What are key characteristics of working in a startup environment?

What are key characteristics of working in a startup environment?

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  1. Anonymous

    You have to be very comfortable wearing many hats, having no processes in place and a job that changes constantly. You simply have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

    The great thing is, you will be ask to be responsible for things a normal job would never allow you to touch. You'll work far above your capabilities. You will be included in meetings you would never be invited to at a more mature company. You get to have a voice.

    Startups have long hours, very little pay but are a lot of fun if you love productive chaos. But you have to think on your feet and get creative.

  2. Barb Hansen

    The short answer is "it depends"

    The longer answer includes:

    What funding stage is the startup at?

    Working at a Series D startup with 700M in the bank is quite different than working at a bootstrapped or pre-seed round firm with limited resourse. A startup with a lot of money in the bank and time in existance under it's belt will probably, but not always, have management structure and an in-house HR team (along with the other trappings of a functional company) . The less structure and the less money in the bank can lead startups to expect their team members to work longer for less money, and without a formal management structure, team members can be felt to figure it out themselves, wear multiples hats and do whatever job is put in front of them. Generally, the more money a startup has in the bank, the more management structure is in place and the more that startup will function like a more-classic company.

    What is the background of the founders?

    First time founders with no business management background can be difficult to work for.

    What is the background of the founding team?

    Does the career path of the founding team support their current title? Sometimes founding team job titles do not line up with their career experience because those early team members got their jobs because they are friends of the founders or they invested in the startup. If the CPO (chief product officer) had a career in sales might not be able to lead a product team which can cause dsyfunction and frustration.

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