Many people I have met believe that the only way to enter the world of tech startups is by founding a company themselves. They might join an incubator program, a startup competition, a hackathon, or gather in a small café to start creating a product. However, most people who are interested in startups might not have the “big idea” just yet. So do you just slave away at your day job working for a large conglomerate hoping that one day you’ll come up with a brilliant idea to start your business? You need to be more proactive than that – you should join an existing startup!
If you join a startup early enough (less than 20 employees), you’ll be able to play an active role in the growth of the company. You’ll see firsthand the challenges that startups face from funding, sales, business development to operations. You’ll surround yourself with smart, motivated people and learn from both their successes and mistakes. Meet who’s who in the startup community and link up with mentors and investors. In fact, joining a good startup is the best entrepreneurial education you can get – better than joining a random incubation program or startup competition. Plus, you get paid. Maybe not as much as your old job, but enough to pay your bills while you learn more about startups. It’s a lot less risky than starting a tech startup yourself. You’ll have time to assess your risk appetite and whether starting a business is truly your calling.
So the next question is, where and how do you determine which startup to join? Here are several things I would look for:
1) Team – The most important decision factor. You’re going to be spending a ton of time with them, so make sure you like them. I would make sure that the founders or the leadership team are people you can respect and look up to for mentorship.
2) Mission –Don’t join a startup just because it was hyped up on DailySocial (Sorry Rama!), make sure that you really believe in what they are doing. Similar to the point above on team, you are going to spend most of your waking hours in this company. Does the startup solve a problem? Are you passionate about solving that problem? While you are not going to stay at the startup for the rest of your life, you are going to spend several years working on the mission – so make sure it’s worth it! While your primary objective is to learn how startups operate, you’ll learn more if you like your job!
3) Funding – Though this method of assessment is not bullet proof as some amazing startups don’t have or need funding, if respectable investors were willing to put money into the company, the company needs to be decent in terms of team quality and business plan. If you know someone at a VC, you might just want to contact them for a job at one of their portfolio companies. This will also allow you to establish early relationships with VCs and so that you can call on them when you are ready to go on your own.
What about role? Sheryl Sandberg, COO of facebook, spoke at my graduation ceremony several months back, and one of the advice she gave to the newly grads at HBS was to not worry about the role. “If you are offered a seat on a rocket-ship, just get on it”. At the right startup, the company will grow and so will your role as long as you are capable.
You’re on a rocket ship, learn how it operates, and one day you can use the experience you gain to steer your own rocket ship. Good luck!
Ryu Kawano Suliawan is CEO of PT. Midtrans, the operator of Veritrans Indonesia. Prior to Midtrans, Ryu was an Associate at TPG Capital’s Tokyo office and an Investment Banking Analyst in the Technology, Media, Telecom Group at Lazard Freres & Co.’s San Francisco office. Ryu was born in Indonesia to an Indonesian Father and a Japanese Mother. He speaks Indonesian, Japanese and English fluently. Ryu holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Claremont McKenna College.
