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Residential and commercial building, by Claudio Maroni, Francesco Guidi, Massimo Teodori and Nazario Petrucci.

Ascoli Piceno, Italy.

© Roberto Conte (2021)

A: So negative intuition doesn't exist-that's laziness or paranoia, not intuition. There is a difference between intuition and laziness/paranoia. In my opinion, laziness is not an emotion on its own but a reaction to something else that needs to be worked through (like a need to self sabotage or not being used to a new schedule) and it can be a block to intuition.

Why be me when you can be you?

If I were to travel back in time and live my life again, I'm not sure I could get this same outcome. There were tons of toxic situations that opened new doors, rejections that turned into amazing redirections, random meetings with people who became lifelong friends, and more one-off lucky instances that I wouldn't be able to recreate. It's a mosaic of fortuitous events over the past few years that led me here.

With that said, there were definitely factors within my control that I maximized to increase my chances of success:

Become an expert in something. A lot of people want the lifestyle, glitz, and glamor, but not the hard work and grind required to develop expertise. Have a pocket skill. For example, I'm really good at strategy and business operations. In Silicon Valley, I have a reputation as Mr. GSD ("Get Shit Done") from my track record solving very tricky, tough, and high-stakes problems. That’s how I ended up building an incredible professional and personal network of people who’ve got my back—whether it’s giving me referrals on the spot or stepping up for me when needed. I haven't applied to jobs in years and former colleagues reach out with opportunities all the time:

Proximity is everything. Be where excellence is. Want to marry someone from an Ivy League university? Get into an Ivy League university yourself. Only about 0.1% of the world’s population graduates from Harvard, but if you get into Harvard, guess what? 100% of your circle did too. The same goes for Silicon Valley. I came here to work with the smartest people in tech because being around excellence opens up opportunities. You're not going to get that living in Antarctica. Proximity equals opportunity.

Shoot for seniority as fast as possible. The higher your level, the more visibility your work receives, and the more opportunities to interact with decision makers like top executives and industry leaders. I've always had problems with authority and I didn't want to waste years of my life being told what to do by someone else so guess what I did? I became the person with authority who tells other people what to do as fast as possible.

For context, most new college graduates in tech start at Level 3 (L3). Promotions typically follow this timeline:

L4 (Senior): 1–2 years

L5 (Lead): 2–3 more years

L6 (Manager/Staff): 3–4 more years

L6 is considered a terminal level, meaning many people spend years there without ever advancing further. Breaking into L7 (Senior Manager/Senior Staff) is extremely difficult, and L8 (Director/Principal) is even rarer—less than 1% of the industry reaches those levels. On average, moving from L3 to L6 typically takes 6 years on the low end and 9 years on the high end, just to reach mid-level management, not even senior leadership.

Two questions:

1. How did you get good in strategy and business operations? From what kind of job did you learn? Or is there any other ways?

2. Getting shit done. How do you keep up a consistent energy and motivation throughout the day without getting bored and stressed over the job? I find it extremely difficult to keep up with my concentration and attention since I’m juggling so many tasks and I feel like at the end of the day I can’t get any thing done properly. By this time my energy runs out!

1. How did you get good in strategy and business operations? From what kind of job did you learn? Or is there any other ways?

Management Consulting at a Big 4 firm. From there, I transitioned into Program Management in tech, then Strategy & Operations, then Product Management, then my current role, but consulting was the foundation. Consulting taught me valuable business frameworks, paired me with mentors (senior consultants) who showed me the ropes, threw me at tough problems and into intense situations that forced me to learn faster (client engagements), and polished my communication and presentation skills (executive presence). It kicked my ass in all the good ways.

For more, check the tag: #Management Consulting.

2. Getting shit done. How do you keep up a consistent energy and motivation throughout the day without getting bored and stressed over the job? I find it extremely difficult to keep up with my concentration and attention since I’m juggling so many tasks and I feel like at the end of the day I can’t get any thing done properly. By this time my energy runs out!

tl;dr: I'm addicted to winning.

I get a visceral high—physically, mentally, and emotionally—from solving problems, delivering impact, and hitting major milestones. This has been true since I was young, so even the smallest, most annoying and braindead tasks feel like steps toward my goals. My goals are the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I sleep.

I'm highly focused and don't struggle with attention or concentration issues because I've always prioritized ruthlessly. I start with my end goal (North Star), map all the steps to get there, and then cut out everything that doesn't contribute to achieving my goal. There's a great word in the English language that really helps with this, here it is:

"No."

I say no a lot—to people, to distractions, to anything that drains my time and energy. Life constantly throws demands your way, and if you’re not careful, you’ll easily end up overwhelmed. Time is the currency of life and the one thing you can’t get back, so I make a point to protect it. For me, that starts with saying no.