Pandemic, Passion Economy and the Side Hustle Revolution

Hi everyone, I'm Utkarsh, here to talk to you about a few new announcements on Network Capital. So let's get started. First of all, I hope you're all doing alright, taking care of yourselves, your communities and your families. This is a time where all of us need to be there for each other. I know it's a hard time, but I'm confident that we'll emerge from this stronger and wiser and reflect on certain choices that we might have taken as unintentionally or intentionally. But getting to what I'm here for, I'm very thrilled to share that my next book titled Pandemic Passion Economy and the side Hustle Revolution. I just signed a contract for it today and I'll be writing about what Passion Economy means Today in the 21st century post pandemic era. How can all of you benefit from this new relationship with work? And how will jobs change? In this book I'm going to talk about real case studies taken from faculty members on Network Capital, people who've done fellowships, masterclasses, podcasts with us, and talk about interesting people doing interesting things so that the rest of us can do the same. Over 500 million people lost jobs in 2020 alone. This number is keeping is going to keep increasing. The time has come where we really reflect on what means to us most and why and figure out a way to create a viable profession out of something that we truly care about. When I left Microsoft to build Network capital full time, I wrote about it extensively in Harvard Business Review. I contextualized what Passion Economy meant for me then. Many of you enjoyed reading that article. It became one of the top read articles in HBR last year. But it was one sliver of the story as the Pandemic has unleashed its specter as we've gotten to know its honestly scary and intimidating side effects in aftermath and we're not even halfway there. There's so much more suffering that unfortunately is coming our way that we need to brace ourselves and truly figure out of the 80,000 hours that all of us get to work in our adult life, what are the problems that we want to solve? Who are the people we want to solve it? And how might we create a suitable business model that can give sense to our curiosities, our passions and so forth. You might have heard that Network Capital launched a side Hustle Fellowship where our entire focus is to help you figure out figure out how to transform your side Hustle or your Passion Project into something that you truly enjoy creating and also can enjoy a healthy paycheck afterwards. In the book, I plan to introduce real case studies of people who successfully transitioned from simply having a passion to doing something about it. I think you losing your job or you being furloughed could potentially turn out to be the best day in your life because it forced you into a situation that perhaps you were not ready for. It was a painful pill. It is still a painful pill. I'm not the one to make a case for quick fixes and motivational quotes without without perspective. But I do think that with the right choices, with the right community, with the right framework, with the right mental models, we can truly create a scenario where passion economy is the first thing that comes to our mind when we think of careers in the 21st century. Network capital has a summer school coming up on the 1st of June, and the whole premise of that school is to enable children from around the world to think critically, speak purposefully, and write effectively. These are three timeless skills that no matter what you do, whether you're a sports person or somebody building a deep tech company, these are three things that are going to be useful to you no matter what. And I think how the Network Capital school connects with the side hustle Fellowship connects with My new book is a simple thread of curiosity over fomo. Curiosity is a far bigger force than the fear of missing out, which seems to be the guiding light of edtech companies today. I want to change the way students learn. I want to change the way with your help, how young professionals re pivot and build something that they truly care about. You Many of you who've read my articles in Harvard Business Review, World economic forum, MINT, etc. Know how motivated I am by the concept of ikigai, which is essentially the fusion of who you are, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you could be paid for. Schools and colleges across the world unfortunately are anti ikigai because they force us to believe that there is only one way to success and if you're not on that road, you're actually not really worthy. I think it's time to challenge that. I'm really excited to get this opportunity to have the job of a lifetime which is to serve you all. Augment your career intelligence in the era of Artificial intelligence. But I need your support. This book will be filled with case studies. If you know interesting people who are doing interesting things with their time, send them to me. I would love to discuss their stories. If you've been furloughed or fired, or if you know somebody who's been furloughed and fired and is trying to revitalize himself or herself, send them to me. This is a great time to re pivot and reset. If you know somebody who's taken a decision that seems completely crazy or seemed completely crazy at the time but somehow seems intriguing to you, I would love to dive deeper. This book is going to be a lot like an open source product or a project. I have frameworks in mind, I have lots and lots of examples to share, but it will only come together with your help. So there's a link in this note. Please take a look and I look forward to hearing from you. Lastly, before I go, thank you very much for all your support. My first book, the Seductive Illusion of Hard Work became an Amazon Number one bestseller in the middle of a pandemic and this could have only happened with the love and support of a community like Network Capital. I am grateful to you. I am deeply appreciative of what we are building together on nc. Thank you very much and take care.