Surviving and thriving at a high-growth tech company

If you’re working for a business that’s growing 30% per year, you need to be professionally developing at a similar pace.

A few years ago, work futurist Dom Price from Atlassian spoke at an offsite work conference. He made a comment that stuck with me: “If you’re working for a business that’s growing 30% per year, as an employee you need to be professionally developing at a similar pace or you’ll be left behind.”

As someone who spent two decades in banking, I recognise that roles can disappear and businesses evolve. If you stand still, you may be caught unaware with skills that aren’t current.

But the speed of growth in the tech sector means that keeping pace professionally can be a serious challenge. It can expose you to some of the smartest, most talented people in your career and force you to learn new ways of working that both complement and enhance existing skill sets. If you’re working at a high growth company, you need a high growth mindset for your career

Find your passion

When I was growing up, my dad owned a newsagency in Sydney. I remember him spending his evenings balancing the books and doing admin. I had little inkling that the internet would help streamline these tasks and give business owners more time back. But I knew, even as a teen, that I was interested in technology.

Each day on my way to high school, I walked past Microsoft’s Australian headquarters in North Ryde. I dreamed of a career working with computers. While computer science turned out not to be my forte, I had a knack for numbers. Over the next few decades, I made a career in financial services. I eventually found myself working on the innovation side of banking, exploring ways to leverage data and machine learning for the benefit of customers.

One lesson I took away from this experience was that even if our path doesn’t follow the route we expect (for me, computer science) there are ways we can still pursue our passion and make it part of our work lives.

Today, I find myself in an environment that marries two of my deepest interests. In the past three years, I’ve been helping look after the platform side of our business, where we partner with banks, financial service providers and over 1,000 connected apps. While I’m familiar with the financial services side, I’m less familiar with an important constituency: the accountants and bookkeepers who use these apps, and by extension the millions of small businesses who are their clients.

Coming up to speed with the fast-moving world of apps and accounting has required setting aside some preconceived notions about what these worlds are like. I’ve found it’s helpful to cultivate my curiosity and love of continuous learning. I love this quote from organisational psychologist, Adam Grant:

“How smart people are has little bearing on how informed they are. Without curiosity, intelligence breeds ignorance.”

This has meant practicing patience as a fuller understanding of these new landscapes develop, and building new relationships beyond those I’ve built in two decades of banking. As my knowledge of these areas grow, so does my ability to navigate the world of fintech, which bridges the gap between traditional financial services and cutting-edge technology.

And there are unexpected payoffs. I regularly hear stories of how the fintech partners that connect to Xero make life better for small businesses, and especially for the accountants and bookkeepers who serve them. This includes time saved and improved quality of life for their accounting practices, business clients and their families. As the son of a small business owner, I get a sense of satisfaction in knowing that I’m part of this, however small.

Research has shown that job satisfaction can stoke internal motivation, increase job performance and provide fuel for career development and the willingness to accept new challenges. It’s worth looking for an organisation whose mission not only aligns with your passion values but delivers a product that tangibly improves customers’ lives.

Trusting oneself

If you’re working at a large company that’s existed for a half-century, you’ve almost certainly acquired skills in stakeholder interaction, managing meetings and driving outcomes amid bureaucracy. I spent decades in large organisations with seven or more layers and siloed teams, with hundreds of people performing a specific function.

Projects moved slowly, and I became accustomed to taking things at a measured pace, and obtaining sign-offs from stakeholders across the company, even for relatively minor projects.

In contrast, at a high-growth company, projects can move at a blistering pace, with an understanding that you’ll fill in the grey areas as you go. This level of autonomy can be daunting for some people. But I’ve learned that if your boss has confidence in you, and it’s understood that mistakes happen in fast moving situations, there are few limits to what can be achieved.

That realisation was affirming for me, and it’s given me more confidence to quickly solve problems, even if there are stumbles along the way that provide learning opportunities.

Embrace change

Working in financial services taught me a lot about change, as the industry has shrunk and expanded unpredictably in the past decade or so. At a high-growth tech company, change is primarily related to growing pains and installing structure, processes and systems to cope with extra staff, new countries, more app partners and added customers.

I’ve learned to become more comfortable being uncomfortable, knowing that most change is purpose-driven and about scaling effectively. That type of flux is easier to cope with than, say, managing a downturn. Nevertheless, the experience in both situations has served me well and helps me value the work we do on the harder or busier days.

Few companies can grow 30% per year unless they’re providing a product that’s unique and more innovative than the competition. That requires dedication from employees and constant refinement of working styles and skills.

“If you look at the software industry, and the rate of change outside our four walls” says Atlassian’s Price, “our job is to match or beat that rate of change, because the reality is that if we don’t, our competitors will come and eat our business for lunch.”

Wise words, and ones to keep in mind at a high-growth tech company.