Ruben Harris (Early Beta Episode #6)

Ruben Harris is the co-founder + CEO of Career Karma, which gives you the information, tools, and support you need to quickly get into a tech career (and is the world's largest community of career transitioners online.). They have already raised around $50m from elite investors, are continuing to catch fire and accelerate the future by democratizing education.

Ruben also hosts the Breaking Into Startups podcast, is an amazing cellist, and is a former investment banker.

This episode is all about cultivating faith/vision and purpose to turn the unseen into reality.

Show Notes

You change careers every four years.

We’re reaching the end of occupational identity; you're not defined by one skill forever anymore - you can be multiple things all in one lifetime.

We’re moving to an outcomes-driven world. People care less about resumes and more about "What can you build?" And the way you can communicate.

Ruben mentions a biblical parable from the book of Matthew. One of the three people buried their 'talents' [money] to try to keep them safe - and was shamed for it / failed the assignment. The moral of the story is that we are blessed with talents that we've been given, and it's our duty to put them into the world to make it better - not to bury them.

He recommends the book Range (by David Epstein) - a book for generalists.

Ruben loves to pull from his fondness of superheroes and wants his team to feel like the Avengers as they tackle their mission together.

Ruben was inspired when Michael Seibel (head of legendary startup incubator YCombinator and one of the founders of Twitch) told Ruben that he believed in him / that he was just as talented as him.

He believes people want to make a lot of money - faster - it's through introspection. Let’s ask ourselves: what pain have I felt more than anybody else? What problems or things do I know more than anybody else about? It's very easy to complain about your pain. "Why is this happening to me?!" But these are all blessings - because if you have a pain point that's being experienced by millions of people, it's a blessing if you figure out how to overcome it - and you know more about that problem than most people. And if you come up with a solution that is scalable (and monetize it etc.) - now you've created a billion dollar business.

Or if you're trying to get a job, identifying companies that are solving problems that are in your unique problem space.

All of our random experiences, skills, and divergent paths combine to give us a unique unfair advantage.

The pain that Ruben has felt deeply in his life is that he's always been underestimated - even still today. He believes that society mindfucks groups / gives negative energy to them by underestimating them (women, LGBTQ, minorities), and that they have way more power. And when people wake up, nobody can stop them.

"Emancipate the self from mental slavery - nothing but ourselves can free our minds" - a Bob Marley song.

Ruben considers success for Career Karma to be one billion people to recognize what their true calling is and to reach their true potential / helping people find purpose. Helping people not be affected by words or actions by others to belittle them.

Regardless of what belief system you ascribe to, you're always aspiring to love and redemption as your figure out what the truth is or what your purpose is in life.

To be an entrepreneur or to do something that's uncomfortable, make a career transition etc., - it requires faith. Faith is one of the most powerful concepts that people don't fully understand. It's belief and positive expectation in things that are not [yet] seen. "Noah looked absolutely nuts until it started raining."

You have to almost have a ridiculous level of faith (which some might find delusional) which pushes you to where you want to get.

Ruben makes sure that he's always a little far out into the deep end to where he has to rely on faith/God. When you get to that point, you get to the beginning of your faith.

Bible quote: "Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant, and if they watch every cloud, they never harvest." There's no perfect time to start something. "If you aren't embarrassed at the first version of your product, you've launched too late." - Reid Hoffman

Some seeds that Ruben planted 3-5 years ago that are just starting to bear fruit today. And it's about trusting the timing.

Jared believes that if you're trying to do something big / 'scary' - you need faith in *something.* And loves the phrase "burning the boats" (like when armies would go to war and some generals would burn the boats, forcing the army to win). There's no going back.

Ruben was not accepted into YC, despite Michael Seibel really liking him. "The Deep is not for devastation, it's for preparation." Ruben raised $300k within two weeks - but it was scary!

There are a lot of distractions in the deep will hinder you - so you need a clear vision of what you are called to do.

You will face three distractions:

-The enemy will try to distract you from knowing your identity

-There will be an attack on your rhythm

-When you feel like you're about to break through people will present counterfeit versions of what you desire - but they will be false prophets.

Every belief system - including science - has gaps in it, and, it thus has to be filled be faith. Even if you only 100% belief in science, you have faith that the science is still true in future instances. We go about every single second with an element of faith (e.g. in the next moment, our heart will continue to beat).

It's not about "I'm right, you're wrong" - but it's important to have amazing conversations in the search for the truth.

Quote from a friend of his: "If all of your prayers were answered, would the world be changed - or only yours?"

One thing that makes this world beautiful is that we're all unique and have varied beliefs. You have to understand where people come from in order to speak their language. It's about understanding how people interpret information and reframing words around it.

Faith is very close to vision.

Ruben is a big fan of journaling and documenting the journey publicly. When you declare to the world what you're going to do, it forces you to do it because the world holds you accountable.

It's powerful to write down what you're going to do - and even more powerful to speak it into the ether.

"Once you've decided to step out on faith, do it without looking down, and you can walk on water."

Declare to the world what you're doing to do - and see what happens.

"The vision at the right time will come to fruition."

When doing therapy/coaching, ask yourself: "Am I doing this to be vulnerable and to do the inner work - or just because everyone else is doing it?"

Before stepping into the realm of coaching and therapy, he encourages people to find "little-m mentors" - peer mentors; people at your similar level / one step ahead or behind of you - and maybe they've had your same struggle.

Ruben says more men would do therapy if it was called "coaching."

Jared and Ruben agree that we admire others (e.g. musicians and athletes) because they show so much emotion, so we all need to be unafraid to show it ourselves! Our audiences will love us more for it because of our authenticity. And those that don't like us actually envy us, because they wish they could do it too.

Ruben mentions "Blue Zones" - the parts on earth where people live the longest - and that one practice is that people live in community.

"It's pretty incredible what a group of friends can do together."

"The 99% really does have the power - we're just not organized."

"YCombinator bets on first-time founders; Career Karma bets on people for the first time."

"Career Karma is the world's largest community of career transitioners online."

"Detach yourself from believing that salaries are going to make you wealthy."

When evaluating job offers, Garry Tan says "You're either earning or learning. And if you're not doing either, then you need to leave."

Ruben's personal definition of success: firstly, being happy (and the fastest route to happiness is gratitude).

Ruben mentions the Mexican Fisherman Allegory

Ask yourself: Am I doing a job, a career, or my calling? What is my calling? What are the talents that I've been given - and am I utilizing those talents?

There probably is no "I've made it" when it comes to success; it's a never-ending journey.