The phrase “tech startup” is the buzzword of our generation, well at least in the professional world. After working at a few different startups across the world, from California to Berlin to London I have a few tips and tricks to share.
When you decide to work for a startup you have to accept the fact that you will be expected to go above and beyond the bounds of your job description. Startups, as the name suggests are typically lightweight groups of like-minded individuals with a certain drive or motivation to position themselves as the next big industry game changer. As such and as with any team, there is an accepted mentality to ‘pull your weight’, and then some. As such, startups put a lot of responsibility even on their entry level employees. It doesn’t matter if you are senior management or a new graduate, expect to learn something new everyday because the environment of a startup changes day to day. When you start to work at a startup always remember that they place a ton of responsibility on their employees. You might be hired for your skills or experience you bring to the table, but the founders and your CEO will expect much, much more! You will wear multiple hats at any startup. Which means you will do a lot of work that is outside of your job description. This might not be for everyone, but if you embrace this then there will be so many opportunities for learning and professional growth.
I have been fortunate to work for startups including itembase, Vend, vzaar, and Zap, all at varying stages of the startup lifecycle and all in different industries, but they all had the same underlying takeaway. Working at a startup is hard work.
I’ve learnt so many things that I would love to share. For anyone who does now know I work in Customer Success and I would like to share with you my tips on working in a startup. Here are my top 3 takeaways on Startup life
- The learning never stops — I am a big believer that learning never stops. Just because you aren’t in school doesn’t mean you should stop learning. This applies big time in a startup. You will learn something new everyday. You don’t have to master everything or be a pro, but you can bet that you will be involved in conversations in every department and you should have the desire to learn what each department is doing.
2. Good is never good enough — Everything you will do will be good and you should be proud, but never satisfied. Working at a startup means constantly pushing yourself to do a bit more. In order for you to succeed in your role as well as see your company succeed you need to always want to do a bit more. This applies to life in general as well as professionally.
3. Be Proactive — This is something that is an occupational hazard for me working in Customer Success, but what I am trying to say is that you should not wait for something to happen. Take action before, always thinking forward, always try to find a solution before the problem arises.
I have learned so many other things as well, but I think this would have to be my top takeaways. The sooner you start applying these three points to your career at a startup the sooner you will be successful!
What is your top tip for working at a Tech Startup?