Back where it all started
Hey friends, welcome back to Sunday Journal. Yesterday, I watched a favourite movie of mine, The Social Network. Why favourite? Because I find it to be the movie that inspired many things in my life, I can attribute many of my successes to it. However, the fun thing I realised is the fact that I am now working in Meta, back to what inspired me in the first place.
So yes, back to The Social Network, it’s basically a biography film of how Facebook was founded. However, unlike the typical ones, this doesn’t focus on praising the founder. In fact, part of the reason for this movie is to show the betrayal and idea theft by Mark Zuckerberg. Still, I guess I was able to relate to him and I wished to be someone like him. I’m not sure which particular part of it attracted me but if I were to guess, I was attracted by the idea of being an underdog.
Ever since I watched that movie for the first time, the entrepreneurship seed within me sprouted. I remember I wanted to start my first venture back when I’m 17 selling a clothes drawer called 3 seconds and subsequently pivoted to the idea of a multipurpose clothes hanger called trios. I remember I promised to get some sea urchins with my co-founders when we strike our first sale but the idea never came to fruition, there are only drawings that are left.
When I got into university, I thought I would be good at coding and end up making the next big software. Unfortunately, software engineering isn’t really my calling. I joined an entrepreneurship society, went all the way up to be a VP, taught a bunch of people how to pitch, and started a company in the same year. Ventur, an idea to sell refurbished gaming computers, it didn’t work out but oh well I happen to pivot and made it work during one of the worst downturns in the world, COVID-19.
After a full year of profitable Ventur, I made the decision to do something new. I sold the company, went back for my final year of academia, and started a podcast and my Youtube channel again. Then, I graduated and got into Meta. I don’t know what exactly is the reason that got me into Meta, but yes, it’s definitely something within this journey that caught the interviewer’s eye. I’m still not sure what was I thinking when I first started, was it the money, was it the coolness or was it the sea urchin? What I know is that I’m glad that I started it and failed them and still continue to start more of them. That is the beauty of it.
Today, because of all of these, I got into Meta. However, this is not the endgame. I’m glad to be in Meta but it’s just a stepping stone. I’m still looking for my next venture. While it’s good to get a job in a comfortable big tech firm, it’s still better to invent a job of my own and be in control of my life. All the best to me myself and my journey.
Andrew