Why I Left my Job in the Midst of an Economic Slowdown Amid Soaring Inflation

About 6 weeks ago, I put in my notice at a reputable, high-performing Venture Capital fund in NYC. This is the 3rd time I’ve resigned from a professional job since graduating college, but this time felt very different.

I didn’t have another job lined up.

I didn’t have a next “start date.”

I didn’t have a mini vacation planned to decompress and reset.

It was daunting, nerve-wracking, exhilarating and exciting all at the same time.

Back in 2017, when I left my job as an analyst at a large Wall Street bank to try out a completely new role as a recruiter at a 10-person startup, I remember thinking to myself — this is going to be one of the biggest risks I will take in my career. Little did I know, 6 years later, I would be straddling the line between unemployment and self-employment.

I had an incredible experience working in VC and I am so grateful for the connections and genuine friendships I made along the way. But every time a founder walked through our office doors and gave a pitch, I’d feel a strong pull to their side of the table. I’d always dreamed of starting my own business, but hadn’t landed on that “right idea”. After having the honor of working closely with 50+ founders at early stage startups and helping them with one of their biggest and most important challenges — hiring the right people — I feel I have more clarity on what it takes to be a founder.

So why, in the midst of a global health pandemic and a pending (current?) recession, did I decide that now is the time to try this whole founder thing? For one, I had already become a founder inadvertently. One of my old bosses once said to me — you don’t get promoted into a leadership role by your manager or your company, you first get promoted by your peers. You step into the role naturally without the title, and the title often comes along after. In January, I began to bring together individuals who were navigating similar challenges while searching for jobs in the nascent, web3 space. We called it xDAO, but we are now rebranding to the name “xCollective”. I’ve always been someone to bring people together and connect the dots. When I go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, I often find myself thinking of the people in my network that would benefit from knowing one another. With xCollective, I was eager to create a safe space, where people could turn to for career advice. After growing the community organically to about 500 people in a Discord server — it hit me. I had essentially become a founder, with a leadership position granted to me by the peers in my community.

With this new role as founder, and with my community lifting me up, I realized I had a very important job to do and that this was less of a side project, and more of a true passion that I wanted to turn into a business. This is what led me to focus on xCollective full time. For those not close to it, recruiting in web3 is the Wild West. I can go on and on , but to share a few observations —many people (especially women) aren’t being paid fairly (or at all) for their contributions, there are a lot of handshake agreements being made without formal contracts, and many creators are being taken advantage of.

It has always bothered me that some people have access to certain networks while others do not, and those who do not might be so incredibly qualified for a position, but because of the lack of a connection, it is not within their reach. If we were all pulling each other up a bit more and making thoughtful introductions for those we meet, I believe we would have a more diverse workplace and better products everywhere.

One of the biggest goals I have for xCollective is to empower people to make more connections for others. I want to show our community that when you make an introduction for someone and grant them access to an individual or a job opportunity that they didn’t previously have access to, you can actually change the entire trajectory of their life. This principle is at the heart of our community, and behind everything we will do and build.

All of that said, I am excited to share that xCollective is launching a generative NFT collection soon that will act as a membership pass for our community. If you check any of these boxes, we’d love for you to join us.

1. You are looking for work (part time or full), and potentially interested in web3 work.
2. You want access to compensation data and would like to see more transparency around pay.
3. You care about empowering underrepresented groups to access great opportunities.
4. You have experience with interviewing, negotiating compensation, career coaching, and want to give back to the community.
5. You are a founder or hiring manager looking to hire great talent and pay them equitably.

TLDR: xCollective is on a mission to open up virtual doors, especially for women & non binary individuals, to help them access web3 job opportunities and negotiate fair compensation.

Follow us on Twitter @xCollectiv