Don't Quit Your Day Job with Aliza Knox
Aliza Knox shares the main themes and key takeaways in her new book "Don't Quit Your Day Job".
Fresh out of the studio, Aliza Knox joined us to discuss the inspiration and key themes behind her new book "Don't Quit Your Day Job". We began the conversation on Aliza's observations on how the technology business and startup ecosystem have shifted in the last decade within Asia Pacific, during her stints with Google, Twitter and Cloudflare. Last but not least, we discuss how her book can help people out there to think about career growth and progression in the midst of the pandemic and the Great resignation.
"I have lots of different people that I go to and I think that board of directors is really important. It's not the only social capital, but that's social capital primarily outside of your work, out of your specific job, that's important for you to build over time so that you get outside perspectives. If nothing else, sometimes in your workplace, you get very locked into a certain way of thinking or a certain style. And it's important to get perspective from." - Aliza Knox
Introduction
- Aliza Knox, Author of “Don’t quit your day job”, tech executive and non-executive director and senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (@alizaknox, Linkedin)
- We last spoke when you were leading Twitter APAC. What has transpired since then till now?
- Over the past decade, there's been a big shift in the tech ecosystem where you are also an angel investor in tech startups here, what are your thoughts on the evolution of the tech ecosystem in Asia Pacific and where do you think that this is heading towards?
Don't quit your day job by Aliza Knox (Website, Amazon)
- You can take a person off from being an entrepreneur but you can never take the entrepreneur off the person. Because I started off as an entrepreneur and walked over to the corporate world for the past decade, I often want to quit my day job and do whatever I want. Please do not tell my employer and I am joking of course. So, why should I not quit my day job?
- What is the inspiration behind writing this book?
- What are the key themes of the book?
- Who is the intended audience of the book?
- What are the key takeaways which you want the readers to get from your book?
- Where do you draw the stories in the book from?
- Does the six mindset shifts you have introduced are affected by culture? If so, how should one adapt them? For example, Japanese and Korean culture are very different from those in Southeast Asia.
- Every career change can be a difficult endeavor for anyone, what is your advice for people who are contemplating changes?
- How does one build their social capital? You mentioned that one should assemble their own personal board of directors. How does one do that?
- Everyone seeks out mentorship and help from other senior people, what should be the mental model for the person seeking mentorship out there?
- The past two years have changed many in terms of how they view work, and it feels like the pandemic is settling towards an endemic stage, and people are going back to work. What are your prescriptions for people thinking about making changes for their lives or going back to the offices?
- What are the parts that you have written but you did not include into the book?
Closing
- Any recommendations that have inspired you recently?
- Aliza's recommendation: Bob Iger, "The Ride of a Lifetime"
- How do my audience find you?