In the 2008 financial crisis, most of my MBA classmates working in Wall Street lost their jobs.
The rout started with Bear Stearns going bankrupt and ended with Lehman Brothers’ collapse. When the first set of layoffs happened, we felt terrible for our friends who were affected. But in retrospect, they did the best because other jobs were still available.
Many of the survivors, whom we thought of as the lucky ones, lost their jobs in the end, when there were no more investment banking jobs left for them in the US.
But even the unluckiest ones turned out to be lucky in other ways — some of them moved to more coveted jobs in investing and private equity, in other countries.
In the end, it was hard to say who was lucky and who was unlucky.
In my own startup journey, the best outcomes have come out of the biggest disasters (e.g., Covid lockdown forcing me to shut down my previous startup).
The truth is this: We have no idea what will be good for us and what won’t. So don’t be too hasty to judge.
No matter how bad things look, keep fighting back and knocking new doors — you never know which piece of “bad luck” will open the most promising door.
– Rajan