“Speaking of cool places to work, there is of course Google. But I notice something slightly frightening about Google: zero startups come out of there. In that respect it’s a black hole. People seem to like working at Google too much to leave. So if you hope to start a startup one day, the evidence so far suggests you shouldn’t work there.” — A Student’s Guide to Startups by Paul Graham, 2006.
I don’t blame Google in this writing. In fact, I’m one of the fans to many of Google’s products, and helping users is one of my favorite activities. In this writing, I just want to point out how uncomfortable a comfort zone can be.
Comfort kills your killer instinct
Working in a resourceful office, so resourceful even you can find massage, bar, or anything you need to free you from stress, is exactly irresistible. It would be even more attractive when your company provides a complete package of insurance and pension, to make your life more comfortable after retirement. No worries during and after productive age, thanks to the stable job salary and bonus.
Now let’s have a look at the other condition. Recent graduates with limited resources embark on a journey as startup founders. They work 18 hours a day for high-risk effort, yet still need to endure all of the pressures from family and friends. Failure is considered as friend and teacher, but too much unnecessary failures are bad news. Hyper-efficient would be diplomatic term of having just enough money for living and operational expenses. Worrisome, isn’t it?
Baca juga: A Pirate’s Note: 2 Years After MIT
Actually if you want to build a startup, it would be very hard to start from the first condition. You will have endless consideration whether to stay or quit your job. Then, most of you choose to stay, and live in so-so self actualization. But it’s different with the latter condition. They have nothing to lose, and they are crazy enough to change the world. They are not afraid of failure, and they are so driven to prove that failure is the beginning of success.
While you are working in your cubicle for everyday projects, your ex-classmates are disrupting an industry at global scale.
Five years ago, people didn’t really believe what your friends were doing, including you. Surprisingly, your friends manage to prove their success at national stage, and they are more than ready to bring it to every continent on Earth.
But look around you. You are still working at the same department, at the same desk in your home-sweet-home office, when someone of your age are best-serving the nation by creating breakthrough technology with radical impact. Not less interesting, some young folks are working very hard in an office-like house to create 1000 disruptive gamechangers and promising entrepreneurs.
Don’t let yourself being demoralized by your comfort zone. Have a confident in yourself, and answer the question: are you just a spoiled kitten waiting for milk everyday from your owner or a fierce lion cub ready to conquer the jungle? Well, I prefer roar more than meow.
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Artikel ini ditulis oleh Leonika Sari dan sebelumnya diterbitkan di sini.
