Introvert path in career and business
This is a candid article by the introvert designer, where I share my career path history with the findings and figures of my income. Everything as you like. There will be only personal experience, perhaps it will be useful to someone, and maybe not.
I'll start with who I am. My name is Sergey Zakharov. In the profession of interface designer 14 years. He started in Omsk, continued in Moscow, and now in Minsk. He worked in top agencies in Moscow (according to the Tagline version).
At the start of a career, thoughts about my business did not go to me at all. Everything changed when ...
')
But before I continue, let's think about the career and the path of an IT person in it.
As an introvert from birth, it always seemed to me that business is a lot of emotional people who love to be in public, extroverts by nature, salespeople of themselves and their leadership qualities, and introverts are craftsmen who, by nature, sharpen their skills to the highest degree perfection, especially without sticking out and as if invisible to society. I went from artisan to a startup and entrepreneur. And this is an article about how he changed me.
If you work in IT, then Morpheus will offer you not 2, but as many as 4 tablets:
I managed to taste all 4. And which one is sweeter? We find out below.
I am one of those people who cannot stay long in one place. The maximum that was possible is 2 years of work in one company. Usually 1-1.5 years. After I felt some stagnation and development slowed down. It's like in sports training. First, the muscles grow from any slightest load, and after six months or a year, you have to make many times more effort to grow at least a little.
My first job in design and layout (2004)
All this affected my career growth - it was not there at all. I left at a time when the management had already worked with me, it saw my strengths, trusted me and had time to invest in my training. And I watched the same picture after leaving: the art directors or senior designers were those who came almost simultaneously with me. At first, I did not realize the problem, but then I accepted the sacrifice.
What it gave:
What prevented:
Career growth in money
From 8 thousand rubles (2004, Omsk) to 100 thousand rubles (2015, Moscow)
Conclusion:
Look at my experience and ask yourself a question: Do you want to work another 5-10 years in your current company? If the answer is positive and immediate, then go into career building through your professional growth. If in doubt, think about what the reasons are, you might like other “pills”.
Thousands of articles have already been written about the pros and cons of freelancing. All the shortcomings touched me personally. This and the variability in income, and the difficulty in planning the family budget, and the notorious procrastination or, conversely, processing.
For me, an unexpected plus was the fact that I saw my son grow up. I did not come in the evening tired after work to see how the child was already sleeping and did not leave in the morning when he had not yet woken up.
What it gave:
What prevented:
Freelance growth:
The average annual income - 100 thousand rubles / month. In one month there could be a jump up to 140 thousand, in another it could fall to 60. 2017 data.
Conclusion:
Freelance relaxes. Introvert, like me, it is comfortable. You have a monitor, telegrams and Trello and let the whole world wait. But sooner or later the payoff comes - those colleagues, on the former job, grew out of art-studs and open their studios or did great projects and won awards at festivals. And you are a freelancer. And this is a new sacrifice I made.
In fact, my path was not linear.
2011. Moscow. Then, maybe a little earlier, I began to think that I didn’t really want to work in hiring all my life. These thoughts led me everyday trips to the crowded Moscow metro. I can not imagine how you can 10-20-30 years to perform this consuming ritual. That year, my former colleague Maxim, with whom we worked in Omsk, suggested that I make my startup. “Probably, this is my chance,” I thought, and decided to rush into this adventure. I became a co-founder with a 25% stake and we started nipping SmartProgress - a service of setting and achieving goals.
Landing Version 2012
I was engaged in the design of everything and everything in the evenings after the main work, Maxim - Kodil fulltime. In 2012, we run, publish an article here on the site and collect 30 thousand views , our site is breaking on the number of registrations. We are in chocolate!
In a couple of months, the incredible happens. We receive an offer from the investor. I meet him at the office in Moscow. Everything is serious: security, negotiation, people in jackets, and I, a green start-up. They want to buy SmartProgress in full, or take a share of 75% and implement our project in them. For less do not agree. I want you to understand that the numbers were announced at $ 1 million for a full ransom (the dollar was slightly lower at the time;)). Oh, these times are expensive oil, lamp time for Russian startups.
