How to be a good startup

This is something I wrote in Aug 2016 when I was looking for a job at a startup, having already turned down working at Oracle. Read the Zoo of Jobs for context!

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This post assumes the startup has an idea of what they're building, has about 10-50 employees and is not necessarily funded yet. Most of these have been written with a tech startup in mind, but apply to businesses/established companies/institutions as well.

I've been job hunting for the last month or so now, and have spent a good deal of time looking for internships last winter, summer, and the year before that. As of now, I don't have the liberty to pick and choose which startup's idea I like, and so have been going through hundreds of websites. Here's a list of things I realized during this period:

All a company is a group of people who have come together to create a product or perform a service.
  • State clearly what you do
    In the simplest of words, explain to me like I'm 5 what you do. All those fancy animations and flashy pictures won't help if I don't understand what you do from the first page of your website. If you're working on a product, videos speak a million words.
  • A company is only as good as its people
    The key is to make sure each member takes complete ownership of their responsibilities.
  • Hire like a boss
    Hire people based on the value they will bring. Make sure the new hire is better than the previous hire, raising the bar up a notch each time.
  • Have a good HR team
    Even if it consists of just one person. That person needs to know the ins and outs of what the company is doing, should be a fluent speaker and must leave a lasting impression on whoever they speak to, be it Jeff Bezos or a summer intern.
  • Zero politics
    Restrict hierarchy for as long as it is possible, and keep favoritism away. If you start off with zero politics, you will grow with zero politics.
  • Organize
    Be as organized as an ant colony. Since a company consists of a group of people, you will be dealing with humans more often than you'd like. And people are inherently messy, forgetful, clumsy. Make organization and punctuality priority. 

Comments

  1. LaraibApril 2, 2018 at 4:57 PM

    Yes i am totally agreed with article and i want say that this article is very nice and very informative article.I will make sure to be reading your blog more. You made a good point but I can't help but wonder, what about the other side? !!!!!!THANKS!!!!!! golden gate ventures

    ReplyDelete

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