This transcript has been edited for clarity and checked against the available source transcript and recording. Filler, false starts, and obvious transcription errors have been corrected without changing the speaker’s meaning.
Elaha: The things that you have always wanted—the people, the tribe, the passion, the things that you have always craved—will come to you through those unknown paths. That’s where the magic lies.
James: Hello and welcome to Graduate Theory. Today’s guest is employee number 19 at the seed-stage tech startup Relevance AI. She has previously connected with and hosted events with thought leaders such as Sahil Lavingia and Sahil Bloom. Since moving to Sydney earlier this year, she has started a microgrant fund for side projects and made connections with many people right across the tech industry.
She has recently started her own newsletter, aiming to curate lessons from thought leaders and tech news. Please welcome to the show today, Elaha Gurgani.
Elaha: Thanks so much for that lovely intro. Hi, everyone. Thanks for having me, James.
Elaha’s Move Interstate#
James: It’s fantastic to have you on the show today, Elaha. I’d love to dive in and start talking about your experience with networking and building a network from a place where you have a clean slate. You moved from Melbourne to Sydney, if that’s right, and I’d love to hear about your experience and what led to your move.
Elaha: I’ll have to take you back to the pandemic in 2020, when I was in my last year at uni. I had this big realisation: “Oh my God, I don’t really have many close friends.” The world was hit by the pandemic, everyone was inside and we had a lot of time to reflect and think about our lives and major decisions. It was a very painful time because I realised that I only had one or two close friends from uni, and we saw each other every three to six months. My soul was craving connection and finding my own tribe of like-minded people.
I took 2020, which was the peak of COVID, to reflect on what I wanted from the relationships and friendships in my life. Fast-forward to 2021, when Earlywork came in. That’s when the Earlywork community Slack debuted. It was a Slack community for early workers, people in tech or people who were passionate about what they wanted to do. I was one of Earlywork’s subscribers, and one day they announced that they were starting this Slack to meet other like-minded people in tech. I jumped on it and thought, “This sounds so exciting. I would love to meet my tribe.” It opened up a whole new world to me.
There was an introductions channel at the beginning, and I read everyone’s introductions, backgrounds and experiences. I thought, “There’s a whole other world of perspectives and experiences out there that I wasn’t aware of.” I was back in Melbourne and this was a very Sydney-focused Slack community, so I started to contribute as much as possible. I helped with the events side of things and gave the co-founders feedback about the community. I started to give, give, give. As you contribute to this kind of community, people start to know you, see you in all the channels and notice how helpful you are. That helped me build some friendships online.
That’s a really good tip for anyone who wants to start building their network, connecting with people or finding friends: give freely and follow your curiosity. Where is it taking you? Is it taking you to a particular group or interest? Start contributing.
That’s where I met most of my friends, but the Startmate Fellowship also began while I was graduating from uni. Startmate had this student fellowship to get students into startups and give them exposure to startups and tech. That opened up a whole new world as well. You meet other people who are ambitious and passionate about building something. I took it as an opportunity to show initiative, such as by running a workshop. One of the biggest things I did during the Startmate Fellowship was build a book club.
One day, I wanted to read a book and thought it would be fun to share my knowledge with others. I posted in one of the channels, “Hey, guys, I want to start a book club. I’m reading this book. Who wants in?” Everyone became interested and was drawn to it. This was 2021, the pandemic was still happening, we were all at home under a lot of restrictions and I was back in Melbourne. I ran the book club online over Zoom. We had a weekly catch-up about books and other interests, where we shared our favourite articles and books and had a discussion.
That’s where I met, I would say, 80 per cent of my friends. With clubs, you have to see one another from time to time. It’s not a one-off event; you see one another more than once. That’s where I built most of my friendships online, and most of those friends were based in Sydney. I already had my Sydney network while I was living in Melbourne because I was contributing to and mingling with the Sydney tech community.
