Join a High-Growth Company

Why should you and how to spot one

Selecting a company to join is an exciting but challenging problem- there are so many opportunities out there. You may be considering founding a company, joining a young Seed / Series A startup, or joining a FAANG company. You will have very different experiences at each of these companies.

Some of Silicon Valley’s smartest people, including Sam Altman, Sheryl Sandberg, Marc Andreessen, and Andy Rachleff, recommend finding high-growth companies that are on a breakout trajectory. They say that the choice of company is more important than your role, title, or compensation.

Their reasoning is that:

• You will get a diversity of experiences: There will be so many opportunities and things to do, which will enable you to learn quickly.
• You will receive great training: These companies have high energy, smart people, and high expectations. You will likely get ownership over important projects. This is excellent preparation for your future experiences, and your teammates will be connections for the rest of your career.
• You have good chances of promotions: If a company is growing quickly, there will be new opportunities for leadership, and high performers will be able to step into those roles; conversely, if a company is growing slowly, there are very few opportunities to advance.
• There is a good risk-reward trade-off: These companies are fairly likely to be successful, but not everyone knows yet; while you will receive less equity than joining a smaller company, it is way less risky.
• You will likely get a valuable win on your resume: People will give you credit for being part of a successful company, and working at one will help you write your own ticket afterwards.

Trade-offs of large and small companies

You might be considering working at a larger company. There are some benefits to working at a large company: they tend to pay well, have great benefits, and may be well-known by your friends and family. However, if you have ambitions to create a great company, or even accelerate your career, this may not be the best path to take:

• You will get narrow experiences: You may get to work on large-scale problems, but you tend to work on small pieces of them and have less ownership.
• You will learn about large companies: Large companies tend to train you to work at large companies, not excel at building the next large company; you will be able to use their ample resources and expand their dominant market position, not be scrappy and defeat established competitors.
• Your career growth could be complicated: There may be defined career paths, but there may also be politics, and the growth of the business might limit your upward mobility.
• You may be surprised by your reputation: People may judge you as having passed a rigorous interview, but they may also assume that you were not a large part of the company’s success and that you may not be interested in working at a startup.

You might also be thinking about founding a startup or working at a very small company. The argument here mostly comes down to the risk-reward trade-off; startups are very likely to fail, and going to a growth-stage company reduces your risk, while also providing great opportunity. Working at a successful breakout company will provide you with solid training and connections for your future ambitions.

How to spot a good high-growth company

If you are now convinced that you should join a high-growth startup on a breakout trajectory, you may be wondering how to spot a good one. In short, you should look for a company where you 1) can see how their product might fit into a large market, and 2) admire the people who work there. Some of this information can be gleaned through research, and the rest can be judged during interviews with these companies.

From the outside, you will be able to see whether these companies are funded by high-quality investors. While not all investments of venture firms will succeed, if you reach out to investors directly, they are often willing to connect you to their most promising companies. Additionally, you can reach out to friends and alumni for connections and references. There are some lists that select for high-growth companies, but those are not completely exhaustive.

If you are interviewing with one of these companies, you have the opportunity to ask more direct questions. Learn about their current revenue, growth rate, and unit economics. Ask about the market they are in, why they think it is a large one, and what is their advantage. They may be willing to share what customers are saying. Ask about the problems you could work on. Think about whether the people you meet are smart, experienced, and kind.

Join Abnormal Security

We hope you consider Abnormal in your job search. We are reinventing modern cloud office security, beginning with email. We solve complex problems, accurately detecting rare attacks that evade traditional defenses in sub-second time. We are funded by Greylock Partners and Menlo Ventures, and recently raised a Series B financing.

If working at a high-growth company on a breakout trajectory interests you, check out our careers page.