Beyond the Hubs: Your Guide to Thriving in the Diverse Landscape of Startups

Landing a job at a startup may feel out of reach to many people — especially those who live between the coasts. While it's true that many of the 50 companies on LinkedIn's 2023 Top Startups list are in New York City and San Francisco, there are also quite a few spread out across the United States or offering remote work.

The sprinkling of Top Startups across the country shows that people can find young and exciting companies not too far from their homes regardless of where they live. In some cases, they may actually have an advantage over people who live on the coasts when breaking into the world of startups.

"If you want to work in a startup without moving to a tech hub, in some ways it's easier for you to break in," says Alisa Cohn, author of From Start-Up to Grown-Up: Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business. "The community is smaller, but often more connected. Once you meet a few people and start to network you quickly tap into the entire community."

What Is a Startup?

No single definition of a startup exists. Most people include young companies — under five to 10 years old — that are privately owned and focused on an innovative product or service. One of the most attractive traits of a startup is the possibility of being an early employee at a company that will eventually be publicly traded or acquired, leading to a sizable payday.

Former startups like Airbnb, Instagram and Uber are now household names. Yet, there are countless other startups that will never be known because most fail. More than two-thirds of them never even turn a profit, according to Harvard Business Review.

The high chance of failure means that people who are interested in working at a startup need to be comfortable with risk. Cohn suggests several questions for people to consider before joining a startup:

• What's my risk tolerance? Do I have the stomach for a lot of ups and downs at the company I work for?
• Do I thrive in order or chaos? Most startups have a chaotic vibe to them as they grow. Employees need to be able to tolerate that chaos and try to bring order to it. Do I love that, or do I prefer order being present before I start?
• How's the culture? Chaos is one thing, but many startups? try to do too much without prioritizing the most important things, causing almost certain burnout. Or they hire managers with no experience, so you may not have the strongest direction. Assess the culture and make sure it's a fit for you before you join any new company.?
• What's my financial situation? Can I withstand a pay cut or losing my job suddenly if it comes to that?

Where Can You Find a Startup Job?

Many people will read through Cohn's questions and wonder who would ever want to work at a startup while others would love the opportunity. If you're in the latter group, the reality is that many are based in New York and California. My LinkedIn News colleague George Anders points out in a recent article that about two-thirds of this year's LinkedIn Top Startups are located in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley.?

Yet, many others exist between those population centers. Charlie Health, which came in eighth on the list, is located in Montana, for example. Seamless.AI and Triple Whale are both located in Ohio and came in at numbers 10 and 34, respectively. Sunday and Plume are located in Colorado and came in at numbers 23 and 30, respectively. Number 48 Tapcheck is located in Texas.

Cohn has a few suggestions on tapping into the startup community in your area if none of those startups are located near your part of the country.

"Go out and find the startup meetups or the tech meetups — you can research them online or ask around," she says. "The local university — especially the business school — often has an entrepreneurship concentration or at least a few classes, so ask them where startup community folks meet in your area."

Another suggestion is to research local startups and the founders. Try to attend speeches or panels where the founder will be to network. "You can attend that conference and try to meet her," says Cohn. "Also check out TechCrunch or any other small startup digital publication to see what events they have where you might be able to connect with startup folks and tap into startup culture."

Finally, she says to consider companies outside of your area if they offer remote work. Mindbloom, Path and Orum are all remote companies on the Top Startups list at numbers 20, 22 and 40, respectively.

What to Look for in a Startup?

You should always carefully evaluate a potential employer but that's especially true with startups, which are? — as we discussed — inherently risky.

Knowing whether an employer's values align with your own is always a good place to start. Then, there are a series of questions you can ask during the interview to learn more about the organization.

As for what to look for specifically in a startup, LinkedIn considers four pillars when creating its Top Startups list: employment growth, company interest, job demand and attraction of top talent. While those are often pulled from LinkedIn data, you can ask questions to judge those pillars for yourself.

For example, you can ask for the company's headcount and ask how many joined within the past year to see if there is growth. You can learn about engagement by asking about the startup's culture and how the interviewer would describe the team dynamics. Finally, you can ask about the company's stability and financial foundation to gauge risk.

The good news is that the risk is lessened if you take your first dive into the startup world without moving across the country. Remember that the opportunity to join a startup is not confined to the tech hubs of the country.?

Employment is a partnership. Yet, a lot of people forget the hiring process is also a time for them to evaluate potential employers. Someone who knows how to do this exceptionally well is Ryan Patel, a global business executive who works with a number of big-named brands. He joined me on the latest episode of Get Hired to explain what he looks for before joining or partnering with an organization. You can listen to the episode above or on Apple Podcasts by clicking here. Additionally, you can read a transcript of the conversation by clicking here.

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