By that time, I had also got my operations role at Relevance AI, which was based in Sydney, so I made the move. I already had my little bubble of online connections when I arrived, but one day I thought, “There has to be more.” I was in a very adventurous mood and I was very curious. I knew the people in my tech bubble, my little group on Slack and the Startmate Fellowship, but I wondered who else was out there that I could be exposed to.
One day, I jumped on Twitter. I wanted to go for brunch and none of the friends I knew were available, so I wrote, “Hey, guys, I’m new to Sydney. I’m organising this brunch on Sunday at 11 a.m. Who wants to come?” That tweet blew up. It got more than 60 likes and retweets, and I had brunch with ten people from Twitter. Most of them had faceless profiles and said, “Hey, I want to come to your brunch.” I was feeling adventurous, so I said, “Yes. Just say yes.” I say yes to everything.
We ended up meeting for brunch, and to this day I’m still friends with all of them. I even work with one of them, Shilpa, who is a head of operations. We collaborate on newsletters and other things. Through being curious, saying yes and feeling adventurous, I met all these people. Right now, I’m holding monthly meet-ups called Meet New Friends in Tech, where I connect people I already know with people who are new to the scene. That’s how I’m continuing to build connections and relationships as I go. That’s my story.
James: A key part of all this is showing the initiative to do these things. People talk about building your luck surface area. There may be some element of luck in the tweet blowing up, for example, but you have to put yourself in the ring and suggest these things for that kind of serendipity to occur. There’s definitely a thread through all these different things you’ve done: you put yourself out there, say, “I’d really love it if this existed,” and then think, “Okay, why don’t I just do it?” The book club is one example.
Elaha: I think what people undervalue in relationship-building is initiative. It takes getting out of your comfort zone, reaching out to other people and being proactive. Relationship-building is a long-term game and it takes investment, which requires a lot of action. If you want to meet others, follow your curiosity, take initiative and go ahead with it.
James: You’re almost creating what Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi calls a container event. He’s quite good at this sort of thing, and you’ve come to the same conclusion, perhaps without knowing it. The brunch would be an example: you say, “I’m going to brunch,” and whoever wants to can come along. There’s no expectation that you have to go, but if you don’t and then see other people having fun, you think, “I should have gone to the brunch.” It’s a container where anyone can come along and it’s easy to get involved.
Elaha: That’s probably what I’m also doing with my meet-ups: “Guys, come along. Want to come? That’d be great.”
James: Exactly. It’s so open. It’s good for you because you’re bringing all these people together, but it’s also good for other people. They can meet everyone there, perhaps reconnect with people they already know and connect with people they haven’t met.
Elaha: It’s also very smart. If you’re the organiser, people are drawn to you and come to get to know you, instead of you having to reach out and DM everyone. It’s a good hack: just be the organiser. That’s how you get to know people and people get to know you.
Connecting with People that are more Senior#
James: I agree. This is a great way to meet friends and people in a similar field, age group or experience level to yourself. How do you approach connecting and networking with people who are a few steps ahead of you—people who are more senior?
Elaha: That’s a great question and something I’m moving towards at the moment. I’m always open to learning, especially from people who are a few years ahead of me and have already done the things I want to do. The best advice I’ve received for navigating that senior–junior dynamic is to view them as human.
They’re human, just like you, so treat them like a friend. Many of them are keen to help you, be friends with you and connect with you as well. Rather than putting them on a pedestal and thinking, “Oh my God, they’re this person. How do I reach out?”, ask yourself, “How would I reach out to a friend whom I really respect and honour?”
One way I navigate that is by taking the initiative and reaching out. After a coffee catch-up, I’ll send them an article that I think they would be interested in. In these dynamics, the people who are way ahead of you are busy, so it’s okay to leave two to six months between catch-ups. Unlike the peers we see day to day, it’s okay to have that space, while still having touchpoints: sending them articles they’re interested in or messages when something reminds you of them, commenting on their posts and supporting them. Those things add up when building relationships with senior people.
