Taking the leap: meet the Australian workers who left a big company to join a startup

For workers accustomed to the perceived safety and security of working at a big company, leaving it all behind to join a startup is an inherently bold move. Yet each year, thousands of Australian workers bravely gamble on startup life. 

While there’s an element of risk intrinsic to any career move, startups present some unique challenges for workers unfamiliar with their nuances. 

For one, those accustomed to working in well-resourced companies may need to adjust their expectations. Startups can be notoriously fickle, personality-driven, resource-challenged workplaces – but they can also often bring out the best in workers. 

Here, in their own words, seven professionals who recently joined one of LinkedIn’s Top Startups after working at a big company take us through the transition, how they coped with the fear of the unknown and what surprised them most about startup life. 

“To think there’s no risk involved is to be naive.”

Richard Hankin joined Cover Genius as head of retail partnerships nine months ago, having spent more than four years at eBay as head of commercial partnerships. 

I had a really good job at eBay and the truth is, I've got a mortgage and a baby, so there was huge trepidation to leave that behind. You’re leaving a pretty good salary and a very stable business. eBay has enormous market presence. But I'd never been part of hyper tech growth before. I made some big deals at eBay, but the company is so large that from a financial point of view, (those deals) don’t really move the needle. But the deals I do at Cover Genius can have a much greater impact.

I do a deal here and can add 10% to the value of the company. There is a tangible result to the deals we do, and it’s exciting knowing what's on the line. If you get the deal right, it impacts everybody here. And there’s a personal aspect: I want to perform for people that trust in me.

I’m amazed at how much rope they give me in a position making power. There’s a level of trust. At larger companies, you can have three meetings to decide on a strategy for the meeting. Here, I have a coffee with the CEO and we make fast, strategic decisions. Two days later I’ll be asked if I’ve started on the project yet. The nimbleness is refreshing. 

If you're considering a startup move, interview the management as much as they interview you. I was making the biggest investment of my life in Cover Genius. Ultimately, you want to join a fast growing startup because there is a potential golden egg you hope it will one day produce. But you also want to know that the business is going to be here in two years.

“Do your research.”

Andrew Anderson, the current head of ecosystem at Flare HR, joined the startup after working at Salesforce as a commercial account executive. 

At Salesforce I was exposed to various startups, business ideas and leaders with divergent visions. I was inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit and courage these leaders had to take their ideas and run with them. That made me want to be a part of that startup journey... On paper, yes, I saw the risk, but no more so than changing to any other organisation. 

Hands down, the best part of switching is the impact you have. When I ran a team at Salesforce, we did around $5 million turnover out of about $12 billion. You felt important, but you realise you're just a drop in the bucket. At a startup, you impact everything the company does on a daily basis. You make a difference to the overall mission, and to the people you work with. 

But you should really know what you're getting into first. Do your research. Find something where you can believe in the cause and the mission of it. That makes all the hardest stuff totally worth it. If you don't want the risk and the reward and the adventure, if you just want to wake up, punch a clock and cash a cheque, it's not for you. If you want something more, you'll love it. 

“Startups are not for everybody.”

Suzanne Gerrard, General Manager at Enable Professional Services, previously worked at a company acquired by Manpower, one of the world’s largest recruitment companies. 

I realise as an employee, I’m better suited to startups. When you work for a large multinational, there's a lot of politics and managing up takes a lot of your time. I didn't enjoy that. I like being at the coalface and growing a business. In a larger company it's harder because there's so much red tape. 

Startups are not for everybody. You've got to enjoy working in a fast-paced, agile way to enjoy it. You also have to be able to operate without much structure and actually put that structure in place yourself. You have to do things for the first time on your own.

I do miss the support sometimes you have in a big company. In a large company as an executive, you give somebody bullet points of ideas and they turn it into a PowerPoint for you. Here, you do the PowerPoint. At a big company, there’s payroll, HR, and recruitment specialists, social media experts, and brand managers. Startups probably have one HR manager, and one marketing person — and they do everything. That's an important factor to consider: generally, you have to do a lot more.

When you consider joining a startup, you have to be aligned with the owner’s vision. At a large company, your boss is important, but they don’t always rule the roost. At a startup, they absolutely do. Meet the owner and ensure you’re culturally aligned and understand the strategy. If you don’t buy into the owner and strategy, you could find yourself in a difficult situation quickly. 

“Is it worth it? Absolutely.”

Jenny Johnson is Chief Technology Officer for RedEye Apps. Previously, she was the global product manager for ABB’s Ellipse Enterprise Asset Management software solution. 

I wanted to have a greater influence on the success of the business. It was also an opportunity to learn more about the process of scaling up an organisation and the challenges and rewards that come with it. 

The pace of change is such that it’s difficult to keep everyone informed. To mitigate this, we have weekly huddles, company-wide updates and active channels for information sharing, often this is more controlled in larger organisations.

