“From rave websites to AI risk: 30 years of career lessons” by Patrick Gruban 🔸

Summary After three decades spanning startups, consulting, banking, entrepreneurship, and impact nonprofits, I'm sharing lessons that might be useful for others navigating career decisions. I was prompted by the Career Conversations Week post noting that "EA skews pretty young, so if your career can be measured in decades rather than years, you probably have a lot to share!" Rather than my specific job history, I'll focus on lessons learned, though I'm wary of biases or being too general to be applicable. My career began in 1994 after finishing Gymnasium (the German equivalent of high school) in Germany. I had to do civilian service and planned on studying after, but was offered a traineeship at an advertising agency. This led to a diverse 30-year journey through multiple industries and roles. Rather than recount specific details of my path, I'll focus on lessons I learned, though I acknowledge these may reflect [...] ---Outline:(00:13) Summary(01:42) The biggest opportunities came through unexpected connections(02:38) Learning what I didnt want proved surprisingly valuable(03:10) I learned fastest when I was genuinely excited(03:50) Discovering trust is a valuable currency(04:37) Financial prudence created unexpected freedom(05:23) Finding mentors in unexpected places(06:08) I learned to insert myself into opportunities(07:03) I had to actively build my resilience(07:52) Experimenting before making big commitments(08:31) Avoiding living someone elses life(09:08) Neglecting social connections and paying a price(09:43) Caveats and limitations(10:12) Acknowledgements--- First published: July 21st, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xRfZMmfoCNq8DWcKB/from-rave-websites-to-ai-risk-30-years-of-career-lessons --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.