I was with both hands for the sale, but the partner has cooled: if now they are offering us 1 million, then what will happen when we implement all those functions that we have planned and will dial the user base? And we refused this deal. I already see your catty smile on his face. But what's done is done. Wake me up when the time machine comes.
I will drop all unnecessary details. Let me just say that yes, we later had other proposals from investors, but we did not find a consensus and did not attract investments to this day. In general, things went well in the project. We tested different business models, found a working one, the first sales went and ... 2014 came. Crisis, Ukraine, Crimea, that's it. Investors hid themselves in their shells and did not even stick their nose out. In 2015, we won a grant in StartUp Chile $ 35 thousand. My partner Maxim left for acceleration in Santiago for six months, these were the conditions of the grant.
To date, the project brings a stable, almost passive income, but not sufficient to be able to live off of it.
No esoteric, just the facts - after the launch of SmartProgress, we began to receive letters from people who were thinking about the exact same project. This “wave” shows everyone that you are not just dreaming, but embodying your plans. At that time we met with Victor from Minsk. And it was he who became the key figure in startup # 2.
At the beginning of 17, I wrote Victor, with whom we did not communicate for a very long time (the “wave” from the launch of SmartProgress has not faded since 2012). Together we quickly launch several projects that did not take off. We do not despair and make new attempts.
A year later, in June 2018, I am going to Minsk and participate in the hackathon Garage 48. We occupy the 3rd place in the AR category. A little later, an investor appears. And now I have been living in Minsk for 2.5 months. Although the amount of investment is not large, but it was enough for us to launch a full-fledged MVP, which became the project of the day on Product Hunt .
ARcraft allows you to buy merch in augmented reality, and then do the magic - when you point the camera at the purchased object, a video or 3D animation appears.
What it gave:
What prevented:
Cash growth:
In startup # 1. From 15 to 60 thousand per month (dividends). Not much, so I combined startups with work or freelancing.
In startup # 2. 165 thousand per month (ZP)
Findings:
In the spring of 2018, I decided to launch my own project - United Mentors . This is a business mentor search service. I went through minimal effort to test my hypothesis and find out if someone needed it. I made a site on Tilda and began testing various promotion channels. In September, I had my first client.
And this is an interesting feeling.
You don’t notice this in your work and freelancing, this is a matter of course, but in your business it's different.
What it gave:
What prevented:
Monetary growth in business:
Minus 12 thousand rubles. There are sales, but I am now at the testing stage of various promotion channels, where the money goes.
Findings:
If I didn’t have the experience of previous projects, I, most likely, would not have launched my business alone. Now I have more confidence in my abilities. Previous experience gave me some initial base of contacts, with which I work now.
At the moment I work in 2 startups and the total income from them is 190 thousand rubles. If you look at the salary plug on hh, you can clearly see that web designers get 30% less than mobile application designers. At the second ceiling reaches 180 thousand rubles. (Moscow time). My experience now allows you to get a job in such a company
If we take into account that I have an option in startups, then it can be said that my path was right from a financial point of view, but erroneous from the point of view of career growth and the realization of myself as a narrow specialist.
Introverts are usually not public. Although modern business requires it. Few of us dare to perform on the Olympic stage. And before, really, people like me were not easy. Now networking can be developed without leaving home and this is a great help for introverts.
From my own experience I can say that professionalism in the profession + networking can create incredible things. I wish you are not afraid to do projects to launch your "social wave".
I hope my experience will inspire you to something new.
I'll start with who I am. My name is Sergey Zakharov. In the profession of interface designer 14 years. He started in Omsk, continued in Moscow, and now in Minsk. He worked in top agencies in Moscow (according to the Tagline version).
At the start of a career, thoughts about my business did not go to me at all. Everything changed when ...
')
But before I continue, let's think about the career and the path of an IT person in it.
As an introvert from birth, it always seemed to me that business is a lot of emotional people who love to be in public, extroverts by nature, salespeople of themselves and their leadership qualities, and introverts are craftsmen who, by nature, sharpen their skills to the highest degree perfection, especially without sticking out and as if invisible to society. I went from artisan to a startup and entrepreneur. And this is an article about how he changed me.
If you work in IT, then Morpheus will offer you not 2, but as many as 4 tablets:
- Work in hiring before retirement.
