Here's a challenge: read the list of the current roles on Eileen Burbidge's CV and try not to feel exhausted or inadequate. When she's not advising the Treasury (she's its special envoy on all things fintech) or serving as chair of Tech City UK (a post she has held since 2015), the former head of product development at Skype runs early-stage VC fund Passion Capital and works closely with its investments - at last count, there were 82 of them. We asked her how she does it without burning out.
How do you make decisions?"If I'm torn, I imagine flipping a coin and see how I feel about the result. You'll know if you feel disappointment and that tells you every single time. People often know what they really want to do, but are worried or not willing to take the decision."
How do you manage emails?"I carry two phones because I still use the BlackBerry for emailing - the keyboard helps me type my email so much faster - although I'm hit and miss with replying to them. A hundred per cent of the time I have every intention of replying but might not have time to look at my diary or write what I think is a considered reply. But if something is really important and I missed it, generally people will very kindly send a follow-up. It's almost like Darwinism for email."
What's the most important thing to remember about running a team?"We try to impress upon our founders the point that people work for people, not companies. The reason we did two all-nighters a week at Skype is not because we thought, 'This is going to be the best VoIP calling in the world.' It was because we thought Niklas [Zennström] and the CTO were amazing."
Did you expect your career to end up this way?"I feel very lucky. Maximising your exposure to luck has a lot to do with your mindset. Lots of studies show that those with open, optimistic mindsets will see opportunities more than those who don't have that mindset."
How do you balance home and work life?"I still like to do the school runs and commit that time to my children, so I don't take calls in the car. But when I have been asked to comment on Radio 4's Today programme or BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money, I have done so on a couple of school runs. I gave my son an earpiece so we could both listen while I did it."
Do you spend much time in the office?"I come into the office every day. Meetings have got to take up 80 per cent of my time, typically half for Passion Capital, half for my advisory stuff. I find that the work that involves delivering things, writing stuff up - a lot of that is done in the evening, either at home or in the office. It's almost like a two-shift job."
Would you call yourself a hard worker?"I can only credit my parents for my work ethic. They were both born in China and I was born and raised in the United States, sort of the product of tiger parenting. But all the productivity things I advise people to do themselves - delegate, carve out time for yourself - I don't do. I still rely heavily on stickies, either on my physical notebook or on the corner of my laptop. If I need to work on a deck of slides I'll just write 'deck'. Otherwise, I have running to-do lists in my notebook."
What motivates you?"I've never been motivated by 'career goals'. But I am often driven by role models - someone walks in and they have great presence, subject-matter expertise, they own a meeting - I've wanted to emulate that. Equally, you see some people and you're like 'total slacker' - I am very driven to outperform those people."
Managing a team: If somebody isn't working out, it doesn't improve. This is much like dating, by the way - it doesn't get better.
Productivity apps: I use Notes for things I really have a risk of forgetting, like what the kids need to pack for our ski trip.
Pulling an all-nighter: I don't drink hot caffeine, but I drink full-fat cola and limit myself to two a day. If I was to pull an all-nighter now I'd probably go on to a third or fourth.
Productive space: It could be at my desk, it could be in my bed, it could be on my sofa - but if I'm at my laptop, with Wi-Fi and a full battery, then I'm good.
Ideal bedtime: It's 11:30 for bed, and I'll be asleep for midnight so I'm not a complete bear and grumpy in the morning.
Managing emails: I've never done "zero inbox". My Gmail shows that I have tens of thousands of emails - I don't delete them and I don't file them.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
