Disclaimer: This article is not about being an employee at a tech company. It is about joining a small team of really smart people that are passionate about changing the world and who are pursuing hypergrowth.
I wrote this for a presentation I gave at the Raikes Program. The Raikes program is an interdisciplinary business and computer science program for students with ACT scores 32+. The graduates are “dream” employees—they can code, understand business, and have extreme mental horsepower.
A majority of the students in the program are interested in joining a startup upon graduation. My goal was to challenge their thinking.
Everyone is telling them that startups are great—like Google plus that Nebraska Good Life. The motives are clear: New startups have enormous impacts on Nebraska’s economy. Union Pacific was once the most ambitious startup in history. Also, Jeff Raikes—the program’s namesake—made a fortune as an early Microsoft employee. The truth is that Bric would love to hire a Raikes graduate.
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However, the best thing for the students is honesty about startup life.
Don’t get me wrong: Working a startup can be great. I love it. However, joining a startup is not a decision to be taken lightly. In the words of Steve Jobs, you are joining a team dedicated to denting the universe. Adventures of this magnitude require careful consideration. Are you ready?
Working at a startup is really hard. You have limited resources, are typically underpaid, and by definition are challenging the status quo.
- Your life has to be optimized for change. You have to be willing to work solo, and then as the company grows manage or be on a team. You have to be able to delay most of your compensation today for the possibility of high future returns.
- You have to be both strategic and tactical. You have to know the right things to do, as well as be able to do them. This is a rare ability HBR found that only 8% of executives are effective at both strategy and execution. However, this is an essential skill for startup success; not a nice to have.
- You have to be willing to get dirty, and do the work necessary. You can’t be above anything, even promoting the business to potential employees, investors, and customers.
Personally, I love building companies. It forces me to weave ideas, people, technology, and money to build something out of nothing. Startups are the most complex, challenging, and satisfying way I spend my life. I can’t quit it. When I sold Contemporary Analysis, my plan was to join a larger company. It was less than 24 hours before I joined the Bric team.
However, startups aren’t for everyone. They can be deceptively attractive:
- Everyone that works at a startup loves it, because if you don’t, you leave. No one sticks around for the great pay and benefits. Anyone that survives loves their job.
- Everyone that works at a startup has an incentive to make it look amazing. They want you to buy their product, promote them, or come work for them. Be aware of the hype.
- People that work at startups are extremely engaged. They have to be. The odds are against them, and they are competing on a global scale.
- There is no illusion of stability at a startup. While every company is on the verge of collapse, at big firms there is an illusion of stability and strength. Startups don’t have that illusion. At startups you can’t afford to have a down day. You better win today, if you don’t: you will die tomorrow.
You have to be flexible—emotionally and financially. Otherwise the ups and downs will break you. This is what people should be concerned about when joining a startup. If you are worried about losing your job, you aren’t ready for startup life.
The designers, developers, salespeople, and marketers that work at startups are in demand, highly trained, and real smart. The last thing they are worried about is becoming unemployed. They know it won’t last long. Their biggest fear is stagnation.
Your entrepreneurial career
If you choose the startup life, be intentional with your time. Plan your entrepreneurial career to maximize your “startup cycles”. On average, if you spend 6 years per startup, at 22 you only have 7 startup cycles until 65.
I have found that there are three principles that are useful when planning your entrepreneurial career.
- Success is growth, not stability. Startups have greater upsides to learn and earn than larger companies. This is because they are full of opportunity to grow—instead of stability.
- Succeed or fail: a startup will multiply. You are working with future founders. Founders will keep on founding, and startups teach employees to found.
- Teams are antifragile; stress makes them stronger. You will learn from and bond with the people you work with today.
Basically, you should join a startup where you can learn, enjoy the people you work with, and have a passion for the company.
Look for startups where you can learn from the upper management. I have worked with better networkers, product managers, designers, writers, and strategists. This has been the best type of mentoring, because I get to work side-by-side with them—learning and practicing.
Work with people you like. I have made the mistake of working with people I didn’t like. I used to think technical competency was enough. I wasted my time. You spend the majority of your life at work—enjoy the people you work with. This matters a lot at startups because you will probably work together again at either their or your startup.
You should be able to obsess about what your company does. I am not talking about following your bliss. I am talking about committing to knowing something inside and out and being able to talk about it all of all the time. People promote, work for, and buy from passionate people.
Keep in mind your career endgame. Each startup should get you closer to your personal goals. I recommend creating a personal business plan outlining your person mission, values, brand identity and goals. This will help you make decisions today that will position you for future success.
In conclusion, don’t just join startups because they are cool—don’t be deceived by survival bias. Also, think through your career goals. Traditional companies can provide resources and stability. Hypergrowth startups require emotional and financial flexibility but provide a premium on creativity and hard work.
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Grant Stanley is the CEO of Bric. Bric is a product that increases employee utilization for professional service employees through more accurate project planning and time tracking. On average Bric’s clients make an extra $850 in profit per employee per month. For a 10 person team that is an extra $102,000 a year in profit.