- Become a freelancer on rails.
- Work in a startup as part of a team (with option or share)
- Open your own business.
I managed to taste all 4. And which one is sweeter? We find out below.
1. Career in IT
I am one of those people who cannot stay long in one place. The maximum that was possible is 2 years of work in one company. Usually 1-1.5 years. After I felt some stagnation and development slowed down. It's like in sports training. First, the muscles grow from any slightest load, and after six months or a year, you have to make many times more effort to grow at least a little.
My first job in design and layout (2004)
All this affected my career growth - it was not there at all. I left at a time when the management had already worked with me, it saw my strengths, trusted me and had time to invest in my training. And I watched the same picture after leaving: the art directors or senior designers were those who came almost simultaneously with me. At first, I did not realize the problem, but then I accepted the sacrifice.
What it gave:
- Big outlook and understanding of the principles of work of different companies
- With every new job I grew up in a salary
- Good networking that still works
What prevented:
- Career growth
- Employment. When I took the last job, HR asked me about why I change jobs so often. I had to invent something about the coincidence of circumstances. In the end, they took me.
Career growth in money
From 8 thousand rubles (2004, Omsk) to 100 thousand rubles (2015, Moscow)
Conclusion:
Look at my experience and ask yourself a question: Do you want to work another 5-10 years in your current company? If the answer is positive and immediate, then go into career building through your professional growth. If in doubt, think about what the reasons are, you might like other “pills”.
2. Freelance
Thousands of articles have already been written about the pros and cons of freelancing. All the shortcomings touched me personally. This and the variability in income, and the difficulty in planning the family budget, and the notorious procrastination or, conversely, processing.
For me, an unexpected plus was the fact that I saw my son grow up. I did not come in the evening tired after work to see how the child was already sleeping and did not leave in the morning when he had not yet woken up.
What it gave:
- All the main advantages of freelancing
What prevented:
- All the major cons of freelancing.
- Networking development.
Freelance growth:
The average annual income - 100 thousand rubles / month. In one month there could be a jump up to 140 thousand, in another it could fall to 60. 2017 data.
Conclusion:
Freelance relaxes. Introvert, like me, it is comfortable. You have a monitor, telegrams and Trello and let the whole world wait. But sooner or later the payoff comes - those colleagues, on the former job, grew out of art-studs and open their studios or did great projects and won awards at festivals. And you are a freelancer. And this is a new sacrifice I made.
3. Work in a startup
Startup # 1
In fact, my path was not linear.
2011. Moscow. Then, maybe a little earlier, I began to think that I didn’t really want to work in hiring all my life. These thoughts led me everyday trips to the crowded Moscow metro. I can not imagine how you can 10-20-30 years to perform this consuming ritual. That year, my former colleague Maxim, with whom we worked in Omsk, suggested that I make my startup. “Probably, this is my chance,” I thought, and decided to rush into this adventure. I became a co-founder with a 25% stake and we started nipping SmartProgress - a service of setting and achieving goals.
Landing Version 2012
I was engaged in the design of everything and everything in the evenings after the main work, Maxim - Kodil fulltime. In 2012, we run, publish an article here on the site and collect 30 thousand views , our site is breaking on the number of registrations. We are in chocolate!
In a couple of months, the incredible happens. We receive an offer from the investor. I meet him at the office in Moscow. Everything is serious: security, negotiation, people in jackets, and I, a green start-up. They want to buy SmartProgress in full, or take a share of 75% and implement our project in them. For less do not agree. I want you to understand that the numbers were announced at $ 1 million for a full ransom (the dollar was slightly lower at the time;)). Oh, these times are expensive oil, lamp time for Russian startups.
I was with both hands for the sale, but the partner has cooled: if now they are offering us 1 million, then what will happen when we implement all those functions that we have planned and will dial the user base? And we refused this deal. I already see your catty smile on his face. But what's done is done. Wake me up when the time machine comes.
I will drop all unnecessary details. Let me just say that yes, we later had other proposals from investors, but we did not find a consensus and did not attract investments to this day. In general, things went well in the project. We tested different business models, found a working one, the first sales went and ... 2014 came. Crisis, Ukraine, Crimea, that's it. Investors hid themselves in their shells and did not even stick their nose out. In 2015, we won a grant in StartUp Chile $ 35 thousand. My partner Maxim left for acceleration in Santiago for six months, these were the conditions of the grant.
