Working in a crypto startup
Flexible schedule, innovations and other myths disrupted
The fall of ICOs doesn’t prevent investment in blockchain from surging. In 2019, a quarter of US and EU companies financed blockchain research, and the coverage is only projected to rise.
Is blockchain startup a dream job to pursue? Most reviews of this experience are either overly optimistic or sensationalist. We’ll try to step away from both[1].
1. Flexible working hours vs Striking work-life balance
Most startups rely on limited resources, both human and financial. We can hardly call startup regime ‘flexible’. In most cases it’s not you who defines your working hours. The necessity to work beyond 9-to-5 schedule and/or on weekend arises even before you know it. Which doesn’t, however, mean that you are immersed in this crazy, non-stop working schedule 24/7/365. There are periods of calm when most tasks have been tackled. The calm before another storm, right.
2. Opportunity to innovate vs Burden of responsibility
Startups are not about borderless creativity if that’s what you are looking for. There’s room for innovative ideas, true. There are some serious restrictions though: finance, reasonable risks to take, and aligning with the vision of those who spearhead the project.
Most crypto startups favor the democratic atmosphere with no cumbersome hierarchy (and so do most IT companies indeed). At the same time, in a crypto startup your scope of responsibility is much wider than you’d have with the same position in a more conservative company.
3. Learning a lot vs Wearing too many hats
Blockchain startups are relatively new to the market, and nine out of ten people arrive with work experiences not related to startups, let alone cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Financial resources are normally allocated for a limited time period. However weighed up the strategy is, opportunities and tasks will turn up without asking whether you’ve got a person qualified to tackle them in your team right now or not.
You’ll be dealing with potential partners whose expertise is so innovative for the field that you’ve never conceived it. Or vice versa, looking for services that are not presented in the blockchain sphere yet, so that you end up making a customized solution yourselves. And, of course, get ready to deal with tasks that are beyond your expertise (at least you used to think so). All with deadlines close.
4. Challenging experience vs Uncertainty
There are no exhaustive guidelines for most challenges you team will bump into. Sometimes no guidelines at all. You are constantly on a thin ice with any blockchain product, and the closer its relation to finance, the tougher it will be to comb through performance assessment, profit expectations, regulations in different jurisdictions (because you are ambitious enough to target worldwide, aren’t you?). And actually proving the non-involved segments of blockchain-unaware audience it’s worth it.
You’ll be constantly solving tasks with too many unknowns, but that’s the stress you’ll be missing badly should you decide to swap your blockchain anxieties for a 9-to-5 job again.
[1] Note: this article is based on the experience of OWNR team members (related to OWNR Wallet and other blockchain startups) and does not reflect the peculiarities of each and every blockchain startup. These may vary depending on the business model, country, corporate culture etc.
