Anyone working for a startup/ scale-up fulfilled?

Doing an IB internship at a BB and don’t think it’s for me.
The hours are soul crushing and the thought of sitting behind a desk for 5/7th of my remaining life until 60 is terrifying.


Thinking perhaps working at a startup will alleviate these issues as whilst hard work, the work is massively varied and has a tangible impact on the business, making it feel less like ‘work’. Similar to how recruiting, studying etc is actually pretty fun as ‘work’ goes, because you feel like your gaining ground.

I have a pretty varied background, so will be down for pretty much any role.

Wondering if anyone else made a similar switch, and whether they regret it?

4 Comments
 

same emotions as you. i turned down my return offer to get a masters degree so i could have more time to figure it out. would love to hear any thoughts.

 
Most Helpful

Worked in ER -> VC -> founded a company (Series B). 

I'd recommend taking a step back and ask yourself what your key motivations are: learning, money, work-life balance, achievement etc.? 

I wouldn't go the start up route unless you're solving for learning and your learning style is action vs. analysis oriented. 

Starting a company is extremely hard and it's only marginally easier being a very early stage employee since there's no playbook and you often have to figure it out on the fly. Our first business hire was an ex-consultant and we had them doing everything from running payroll to creating security compliance procedures so we could sell larger clients. She had no background in any of these areas but was heavily motivated by learning how to build processes and execute them herself. 

If this type of environment and steep learning curves are compelling to you, reach out to people who are working at a start up (different stages) and ask them more about their individual experience. 

 

I know I’m solving for action orientated learning, but I can’t yet tell if it’s because of delayed gratification or love of the game (I.e. learning because it will help me earn/achieve XYZ or learning because it’s interesting).

What were your motivations for starting a startup?

 

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