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Reconsidering Career Optionality - Erik Torenberg

eriktorenberg.substack.com · 1,775 words · saved by 1 readers

In a recent post, I described how the best scientific minds are stuck in academia, the best operators are stuck in large consulting firms (like McKinsey) and the best engineers are stuck at FAANG companies. One of the reasons they do this is because they don’t know what to do next. I don’t know what I’ll do with my life, so I’ll get a degree. I don’t know what I’ll do with my degree, so I’ll get a grad degree/MBA I don’t know what I’ll do with this MBA, so I’ll go into finance/consulting/FAANG to figure out what I want to do. One way of justifying this path is that they see it as accumulating optionality as if they are gaining badges and skills that let them do more stuff. And, by getting high-paying and high-status jobs, they are capping their downside: “Heads I win, Tails I don’t lose.” What can be bad about that? One risk with pursuing optionality is that it prevents you from taking risks. In focusing so much on acquiring options to cap your downside, you also cap your upside by bei

Reconsidering Career Optionality In startups the biggest risk is not that you'll fail, it's that you won't get enough actual shots on goal to succeed Erik Torenberg May 29, 2022 98 4 9 Share In a recent post , I described how the best scientific minds are stuck in academia, the best operators are stuck in large consulting firms (like McKinsey) and the best engineers are stuck at FAANG companies. One of the reasons they do this is because they don’t know what to do next . I don’t know what I’ll do with my life, so I’ll get a degree. I don’t know what I’ll do with my degree, so I’ll get a grad d

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