Episode 4.3 Transition

Hello friends! Welcome to the final episode of this special season of ProdActivity podcast. In this one I want to talk about transition. Things I had to learn — Lets talk about transition from entrepreneurship to corporate first. Stating the obvious here, it is very different and you need to learn and adapt. Here are my takeaways:

• Being entrepreneurial is good, but you also should know that you cannot own and build and have solution for everything. Each team and each org has its own objectives, scope and responsibilities. Feel free to give feedback or idea on thing you think would be cool, but make sure not to step on other peoples toes. If they ask for more or offer collaboration, then it is perfect, go for it. Eventually you can turn into amazing Intrapreneur working on incredible products and projects.
• Teamwork is amazing, but also people have their individual goals. There will be times where you want things to be done, but may face bottlenecks. Everyone have their priorities and timelines, respect that and try to create a win-win proposition.
• Make friends at work, but there is a place and time for everything. Make sure you make friends! Workplaces, especially places like Google, are the places full of ambitious and colourful people and there are perfect spaces for building long lasting friendships. However, avoid much gossips, keep your professional demeanour with friends at work, and the most important one: know when, where and with whom to share your concerts and/or ideas.
• But overall, enjoy the office life. The social energy office life brings is invaluable, so make the best of it and meet all the new people you can meet in all the events around.

Another big change happened when I moved from a smaller city of 500K of Edinburgh to metropolitan city of 10M of London. Here, you will face all the cons that you probably have heard about. For me the biggest ones are:

• Street safety. Even though I am very careful, I got my phone snatched out of my hand and lots of colleagues have experienced the same.
• Water quality. Sadly water is very rough and you may see that on your skin and in your hair.
• Commute. I used to live in Canary Wharf area, where you get fully managed amazing buildings. However, the issue is that the commute is long and if you end up in rush hour, you may get tired by the time you are home. Therefore moved close to office, where I can walk. Do this, if you can.
• Rent. The most painful part of living in London is rent. Currently, as of 2023 average 1 bed or studio flat is 1700 to 2200 Pounds. If you are ok to share, do it!

Having said the negatives, there are also positives:

• Parks and sights: London is massive with amazing parks, museums, streets, markets that are all or most free and incredible. I still have many parts that I have not see after ⅖ years.
• Food Scene: London food scene is very rich! Lots of cultures, all have their representing restaurants. You can try and enjoy and you will never run out of options.
• Musicals, concerts, shows, theatres: There is always something going on in London, big or small. So you will have enough to do. Just make sure that you book weeks and sometimes months in advance to get good tickets.

Path ahead — So what is the path ahead for me. Although, I do have plans, but do not want to jinx them. Will just live and see what life throws at us, hopefully mostly good things. Maybe when things have changed, I will make come back with another season of this podcast. For now enjoy the holiday season with your friends and the loved ones and stay well! Happy New Year from now on and talk to you later!