Systems or Serendipity#
James: That’s cool. I’ve seen people online use an actual system: you enter someone’s name, note that you haven’t reached out in two weeks and mark them as a high-priority person in your network, so you receive a reminder to contact them. Do you think about it in that systematic way, or is it more like what you described: “This reminded me of this person, so I’ll send them the link”?
Elaha: People often use a CRM system to keep in touch. I like that and I’ve tried it, but it’s hard to keep up. I’m a very lean, start-up-minded person, so I ask, “What’s the leanest way for me to keep in touch with people?”
The best connectors or relationship-builders I know come from a very authentic place. If I truly connect with someone, it just vibes. There is no forcing and there are no reminders. If it happens, it happens as you go. It’s about authenticity and the vibes you feel. If you truly feel connected, you will naturally be drawn to reach out to that person again and again. There’s nothing wrong with CRMs, though. I would love to learn how to keep one up and invest in relationships.
James: I think a CRM could take away the authenticity to some degree if you’re thinking, “It’s the 90-day mark. I’d better send this person a message.” It can feel quite artificial.
Elaha: From a positive point of view, it could also be a form of investment: “I’m a busy person and I don’t want to forget about this person, so let me set a reminder to catch up or make contact.” One thing it definitely helps with is creating those touchpoints where you see the person every two or three months, which builds the connection and helps that relationship. It is a form of investment if you look at it that way.
James: That’s cool. I’ll have to look into it. People have built their own CRMs in simple tools such as Notion.
Elaha: Let me know how you go if you do end up doing it.
James: I’ll have to look it up. I don’t know whether you’ve heard of Derek Sivers, but I think he’s a Tim Ferriss type of person. I don’t know too much about him, but I know he has some kind of system like that. I think he categorises people as A, B or C and contacts them at different intervals: the Cs might be once a year, the Bs twice a year and the As once a quarter. It’s quite systematic.
Elaha: Ask me in a year or so. When my number of connections grows, I might have a different system from relying on my memory.
James: Then again, you have your container event. You can invite 200 people or whatever the number is. There isn’t a real size limit, except at extreme levels. You can have quite a big event, and you don’t necessarily have to meet everyone there for them still to get value from it.
Elaha: Even if you know five people and have close friendships with two of them, that’s worthwhile. Relationship-building isn’t about the number of people you know. It’s great if you authentically connect with them all, but even if you end up knowing two good people, stay in touch with them and see them, that’s a big win. It’s about quality and the long-term game, rather than quantity and knowing people’s names without knowing their stories.
Networking Advice people should ignore#
James: I agree with that. Is there any common networking advice—anything you’ve heard about how to approach networking—that you disagree with or that someone looking to build their network shouldn’t follow?
Elaha: I would start by not calling it networking. Reframe it as connecting, making new friends or relationship-building. Many networking tips are great, but I think the best way to learn how to build those relationships is to go out, follow your curiosity about other people and chat with them. Things will unfold naturally and you’ll start building relationships. The tips and strategies in books should be a reference point rather than a holy guidebook for how you should behave, which can make you robotic: “That’s wrong. That’s right.” Go out there. You will make mistakes, but you will also learn from them, grow and develop so much as a person. Networking advice should be a reference point rather than a guidebook. Reframe the word “networking” and follow your curiosity.
James: I agree. The word “networking” almost makes it sound transactional, as though you’re collecting people who are going to ask for favours, and that’s it. That may be true on some level, but it isn’t how you want to approach it.
Elaha: I asked Sahil Bloom about networking when we had him on a panel because he’s one of the best connectors and community-builders—a real people person. He said, “I hate the word networking.” He’s also a strong proponent of curiosity. He met his mentor, Apple CEO Tim Cook, by going to the gym at five in the morning, chatting with a person who ended up being Tim Cook and being curious about him. If you look at the patterns among the best connectors or relationship-builders, they’re authentic and very curious about other people. That opens doors and creates opportunities in their lives. It’s interesting to see that pattern.
