[warrioraks]

Thank you all for indulging in my call for help here. I am humbled by so many responses and wisdom sharing.

All points made a lot of sense, and some of them are highly actionable as well. I am taking these as homework to cross-verify. Quoting a few below which came across as critical for my situation.

I can also share what I know at this point. The startup has found a product market fit and is decently funded. It's indeed somewhere between co-working and Swiggy but I dont anticipate it to become a Swiggy even in the future (let's say 5 years down the line). It will mostly become a mid-market organization with few hundred employees.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Many factors... and it also depends on if the startup has good funding for next 2-3 years, or not.

Originally Posted by kvsriki

Such decisions can be different for each individual, depending on the following factors:

• Current role and responsibilities, are you satisfied with your work
• Current salary + perks, does it justify your role and responsibilities
• Risk appetite of leaving a well settled job, depending on your financial situation and commitments
• Position of the startup compared to its competitors, is it unique enough to outlast its competitors
• Is the startup self funded or VC funded. If self funded, what is the source(s) of revenue, how long before it becomes profitable, how will the salaries of all the employees be managed, etc. If VC funded, how many rounds of fundings happened, who are the investors, kind of partnerships established (if any), do they have any exclusivity agreements, etc.
• What is the business model of the startup, what is it's go to market strategy, target industry & it's market size. Are the goals and vision feasible targets, etc
• In its lifecycle, at what stage is the startup? Is it still in inception phase or they have a working product/service offering or do they already have a few customers/clients where they have deployed the product/service
• What is the background of the founders/investors of the startup? A thorough research should be done on this to find out their previous ventures and how they turned out
• One of the most important factors to consider if your own career goals and in which place do you see them being fulfilled

Besides these major factors, there are a lot of other factors that can be penned down, but this list can be endless. Most importantly, if you are in a position that makes you even consider moving to a startup by leaving a well established organization, then you are already not satisfied with your current position (whether it is role, responsibilities or salary).

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

To this I'll add that you should do your homework on the funding they already have in the bank. Not promises of private equity funding but cash in the bank. Do they have enough to last out 3 years at twice the burn rate of today. If the answer is no then think three times. Also today every tom dick and harry with a business idea and some internet play calls himself a start up.

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

• Do you have skills that are difficult to find for prospective employers?
• Are you confident of excelling in the role being offered?

If you enjoy the role offered to you, and if you are confident of finding another job in case things do not work out as expected, you should choose the startup.

Originally Posted by am1m

*If yours is the sole income, if you have dependents or debt, then it warrants extra careful consideration. What stage in life you are at determines the risk. If your spouse is working, that gives you an additional source of income as a buffer even if things don't work out.
*If the established company you are at is one with a good culture and management- they do have opportunities to move across functions or take on fresh responsibilities, if you can get all than within the same org itself, then why leave.

Originally Posted by GS300

Then there is the question of stability. My personal opinion is that no large company can give you stability. In fact, no company can give you stability. If you have abilities that are valued in the market, you will have stable employment – at one place or other. That’s all.

Originally Posted by v1p3r

You might want to define what sort of startup as well. Do you mean 3 people in a coworking, or Swiggy, or somewhere in between?
.....
If you are a self-starter who thrives in uncertainty (sorry, cliches), then a startup will seem like a godsend.

[Bhupesh_2628]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Not really and I think it is just the other way. It is of least risk for such people.

IMO, what GS300 said is 'majorly' correct. Because people who work for a long time in medium/large organizations (especially in same departments) have the same roles & responsibilities that they are being used to for long.

They are in their comfort zone as compared to people who move out of their comfort zones by switching companies (small/medium/large) eventually leading to changes in their roles & responsibilities which of course is beneficial as growth will not become stagnant.
They adapt to the new working culture (with new skills, roles & responsibilities) quickly compared to the former.

In case the company gets acquired, then the 'former' ones are at more risk as most quitting/resigning of jobs happens/starts at senior levels.

Just my 2 cents.

[kvsriki]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

The startup has found a product market fit and is decently funded. It's indeed somewhere between co-working and Swiggy but I dont anticipate it to become a Swiggy even in the future (let's say 5 years down the line). It will mostly become a mid-market organization with few hundred employees.

