Why I enjoy startup life

📖 Note: This post is from the archives. It may reflect outdated views or a previous name.

So, you think I am crazy, eh? That I would leave a stable career behind to venture out into untested waters? Good. Yes — I’ve heard the statistics about startup “failure” and that there is a good set of odds against the industry. However, there are two types of people in this world:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

Starting a company was never meant to be easy because if it were, more people would be doing it. My family, but also most of our society, does not understand unconventional pursuits and well, nonconformists. I am constantly antagonized about the authenticity of my career and that I should get a “real job”. I have worked for many people in the past, in menial jobs, but also in highly technical positions at companies around North America. I have always found myself aspiring to lead, not be led. I love working in small high-intensity teams, working to find innovative solutions to complex problems and implementing them. Here are my three reasons why I believe startups are better work atmospheres than corporate endeavours:

1. CEO? Developer? Designer? We’re all the same. Since leaving high school, I have worked for over seven different startups building products in mobile, desktop and web mediums. These experiences have shown me the good and the bad of the startup cult and why certain leadership structures are more effective than others. Five of the seven startups I have worked for built their business with a strong foundation made of healthy team relationships and employee equality. The best of them did not hold pretentious CEOs who disparaged employees with demeaning comments, but jumped into the trenches with the team, working with the team to accomplish any task on hand. I absolutely adore a good ol’ positive culture where team is family. Work like a team and have fun like a team.

2. Less overhead. I love working with small compact teams where responsibility is shared. In compact intensity-driven teams, communication is vital to our success. Many look at having small teams as more responsibility, but I look at them as an opportunity to increase productivity and to bond with the team. Between not having enough funding to pay more than a few people, to choosing to take this direction; I have worked for three startups that shared similar ideals to my own, which in part is what I look for in job extending startups.

3. Build your skills. Many of the corporate opportunities that have been extended to me, often ask for seasoned professionals, with university and previous work experience shining like a golden plaque, whereas many startups send prestigious experience and university attendance to the backseat, allowing for determined and driven people to fill the room. At the end of the day, startups want someone who will pull their weight and if this means enthusiastically learning new skills, that’s okay. Your university degree may help you get through the front door, but it won’t help you close a job offer if you’re not a quick learning, enthusiasm dripping, determined goon who won’t stop until perfection.

All-in-all, I prefer to work for and with startups because I prefer the vibe and attitude of sharing responsibilities in a way that allows small intensity-driven teams with excessive productivity to thrive. Maybe you should consider leaving your comfortable cubicle for a career that entails greater risks for greater rewards. You don’t have to start something to help finish it.