Guest Author - Sandra Eggers

You’ve heard the success stories of twentysomething millionaires who hit it big working for a startup and cashed in on valuable stock options. You ask yourself “why can’t that be me?” as you wonder how to advance your high tech career. Keep in mind, you rarely get something for nothing, and the grass isn’t always greener.

Did you read about the dot com that laid off 75% of it’s workforce? Or what about the one that closed it’s doors after one year? These scenarios are much more likely to occur than the startup that went public and made it’s founders millionaires. In the real world, most startups fail. Are you willing to take the risk?

Working at a dot com startup isn’t for everyone. On the other hand, it’s a great opportunity to gain valuable experience to further your high tech career. But don’t be surprised to find yourself paying for the reward (stock options) by pulling some long hours. The company motto of a dot com startup is generally “whatever it takes”.

Beware of the company that advertises “free catered lunch” – what that really means is that you’re expected to stay onsite and eat at your desk. You’ll also get to know your co-workers real well, as you’ll probably be spending the dinner hour with them also, as your boss orders out for pizza or Chinese.

Have kids? Have a life? Neither of these are conducive to working a dot com startup. If you have a fixed schedule that does not allow you to stay late or work weekends, this will become a very stressful situation very fast. The best way to keep your sanity in this type of environment is to be flexible with your schedule and time commitments outside work.

The “go with the flow” mentality runs rampant at startups. Once you’ve got your schedule all figured out, someone will probably change it. Usually the only thing you know for sure about your job assignments and priorities is that they won’t stay the same for long. These are fast-paced organizations, where top executives are very fluid, operating at the 50,000-foot level, leaving you (the technical person) to work out all the details. While the details continue to expand in scope, the due date never seems to get pushed out.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to learn on your own, a dot com startup may be the perfect place for you. This is generally an environment where you have an opportunity to take on many different roles, often working with technology that you don’t know and are expected to figure out on your own. There is usually no time for formal classroom training, so keep that in mind when evaluating your career objectives.

Of course, not all companies are the same, and not all dot com startups are the same. The above generalizations are commonplace, but there are exceptions – those are the ones to look for. The organizations that value employees as their most valuable asset generally offer an environment that makes you want to come to work. At the other end of the spectrum are organizations with unreasonable expectations, where you work nights and weekends and you’re still not caught up.

Make sure you know the price of working at a dot com startup, and decide if the risk is worth the potential reward.


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