My first week at SnapTravel
This is my first week at SnapTravel and let me tell you, it’s a whirlwind. Tons of people introducing themselves (I’m sorry if I don’t remember your name just yet!), lots of invites for coffee and deck upon deck of interesting content. It’s organized chaos in the best way possible — exactly what I was hoping for.
I recently left a job at one of the large tech companies and previous to that, I worked for a top consulting firm. When I told my friends and co-workers that I was leaving for a Series A startup, SnapTravel, the response was 50/50: some people’s immediate reaction was “That is so cool!!” while others’ was “But why, your resume is all brand names…”.
Despite the former group being more supportive, no one really got it.
My jump to SnapTravel was more than just ‘cool’, it was a decision to help me grow in my career. So, what was I actually looking for?
First and foremost I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn quickly and a lot. I was growing in my previous roles, however, a startup teaches you different skills. Specifically, I was excited to develop the following:
- Creativity on tight resources
- “Nimbleness”
- Decision making with limited data
- A/B testing, experimentation, and scaled process rollout
These are truly unique to smaller, high growth companies but valuable in any context. My long-term plan is to inject these skills into a more static, tenured organization.
I also decided I wanted to work on something I could help to build. In professional services, I always worked very hard (read: long hours). The pace itself wasn’t the issue, it was that I was helping someone else with their business, not something I had a hand in creating myself. Nuanced, but important to me.
So I wanted to enter the mythical startup world. Luckily, in Toronto, there are plenty to choose from. How and why, then, did I end up at SnapTravel?
The first thing was table stakes: the company had to be going somewhere. I spoke with the co-founders and non-invested VCs from the community (to avoid bias) to gather insights on the financials and product-market fit. From this, it was clear that I was joining a rocketship.
Next, I enjoyed using the product and immediately saw its value — I wanted my friends and family to use it. This isn’t important to everyone, but working for a consumer-facing company providing customer delight was something I appreciated and SnapTravel delivered on.
I also really clicked with the people. I found them driven, intelligent and supportive. Considering SnapTravel is under 50 people, I’ll get the chance to work with everyone and so feeling like I could ideate, debate and grow with this team was huge.
Finally, and arguably most important, the role was right. My previous experience provided me a great foundation (I won’t feel like a complete fish out of water), however, there was enough room in the role for me to grow: I can develop new skills while refining existing ones.
I’m super excited for my journey here to begin. I can’t wait to see where I’m at in a year and what crazy cool things SnapTravel gets up to.
Want to chat more? Feel free to message us on Twitter and ask for me. Always down for a coffee!
