#003 - Transitioning to a higher-impact career with Soroush Pour

17 May

Written By Sean Lawrence

Soroush Pour

Soroush is an engineer and entrepreneur who, at the time of this recording, is on sabbatical from his role as head of Special Projects at Vow to investigate the safe and beneficial development of artificial general intelligence.

In this episode we discuss

Soroush’s transition from fintech to the cultivated meat industry
The value of continuous learning and challenging your own and other’s assumptions
The value of bringing people into your journey to build support
Synthesising your research and showing your work to maximise your learning and progress
Being an ambitious agent for change — blowing up the bioreactor
The role of industry in innovation
Alternate proteins and how engineers can contribute
How mid-career professionals can increase their chances of getting hired in fast-moving industries
Why to develop your own perspective on a problem

Top resources

Soroush’s Future of Food ideas — some his results from his one-year independent investigation
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered, Austin Kleon

Soroush Pour

Podcast on Artificial General Intelligence: https://www.theagishow.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soroushjp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soroushjp
Website: https://www.soroushjp.com/
Vow’s careers page — Open applications for engineers

Timestamps

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:14 Soroush's journey
00:12:05 The mindset for career change
00:22:26 Planning for a career change
00:25:52 Showing your work
00:32:58 Patience, embracing failure, and impact
00:36:38 Role of industry in innovation
00:43:39 Engineers in alternative protein
00:54:52 North star for career decisions
00:57:11 Personal capacity for impact
00:58:56 AI safety
01:04:25 Developing your perspective
01:07:47 Self-imposed limitations
01:09:13 What do you wish you had invented?
01:10:51 Getting in contact
01:11:46 Outro