Why I chose to work for a Start-up

Given startups are not for the fainthearted, why would someone in the middle of their career decide to join a relatively unknown company.

It was 2020 and the beginning of what would go down as the worst pandemic in modern history.  After a 15-year career that included working in the banking and the oil & gas sector, a multinational, and a couple of small enterprises, Vikas Singh found himself at a crossroads.

Covid had just upended his work and life. When a friend brought up an opportunity to work for a team, building an online learning platform, he thought again. Singh was intimately familiar with the risks involved at startups.

A setback is more bearable when you are young and relatively less burdened. In India, 80% of those who launched their new businesses did so before 30 years of age, according to a data-driven analysis by startup grind.

Those who decide to move mid-career have more at stake is the widely held understanding. For them, risks are real – school fees to pay, household expenses to consider, loans to pay off, and such.   

“I contemplated the choices and said to myself if I don’t try now I never will,” says Singh.

He started at operations through finance was his domain and those initial months launching online courses were intense. Managing last-minute changes, technological glitches and multiple teams, coupled with relentless follow-ups taught him the value of perseverance.

“Learning to recover from setbacks quickly without losing the momentum was very necessary,” confides Singh. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, every course launch was like organizing a live event.

Up before the crack of dawn, one has to make sure the stage is set, the mike is working, speakers are connected and the audience is ready. Forces outside one’s control often brought the network down, instructors went unreachable, students could forget their passwords.

In contrast to the monotony of working the whole day within an office cubicle, here every day was full of energy and excitement. “I was with this bunch of people who shared a common goal of building the business together,” admits Singh.  

Singh is right. Money is not the primary reason people decide to stay at a company. Likewise, the reasons people join a startup have to do with company culture, shared values, and a sense of bonding.

Recognition

It’s human nature to want to be recognized. To know that the leadership wholeheartedly supports your decision and sees it through till the end is very motivating. There is a sense of ownership that you don’t get at corporations with strict hierarchies.

Professional Growth

At larger organizations, an employee’s contribution is defined within a job description. However, at companies that are starting out, it’s more of guidelines. Because teams are smaller, employees have more latitude to do their jobs. “Sometimes you end up recognizing that you have other skills you were not aware of having,” adds Singh.    

Shared Values

When you believe in the product or service that the company is striving for, it doesn’t work anymore. It is a shared culture. When the values the leaders put out resonate with your own, it feels like family, he says. And like any family, there will be fierce disagreements and exasperated emails but in the end, you will be looking for solutions and not excuses.

Leaders who can inspire will give their team a reason to follow them, no matter how uncertain the journey is.  And these are the companies people love to work in.

infyni offers mentorship programs that can help people find or recover their career paths. Get in touch to know how you can benefit from these programs. 

Author: Dr. Anjana Das