When we think of a start-up, it’s generally a tech or bio company of some kind. That’s the world of Greens. To some degree, however, it can also apply to new projects within an existing company if there is sufficient autonomy.
Do you value clear and specific instructions? Sorry, but nobody fully knows and nobody has had the position before you. Looking for a specific job description? Nope. Today you’re doing software fixes, tomorrow it’s some marketing work and the day after…well, nobody knows yet…
If you value work-life balance that’s not going to be possible for some time. It’ll be 12-hour days and a mindset of whatever it takes – however long it takes – as there are a thousand moving parts, none of them are aligned, and when one moves ten others can go out of whack.
If perfectionism is one of your core values, you’ll need to put that on hold for the time being. The focus is on making everything work, to roll it out and to get it done quickly. Perfect is important, but it can come later. It’s a speed vs. quality issue. If you don’t get it out – your competition will beat you to it.
While it’s high stress and long days, it can also be a huge rush. Since start-up companies attract a lot of workaholics, many Silicone Valley employers have something called unlimited paid time off (PTO). Staff still need to coordinate with others to make sure the work gets done, but it’s a low-risk company investment in workaholic staff to increase productivity and avoid burnout. It turns out that staff don’t actually use much of it when their people are project driven. Staff turnover generally comes when the rollout or project is finished and people look to move on to another new challenge. But that’s where stock options come in…