009 - It's All About Shooting Your Shot, And Giving It Your All!
This last week had the least number of meetings in my calendar, and yet it flew by.
A few weeks ago I applied to the On Deck Fellowship. It's a community of folks who are looking to explore and start building whatever is coming next. The application process was nice - you applied online and if you were selected for the next round then you had an interview. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Luba Yudasina and then spent the next few days patiently waiting to hear back. From what I'd heard, the program had many great applicants and the team was having a tough time trying to figure out what to do. I decided I needed to shoot my shot, and wrote an email expressing my interests further. I actually used the phrase shoot my shot in the email, before a wise friend recommended I edit it out :)
The next day, I got an update! I saw the email subject: Aashni, You're In! On Deck Fellowship! and I jumped up with joy and excitement because I'd made the cut! I then finished reading the rest of the email subject and realized I got into the next batch, not the current one. My heart broke a little because from a pure timing perspective, the current cohort worked out best for me. So I decided to give it my all and shoot my shot a second time. I cracked my knuckles, hit reply all and wrote another email. I expressed my desire to join the current cohort, where I am with my own project and how I can give back to other members of the community.
I then sat. And waited. And with every passing minute I convinced myself the email wasn't enough. I wondered what else I could have done to get selected. And then I got a reply. Let's Do This. 3 little words that let me know I was selected!
Morale of the story: Always shoot your shot. The worst that could happen is you get turned down, the best is you get what you were hoping for!
If you have any shoot your shot type stories, please let me know! I'd love to celebrate them with you!
Find Me Online
How Early Stage VCs Think and What Sorry You're Too Early Means
How To Connect With Your Customers
Questions To Ask During User Discovery Interviews
New Blog Posts
Earlier this week, I hit a milestone I never thought I could have achieved 6 years ago. If you follow me on instagram @aashnisshah, you've likely come across one of my #project365 posts. This project is where I post a photo a day, everyday. I started this 6 years ago, and am really excited to share that this week I passed the 6 year mark! I wrote a post talking about why I keep up with the project, what it means to me today and some of the hilarious things that have happened over the years related to #project365.
On June 12th, I had been asked to address Graduands of the University of Toronto St Michael's College. We were asked to share a short clip which would then be shared with students since they aren't able to attend graduation in person. With everything that's currently happening in 2020, especially the impact of COVID-19 to all our lives, it's terrifying to enter the job market right now. Instead of making false promises to students, I wanted to focus my address on how Graduands have the skills they need to grab onto the opportunities that are popping up instead. You can read a transcript of my address or watch the video here.
Little Plugs
LunchClub - a great way to network and meet other folks online. It's currently invite only, this link is an invite. I've met a lot of incredible people through lunchclub already.
Nick DeJesus - Currently building a really interesting shopping cart experience