Things to ask yourself before joining a startup

The wave of startups has taken over the world. The millennial generation is all about finding new startups, moving fast and breaking things. This startup culture has created a whole new world of opportunities for people looking to make a career. And, the best part is that the informal culture usually bestowed upon by these startups on the employees makes work lot more fun than in a traditional working environment.

“Stop relying on emails to get things done. Start using ProofHub.”

However, the question is - can you work in a startup? Or let me put it in a different language - do you think you can work in a startup? The answer to this question can be a bit trick. Looking at the good things like - informal culture, work flexibility and rapid growth (not necessarily in all cases), one might easily get tempted to work for a startup. But, that’s just not it. Before you decide to join a startup, there are certain important things you need to consider.

What are these things? Well, here’s the list -

Can you run at the same speed?

One of the most exciting things about startups is that they run at a fast pace. From experimenting with strategies to coming up with new ways to do things, you can expect things to happen at a lightening quick speed when you are part of a startup.

Whether it is your first job or you have the experience of working earlier, you need to make up your mind - whether I can work at this fast speed or not? If you cannot, then there is no point in accepting the offer letter from a startup.

Can you fit within the startup culture?

Apart from speed, there is another thing about the startups that can lure you is the flexible work culture. But, like they say everything that glitters is not gold. There are both positive as well as negative sides of this flexibility.

You need to clearly understand, and figure out how it is going to work. Get to know the pros and cons of working in a startup culture and see whether you will be able to cope up with the needs that a flexible work culture demands.

Can you work with limited resources?

If the startup is in its early stage, then one of the most important things you need to be prepared for is the fact that you will have to work with limited resources. As the startup is in its initial stages, the inflow of cash is going to be limited and you might have to compromise on the availability of resources as well.

Lack of resources can be a liberating factor for someone who enjoys being the go to person for developing something new. If you don’t, you need to seriously give a second thought about being part of a startup.

Can you align with the startup’s vision?

Working for a startup is like building something from complete scratch. You can succeed only if you believe with the mission and vision of the startup.

So ask yourself this question - do you think the business model for the startup is going to sustain for long? Do you hit off well with the founders? Is the company’s vision in alignment with what your expectations are from your job ? Do you see yourself growing by being part of the startup?

While you can never be certain what will work and what will not, but you can always make a learned decision to increase the chances of succeeding with your choice.

In the words of Geoff Donaker, COO Yelp from 2005 to 2016, “I’ve worked at three startup companies over 20 years. The first did okay, the second imploded and the third was Yelp, which went public five years ago. I took a flyer on Yelp just as I had on the other two startups… and it went well for the first year. So I stayed, and the next year went well. And so on.”

So, you can decide for yourself!

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Vartika Kashyap currently runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.

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