Everyone is a part of the successes and takes responsibility when things don’t go as planned. There isn’t the red tape and bureaucracy that comes with a large organisation with multiple levels of management. There is also direct and frequent communication with our co-founder and CEO — bringing alignment and cohesion throughout the business.

Some of the situations and challenges are similar to those in larger businesses. But there aren’t the processes to help people easily navigate through them. We need to be nimble and responsive so making sure everyone is working on the right priorities can be challenging.

The timing needs to be right for both the individual and the startup to make a great match. Meet the team, make sure the company and the timing is right for you. Don’t try and change the startup to suit what you are used to, but adapt your experience to blend it with the startup and ensure you embrace and live its culture. Understand that it’s an opportunity for you to learn as well as apply your expertise. Be open to change and be prepared to put in the time when needed and take on responsibilities that may not be in a traditional job spec for your role.

“You don't know what success looks like until you get customers through the door.”

Adam Caines spent a decade at IBM working as an IT consultant before joining Assembly Payments as the general manager of banking product and delivery. 

Startups don't always offer the same package and benefits of working in a large organisation, so you may need to take a step backwards to eventually reap more reward. As a startup, you don't know what success looks like until you get customers through the door.

I thought I'd been busy and stretched before in highly demanding roles, but a startup is a different environment in terms of speed and pace. Very often you have to identify what three out of 10 things you truly really need to focus on. It can be hard to let go of other things but you have to do so in order to reach your ultimate goal or outcome. I've never woken up and not looked forward to going into work, whatever challenge.

Finding and competing for talent is hard, particularly in Australia’s limited market, where we have a reduced ability to bring talent from overseas and large corporates offer highly competitive packages. In a small company, every hire can have a dramatic impact on the culture and environment so you also have to be very picky, which means often growth is slower, impacting your ability to scale quickly.

“Because we're so small, there’s an extensive interview process.”

Atay Erginay is General Manager, Sales and Marketing at Alex Solutions. He was previously Oracle’s Engagement Manager, working on consulting services for the Oracle marketing cloud.

I'd only ever worked for major organisations. I come from a long line of public sector employees. So working in the private sector felt like a jump in the first place. I met my now-managing director a while back and we’d kept in contact for quite a few years. During our conversations over the years, I saw his commitment and absolute drive. It was infectious. 

The idea that it was a risk never really crossed my mind. In these big global organisations, you can feel siloed, like you're just making up the numbers. The immediate thing I noticed from day one here was you have a voice and that voice will be heard by everyone. 

The recruitment process here is interesting. Because we're quite small, there’s an extensive interview process. Our managing director gets involved in most interviews and we want to ensure that everyone that comes into the organisation at this stage is going to be able to help drive the company forward. Cultural fit is crucial. 

The life of a startup can be a bit manic. Making sure we know the priorities and that we are working towards that with laser focus pushes some of that noise away. 

“It’s a risk to assume any role is guaranteed.”

Jim Paleo is Assembly Payment’s Head of Architecture in Delivery and Engineering and was previously the CIO of Bluestone Mortgages and prior to that lead technology teams at Macquarie.

 The best part of working here is enablement. You play a material part in shaping the future of the company. You are definitely not another cog in any wheel.

It’s a risk to assume any role is guaranteed. One sits in a better place when the focus is purely on value add, instead of job preservation. I feel the word “gamble” is a framed thought. It’s not a gamble if you know what value you can add, and what you can gain from working in startups.

 Wearing many hats can be challenging but if you get comfortable with it then you’ll do great. Sometimes you may be spread thinly over tasks, other times there is pure uncertainty on what might happen next so dealing with uncertainty can be tough if you’d much rather avoid it.

 To work at a startup, you should be comfortable with uncertainty. Also be ready to quickly adapt to a changing environment, and ensure you’re happy with being a driver. There is no “hiding” in a startup.  

“I realised I didn’t want to be a corporate guy anymore.” 

Paul Pesavento is Moula’s Chief Data Officer, having previously worked for 19 years at NAB and MLC. 

I reached the point in my career where I realised I didn’t want to be a corporate guy anymore. What I like about startups is that there is no place to hide and people must be accountable... This goes a long way in motivating everyone.

 There was an element of risk in that on face value just about every aspect of the job is different to what I was used to. Another perceived risk for me was that, by their nature, startups may or may not be around for the medium to longer term. But in the case of Moula, I believed in the proposition and could see huge potential in helping small businesses at a time when the banks were pulling back on their lending to SMEs. 

I had imagined things to be a bit more chaotic than they actually are. This proves you need to establish the right foundations early on if you want your startup to be successful… I find I get a lot more done quickly and effectively, despite there being far fewer resources compared to a corporate, and it’s expected that this may require you to learn new stuff to get that job done.

 I recommend joining with an open mind. Leave behind prejudices or biases developed from your past experiences.