I Got Fired from Three Start Up Tech Jobs in Four Years, and This is What I Learned

Sam Moritz
Jul 28, 2017 · 5 min read

***Originally published September 24, 2016***

For someone who has only worked in corporate-style, nine to five jobs which require commuting during rush hours in crowded train cars while hoards of people are guzzling coffee and stand shoulder to shoulder waiting for that next stop where they have to switch to another subway, I have experienced this weird, way-to-familiar situation in which I am riding the subway home at, say, 11am during a workday. There’s about an eighth of the people on the train then, and it feels kind of nice, serene. Unfortunately (or fortunately) these situations don’t happen because I’m sick or anything and I need to get home ASAP to grab a water bottle and heat up some soup. This occurrence has happened three times in four years because I have been terminated from my startup tech job somewhat unexpectedly.

I say “somewhat unexpectedly” because in these cases, and usually in general, it’s not a performance thing, and you can usually see it coming. The writing is on the wall. You usually go with a slew of other people. While I work in sales, these lay-offs have come with other people who unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it!) share my same fate and do not work in sales. I have lost my job at the same time as people in marketing, HR, other departments, as well.

See, for all the glitz and glam startups get, the ping pong tables, the kegs of beer, the rocket ship that is going up up up and is going to explode into the next big IPO and is disrupting so much shit it’s not even funny, what’s often times neglected when talking about tech are the times when you have that feeling of imminent doom in your gut. Like you know something is about to happen, and it’s not good. Like, your company is NOT about to be acquired by Google for 1 billion dollars, stock considerations and be featured on Forbes. Instead, the exact opposite is about to happen. In most cases, and in my experiences, you know it’s coming.

You might know it’s about to happen because you might be waiting at your desk, every day, for work to come in (for me, leads, leads, leads, I want more leads to call and sell to, but they just won’t come). Or you feel so entirely directionless all day long — like your responsibilities that you were hired for initially have shifted dramatically and you just have no idea what’s going on. “Hello,” you say to your boss, “can I have some clarity into what exactly is happening? What should I be doing on a day to day basis? Why did we just pivot our product direction so suddenly?” You ask him or her. What’s sad about this situation is that your boss, the person you expect to provide you with answers and guidance each and every day most likely has no idea, either. Really, the only people that do are most likely your CEO and/or the board of directors — your investors.

Now, I don’t want to paint just a picture of negativity —startups can be extraordinary places. You can learn a lot at a startup. Not just about your role, but about running a business. Like, really running it. Like when your CEO tells the company at an All Hands Meeting that he or she has to go out and raise more money from venture capitalists so they can have a longer runway for the company. Like, you might be out of your job in ten months if they don’t raise twenty million more dollars. Or when you actually learn just how frustrating it is to actually create revenue. Like creating a business where customers pay for something every month or year, for long periods of time and don’t cancel their service. If you’ve experienced situations where this happens or does not happen, then you’re in it. That’s when you learn that Pied Piper and the shit they talk about on Silicon Valley is not just BS but happens IRL.

Startups also aim to do cool, innovative things. Often times, they are trying to change an industry, update it. Those buzzwords you hear — SaaS, mobile, the “cloud,” — it’s not bullshit. These are actually legit, and working in them, learning what they actually mean, instantly improves your credentials for the next job you might get into.

Although my abnormal subway routine has become uncomfortably familiar, I have, indeed, learned something at each juncture of my young career. While each of these startups has not ended in that major acquisition or ringing in the bell on the NASDAQ exchange one morning, I have gleaned a lot of value at each stop along the way. To list a couple:

  1. Startups will try to make their employees happy: they will pay you well and in most cases give you nice benefits. And, don’t forget, beer! And coffee!
  2. I have learned about growing a business. Like, this company needs more money or we are going dowwwwwwn. Or, how the fuck do we monetize? Everyone uses my platform for free — but now what? Or, how the fuck do we keep our customers paying? Important questions that you may not think about much before joining a growing company.
  3. I have learned a lot about technology in general — and this shit is trendy AF. Do yourself a favor: read Dan Primack’s Term Sheet on a daily basis and then read, like actually read about tech elsewhere. The tech climate has changed so much in just the past year, and companies like LinkedIn get swallowed up by the giants — Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, Priceline, all the time (wait, I thought LinkedIn was a tech giant?). It’s actually kind of interesting. (Side-note: how does it make you feel that these large companies just come up and swallow up any small company of value?)
  4. Startups have almost never left me hanging. It’s my network that I’ve cultivated throughout these companies that have led me to the next step in my professional career.

While this article highlights some positives of the startup world, I don’t want to steer away from the darkness: I have been the victim, on multiple occasions, of the all-to-often and seldom-talked-about darkness of tech. That deep underbelly where people lose their jobs and their livelihoods momentarily before getting back on their feet at a new cool-looking opportunity. Then again, I have chosen to work at these companies. And despite the worst parts, I have learned a lot.

I’m going to find a new role, and honestly, it might be a startup. Never say never, right? Another thing about a startup is that you can be passionate about something that is being built, that’s not necessarily already done and polished — and you can be a big part of the growth and success of that company. You MIGHT (maybe!) be instrumental in changing the world. It could happen!

Or you might lose your job. But it’s not the end of the world. There are tons of jobs out there. And they’re going to like your credentials. They know that you know about SaaS, technology, and running a business. You’re going to have a good story, and your career will march onward. While you may be bummed initially, it is never the end of the world. But startups are hardly perfect — and there’s a lot more to regular happy hours and tons of beer. Like how about steady employment? If you’re looking for that, you might want to look for a job elsewhere.

Sam Moritz

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