James: Curiosity is an interesting part of it and where a lot of this starts. When you’re at an event, you don’t really know whom you’re speaking to or who might be your friend in six months. It’s hard to know, so curiosity and going deep to understand more about a person or what they do can lead to opportunities.
Elaha: For sure. Looking back, my biggest opportunities and the things that have come my way all arose because I explored my curiosity: “What’s out there? What can I help with? Who is this person? What’s their story?” Curiosity is one of the biggest things that lets luck hit you or creates that serendipity. It’s underrated, but it opens so many doors and opportunities.
James: Thanks for listening to this episode of Graduate Theory. If you haven’t already subscribed to the Graduate Theory newsletter, you can do so via the links in the show notes. The Graduate Theory newsletter comes out every Tuesday morning with my thoughts and lessons from each episode.
Without further ado, let’s get back into it.
Finding Jobs Through Networking#
James: Spot on. I’d love to talk about your experience with start-ups. This is probably not even a change of topic, but a different question. You joined Relevance AI quite early and, in some ways, networked your way into the role. When did you first hear about the opportunity, and what steps took you from there to receiving an offer?
Elaha: It’s related to curiosity. It goes back to when I graduated from uni, where I studied finance and management. I was exploring my curiosity and playing around with no-code tools. I was geeking out about no-code and decided to run a no-code workshop. I posted about it on LinkedIn, where I was very active and shared my interests. At that time, it was no-code. I said, “Hey, guys, I’m running this no-code workshop,” and made some really cool graphics to encourage people to join the event.
I was also well known at the time for contributing a lot to the Earlywork community. Relevance AI co-founder Jacky Koh reached out to me. He said, “Hey, I’ve been following your work for a while. Let’s have a chat and see what might be available for you at Relevance.” I had a chat with Jacky, loved his mission and loved the team. I pitched him the role: “Hey, I think I’ll be perfect for your business operations role, and I would love to contribute and help you with that. What do you think?” He said, “Let’s do it. Let’s go.”
When I reflect on how I got the job and broke into my first operations role, it came from following my curiosity and sharing it publicly with other people. People really do notice when you start contributing and being helpful. It comes back to you as opportunities and people reaching out to you. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, let that luck hit you and pitch yourself, as I did.
James: That’s super cool—a very serendipitous moment. Many people are interested in getting into start-ups, especially early in their careers, and Relevance AI is a cool start-up doing interesting work. How did you decide which role you’d be best suited to and match that with what you felt the company needed at the time? Was there a process?
Elaha: By that point, I had talked to many people about what they did, from management consulting to sales executives and everything else. I was trying to figure out what I would be good at, and one of the main things I saw myself doing was being a generalist. I asked myself, “What’s a good generalist role that would help me figure out what I want and use what I’m good at?”
One of my friends had broken into a business operations role. I had a coffee chat with her and figured out that it could be something I would be interested in, so I decided to try it. Business operations, or operations, is a very generalist role. It gives you the flexibility to work across functions and zoom in and out of each one. I could see myself contributing a lot, especially when starting out and trying to find my niche and discover what I’m good at.
I’m an all-round generalist, but I also have a T-shaped strength in community-building. That helps me stand out in terms of what I can contribute. It’s about following your curiosity, trying different things, talking to as many people as possible, then picking something and starting from there. Operations is a good starting point because it gives you exposure to all those functions, just like management consulting. In management consulting, you’re not tied to a specific industry and become an expert in different industries from one day to the next. Operations is the start-up version of that.
Advice for people wanting to get into startups#
James: Suppose someone is thinking, “I really want to do what Elaha has done and join an early-stage start-up,” perhaps one that is competitive or difficult to get into. If you had to do it again, what advice would you give someone in that situation?
Elaha: Looking back at what I could have done more of or done better, my first piece of advice for someone starting today would be to share your learnings and put yourself out there. If you want to get into operations or be a generalist, share articles or what you have learnt from them online. You don’t know who’s looking at your content or who will give you your next opportunity. That’s how you increase your luck surface area. Don’t be afraid to share what you learn, what you want to do and your career aspirations.
