Brian RumaoFebruary 9, 2026
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Jim Rohn
Friends, family members, and former colleagues occasionally ask me for career advice. It’s reasonable to wonder why they ask me, given I haven’t formally interviewed for a new role in over a decade. Still, I happily listen to what they’re looking for, try to be helpful with connecting them to people in my network, and offer the same broadly useful suggestions.
First, choose the right company. Andy Rachleff would say you get more credit than you deserve for being a part of a successful company, regardless of the role you play, and less credit than you deserve for being a part of an unsuccessful company. People want to hire winners. To be a winner, you have to be on a winning team. Joining the right company at the right time makes all the difference. It really doesn’t matter what the role is — which brings me to point number two.
Leave your ego behind. Too often highly ambitious people make the mistake of chasing lofty titles, prestigious scope, and big teams. They are feeding their egos. They look past concerns about the company, only to later realize that being a C-level executive of a failed company is not only worthless, it’s a massively negative signal to the market. You’re associated with failure. The quote by Sheryl Sandberg resonates: when you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask which seat — just get on.
It’s always about the people. At the end of the day, your happiness and impact in the role will be dependent upon the people you work with: your manager, your direct team, your cross-functional peers. If you find people you trust, are values-aligned, and you genuinely enjoy being around — this is the ultimate gift. Jeff and I drew a Venn diagram to describe these folks: they dream big, get shit done, and know how to have fun. Work is going to occupy a material part of your life, so why not make the most of those relationships?