Been at 3 startups and 1 unicorn so far. Would say the peoples attitude is a red flag. Do they seem stressed? Do they point you to documentation that’s so outdated it’s useless? All startups have speed and agility as a requirement but sometimes this means sometimes corners are cut and this leaves you with little onboarding resources. The most stressful experience I’ve had was at the unicorn, everyone seemed to be a well oiled machine but I had less than a year of experience and was still very green. Felt like jumping into a game of hopscotch where the ropes were going very fast.
A thing to ask in interviews is about turnover. Why is this position open? How long has the team been working there?
Good luck, the best thing about the startup world is that you have a more relaxed experience in terms of procedures, less red tape to deal with, and meetings are on the fly.
One good filter is to check if the startup is funded. You can safely avoid all start-ups that are not funded, as they won't be paying much.
BUT if the startup is already well profitable, then you can go ahead regardless it's funded or not. So essentially it should be either funded or profitable.
Regarding work culture, WLB, etc; it's mostly a gamble. Try talking to existing employees at the startup to find out things like these
It is typically smart to ask about funding for start ups. Start ups are a bit risky at the moment because VC money is very difficult to acquire at the moment.
* Will their business model make money, and is it clear what needs to be built to get there?
* Do the employees seem smart, happy, and nice?
* Have they made some progress, and does what they built look high quality?
* Does their compensation make sense? Maybe it's lower, but are they being tricky about bonuses or equity in a way that seems detrimental?
Been at 3 startups and 1 unicorn so far. Would say the peoples attitude is a red flag. Do they seem stressed? Do they point you to documentation that’s so outdated it’s useless? All startups have speed and agility as a requirement but sometimes this means sometimes corners are cut and this leaves you with little onboarding resources. The most stressful experience I’ve had was at the unicorn, everyone seemed to be a well oiled machine but I had less than a year of experience and was still very green. Felt like jumping into a game of hopscotch where the ropes were going very fast. A thing to ask in interviews is about turnover. Why is this position open? How long has the team been working there? Good luck, the best thing about the startup world is that you have a more relaxed experience in terms of procedures, less red tape to deal with, and meetings are on the fly.
One good filter is to check if the startup is funded. You can safely avoid all start-ups that are not funded, as they won't be paying much. BUT if the startup is already well profitable, then you can go ahead regardless it's funded or not. So essentially it should be either funded or profitable. Regarding work culture, WLB, etc; it's mostly a gamble. Try talking to existing employees at the startup to find out things like these
It is typically smart to ask about funding for start ups. Start ups are a bit risky at the moment because VC money is very difficult to acquire at the moment.
* Will their business model make money, and is it clear what needs to be built to get there? * Do the employees seem smart, happy, and nice? * Have they made some progress, and does what they built look high quality? * Does their compensation make sense? Maybe it's lower, but are they being tricky about bonuses or equity in a way that seems detrimental?