Why Work at a Startup?

We’ve been told over and over again that startups are “risky,” there’s no stability, and it’s not a  sensible career move. And all of that may be true - but at the same time, “stable,” “safe,” companies such as Amazon, Google, and Apple are laying people off by the thousands.  So let’s look at the real pros and cons of working at a startup.

We’ll start with the bad…

The Cons: 

• The Hours - when you’re building a new product, platform or service from scratch and trying to make an impact on the industry, often times you’ll be working LONG hours, often more than the average 9am-5pm.

• The Constant Change - things change FAST at startups.  One week you’re heads down getting a project done and the next you’ve pivoted to a totally new initiative and that previous product is "thrown out the window."

• The Instability - Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 50% of startups with employees make it past the first five years of business

• The Limited Resources - It is imperative to learn how to do a lot with a little when you’re working at a startup.  Unlike these Fortune 500’s with seemingly unlimited budgets, startups are much more cost-conscious, trying to spend the least and make the most in order to “prove themselves” to investors.

Now to the good…

The Pros: 

• The Culture - In a world where work and life are so intertwined, why not work at a place where culture is the key to success? Unlike the bigger companies that often have teams siloed off from one another, startups are often one big happy family with everyone working closely together to accomplish a goal: to see the company succeed, no matter what it takes

• The Growth - Often times when you start working at a startup you can feel like you were “thrown into the fire” on day 1 - and what better way to learn? Startups are fast paced and often require you to wear multiple hats, doing tasks that are beyond your job description.  With that, you are able to greatly grow your skillset and advance quickly within the company, and in your career. 

• The Impact - I talk to candidates every day that feel unfulfilled; feeling like they are only doing work to pass off and make someone else look good.  At a startup, you’re constantly seeing the fruits of your labor, whether it’s bringing in the first major client, creating the entire website, or implementing the onboarding process for new employees.

• The Flexibility - Often times startups are more inclined to be more flexible on when and where you’re working.  They truly understand that it’s not about the time of day, it’s about getting your work done and contributing to the success of the business. If that means you’re coding from 1am - 9am, so be it.  Having ownership in the company and a strong desire to see your company succeed, it can be hard to differentiate work and life, which is why at startups, they encourage you to find a way you can do both, whatever it takes.

• The Innovation - Do you know how much innovation happens when you don’t need to go through 7 sets of approvals to get something done? Startups are all about trial and error; “failing fast.”  You’ll find that this approach lends itself to amazing new thoughts, processes and inventions, plus, it’s a ton of fun to have the freedom to try something risky and see what happens.

As you can see, there’s many reasons why you should or shouldn’t join a startup, based on what’s important to you.  In my personal experience, working in startups for the past 3 years, I can never go back to working for a big corporate machine.  I have never felt more fulfilled, valued, and empowered than I have working for startups. I have met so many incredible people who value teamwork and impact; I have seen my hard work payoff, growing numerous startups’ headcount and watching my hires create products and deals that change the course of the company; and I have found a community in the startup space of people who want to change the world, and there’s nothing more powerful than that.