seeds for a potential outcome months ago.

Hit me up on Twitter with your thoughts — @sarthakgh

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