This is a blog post I wrote for 212 Venture Capital’s blog on Medium. You may view the original post here.

My first two months at 212

I joined 212 approximately two months ago as an Associate & I’m new in the VC business.

In the past, I have done some Design Research & Product Management and different types of team work.

This is how I have been experiencing this new episode of my life at 212 the past 60 days along with some mental notes I’ve been taking. I’d love to discuss them further with anyone interested.

1# Get better in co-learning with people

VC turned out to require a much higher level of EQ than I initially presumed.

I am used to organizing and re-organizing work to the point that it is broken down to its atoms, after which an effort estimate is calculated for each atom party, prioritized and re-prioritized after taking team mates’ opinions. This much of a rigor may not be necessary now as it is not possible to have our team work through all the atom-sized tasks themselves: Instead, we need molecule- or paramecium- and sometimes even seemingly orkinos-sized tasks with the effort estimate of an atom-sized one. Our team’s collective network is of highest value here, as we can tap into the knowledge of our friends to save us of a thousand hours of research necessary to evaluate things.

Learning to learn through / co-learning with people is an endless experimentation of the mediums, framings & sub-topics tailored to the addressed group, collective state & needs. It is fun one as it has the neat side benefit of often times helping you form valuable bonds with a fellow human being.

2# Take time to learn about the team’s fortes + pianos, staccatos + legatos

We are a tightly-knit team heavily connected with the ecosystem & nurtured through our global well-being.

I enjoy how being a part of 212 helps me respond to the non-stop urge to make better sense of the world around me: Getting to know the teams working on interesting problems with their specific set of solution approaches and methods is very valuable. I believe this to be one of my fortes — one of the most pronounced attributes about me. Each person in our team has their own fortes.

Much alike, every one of us has a piano — some specific thing that touches our hearts more than other things. Something that makes us ‘soft’. Things that have the potential to upset / annoy or even hype / excite us would be our staccatos. Last but not least, things that help us calm down / balance / savor — our beloved legatos.

It takes time to figure these out with every team member. In some cases, we may even have to start re-evaluating these with our own individual selves. It is never a dull moment when we start observing our interactions with this in mind. It is bliss when the team orchestrates their own collective tempo rubatos by harmoniously mixing the individual fortes, pianos, staccatos and legatos. Makes us all feel lucky.

3# Stretch to expand to create impact

We need each other to grow. I can’t grow if I can’t make you grow. 212 can’t grow if we can’t make all our stakeholders grow.

Just like an agile startup, we are continuously re-designing our daily ways of doing business, functioning as a bridge between many entities, trying to expand our set of beliefs to be more inclusive, ‘pushingly realistic’ and organized. There is no limit, but there is a good balance. A balance where we are challenged yet relaxed in a flow.

Let me know if you’d like to discuss how we may further help each other expand.