Are you doing the “right thing”? Lessons and dilemmas of an early employee.

As I was closing the chapter on 2017, I realized that I am about to turn 26 next year. Oh, I panicked. I panicked at the thought of turning 30 in the next four and a half years, and the worry about what legacy I will leave by then. I have done all the right Indian things so far in life — I became an NTSE scholar (the only girl from the city that year), was the district topper in class 12 for Commerce, went to the best arts college in the country, joined a Harvard MPA-IDs led development consulting firm, and am working at the best social-data-tech startup in the country. Could I ask for more? And, all this, along a very supportive family that only pushes me to do more “right things” and lets me dream as I wish.

But, I have just 4 and a half years until I turn 30. I will probably need to get married during this time and “settle in”, you see. I probably won’t have a chance to sit for the Civil Services exams if not now, and if I don’t do it, I will shatter my grandfathers‘ dreams. And I probably won’t ever do a Masters in my life, if I don’t do it now. Am I out of right things to do? I, of course, asked myself:

Am I making the right choice to live it up as the Resident Entrepreneur, SocialCops?

This post is about my learnings at SocialCops, reflections on my two and a half years, and how I made peace with what I am doing. To begin this quest, I looked up a lot of life stories of early-stage employees at startups (in India and elsewhere)…