Everybody knows the positives of working in a start up. One gets to work on diverse projects. There’s no pigeon holing in a certain role and this translates into greater learning. The impact value of your efforts is much greater and since you always know how your efforts fit in the bigger picture, the satisfaction is greater. The work can get hectic but the stress is less. Your manager’s there for the start up experience too so he’s not constantly breathing down your neck and making your life difficult.
Alright. Work’s fun in a start up but there’s another side of the story. The funny side. Here’s why it can be funny.
1.In a corporate, the roles of every employee is pretty much clearly defined. The guy who picks you up everyday to work drops you back end of the day. And he does just that everyday. He’s the driver, that’s his job. In a start-up, he’s dusting your desk immediately after he drops you at work. Then he’s serving coffee to everyone. After a while, he’s washing the boss’s car. Then he’s getting lunch for the guest who has dropped by. And then he’s away dropping cheques at the bank. After a while, he’s back serving you another round of coffee in the afternoon. The chap is a driver-janitor-odd jobs guy all rolled in one. He’s your quintessential start up employee who pretty much does everything.
2. Back when I was new at the job, I was talking to a guy who had worked there for quite some time about appraisals. He told me, “They doubled my salary after a year”. That got me thrilled. Not for long though. I realized later that he started off dismally low, and even after the “enormous” hike, he was still making dismally low. To put things in perspective, 8K to 16K is a double hike. Interestingly, everyone makes different money and there are no fixed salary bands for every designation. And funnily enough, you might much more money than a person who’s been there for years!
3. Now, the differential pay scale can make life difficult when the person who’s been there for years finds out the newbie who’s just joined makes much more. You see he won’t like it so much and suddenly, you will have the management summoning you saying ,“Look boss, don’t tell anyone how much you make. Keep it secret, ok?”. This can shock you quite a bit.
4. Another day, your laptop stops working and you turn to the IT guy for help. Now, he doubles up as the Production Manager as well and finding him free to have a look at your laptop will take a few days time. When he finally gets time, he has a quick look and says, “Okay. Hard disk’s screwed. I’ll get it fixed. In a week”. A week?!! And I wonder why it takes so long? In a corporate, the IT team will simply pounce on your laptop and fix it in a jiffy gaining them points for minimum turn around time and leaving you with a brand new hard disk and a system in top shape. On the other hand, my IT guy/Production Manager needs to inform the insurance guys first who will have a look at the system, assess the damage and then approve the new hard disk. A few unnecessary formalities follow and you spend a week feeling helpless and cursing the poor hard disk that misbehaved. In a start-up, systems aren’t in place and this can be a real pain in the neck.
5.Then there’s the issue of product development. Your R&D declares that it has come with a groundbreaking industrial application that works like magic in their laboratory. Then they hand it over to you to sell the industry. And you promise the world to client. Unfortunately, not all products manage to work wonders when you scale up. And when it doesn’t work great, you end up looking a complete idiot. Then you get to the R&D with feedback and the product evolves. Nothing comes easy. And you gotta take that in your stride.
Working in a start-up isn’t easy. Especially if you’re coming from the comfort of a corporate work place. Eventually, you get used to the system (or the lack of it?) and work becomes interesting. The systems and products gradually evolve over time and you need to work hard and be patient. The start-up ride can be bumpy but you will have interesting stories to tell. The trick is to enjoy the ride while you are there.
