Three Things: Should I join a start-up?

Three Things I Learned in Saas, Sports, Tech & Live Events One of the most common questions we get is around joining a startup. There are a myriad of reasons people consider the move, and those are personal and not our business. But questions about compensation lifestyle and career path we can offer our experiences on. The four things we advise when our friends and connections are considering joining a start-up 1) You're not going to get as clear of a picture of your stock's actual value as you'd like. No matter what anyone tells you on Twitter. Everyone online opines to demand the full breakdown of any prospective employer. I'd prefer it too. And some high-level hires can do so. The bulk of the staff, however? It's impossible. There is so much structure out there. There's preference, super shares and all kinds of funny business which can change value significantly and quickly. Even if you have X shares out of Y total outstanding right now, there's a low chance that math holds up as most companies grow. It's imperative to work for people of integrity who care about you. References matter much more than the math, b/c the math is too easily fudged. It's also comp, and it's not standard practice to tell new hires what everyone at the company's compensation is. The only way to truly know to the penny would uncover who else has what pretty quick. 2) Take a start-up job because of the lifestyle. /not the money. Not the outsized score. In my limited experience (roughly 20 years), those who get the most from working at startups, excluding the lottery winners, do so for one of two reasons: 1) They value purpose over paycheck and status. At a start-up, everything matters more as resources (time, money or people) are more scarce and 2) They want to jump the line and are willing to take less money and more risk for the prospect of outsized experience. There are a number of other reasons, but these two seem to make up the majority. Most people would make more money working in more mature businesses over the course of their careers. 3) Conviction. It's important to really dig in on the conviction of the company towards their ideas. Businesses change and evolve. Often they pivot and it is wildly successful. But some start-ups make too many changes too fast and you could find yourself working towards an idea you don't love pretty quickly. Is there product-market fit or, at least, conviction in where it could come from and how? 4) The exec team matters so much more than the idea. If the idea is exceptional, but you don't believe the leadership is, run. Most start-ups iterate many times over. More importantly, leadership at a start-up don't have checks and controls around them found at more mature firms (see Adam Neumann, Elizabeth Holmes etc.) They are finger on the pulse all the time and can do some pretty crummy things. The people matter more than the idea. It's cliché. Everyone says it. Yet few follow it. Just read all about the employees left empty handed from Theranos, Good, and WeWork.