There is this whole other world, brought to us by the select few of movers and shakers who can navigate a high stakes game of investment funding.
As someone who has had some exposure to this world, I can tell you it’s quite intimidating. First off, there is this culturally relaxed disposition of an elite class who all speak ivy finance with a cadence that (to me) sounds the same. They use words like scalable and run rate and burn rate. They like leverage. They expect you to have a long list of accolades and credentials. And of course, there is game face. Don’t forget to bring it and never take it off.
Although I worked for a V.C. once, I didn’t learn the trade on the inside track, but I got enough exposure to understand some of the nuances around (and I did learn some of the tricks) how to read financial statements, what a company’s valuation means and how to develop a cost model.
And yet I still feel so far from understanding how to create a company that is viable enough to present to investors because the bottom line for me is human, not financial.
So I’ve come to realize that my sights have been set too high sometimes. I’d rather focus on one human leader at a time, and hopefully the impact will be felt through acts of kindness and paying forward. Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that it’s equally as important to invest in the everyday person, not only high-potential (coined as HIPO’s) people and companies.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it: Learn to invest in everyday people. I know we want to rise to the top of our game. AND we can do that by lending a helping hand to others.
Of course at some point, we need to stop expecting our happiness to come from external sources. A benefit to helping others is that we become more curious and open to feedback and support where we may have had our guard up.
Be kind. Be safe. Be appropriate. Now go!
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