If you’re considering working at a startup, it's likely because you want to be part of something exciting and different. But not everyone is cut out for this kind of environment. There are pros and cons to working at a startup, and I wanted to share why I personally decided that this was the path for me.
I wasn’t always interested in startups.
I wasn’t always interested in startups. In fact, when I was deciding where I wanted to work after college, I had my eye on a couple of big insurance companies. The first was a Fortune 500 company that has been around for generations—the kind of place people often refer to as “the best” at something or other. They hired me for an internship during my fourth year of school and offered me full-time jobs upon graduation if I wanted them. The second was one of their competitors, also very large but with slightly different products and services than the first company offered (in this case: commercial insurance instead of health insurance).
Both companies had great reputations and were known for providing excellent training opportunities for new hires—but neither offered any chance at entrepreneurship or ownership over projects; it would have been strictly business as usual there. And since those were the only two firms that approached me directly about employment after graduation, they were also my only choice if I wanted to stay within the field of Risk Management & Insurance (RM&I).
I then came across a job posting on AngelList. It was a small insurtech startup (10 employees) looking for a Sales and Biz Dev intern. After the first week, the rest was history. I turned down 3 full-time job offers and took the internship at Life.io.
The biggest reason I decided to go the startup route was to work with smart people who think differently about their “job”.
The biggest reason I decided to go the startup route was to work with smart people who think differently about their “job”.
Focusing on building a company together is what makes a startup so special. Everyone shares the same goal and one goal only: build something awesome that solves an important problem for people, and grow it from nothing into something big. There is little room for personal goals because everyone at a startup shares these collective goals (at least in my experience). This lack of focus on personal success allows for little to no company politics and allows employees to focus 100% on helping their team succeed.
You’ll be forced to learn how to work cross-functionally.
Working cross-functionally is a must if you want to succeed in a startup environment. The best way to learn this skill is by jumping right in and getting your hands dirty. You'll be given a lot of responsibility across a number of different areas, which means you’ll need to make decisions on your own and learn how to work with people in various departments.
You’ll also be exposed to every aspect of the business: product development, marketing, sales/biz dev—you name it! This gives you more opportunities than ever before to make an impact on the company as well as help shape its future direction by making suggestions for improvement along the way.
You get a lot out of working at a startup.
Startups are a great place to learn new skills.
Startups are a great place to work with smart people.
Startups are a great place to get experience.
Startups are a great place to make mistakes, and learn from them
Conclusion
The biggest takeaway is that there are a lot of benefits to working at startups. For example, I get to work with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met and the culture is always changing. It can be stressful sometimes but at the end of the day I’m glad I made this decision because it has been an amazing experience so far!
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