I have spent the formative years of my business career working for large company after large company — bathing in the security of big teams, cycle to work schemes, and Canary Wharf dreams.
Recently I entered into the world of startups, joining MishiPay in January 2021. Throughout my beginnings at the company, I have discovered some of the differences between the world of big and small, David and Goliath, startup and enterprise. Here is a selection of those findings:
1.It may not be your job, but it needs to get done
The bandwidth of startups is often spread thin. Client signings precede staff hires, and action points are agreed before roles are defined. It’s likely you will find yourself working beyond the perimeter of your job spec.
My job spec did not detail QA, marketing, or basic knowledge of nordic hiring law. Yet, each day has brought tasks that need doing. Tasks that will push the company forward towards the common goal.
The reward? A thriving company, a wider skill set, and in my case, some basic Norwegian — takk!
2. Value comes from results, not time spent
Personal influence on company success within a startup is frequent and direct. Gone are the cosy days of two managers, one VP, and a partridge in a pear tree to temper your worth. The safety net is gone, and in its place is the liberating (and terrifying) prospect that you can make a difference. Startups are yet to bring huge profit, so they must bring value, and this value doesn’t come from ideas and proposals, it comes from delivered actions.
The mental shift from “I have worked for 12 hours today” to “I have actioned all that was asked of me today”, is one that is vital within a startup, and will yield positive results in any role.
Within a (good) startup, there is opportunity to clearly see how these actions impact either revenue, users or both. If the actions took significant effort and they don’t deliver on either, the question is whether the action was worth doing in the first place.
Success at startups can be defined by how many tempting time wasters you say no to. Tempting time wasters that may seem exciting and important, but won’t actually produce tangible results in a timeline that we can visualise. Long-term thinking is good, but only with the balance of clear line of sight.
3. You get to have a first name email address
ben.ogden2@bigcompany.com? How passé!
Ben@mishipay.com sounds heaps better.
4. The “right” way doesn’t exist yet
It’s not only your app that will need AB testing. Rules are made, broken and changed in the face of a constantly developing understanding of the “right” way to do something. Startups will not have the depth of procedure or protocol that exist at a larger company. The challenges you face may have not been faced by your team before (or any other team!), so you will find yourself on the frontline of forming the playbook, the playbook that will be used to define procedure for years to come.
This is a huge responsibility, but one that should excite any enthusiastic startup worker.
5. No one is going to hold your hand
The luxury of a one month onboarding period isn’t usually afforded to many startups. If you join a startup, it is likely they will need you now, and the ownership of bringing yourself up to speed will fall on you more than at a larger company.
You will have to be proactive in your learning:
Don’t know a term? Ask.
Don’t have access to a tool? Ask.
Need clarity on an action point? Ask.
Be shameless in telling people what you don’t know. Things move fast within startups and it is important that you have the tools to help you swim in the right direction, instead of drowning under the metaphorical wave of tasks and acronyms.
Take the time to understand your product, your role, and what is expected of you. People will be busy doing their own job and will find it hard to support you, unless they know where you need help.
6. Trust your instincts
The hiring process within a startup is one that is done with calculated care. You will have been hired for your skills, ideas, and initiative. If you have a good idea, speak up!
A good company will listen to your ideas, and begin the process of scrutinising it. The bureaucratic shackles of “hierarchy’ and “chain of command” are broken within startups. Your ideas will find themselves in the view of the whole company, so be sure you can back them up.
Small ideas can change the course of companies, so be sure to propose all of those that you think hold merit.
7. Enjoy it
Enjoy being in a startup and all the nuances that come with it:
- Explaining your company to friends with the line, “We are the Uber of *insert industry here*”
- Knowing all your fellow employees by name
- Learning from your C level colleagues
- Working across teams
- I could go on!
The heavy workload of a startup is undeniable, but the experience you will receive is invaluable.
Within the right company you will propel your career, expand your skill set, and create a foundation of impeccable work ethic that will bring value to your business and personal life.
Your investment into the product could lead to a game changing company. That’s the reason I joined a startup, with the hope that one day someone will describe their company by saying:
“We are the MishiPay of *insert industry here*”.
