05/04/2023

365 Days of Pathology

reflections on the past year in my current role

While I did write an entire MPhil dissertation about computational pathology, my immersion in the field of pathology over the past year has transcended the realm of academic study. Pathology has become an integral part of my daily life, influencing my thoughts, actions, and experiences in profound ways.

Today is exactly one year of me working at Proscia. Here’s a reflection on my past 365 days peeling back the complex layers of a complex organization, learning as much as I possibly could, gaining new perspectives, and becoming attuned. 

I am in a unique role where I essentially got to write my own job description and had the role created for me – strategist to David, the CEO. 

I interviewed David a few weeks ago: Being A Young Founder. 

My reflections: 

1. To get this out of the way – accomplishments wise – I have learned more than I ever dreamed of in terms of technical skills whether that was validating new subsegments for GTM or financial modeling for a whole market or helping establish strategic objectives for the company at large. I’ve also learned more subtle things just by observing David as he diplomatically navigates balancing the needs of the board, the executive team, the employees, and external metrics. 

2. Challenges – I’ve learned to not bite off more than I can chew. I also understood that I am on the learning curve of an external source (previously my success solely depended on me). Going from working at early stage startups to a later stage company made me realize the importance of seeking guidance and learning from others, of delegating, and feeling comfortable relying on others. 

3. Relationships – I found a wonderful thought partner in David and a few colleagues have become great friends. We all know when young people work with older colleagues, it’s not uncommon for casual Monday morning debriefs to involve a subtle dance of concealing their true weekend activities – “partying it up in Miami” as they say. I feel that I’ve found an environment where pretenses are unnecessary. I don’t have to mask too much or project a different persona when I show up at work.

4. Personal and professional growth – The way I fundamentally think has changed over the past year. One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed in both my personal and professional life is the value of trusting the process and letting the company as a machine run itself without overly correcting it, because most systems become adaptable and sustainable over time and employees start to self-correct.
   I’ve also just settled more into myself personally over the past year, become more confident in my decisions and developed a stronger sense of conviction. To put it simply, I have learned to trust my instincts and build a stronger pulse for navigating challenges and making decisions. 

5. Future goals – As David says, “This can go wherever Aish wants it to go”. I think, as of today, I want to continue building in this space – I believe pathology is truly at an inflection point in history and it is so fun to use this field as a sandbox to build and experiment in. Over the next few quarters, I hope to continue to cultivate my skill set in both product and commercial strategy. I’d specifically like to learn more in the spatial biology space, get hands-on experience in sales and implementation, and drive growth with the deployment of data-driven structures across the org.

This piece is 34/50 from my 50 days of writing series. Subscribe to hear about new posts.