I Turned Down an Offer

The opportunity was great, but the risks were greater

I was recently offered a position as “Head of Software Development”, which is directly under “VP of Engineering”, but I turned it down.

The reason turned out to be because of my risk appetite. The offer was for a brand new startup based in the US that has yet to dip its toes into the market, testing the waters for its product market fit. Unfortunately, with the current economy we are in, it felt a tad bit risky.

Being a father of 2 young girls, I was inclined to choose the safer bet rather than the riskier but definitely exciting opportunity. As with most things in life, this is one of the decisions I have yet to see if I would regret it down the line or not, as it is not super clear upfront. The only known parameters are the risks and my current risk appetite.

Conclusion

It turned out that there are some really great opportunities that we might think are a no-brainer, but after careful consideration, we could end up turning it down. Maybe as one grows older, the natural opportunistic side is superseded with pessimism, or maybe it’s just pragmatism.

This opportunity also is a testament to why we shouldn’t burn down bridges, and do our absolute best in whatever role we are in. This opportunity was from my former CEO who sold his company to Vianai. If I was just cruising by, doing the bare minimum of what is needed, or I had a toxic personality against the management, then I most likely wouldn’t have been presented with this opportunity.

Hopefully, I get opportunities similar to this in the future, but I do hope that I am in a situation where I can handle the risks when that time comes.