Over the past few months I have had 1-2 people every week asking me how to get started in the startup industry. These people range in age and experience from undergrads to corporate veterans. I thought it would be helpful to write a blog post about most of the points I make during these conversations. I’ve written this post in 3 parts:

 

Forget about The Social Network, the perception of what working at a startup has been totally distorted by the mainstream media. Here’s what it’s like.

I can’t overstate this enough, it’s really hard work. I mean “hard work” in multiple ways. First, you’ll be working long hours. Unlike some jobs, there’s an unlimited number of things you could be working on and not enough people to work on them. The lack of resources will make you wear multiple hats, usually in disciplines you aren’t comfortable with or have much knowledge in.Second, the challenges you are working on are extremely difficult. You’re likely building new products/services so you don’t have a blueprint for success. You will go down the wrong path many times only to realize you’ve made a huge mistake. Picking up the pieces, figuring out the next move and continuing on is tough work.

A few years ago I attended a panel of 5 CEOs, each with exits greater than $250M. When asked what the biggest factor for their success was, each of them stated that luck played the biggest role. The role of luck is one the least discussed aspects of monetary success in this industry. I would argue that in typical professions Success = 10(Hard work)  X 10(Intelligence) X Luck. For startups, I would argue that the success equation is Success = (Hard Work) X (Intelligence) X 20(Luck). Consider the vastly different outcomes of the 20th employee at Facebook vs. the 20th employee at Friendster.

We’re constantly bombarded with the startup success stories. Instagram just got sold for $1B, oh my! -1,000  millionaries at facebook, crazy!  For every success story, there are 100,000 startups struggling to keep the lights on or raise their next round. For early stage startups, it is not unheard of for salaries to be < 50% market rate. In exchange for low pay, startups often offer equity – but keep in mind that the low percentage of success doesn’t give a high expected value from that equity. 2%-10% of $0 is still $0.

Even upon raising money, salaries for non-engineering staff are typically below market rate. Ultimately many people are hoping/praying for a huge payout that will 9,999/10,000 never come. I always make the analogy to Hollywood actors/actresses. Many are allured to acting because they dream of stardom and money, but the reality is that most wont see either. But there are those who have a deep passion for acting so regardless of fame and fortune, would still pursue the industry. Startups are much in the same, if you’re in it for the money there are easier ways.

This one is tough, failure is par for the course in startups. Look at any successful entrepreneur and you will likely see a graveyard of failed endeavors. As I mentioned previously, the odds are low for success and failure is not always your fault. But, constantly “failing” is tough for anybody to experience. The constant ribbing from your corporate friends is tougher to endure than you think. They are steadily making their way up the corporate ladder while you move from one startup to the next. Having your cousin or grandparent ask why you are out of work yet again is not easy. Try explaining to your future mother-in-law that although you just turned 30 you are going to take an unpaid internship (seriously, this did not go well for me) .

Yes, it is cool to hug your co-worker or have a keg in the office – but for the most part working at an early stage startup is not that glamorous. Typically you’re working out of a shitty office where you have to wash your own dishes and take out the trash. Forget about your own office, expense accounts, good coffee and clean bathrooms.

 

Before you proceed, think long and hard if you’re willing to accept the realities above. If you’re ok with them, here’s my advice on how to get started.

Regardless if you’re still in college or have 20+ years of working experience, start getting relevant startup experience to make the transition. It boggles my mind when someone’s resume is filled with experience as a financial advisor and applies for a startup marketing position. There’s very little chance that a founder with very few resources is going to hire you with little to no relevant experience. Whenever I mention this to people, the most common response is – “But Andrew, how do I get any experience if I don’t have any experience.”Get it any way you can. Lets say you’re interested in startup marketing. Ask your friend who works at a startup if you can put together a social media strategy for her. Ask your buddy who has a “startup” idea if you can write a marketing plan for him. See if an industry group like the NY Tech Meetup can use extra volunteers to get the word out about their next event. Be resourceful and clever, but start getting experience. Now your resume looks more attractive when you finally apply for a full-time position:

 

 

 

The second one looks much better and at least warrants an interview instead of an immediate toss. When I’m looking through resumes, I don’t take more than 20 seconds in my initial pass – if nothing catches my eye, I’m going to pass.

