I was one of the first to get an internship in my college, one of the first to secure a job, and the first among my peers to get promoted. But was I the best at anything in college or at work? No. I was just an above-average guy who knew how to act like a friend when needed and a responsible employee when it mattered. Being the best at something is rarely the defining trait of a successful person. More often, it’s about being good enough at enough things. Now, I’m not saying I’d prefer a full-stack dev for a frontend role over a frontend specialist. What I’m saying is, I’d choose a frontend specialist whom I know is good enough, over the best frontend developer in the world whom I don't know at all. I know many top-tier devs from Code Samaaj whom the world doesn’t recognize. Being excellent at what you do should theoretically protect you from the dreaded “job-hunting phase” after a layoff, but in reality, it doesn’t. Similarly, having the best product in the market should shield you from the “no-customers-but-cash-is-burning” phase. Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t work that way either. This needs to change. And for that, you need to: Be recognized. Have social proof. Be influential. Here’s a quick example from my journey: I received a 100% hike offer from another company just 2–3 months after joining my first job. The opportunity came through a friend of a friend, thanks to networking. The moment my bond period ended, I quit to focus on building a strong personal brand and network. Building Code Samaaj was a part of that journey. In December last year, I received an acqui-hire offer of over ₹0.5 crore for Code Samaaj. Over the past year, I haven’t done any outreach for freelance work, yet I consistently get inbound leads—some of which I refuse, while others I delegate to the community. I’ve been invited to podcasts, received speaking invitations, and, most importantly, a lot of love from all of you—all thanks to Twitter. My personal brand has been like a duck that lays golden eggs for me. And now, I want to share access to that duck with you. Join the Growth Guild. (Link in the first comment.)
