Ep #18 Why aiming for second best works + 3 jobs to find footing + career lessons that matter

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Most marketers chase being #1.

Siddhartha Kathpalia built his career aiming for second best—and it worked brilliantly. This marketing leader turned his progressive rock band into a profitable business using performance marketing, growing from ₹2K to ₹2.5L budgets while overselling venues by 230%.

His contrarian career wisdom: aim for second best, do many things so one takes off, and remember the company is always bigger than you. Real talk on building sustainable success without the hustle culture BS.

• (00:00) Intro

• (00:46) Why Time Throttle is his most loved, least financially rewarding project

• (13:34) How a marketer, performance marketer, and sales head built a profitable band

• (21:57) The "second best" philosophy: Why aiming for #2 reduces pressure

• (25:29) Learning you can be nice and still do business

• (34:57) Realization: the company is bigger than you, help don't change it

• (38:47) Why luck plays a big factor, but you have to work for it

• (42:16) The career decision framework: external factors vs gut instinct

• (44:08) Evaluating roles: will this be relevant for next 2-3 years?

• (47:54) Never switch jobs with only one offer - rule for better decisions

• LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/siddhartha-kathpalia 

You can find the full episode transcript below.

• Wingify: https://wingify.com/

• Freshworks: https://www.freshworks.com/

• Time Throttle - https://www.instagram.com/timethrottle/

• Tool: https://toolband.com/

• Porcupine Tree: https://porcupinetree.com/

• NIT Kurukshetra: https://www.nitkkr.ac.in/

• MICA: https://www.micaahmedabad.edu.in/