I dealt with this myth of it being risky working with startups just yesterday while attempting to hire a Brand Manager for a start up ofcourse. During the process, I felt there was a need to talk about it on a larger forum.
Working with startups is almost no risk to begin with if it is post initial funding stage (entrepreneur might not hire a large team before that anyways). And if salary for over six months looks safe, its no worse than a job with big well established firm. What startups offer beyond salary can not be compared with any other opportunity.
1. One gets to work right under the creators or at arms length & the speed of work can put a formula one racer to feel humbled. Both speed and multitasking can give one an unparallel high.
2. Almost always one is in thick of things, doing, trying, missing, trying, doing, doing right, doing more. So when you're hired as Brand Manager, you'll never do less than that. Well you might double up for pantry manager is another thing as that way your CEO does the same on days.
3. No one finds time & energy to bother about hierarchy and you make some great friends, workgroups, mentors, future co-founders, investors.
4. You learn to party in office, at events, on monthends, at travel, at CEOs house, your house.
5. A startup whether sucessful or failed, is a successful tenure for all involved (founder may exclude himself).
6. You'll be lucky to find a startup opportunity coming your way. Grab it!!!
Comments
You have rasied a very valid point over here by bringing up the issue of why people are afraid (plz excuse me for the use of such extreme word) to join a startup. The way I look at it, the root cause lies way deeper than salary issues, its psycho-social in nature. Our upbringing has "hard-wired" a value system in us, which makes us believe that the only way to lead a "safe and secure" life is to land up in a job at an large public sector or an MNC and stick there for a lifetime.
This is one myth which can only be countered by a lot of thinking, starting from an individual level and then percolating to a collective level.
-Ashutosh