Well, so much for taking time off! I am finding myself overwhelmed by opportunities to meet people, explore opportunities, attend events, and read a seemingly endless number of entrepreneurship-oriented blogs/books/articles. Any apprehension I may have had a few months ago about being able to find ways to connect with the startup community is completely gone.
My calendar for the next few days illustrates this:
- Today: two calls with recruiters with job opportunities who found me on LinkedIn, a lunch meeting with an ex-colleague, and an afternoon meeting with another contact who has transitioned from a big company to a startup.
- Monday: dinner with an ex-colleague’s brother who is running a local startup.
- Tuesday: a Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network event
(Product Development and Prototyping Strategies in a Startup) - Wednesday: an MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge event
(New Year’s Resolutions for Startup Founders: What Not To Do in 2013 with Katie Rae and Jean Hammond)
Ok, ok. My calendar certainly isn’t as packed as it was back at the office but I am a bit surprised how quickly and easily these activities are piling up. At this early stage I think it’s ok but I will need to keep in mind that I am working towards a specific goal of moving my career in a new direction. Determining exactly what that direction is, of course, is part of the process. But I can see already that it could be very easy to get immersed in this whole networking thing and lose sight of the fact that it is a means rather than an end.
One other thing that has surprised me is the number of referrals I received from people at my old company. It was an interesting phenomenon. I learned that many at my previous employer had their own circles of recruiters and entrepreneurs that they kept to themselves. People didn’t generally talk openly about external job possibilities so there was very little sharing going on. However, once it became known that I was leaving, people felt comfortable telling me about their contacts and I was hit by a tsunami of referrals for follow-up.
Going forward I will write in this space about the more interesting interactions I have. When permissible (as with Ben Vigoda) I will use names of people and companies. As I get deeper into this blog I suspect that much of what I am writing is nothing new to existing entrepreneurs. However, for the large population of “corporate workers” out there who are either thinking of a change or are simply interested in this process perhaps there is something of interest here. Your feedback, as always, is appreciated.