The second point isn’t talked about as much. I call it breaking into a role through a third door. You might see a start-up you really like. Let’s say it works in AI and machine learning and you’re a data scientist. You could use what you’re good at to help it by developing a data science idea or project, or helping it with something related to data science. You could build a solution in Notion to a problem the start-up is facing. Have a coffee chat, find out what its biggest challenge is and come up with a solution: “Hey, this is what I think would work best. Here you go. Here’s a solution.”
If an employer had to choose between someone with a résumé going through a standard application process and someone who had already offered solutions and been proactive, of course they would choose someone who was already thinking like an employee. I call that the third door strategy. How can you stand out and provide value from day zero?
I once wanted to break into a particular high-growth start-up. I had a warm introduction to the founder and noticed a gap in their community-building. Before our coffee chat, I drafted a community-building strategy in Notion that they could leverage. When we spoke, I pitched it to the founder: “This is the gap I see in your community-building. This is where you could do better, and this is the most likely outcome if you adopt this strategy.” He was impressed and asked, “Do you want to start working with us?” I couldn’t take the opportunity, but the experience taught me to ask how I could add value from day zero if I wanted to enter a start-up. One caveat is that it may not always work, but it does guarantee that you’ll stand out from all the other applicants.
James: For those listening, The Third Door by Alex Banayan is the book you’re referencing. I totally agree. There is a normal way of doing things, but in many cases it’s the most competitive and difficult route. Often a workaround, such as somehow meeting the founder and showing your value by pitching something, really sets you apart.
Elaha: Exactly. Ninety per cent of people will apply with a résumé, which is okay, but you should be thinking, “How can I stand out?” Maybe you start a side project related to machine learning or AI, if that’s your interest and also the interest of the start-up you want to work with. That would win over a regular résumé. It shows someone who is proactive, takes initiative, builds things and has already started side projects in the area we’re interested in. Those little things you’ve done or accomplished will definitely set you apart.
Setting Long Term Goals#
James: One thing I’m thinking about a lot is having a clear vision for yourself: deciding what you want your career to look like and then working backwards. I think you’ve done this well. In many of these cases, you’ve thought, “I really want to work here, so this is what I’m going to do to make sure I end up here.” Having that vision lets you be proactive and start doing things: “I want my life to look like this. What am I going to do to get there?” That’s different from wondering what will happen today and being reactive. Do you think much about that kind of planning, such as where you want your career to be in five or ten years?
Elaha: Even though I’m a proactive person and an initiative-taker, to be vulnerable, I’ve had a big challenge with setting long-term goals. I was always afraid: “What if I fail? What if I fail to achieve that goal?” It would break my heart. I’m reframing that challenge by surrounding myself with other ambitious people who aren’t afraid and are unapologetic about where they want to be in life.
That rubs off on you. It gives you unconscious permission to be ambitious and unapologetic about where you want to be. For example, let’s say I want to be a CEO in the next five years. Good on me. How can I take the first step to make that happen?
To be vulnerable, I felt that I had to stay small and couldn’t state my goals, because I might fail and be heartbroken. What I’m navigating now is saying, “Okay, this is where I want to be in the next five years. How can I own my ambition, own my goals and go after them?” As I said, being surrounded by other people on the same path has helped.
You asked me about mentorship, but I think its most underrated form is the peers around you: people who share qualities you have and embody qualities you want, or who have goals and roles that are two years ahead of you and the wisdom that you want to adopt and cultivate within yourself. That’s the most underrated form of mentorship, and it will help your goal-setting system in the long run.
James: I agree 100 per cent. If deep down you want to be the CEO of a company, but all your friends say, “I just want to stay at ground level,” and have no aspirations, it is difficult to be vocal about those goals. But if your friends are doing things like that, or pursuing goals that are even more ambitious than what you considered ambitious, it opens up your thinking. It gives you permission to say, “I’m going to interview this person, get a job here or try to do this with my career.”
