This is the story of Andreea Mihalcea, Geekcelerator’s first employee.
The original appeared on her website.
Geekcelerator.com is an investment fund, investing in startups that solve difficult technology problems for other startups.

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Getting to our path in the tech world meant having the guts, devotion and perseverance to chase our obsessions and transform them into a way of living.

I hit a crossroad and felt stuck. A hard truth had blown into my face and I had to deal with it: I was jobless and somehow purposeless. This was it. I’ve reached a dead end.

A choice needs to be made

Last March, that was my story. Our very dear project was put on hold indefinitely. There was nothing more to do. I hit a crossroad and I had to choose. My future had two versions and I wasn’t sure which way to go. One was the steady and proven path: take a 9 to 5 job in a big corporation, be a slight wheel in a huge machinery, struggle to climb up the complex hierarchic ladder, get to be a manager of managers of managers of something and wait for retirement, when I could travel the world and craft my dreams on my daily life flow. Or not.

The other was the risky path of following my passion for technology and pursuing my dream of building my own company. But I lacked experience, I had no idea where to start from and I was afraid of failure. I was damn scared of another dead end.

I found myself in the same gray area many young people are squirming today. Disoriented, we feel broken into two clashing selves. The first is the brave and dreamer one who wants to change the world, the freedom-lover who is capable of whatever it takes to pursue his call and build on his natural traits; the one who seeks his happiness and purpose and is not afraid of drilling his way neither to his heartbreak zone, nor to the highest rock of success however he defines it. And the second is the squeezed-by-society one who was taught to follow the rules, to look for the easy and proven path. The one who thinks he wants financial security and, therefore, accepts his dreams to be guillotined.

We, youngsters, are in a critical period of our lives — on today’s choices are built our tomorrow’s happiness and fulfillment. Even if we want to admit it or not, there is a huge pressure put on our shoulders: the way our society is built makes changing your life’s course unaffordable during your 30s or later. At least for the most of us.

Is this my path?

So there I was anchored in indecision. Questions were babbling and babbling in my mind, but clear answers refused to come. To take the risk or to go with the proven track? To make money out of my passion or to defer it? How do I get to be on the right path, my path?

The pressure was stabbing: I was fully aware that this decision was crucial for my future. Hardly was there a way back. After walking on one path, walls would be built between me and the other one. Not insurmountable, but walls.

One full month I had all kind of head-hurting thoughts and I argued with myself swaying between one side and the other. Passion was strong, but so was fear. Then I made my decision: I’ll actually fight the fight, venture out of my comfort zone and head into the beautiful and luring unknown. And a RT on Twitter lead me there. Hallelujah! Geekcelerator, a newly found accelerator for tech startups at that time, was looking for team members. I figured out that being part of a team of experienced entrepreneurs building a new startup could be the first step towards building my own company. I immediately contacted them.

Seconds later, the inevitable question popped into my mind: “Is this my path? Is this the fight I‘m determined to carry?”. In the end, that’s what I was looking for: to venture out of my comfort zone towards building my own company on my passion for technology, skills and knowledge. To be free to pursue my call and build on my natural traits. Again, a clear answer refused to form into my mind. However, I took the fight.

The up-growth in the tech world

After having two interviews, we could see that there was a match and I became Geekcelerator’s first employee. Everybody was enthusiastic, hardworking and passionate about what they were doing. Vlad, Catalina and Sabin got me into their vision of accelerating European tech startups, helping them get to the Valley, raise money and scale.

Read the entire article on her website…