Building Your Category of One + New Fellowship Announcement

Good morning,

We hope you had a rejuvenating weekend. Thousands of new members have joined Network Capital over the past few weeks so we thought of reintroducing our mission and tell you about our new offerings and fellowship details.

In his widely read Harvard Business Review article, our founder Utkarsh Amitabh, shared how we should transcend competition and build a category of one.

At Network Capital, our mission is to help you build your category of one. 100,000+ students and professionals around the world are part of our community. They joined us to advance their careers, figure out their strengths, connect with some of the smartest professionals on the planet and participate in immersive learning experiences created by our team every month.

Thanks to your support, we have become one of the world’s largest career intelligence companies and our journey has been covered by Harvard Business School, World Economic Forum, Mint, TED, Economic Times and many other noteworthy publications.

We also serve as the partner of Government of India’s Atal Innovation Mission that provides mentoring to 2 million high school students. Two days back Utkarsh addressed them digitally. You can take a look here

If you are an ambitious and curious student or young professional, you will enjoy being a Network Capital subscriber.

New Fellowship Announcement

‘I don’t know what I want to do with my life’ Fellowship

It is hard to figure out what one wants to do with one’s life amidst the cacophony of everyday life complemented by our inner voice that seems to be running pillar to post at breakneck speed.

There is no formula for self-discovery. There have, however, been some attempts in the form of psychometric tests, algorithms and guided medical trials. No success stories so far but perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing. It will be a tad disappointing to know that our professional futures can be charted out by rudimentary algorithms. That said, are these rudimentary algorithms any worse than current ways of figuring out what next? Who knows..

We don’t want to make this a theoretical discussion. Let’s focus on figuring out what to do with this one crazy life that we have. In the Network Capital ‘I don’t know what I want to do with my life’ Fellowship, we do this by -

1. Practical insights from leading professionals.

2. A solid network of professionals from across the world.

3. Advice and guidance from a tribe of mentors.

4. Actionable learnings from practical projects.

Whether you are a high school student, college senior, young graduate, mid-career professional, you will need to learn to reinvent yourself multiple times. It isn’t easy and you can’t do it alone. That said, it can be heaps on fun if you do it with a cohort of people you resonate with.

This age-agnostic fellowship will help you learn new things, read charming content, meet interesting people and discover what piques your curiosity. No one else can tell you what you should do. The decision needs to come from you but there are some proven techniques that can help figure out the problem that needs you the most. Isn’t that what your work should be about?

Masterclass Alert

Career Principles of one of India’s Youngest Self-Made Billionaires Nikhil Kamath

Nikhil’s passion for analytics and financial markets stems from his unorthodox childhood. His focus and passion has been in developing alternative investment strategies.

In August 2019, Nikhil co-founded True Beacon to bring his fund management experience to a global group of Ultra High Net Worth strategic investors.

Newsletters This Week

1. From Being a DJ to a Unicorn Founder: Career Principles of Robert Reffkin

Robert Reffkin was raised by a single mother who was a Jewish immigrant to United States. As soon as his grandparents discovered that he was black, they cut ties with his mother. His father was absent from his life and had died homeless.

He started building Compass, a real estate tech company back in 2012. Today it is a multi-billion dollar company scaling fast, fighting multiple challenges but marching every day towards its mission of “helping everyone find their place in the world.”

There are 6 key principles that will help you better understand Robert’s career principles.

1. How Barack Obama Became Backable: From Being Perceived as Boring to Winning Presidency

Four years before Barack Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech (The very speech that made him President), he ran for Congress and was defeated by a two-to-one margin. After the loss, the Obama family was $ 60,000 in debt. Barack Obama seriously considered quitting politics as a career.Instead of giving up, he hit refresh. He started from scratch.

It is hard to believe now, but back then Barack Obama was considered boring, stilted and professorial. His stump speech felt like a university lecture. Ted McClelland, a journalist who covered Obama during his congressional loss, said that his speeches were so dry they “sucked the life out of the room.”

1. Understanding the difference between shame and regret

Regret is “I did something bad.” Shame is “I am something bad.” Regret can be healthy if we reflect on our actions and commit to making things better one day at a time. Shame, on the other hand, can lead to us resigning and accepting that we are beyond repair.

Most of us have lingering regrets that creep up in unexpected ways. It could be regret of action, inaction, indulgence, failure, among others. Sometimes these regrets lead us into the trap of shame. If and when that happens, we need to step back and check ourselves.