Aditya Oberai

Wedding travel has taken most of my attention outside work for the last 1-2 months, and my recent promotion has added more responsibility at work. It's made it more important for me to find appropriate ways to decompress, which community meetups don't help with when they are so closely aligned to my work. I'm not stepping away from the tech community; I still enjoy meeting and learning from new people. But I'm giving my personal interests and time with close friends and family a higher priority than I used to. That being said, I'm always happy to catch up directly if you reach out. And if you're hosting an event and invite me over, I will most likely make it (considering the logistics work out).

Thank you for your kind words! As far as contributing to open source goes, I look at it as an act of giving back. Sometimes, to give back, you first have to take. In this case, it means being a great consumer of open-source tools and products. Invest your time in them, understand their nitty-gritties, and eventually you'll know exactly what areas you can add value in.

As far as what's right for you and what isn't, I can't answer that for you. I don't know background, financial status, goals, or just about anything else. Here are my questions for you. How deeply and madly do you believe in yourself? Do you believe that you have a ground-breaking idea or solution people are looking for that you are willing to commit 25 hours a day to? Do you have the means and capacity to go all in on yourself at the risk of total failure? If my questions make you doubt yourself, then I wouldn't recommend the entrepreneurial way. Because first and foremost, you need to buy yourself. If you don't do that, no one else will.

If you want more impressions, Twitter rewards engagement over value. So, you want to post more opinions, the kind that will evoke a reaction. It helps to do the same in the comment sections of other active posts. If you want more respect, focus on the value you can offer. Try to educate, add real-world value, and support your fellow community members. This is a longer game, but a lot more rewarding, in my opinion. I personally choose the second option. If you can do both, you're gonna be a rare unicorn. Both will need consistency in engagement, by the way, so be prepared for that.

A career switch is not unrealistic but the question I have for you is whether it's the work you're currently doing that you aren't enjoying or your "trade" in general? The former can be solved by switching to a different org, but the latter is a more substantial switch. As far as DevRel goes, I love the work I do. But it isn't necessarily a more fun challenge. Also, you need to be a technologist but building the tech will definitely not be your day to day. And you need to be very mindful before you make that decision.