Careers (pursuing what you connect with), HR as a market, Investors and market selection

I always suggest that talented people like you pursue the role and market they truly connect with. Regardless of whether it's HR, accounting, storage, sales, customer success, music, entertainment, social media, startup incubators, sports, design, something in vogue or out of fashion, etc., that real connection is generally unstoppable over the long-haul because studying that market & venture, connecting and working with the people in it, finding the angles and imagining the challenges and opportunities will be natural and create energy (even if executing on a given project or venture is hard grinding work).

That said, HR faces a number of structural challenges when it comes to startups:- Most investors haven't done anything in HR and don't trust their investing decisions. They can intellectually grasp and appreciate a good HR product's business and business model, but when it comes down to it, they won't trust their decisions enough to act.

- Investors generally have a lower opinion of HR products or don't find them particularly fascinating (beyond the money making potential), whereas they get irrationally excited about other products in other spaces.

- Other markets are filled with more consistently aggressive, powerful, charismatic and free spending buyers -- i.e., sales, marketing, engineering, security.

- The buying cycle in HR is a slog and favors very large companies like Workday that can, above all else, offer safety and protection from being called out for making an questionable decision.

- Those other markets are huge and will only get gianormous -- if one extends them into the future -- whereas the fate of HR as a standalone function is questionable (vs. it simply becoming a service bureau for delivering benefits and payroll). I think one thing is already decided, and that is, HR will never (generally / there will always be exceptions) be a fast acting, ass kicking powerhouse with tremendous resources at its disposal, bold action & courageous leadership, and lots of discretion inside a company. The window for that is gone for lots of reasons. So from a purely abstract point of view (not considering the all important input of the person who is deciding to interface with a given market), HR is low on the list of great markets to invest in, whether it's time capital or financial capital. But ... the people who love it and really connect with HR, the people for whom it captures their imaginations, they will still find many ways to innovate and capitalize on the current and evolving state of HR and make money and will enjoy doing that while they're creating businesses.

#Careerdevelopment #HR #Investorbehavior