3 questions to ask yourself before joining a new company or team
Malcolm Lewis
Pitch deck coach for first-time founders ? 6 startups, 4 exits, 1?? IPO ? The Sequoia pitch deck template guy
I read an excellent AngelList article yesterday on 30 questions you should ask before joining a startup. I thought I'd share my TLDR version.?Being a firm believer in the rule of three, I've boiled my questions down to just 3.
1) The PEOPLE question. Do you like the people you'll work with? Your boss, peers and directs? Do you like the CEO and other key people at the company? Life's too short to spend most of your day with people you don't like.
2) The PRODUCT question: Do you like the product you'll be marketing, selling, supporting, or developing? Life's too short to work on a product that you, the company's employees, or the company's customers and channel partners are not excited about.
3) The POTENTIAL question: Is there strong potential for you to make an impact on the business? And to grow with the company (promotion)? And to participate in the company's success beyond W2 income (equity)? If not, maybe move on.
I agree with AngelList that there is more to dig into - such as the company's market opportunity, go-to-market strategy, financial runway, etc. plus your willingness and ability to trade reduced W2 income for equity - but these are the big 3 for me.
Choose wisely. The time you can invest into your career is a finite resource!
Tech Executive, Speaker & Advisor | Digital, AI & Innovation | Mom, Musician & Motorbiker
6 年As usual, you nailed it Malcolm Lewis. And I think the people question is really #1 because if the product and potential are great but you’re to be surrounded by jerks, why bother.
Principal Solutions Architect at Amazon Just Walk Out Technology
6 年On your third question: Amazon bases it's levels on the "influence" you have. The wider your influence/imapct across the company, the higher the level. At my level, I regularly have impact across all of AWS Worldwide. The next level, I am expected to influence across all of Amazon, which I am trying to do already!
Vice President & General Manager, Power Management ICs at Infineon Technologies | Semiconductors | New Business Incubator | Business Model Disruptor
6 年right on