Why I don't like working at a mainstream tech company

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When I was young, I screwed up. The simple way was that in my 20s, I lacked direction, focus, and the sense of “being in control.”

My life goals have remained stable, tinkering from day to day. In the long run, almost all of my interests have returned to my crazy passion for music and performance, and I have been working hard to build a career as a music producer. This career ultimately failed.

Even so, I felt young and nothing was unconquerable, as if everything was possible, but for a moment, I failed to make it happen. I didn't care about anything and didn't plan for the future.

My other passions have always been business and technology, and one day I got really excited because I had an idea for a job at a tech giant, helping to develop what I always thought were the future.

Unfortunately, over time, I was building my skills and experience slower than when I entered the industry, and years behind my peers. My skills were in the area of ​​content, strategy, and marketing, and I was doing OK, but never better. No matter what role I held at a mainstream technology company, my apps never took off.

After all these years, I wasted my time with useless excuses like: If they would just give me a chance, I would do it. What a reasonable attitude!

The reason why tech companies didn't hire me was simply because none of my current skills were strong enough. I worked hard to change, taking tutorials, building stuff myself, doing anything I could to learn everything I could.

This brings up a question. Do I have any regrets about missing out on opportunities to join promising technology companies because of the choices and paths I took? No. Given the hindsight and a level of self-awareness that poor choices alone have given me, I have to say I have no regrets.

It’s a cliche, but if you keep an open mind and are honest with yourself, you can truly learn from every experience and choice. I now understand that while I could have had the opportunity to work on some amazing products and market them, I chose a different skill set.

I'm learning how to fail and how to screw up gracefully. I'm learning how to build something independently and plan for its future. I'm learning how to use technology and understand how it affects and changes industries and individuals. Most importantly, I'm learning that there is no ready-made path or destination. You can always make a change and pursue a new passion.

Where my career will go next is still a place I'm not sure about. I've created a concrete plan to follow up on my progress and what to do with project management software and a personal CRM.

What am I doing now? Writing. I write more consistently and with more focus than I ever thought possible. I advise some amazing startups and businesses, including very successful businesses that have been around longer than I have. I’m not sure where this path will turn now, and I’m not even entirely sure that the path ahead of me is the right one.

But there is one thing I am sure of. You cannot live your life with regrets. All you can do is learn from the past and look to the future.