Along for the ride
Today (May 18th) marks the sixth anniversary of when I tried VR for the first time. It feels like a random milestone to want to write about and maybe it is, but I think there are some takeaways for those waiting for a life-changing opportunity. Specifically, how staying curious can lead us through interesting paths in our careers.
My career has been a tale of many such shifts and opportunities. When I was happy working as a wireless stack developer at a cellular systems company in suburban Philadelphia, a chance opportunity to work for a Bay Area startup gave me my entry to the Valley. While that gig itself didn't play out as I would have liked, being in the Valley allowed me to pursue an opportunity with Lab126, then a small division of Amazon making e-book readers. I took that gig not because it was Amazon but because the idea of rethinking how we read books felt like a game changer. While at Amazon as an engineer, I fed my interest in all the tech I could consume which brought me opportunities to work on tablets, Fire TV devices, phones and IoT gizmos. Ultimately my desire to be involved in the end to end product experience got me my first gig as a Product Manager for the Echo Dot.
While I was building the Echo Dot, on a trip to Maker Faire that summer (2015), I walked into a Stanford booth showcasing some of the cool things possible with VR. I donned an Oculus headset for the first time and this is what I had to say back then (from my Facebook post that day, the image in the post is a picture of me experiencing VR for the first time in my life)-
"Had a chance to test out an older model Dev unit of #oculusrift at #bayarea #makerfaire. It was pretty epic. Unlike any other experience. The video was not clear which I am assuming is all fixed in newer units. And yes, it does make you feel wobbly for a few min after. But man was this something or what. Stoked. Can't wait to get my hands on a commercial fully baked unit."
I didn't pay much attention to the VR space after that trip to the Faire but somewhere in the corner of my mind, it felt like a "wow" thing. In 2018 when I was deeply engrossed in shipping multiple Alexa devices and really having the time of my life, a call from Oculus to work on a VR product piqued my interest. Little did I know then that this would be my call to go do some really cool stuff with VR. I absolutely loved working at Amazon and didn't really feel like I needed to move. Yet, as circumstances would have it, this opportunity to do some category defining work on VR was something I didn't see coming nor one I could pass.
Today, two and a half years into my time at Facebook, I watch as millions use their Oculus Quest as their primary fitness companion, their portal into social experiences like VR Chat and Rec Room or their gateway into new and fantastical worlds. And I wonder - what if I hadn't gone to Maker Faire, if I hadn't entered that booth, if I didn't get to do some incredible work with Alexa that ultimately unlocked the Oculus opportunity. What if...
I don't know what the future holds. My current project is a new kind of challenge and one that is teaching me to flex a brand new muscle. And it is exciting every single day. Maybe this is my next "lightning in a bottle" moment? Or maybe it is preparing me for a future challenge. Only time will tell. For now, I will continue to stay curious and explore everything around me and keep learning.