To date, the project brings a stable, almost passive income, but not sufficient to be able to live off of it.
Launching the project, we created a kind of "social wave"
No esoteric, just the facts - after the launch of SmartProgress, we began to receive letters from people who were thinking about the exact same project. This “wave” shows everyone that you are not just dreaming, but embodying your plans. At that time we met with Victor from Minsk. And it was he who became the key figure in startup # 2.
Startup # 2
At the beginning of 17, I wrote Victor, with whom we did not communicate for a very long time (the “wave” from the launch of SmartProgress has not faded since 2012). Together we quickly launch several projects that did not take off. We do not despair and make new attempts.
A year later, in June 2018, I am going to Minsk and participate in the hackathon Garage 48. We occupy the 3rd place in the AR category. A little later, an investor appears. And now I have been living in Minsk for 2.5 months. Although the amount of investment is not large, but it was enough for us to launch a full-fledged MVP, which became the project of the day on Product Hunt .
ARcraft allows you to buy merch in augmented reality, and then do the magic - when you point the camera at the purchased object, a video or 3D animation appears.
What it gave:
- Experience in business, negotiations with investors and partners.
- An additional source of income.
- A huge increase in networking and key contacts to achieve new goals.
- Bonus: the experience of living in Thailand for 5 months at the expense of the project profits.
What prevented:
- Growing designer skills. In a startup, the founders are generalists who have to do work that is not inherent to the profession: write texts, analyze Central Asia, set up targeting, understand marketing, perform the role of HR.
Cash growth:
In startup # 1. From 15 to 60 thousand per month (dividends). Not much, so I combined startups with work or freelancing.
In startup # 2. 165 thousand per month (ZP)
Findings:
- Any business will bring you a huge number of useful dating, which was not at birth. This is a magnet that attracts people with similar views and ambitions. This fact tilts the scales in the direction of launching your project, and not work for hire, where the circle is closed only by colleagues. This is what I myself felt when working in a startup.
- Working in a startup, I began to see flaws in my own and other people's businesses. I began to notice new opportunities and ideas of new projects constantly climbed into my head. If I don’t have SmartProgress right now, I know exactly where I will go next, because I see vacant niches. And that led me to “tablet number 4”.
4. Own business
In the spring of 2018, I decided to launch my own project - United Mentors . This is a business mentor search service. I went through minimal effort to test my hypothesis and find out if someone needed it. I made a site on Tilda and began testing various promotion channels. In September, I had my first client.
And this is an interesting feeling.
The realization that there was nothing, then you come, do something, create some value and pay for it
You don’t notice this in your work and freelancing, this is a matter of course, but in your business it's different.
What it gave:
- Intensive networking. Now I am meeting with businessmen who earn hundreds more than a thousand times more than me.
- I realize myself by doing exactly my project. Here I am the full owner.
What prevented:
- For now, it just looks like an investment of your time and money.
Monetary growth in business:
Minus 12 thousand rubles. There are sales, but I am now at the testing stage of various promotion channels, where the money goes.
Findings:
If I didn’t have the experience of previous projects, I, most likely, would not have launched my business alone. Now I have more confidence in my abilities. Previous experience gave me some initial base of contacts, with which I work now.
Results
At the moment I work in 2 startups and the total income from them is 190 thousand rubles. If you look at the salary plug on hh, you can clearly see that web designers get 30% less than mobile application designers. At the second ceiling reaches 180 thousand rubles. (Moscow time). My experience now allows you to get a job in such a company
If we take into account that I have an option in startups, then it can be said that my path was right from a financial point of view, but erroneous from the point of view of career growth and the realization of myself as a narrow specialist.
Introverts are usually not public. Although modern business requires it. Few of us dare to perform on the Olympic stage. And before, really, people like me were not easy. Now networking can be developed without leaving home and this is a great help for introverts.
From my own experience I can say that professionalism in the profession + networking can create incredible things. I wish you are not afraid to do projects to launch your "social wave".
I hope my experience will inspire you to something new.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/430390/
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