"Following your passion is not a bed of roses": Network Capital founder and Chevening Fellow Utkarsh Amitabh

Utkarsh Amitabh (right) is the author of 'Passion Economy and the Side Hustle Revolution' (2022).

Utkarsh Amitabh, founder and CEO of career counselling platform Network Capital and a Chevening Fellow at the University of Oxford, is out with his new book Passion Economy and the Side Hustle Revolution (2022). He delves into his own experiences and multiple case studies to show how passion projects and side hustles can be turned into full-time jobs that pay well and contribute to a sense of meaning. He joined us on a Zoom call from London to tell us more about the book and his work. Excerpts from the interview:

Why did you start Network Capital?

I started Network Capital as a hobby or a passion project, while I was working with Microsoft. The idea was to build a social-professional learning ecosystem that would enable people to do four things: connect, network, learn, and mentor. In the initial days, it was primarily a community on Facebook but it grew from there into a strong, purpose-driven space that brought together people from various countries who were keen to grow together.

That’s when I started thinking about how to transform it into a full-fledged business. I quit my job in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic in order to focus full-time on Network Capital. Now we have cohort-based courses, masterclasses, podcasts, fellowships, offline events, and newsletters. We also have active local chapters in most major cities around the world.

How did the grant from Facebook help you scale it up?

Facebook has an amazing Community Accelerator Program. Network Capital is one of the communities that they chose to accelerate and fund. Apart from the money itself, being associated with Facebook as a brand helped us a lot. The mentorship from the engineering and product teams was valuable in terms of building specific products and features to make the community stronger than it was earlier. The grant from Facebook also helped us raise additional funding from our own community members. We wanted them to feel like proud co-owners. Running Network Capital as a business has also meant looking at profitability as a core element. Funds give you the fire power to execute the ideas that you really believe in. To get those funds, you have to deliver what you promise. People need to see your outcomes.

Was Network Capital your first side hustle?

No, I have had side hustles throughout my life. I have been a theatre and film actor. When I was looking for an apartment in Mumbai, it struck me that there should be a house where people of interesting backgrounds come and live together to learn from each other. I dabbled in this curated co-living, and the experiment enjoyed some limited success. My life has been filled with multiple curiosities, and my side hustles have sprung from there. The skills that I learnt while hustling to get auditions, or house mates, helped me build Network Capital.

What is the impact of hustling on mental health?

Following your passion is not a bed of roses. Juggling many unknowns can be really taxing. People who are looking for guarantees will encounter frustration in the 21st century. The only guarantee now is that there are no guarantees. You could be a TikTok creator who wakes up one day to find that TikTok has been banned. You could be running a subscription-based service, and suddenly realize that the Reserve Bank of India has new norms that make it difficult for you to get recurring payments. Comparing yourself to other people can also wreak havoc on mental health. Trying to keep up with stuff that is urgent but not important is also draining. These days, we have many demands on our time. We are unable to do focused work. We jump from one task to another without knowing if our pursuits have any impact.

Does one need a financial safety net in order to pursue passion projects?

In the US, there is data to show that people coming from wealthier backgrounds tend to pursue careers in fields that they are passionate about. A large number of those who make it as artists, for example, come from higher income families. Privilege is certainly a factor.

This is why I argue for the creation of a creator middle class even in the Internet economy so that people who do not have the follower count of a Tom Cruise or a Kim Kardashian can succeed. I studied at the INSEAD business school in France, and worked at Microsoft in the US. I had tremendous support from my family but I did not have inherited wealth to fall back on. My mother is a professor and writer. My father is a doctor in a government hospital.

I had to look for scholarships, and take loans. This is the reality for many people in India. Doing a passion project just for the heck of it is something only people with a safety net can afford. For most of us, a passion project needs to make economic sense because bills don’t pay themselves. It would be silly to glamourise the passion economy. There are challenges. People who hustle have to think of new forms of monetization, different income streams. That said, the world lost half a billion jobs in the last two years because of the pandemic. Those are not going to come back. The passion economy offers a helpful way forward.

After Network Capital became a full-time gig, do you have a new side hustle?

Yes, absolutely! Side hustles haven’t left me. I am working on a project called Serendipity Thursdays. Every Thursday, people all over the world meet in groups of six for dinner. They bond over food and conversation around work, philosophy, literature, or a specific topic. People are keen to meet each other in person, so these interactions happen offline.

Passion Economy and the Side Hustle Revolution is published by SAGE India.