The blog is meant to record milestones and I guess the IPO is a pretty significant one. Honestly, I'm sure it would have been a lot more special if it wasn't COVID times but there was still a nice charm to it. Waking up at 9am, seeing the video of the hosts ringing the bell, seeing the news talk about the build up to the opening and how it could be like 150, figuring out Fidelity and how to trade and then finally Brian's finally speech about belonging and how he cares.
In some ways, I feel it's well deserved. I'm pretty cynical/jaded about the company now but when I hear Brian speak somehow I feel invigorated in our mission. As I was saying to P, I think it's a really nice end to a tough year - from layoffs in the summer to a record breaking IPO at the end of the year. In some ways, today felt like the opposite of "layoff" day (where it was filled with dread and anxiety) instead being filled with giddiness and excitement.
I guess I also feel more sure now about it being time to leave or try something new. The only thing really holding me back is the $$ thing (in the sense that I'm leaving a lot of it on the table if the stock price holds) but I'm not sure that should really be a factor. I've already been blessed to be pretty successful financially due to this IPO and I should probably try to optimize for different things now.
It is crazy sometimes when I see those numbers in my Fidelity account but, at the end of the day, I've never been a person driven by money. In fact, I've donated more this year (~10k) than I have in any other year and I feel proud of myself for it. Ultimately, even if I did "become rich" I would like to use my money as a way to invest and help other people like Dr. George in the Daughters of Destiny documentary (trying to use full names here if I ever go back and read this in the future).
But, who knows? Maybe it makes more sense to ride out this wave of financial success and collect enough money to retire later. But how much is enough? Especially if I'm not happy or think work is boring? Is it 1m? 3m? 4m? I should probably set a cutoff or else I'll just always be chasing a moving target as I discussed with gary.
For now, it feels nice to celebrate. I have worked hard at this company more so than any other place in the past (and been rewarded for it which did create a nice feedback loop) so it's a real pleasure to see things work out. That being said, I think all phases of life must come to an end so I shouldn't just let golden handcuffs shackle me here. But who knows...there's still so much to see.
