I quit my job
Goodbye startups. Hello creator economy.
To my parents, I have a good job. It’s fairly compensated. It’s in a lucrative industry. The company is growing explosively. Plus I’m one of a few ‘experts’ with the RevOps title in the UK.
There’s a lot of social pressure to stick around in a job like that. In a couple of years, my CV would look sick and I might be able to find a better, more prestigious job later on too.
The cost of quitting it is clear.
But the cost of not quitting is less so.
Story Time.
In Tim Hartford’s words, the risk of not quitting is to be “a young graduate, spending two years in a draining job, while accumulating skills, experience and contacts in an industry [you] wish to leave.”
Over the last 6 months, I’ve taken a few sharp inhalations between my sips of the startup Kool Aid - and become increasingly aware that (maybe, just maybe) my current job isn’t the right fit for me.
Let me get this clear. I’m incredibly grateful for what I have, and I actually believe my employer is one of those rare organisations that’s both for profit and a force for good. But it’s only right by me and the people I work with that I find somewhere I can bring my best self, because only then can I do my best work. The vacancy I leave behind can be filled by a specific type of person who, genuinely, in his heart of hearts, loves doing that thing. It’s a win-win. But even with this newfound realisation, I struggled to act.
Three things held me back.
Sunk cost fallacy
My LSE degree and various internships helped me land this job. I didn’t want to waste that, so I ignorantly looked at similar jobs at other companies with the hopes that a change would magically fix what I deeply felt was missing.
Status quo bias
What I have now is comfortable and certain. The alternative is less certain and risky. In my case, my current employer is regularly recognised as one of the best startups to work for - period - how can I possibly find something that tops that?
Availability bias
The tendency to see opportunities which happen to be available at a specific point in time (on my LinkedIn feed, mostly) - and intuitively thinking “ok this is what’s out there, let me pick the best of the bunch”. The reality is, the ‘best of the bunch’ is highly constrained, and might be a mediocre option in the grand scheme of potential options available. There’s almost always better options but you have to search in different places, or adopt a longer time horizon to allow them to come up.
In the moment of course, I didn’t always realise these factors were at play. I frantically interviewed for numerous jobs at all kinds of startups, and even received an offer to join a Y-Combinator backed FinTech. But after deliberating for a few days, I declined because ‘it didn’t feel right’ or ‘align with my values’. Ha, how dare I. My immigrant parents endured real struggle to create a life for me they never had. It sounds like such a snobby thing to say - but genuinely, the vibe at this company stank and even though the role ticked lots of boxes, I knew it would push me further into the sunk cost trap and take me further away from the creator economy.
Without the slightest idea of what I was looking for, I continued to actively look for new opportunities and even prepared myself for the possibility of quitting with nothing lined up. Heck maybe I’ll finally start my content creator / solopreneur business I’ve been flirting with for so long now.
That was until I came across one tweet.
It didn’t fit the criteria of what I was actively searching for. In fact, I never stopped to consider if a role like it existed and it certainly didn’t fit with own my professional background. But the thought of it genuinely excited me.
In my head, it’s truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…
Permanent roles in the YouTube space rarely come up - let alone with one of my favourite online creators.
The team includes 12 of the most talented people in the industry - a strong network and a potential group of friends.
The role comes with high accountability and a steep skill curve (oh yeah baby) - at the same time, video editing is ‘work’ I genuinely do for fun in my free time.
As Matthew McConaughey would say, “greenlight”.
For the sake of brevity, I won’t share the details of the application process for a role like that - although it’s a really cool story and would love to tell it if you asked me.
But I gave the application my everything and it paid off as I was…. 🥁 offered the job. Sticking with the theme of this article - quitting - I obviously had to tell my manager that I was leaving.
That was tough. Really tough. It was my first time ever doing that. It felt like I was a student disappointing a teacher. Letting down the people who invested time and effort into coaching me into the person I was today - and perhaps relying on me sticking around far longer than I actually had.
I pulled my unsuspecting manager into a private meeting room, closed the door behind me, then:
“Hey Saf, what’s up?”
“Hey. So there’s no easy way to say this, and I’m going to apologise in advance if I smile because it’s my way of masking what’s a deeply serious matter… I’ve found an opportunity elsewhere and I’m going to take it”.
In my head, I was Raheem Sterling and he was Liverpool Football Club. All that potential.
I realise now that breakup guilt is normal and, in this context, unfounded. This is the way of the corporate world. Things can change quickly for them as much as it can for me.
The following weeks were a whirlwind of emotions, with a few family members confused why I’ve taken a job that I didn’t need a degree to get, some colleagues showering me with leaving complements, and any loved ones sharing their joy for me in finding my calling in an environment that fits me down to a tee.
Ultimately, I’m delighted with my decision. I haven’t properly started yet but already got to hang out with the team, been asked to help shape the direction of the business and spend time with other creators who I deeply respect and admire.
I’m writing this newsletter on my way to Tenerife. For the next 10 days, the plan is to sink into some adventure, spend quality time with my partner and rest up before I start as Ali Abdaal’s main video editor (still getting used to saying that 😄)
I’m so excited for what the next year will bring and can’t wait to share the journey with those of you who follow along! ❤️
❤️ My Favourite Things
🎬 National Geographic Apparel
Yeah you heard that right - Nat Geo make clothing now. I saw someone on my flight wearing one of their technical jackets and they look absolutely sick.
They do cost a bomb though! You can check it out here.