Elaha: It gives you unconscious permission to be great and the space to be ambitious. You also have good, kind people around you who support you through the goal-setting process.
Balancing Goal Setting and Fun#
James: How do you balance goal-setting—saying, “I want to be doing this by a certain time” and working hard to get there—with fun? Ambitious targets require a level of seriousness and drive. How do you balance having fun with really driving towards them?
Elaha: I see them as going hand in hand, not as separate things. One of my favourite quotes is from Naval: pick something that feels like play to you but looks like work to others. What I’m pursuing in my career right now is true to my nature, something I’m authentically curious about and want to be the best at.
I picked community-building and operations because I have the most fun doing them. I have the most fun getting shit done and bringing people together. People on the outside say, “Elaha, you’re doing a lot,” but to me it feels like play. It feels fun, as though I could do it forever, and it gives me more energy to do more and more.
To harmonise the two, pick one or two things that feel like play to you. Even if you’re constrained in your full-time job and can’t do the things you love, pick a side project that feels like play and that you enjoy. Even if you don’t get paid or monetise it, you can say, “I don’t care. This brings me joy and gives me energy.” I’m focused on things that feel like play to me but look like work from the outside. That’s the trick to balancing both.
James: I love what you said about doing something without any expectation or immediate reward, particularly a financial reward. It can come with other rewards, such as joy, enjoyment and energy, which are equally valuable, if not more so.
Elaha: I believe that we all have unique talents and sets of skills that feel like play to us and in which we can be the best. I want to be the best at operations and community-building, and they feel like play to me. Going back to ambition and serious goal-planning, I’m serious about becoming the best operations person and being the best at the intersection of operations and community-building.
It also feels like play. If I work on it for a certain number of hours, it feels joyful and fun, so I could do it forever. That can be a competitive advantage in terms of where you want to go in life. Naval is the best person to reference here: your competitive advantage comes from being authentic to yourself and your skills. I believe everyone has a unique set of skills, or an intersection of one or two things, at which they can be the best.
James: I like that a lot. With all the things you do—your events, newsletter, Twitter, other things you’re creating and your work—is there anyone you look up to who inspires you?
Elaha: At the moment, two people I would love to emulate come to mind: Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, and Arianna Huffington, the founder of The Huffington Post. I know they’re celebrities or famous figures, but we live in an information age where content from people 20 or 30 years ahead of us, who are doing amazing, legendary things in life, is readily available. There is so much content to learn from.
I’m fascinated by how much importance Reid Hoffman places on relationship-building, even though he’s a tech king and venture capitalist. I listened to a podcast where he talked about how important his friendships are to him. Friendship is a very spiritual way of cultivating or connecting to yourself: we see qualities we want in our friends and grow through associating with other people, becoming the best version of ourselves.
I look up to him in terms of relationship-building. He’s known as the ultimate connector, and I think he built really good partnerships when he was part of the PayPal Mafia. He’s a Silicon Valley figure who values the same things I do: relationship-building, authenticity and friendship. I’m geeking out on his work. I read Reid Hoffman’s content, listen to his podcast and absorb as much as I can so that I can cultivate in myself the qualities I see in him and naturally emulate them.
The other person is Arianna Huffington. I look up to her as a feminine leader. She founded the almost multimillion-dollar media company The Huffington Post and worked herself hard in hustle culture, but one day a health crisis gave her a wake-up call to look after herself. She started Thrive Global. She’s very successful, but she’s also a major advocate for wellness and taking care of yourself as you pursue your ambitions. I don’t see that in many leaders, so I’m fascinated by the way she approaches success.
We’re lucky to live in an age where people like that share their knowledge, the different ways they’ve built their success and how they went through that journey. Reid Hoffman and Arianna Huffington are the two people I look up to. If you mix them, you’ll hopefully get me.
