Tennis Tournament + Mindset During the Job Search
And a great podcast with Kunal Shah about entrepreneurship and human motivations
Last week I played in a local tennis tournament. It was the most intense tennis environment I’ve played in since my high school tennis days ended back in 2013. I won my first two matches and then met a 17-year old, 2-star recruit in the semi finals. He crushed me, but I managed to win a few games and put up a good fight.
While it was fun to compete, I’m most happy that I met a bunch of new tennis players in the area. I’m already getting more requests to hit than ever before and I look forward to playing with more people in the coming summer months. I’m happy to be moving and playing so much recently. Staying active definitely helps me sleep better at night and gives me something to look forward to that gets me off of a screen and into a different kind of flow.
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Mindset in the Job Search
I had my first actual job interview last Friday and I think it went really well. I’m very interested in the company and the role. I spent hours preparing and felt good about how to the call went.
I have another couple interviews in the pipeline, so it feels like after a long time laying groundwork, I’m finally making some tangible progress. With that being said, it’s hard to resist a lot of scarcity mindset thinking. I feel hopeful about one opportunity and part of that means I’ll work hard because I want it, but part of that is also the fact that at some level I don’t believe I’ll get another opportunity that’s as good.
Most of the adults I talk to push me in the direction of being more picky, because in theory I have lots of options, but it doesn’t feel like that in actuality. I know that I can add a lot of value in the right environment, but I’m also aware that many places aren’t “the right environment” and it’s challenging to find and connect with the right people.
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Knowledge Project Podcast with Kunal Shah
This podcast is packed with observations and insights about startups, and the different consumer environments in India vs. the US. Here’s an assortment of takeaways I wrote down:
Gross margins exist when you allow human beings to jump their social status and gross margins disappear when you don’t allow humans to jump their social status
Markets in the east are not deep enough to focus, so you have to cross sell products in different categories
Businesses that are hard to scale are also hard to destroy
When people aren’t paid hourly and instead in monthly salary, they don’t tend to think about their time as having value and spending money to save time, thus a lot of products that monetize by providing convenience fail when launching in India
The gross margin on living room goods is 3x higher than bedrooms because people signal with their living rooms, but no one sees their bedrooms.
There are so many other insights packed into this podcast. I highly recommend people listen.
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Personal Updates
For now, work and job search are on hold for a few days as we are in the Washington D.C. area visiting with friends and going to a wedding this weekend. I’m trying to stay present and enjoy the time away in the company of friends.
Thursday night I shared an incredible dinner at Maydan, a restaurant with one Michelin star. I think it’s the first time I’ve dined somewhere with that distinction and the experience certainly did not disappoint.
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Thanks for reading!
Zack