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Startups aren’t sexy things. Sad to say, I believed all the hype when I read it. But no one talks about it anymore. They don’t say – “Oh, you work at a startup! So, do you have beanbags and free food and wear whatever you want?”… basically, no one gives a hoot – because it’s so easy to get into a startup nowadays and most people don’t even want to go there anyway because it’s crazy.
I’m one of those weird people who still think crazy things are possible, which is probably why my boss hired me. Thankfully, it’s not one of those startups that have no clue how they’re going to make money – but it’s no Google… well, not yet anyway.
And that’s the thing – you go in with a hunch. And you stay with it. Until the point where you have a good feeling that you’re really going to succeed or really going to fail – and everyone in the team makes a decision to push like crazy or run like hell.
In return, you get to experience and contribute towards the success of a company… and sometimes there’s big money involved. If it becomes a failure, you have the real-world experience of how not to run a business – and that’s very valuable experience indeed.
The worst thing that can happen is that you lose your job. And it’s better to lose your job at a place where you’re doing something you love at than at a job where you wish you were dead every morning you wake up and have to go to work. And even when you’re homeless, you don’t die immediately. It’s not like you lose the skills you had when you did have a job. And it’s not like you can’t learn new things.
Playing safe in a career is overrated. It pains me to see some people go through their working life enduring so much agony.
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Comments
10.08.09
You're right Boon. Startups aren't sexy at all. But if you truly believe in your work, they're a good place to be.
I don't ever recommend startup life to everyone. There are plenty of ways to not "play it safe" in traditional organizations. But it requires out-of-the-box thinking. Something that most startups encourage and larger organizations do not, unfortunately.
-RP
12.18.09
This is a nice, balanced view of what it takes to be involved. Most people seem addicted to a higher level of perceived security than you get with a start up, but if you can find the right place for you, you can custom design your own work experience across a much broader spectrum of experience. Best of luck with your current endeavor!
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