I've been an entrepreneur for almost five years, and I’ve seen the highs and (huge) lows of working in a startup. I've also worked with many other start-ups and hired and mentored many people who wanted to join our startup (Jem). Let me tell you this: Startups are not the glamorous, easy, or fun places some people make them out to be on social media. As much as I want to tell you that Jem is any different, it isn’t. Startups, by their very nature, are chaotic, unpredictable, and constantly changing. They are VERY hard places to work: → You must learn to accept that to move forward, sometimes you must go backwards. → You have to be ready to pivot, adapt, and learn new skills on the fly. → You have to realise it won’t be easy, and there will be times when you get it wrong. → You also have to accept that success is never guaranteed and that you may have to start over from scratch. This is hard. Sometimes, it’s an idea; sometimes, it’s your entire business (this happened to me multiple times). BUT, and there is a big BUT. For the right people, this can be the best job in the world. If you're ambitious, want to work hard, are willing to learn a ton and are keen to make the world a better place, you should think about it. → If you want a 9-5 job, don’t join a start-up. → If you want somewhere where work is always easy and everything always works, don’t join a start-up. But if you’re looking for a challenge, want to take on big projects and have deep responsibility for something, and importantly, are open to being wrong (a lot), maybe it’s for you. But before joining one, make sure it’s what you want. Do your due diligence. And please, please, don’t think it’s like the movies. It’s not. PS; We’re hiring. For many roles. Stay tuned as we look for people across Engineering, Product & Sales. Caroline van der Merwe, Christopher Hellmann, Thamsanqa Moyo, Danielle Lifschitz.
Spot on man, you have to have a big heart, (you need to care) and tough skin, and little to no ego to survive in a startup.
"If you want a 9-5 job, don’t join a start-up." ??
If you want somewhere where work is always easy and everything always works, don’t join a start-up ?? Totally agree Simon Ellis startup is truly full of challenges and unpredictable.
Great advice in there Simon Ellis. Thank you for sharing. Helen
Sshhhh don’t tell them Simon Ellis ??
True
Looks great
Well said Simon Ellis ??
Aligning talent to Purpose since 2010 ??
7 个月Great post Simon Ellis. Perhaps I could summarise what you have shared while indulging in sharing what I have observed as a consultant to many startups: → The biggest differentiator between those who last and those who leave is whether they have an Employee mindset or a Founder mindset. → The Employee mindset is to collect a pay check (they do it for the cash and perks). → The Founder mindset does it because they believe in the future value of what they are doing (both at an individual level and a collective level). → The employee mindset expects to be looked after. → The Founder mindset understands that it is survival of the fittest. → The Employee mindset expects the culture of an organisation to be settled → The Founder mindset understands that the culture needs to evolve and that so patience, tolerance and communication are needed in bucket loads. → The Employee mindset is there to maintain. → The Founder mindset is there to build and to fight for what needs to still happen. Most importantly, none of this has to do with personality ??