This is probably the biggest mistake I see people making when trying to “break in” to the startup world. People think that by attending every startup panel/party or reading  Fred Wilson’s blog  they are making their way into the startup world. I understand where this could be deceiving; attending events and reading blogs are easy things to do, should be done and makes you feel well-informed. But if you want to work at a startup, you’ve got to meet the right people at these events, setup follow up meetings, offer to help, etc.My advice is to target select number of events that make sense for you, then spend the rest of your free time with your head down getting the relevant experience mentioned before. Judge which events have the type of people you’re interested in connecting with or can help you on your quest. Always keep in mind, the successful founders you want to work with are usually hard at work day and night and not often attending each and every event.On another note, people always ask what blogs to read –  I’ve setup this special link to answer that question

If you’re making a career transition, doing it sooner will lessen the pain. The more years you have in another industry the harder it is to transition. You get used to the good money, good title and perks associated with climbing a corporate ladder. Be realistic about what type of position you are pursuing and lower your expectations for your starting point. I was talking to a friend who worked in real estate, with no digital or startup experience, that he’d be willing to accept a senior strategy position at Foursquare…. he was serious.If you’ve spent 5 years as a financial advisor, you’re not likely going to be head of Business Development at  Pinterest . But, you might be able to find a role as a Business Development Associate at an early, unknown startup, take a big pay cut, work your ass off and prove yourself.

Breaking into any industry is difficult. Often, after I detail out all the things they can be doing to get into startups, people respond with “that seems like it’s a lot of work.” This is by far one of the most frustrating things for me to hear. No shit it’s hard work, there’s a seemingly unlimited pool of business people interested, but very few coveted positions. So breaking into a hot startup as an early employee on the business side is going to require a ton of work and a little bit of luck.Check out my friend Luke Hristou ( @LukeHri ). In November 22, 2011 from his parents house in Salt Lake City he writes a blog post titled  My Goal to be a TechStars NYC Associate Day 1 .

He doesn’t stop networking and doing whatever it takes to achieve his goal. Fast forward to March 14, 2012, he’s in NYC as a Tech Stars Associate in NYC. In his first month he seemed to secure meetings with all the major startup people in the city and often left the office way after 2am. Today he’s doing “a little bit of everything” as one of the first employees at  bondsy .  This is the type of hustle you’re competing with, so think about Luke the next time you think you’re working hard.If startups are something you truly want to pursue – it’s going to be a tough road. But there will be plenty of people willing to help you and the end result will be extremely rewarding.

Good luck.

 

Over the past few years, I’ve seen a tremendously positive shift in how MBA programs have embraced entrepreneurship. As a MBA myself, I how difficult it is to be saddled with tremendous student debt and then choose to pursue a low paying startup job. But for those of you who are interested, here’s some advice.

I rarely mention my MBA when I give someone a rundown of my experience – for the most part, it just doesn’t matter in this industry. Your fancy degree (undergrad/grad) doesn’t entitle you to any special treatment or consideration. In fact, I think the perception of MBAs in the startup world actually hurts more than it helps. While you were spending 2 years in business school getting an academic education, others were slogging it out in the trenches of a struggling startup. You can guess which experience is more valued.

Be wise on how you spend your 2 years in business school. Don’t expect to follow the 1-internship-during-the-summer-and-done model of your fellow students. My goal was to do an internship every semester (except fall of 1st semester) in a variety of roles and a variety of startups. My schedule was:

Spring 1st year: Marketing at a mobile startup

Summer: BD at a video startupFall 

2nd year: Strategy at advertising startup

Spring 2nd year: Generalist at pre-launch startup

As I mentioned before, experience counts. A MBA program gives you two solid years to get a wide variety of experience. Getting active in clubs is nice, but that experience isn’t going to go as far as real internships. If you came into the program with irrelevant experience, you should leave with a ton of experience and hopefully offers.

Along with my advice above to be realistic, understand the various roles at startups. I often hear MBAs saying they want a “strategy” role at a startup. For a 5 person startup, the founders are setting the strategy – there’s no full-time position for a “strategist.” You will have to get your hands dirty and wear multiple hats. If that’s not something you’re comfortable with – think twice about this.

Fight the negative stereotype of the douchy, entitled MBA. You might be working for someone younger than you, you might be getting paid less than your first job out of undergrad, you might have to work your way back up from the bottom, you might have to take an unpaid internship, you might have to sit in a little desk with no privacy next to the bathroom… so humble yourself – nobody owes you anything because you have $170k in debt and a fancy degree.

see original post here