James: It’s interesting how you have taken in so much of what Reid Hoffman has to say, chosen him as someone you want to be like and tried to absorb a lot of that.
Elaha: I wish he could mentor me, but the best form of mentorship available to me is the books and content he puts out, so I’m going to make the most of it.
James: The sky’s the limit. Maybe one day you can have a virtual coffee with him. Or perhaps people like that come to Australia, or you can go to America. Who knows?
Failure that ended up being a success#
James: When we speak to people who have done really cool things, their path can sound like, “I did this cool thing, then this cool thing, and now I’m doing this super-cool thing.” It seems as though nothing went wrong for them. Has there been a time when things didn’t go well for you and initially seemed like a disaster, but worked out fine, or even better, later?
Elaha: One of my failures goes back to my last two years at uni, when I was focused on getting into Big Four management consulting. Looking back, I was chasing that dream for the wrong reasons. I thought it was prestigious and that reaching the level of management consultant, or gaining one of those prestigious roles, would make people see me as successful.
During university, I applied for those roles and was always rejected at the application phase. I was also an international student back then, so it was hard as hell for me to get into them. I was heartbroken by the management consulting application process. Looking back, however, those rejections redirected my focus towards alternative pathways such as start-ups.
I remember seeking help from a mentor while applying and following the Big Four pathway. One day, he said, “Elaha, have you considered start-ups?” This was in 2019, when start-ups weren’t as cool or sexy as they are now for a graduate or uni student. I was offended. I thought, “He thinks I’m going to work at a start-up? That’s not prestigious.”
Looking back, those rejections redirected me to where I am today, which is so authentic to who I am and is something I enjoy every day. That failure helped me switch to this path and get where I am today.
James: That’s a great story. It didn’t seem good at the time, but it probably worked out better than if you had stuck with the original plan.
Elaha: Rejection is redirection.
Advice for Graduates#
James: One more question, Elaha, which I ask all guests on the show. Think back to when you were finishing uni, perhaps in your last year, about to go out into the world and apply for jobs. Knowing what you know now and everything you’ve done, what advice would you give yourself at that stage?
Elaha: I would say: be bold, take risks and don’t be afraid of unknown paths. Growing up, society tells us to take a safe, linear path. It lays out a path where if you do X and Y, you’ll get Z, and that’s how you’ll be successful.
For a long time, I chased paths that had been laid out for me, such as management consulting and other roles, because I was afraid of taking risks and following unknown paths. If you take an unknown path, such as a start-up or entrepreneurship, you don’t know what lies ahead in five or ten years. It’s unknown and very risky.
Looking back at my younger self as a graduate or university student, I would say: take risks and don’t be afraid of the unknown. Once you explore unknown paths that aren’t laid out for you, but that you enjoy and are curious about, you will meet the most interesting people. You will be challenged and grow so much. The things you’ve always wanted—the people, the tribe, the passion, the things you’ve always craved—will come to you through those unknown paths. That’s where the magic lies. That’s where the growth lies. That’s what I would tell my younger self.
Connect with Elaha#
James: Have faith: the magic lies in the unknown. That’s a nice way to finish. Thanks so much for coming on the show today, Elaha. It’s been great hearing your story, your journey and all the things you’ve achieved. For people who want to find out more about you, connect with you or get involved with your newsletter, Twitter and everything else, please tell them where to find you.
Elaha: Thanks so much for having me, James. I love your curiosity and loved chatting with you. I’m usually active on Twitter. I’m close to hitting 1,000 followers, so please help your girl out. I’m trying to be more active on LinkedIn, where I’ll post more content and share my journey in tech and start-ups. You can also subscribe to my newsletter, where I share my readings on thought leadership, people in tech, mindset and motivation. Thanks so much for having me, James.
James: Thanks for listening to this episode. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you want my takeaways and the things I learnt from this episode, please go to GraduateTheory.com/subscribe, where you can get my takeaways and all the information about each episode straight to your inbox.
Thanks so much for listening today. We look forward to seeing you next week.