All the best on your homework/research

I'd just like to emphasize that for this kind of startup it becomes extremely essential to know:

• Revenue pipeline: Just a simple question like, how many customers do they currently have and how many prospective customers where a PoC (proof of concept) is in progress
• GTM (go to market) strategy: How do they make themselves unique from others in the same space? What's the marketing and sales team size, who all are part of these teams, who is leading the efforts? If you know the names of a few of those people, check their LinkedIn profiles, try to gauge their experience in taking taking this startup to its goals.
• Try to get a brief idea about their product/service roadmap, what kind of features/products are they looking to add in future (do you feel they are relevant)
• A general look at the LinkedIn profiles of the people that are already working there will also give you a vague idea about the internal culture, for example, average experience of the team, where did they work previously, how long were their previous stints, how long they are working with this organization, etc.

You don't need too much details on these, just enough to understand basic structure of the startup. The first 3 are important to understand the long term strategy of the startup and how equipped are they to remain relevant in the market, which is crucial for any startup with just 1 product/platform in its lineup.

Point 4 is important to understand where you will fit culturally into the new team, like many have already mentioned, I have seen many experienced people coming from big organizations not able to blend or cope with the new culture/work environment. For example, in the 2nd startup, there was a guy who had joined us from the biggest Indian firm, who was used to manage (boss around) 200+ people. He became alienated within a couple of weeks from the rest of us as he never got that same respect from the folks here, that he had commanded in his previous organization. In a startup, no one will give you respect, no matter their experience in the industry, till you earn that respect

[veyron_head]

I worked for a startup for a considerable period of time and quit only recently. My 2 cents:

a.) If the startup is well funded (even when not profitable) you can expect pay and perks that far exceed any established company. Most startups these days literally spoil you with perks.

b.) See who the investors are. Having very reputed investors on the board is very important for the start up to be guided well and ensures subsequent funding. We know of 100s of startups that have never been profitable but thrive bigtime on funding. Of course this isn't a great trend. But this trend will continue for the next many years by when you should have made good amount of money and can move on to one of the established players.

C.) I would choose a startup that offers RSUs/ESOPs over one that doesn't. This is a great opportunity to create wealth if you join the right startup.

d.) There is definitely a higher risk of being fired based on either performance or simply 'restructuring'. Remember the famous story of the CEO who sacked 100s of people on a zoom call?!! Startups can be merciless. The rewards and risks are both big.

e.) Joining the right startup is super critical. The product they are creating should have wide applicability, a large addressable market and innovative.

Wish you the best!

[VALLURIS]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I can also share what I know at this point. The startup has found a product market fit and is decently funded. It's indeed somewhere between co-working and Swiggy but I dont anticipate it to become a Swiggy even in the future (let's say 5 years down the line). It will mostly become a mid-market organization with few hundred employees.

May I ask, which department you would be handling in this startup ?

I was working with a MNC before jumping into a startup, the culture here is very different. But given a choice to choose between a MNC and startup I would pick a startup for many reasons. I am in Sales and Marketing, the opportunity startup's give to create something all by ourselves is wonderful. We get to create our own strategy, own team and the pace at which work happens in a startup can only be experienced.

However, you need to be very careful and plan properly before you leave a big company for a startup. Some of my friends who are in development and operations couldn’t adjust in a startup ecosystem and had to return back to big companies. Startup ecosystem is very demanding and aggressive. Most startup’s use AI for majority of their works, they plan to have small teams and all team members are expected to perform extremely well. This is stressful at times, especially when we are launching new products/services.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

Thank you all for indulging in my call for help here. I am humbled by so many responses and wisdom sharing.

I used to run Operations/IT for a startup, until March'20
I quit due to personal reasons before the lockdown had started.

Most of what is said above is true.

A couple of final points:

1) If you're young, and you're getting a better designation/hike & opportunity to do more, just go for it.
2) Before jumping in, check your own finances. (EMIs, monthly expenses etc)
3) If things don't work out, do be willing to go for the roller coaster to find a new job. (Although getting a job nowadays in BLR seems easy enough, provided you have the right set of skills)
4) Some companies are bootstrapped, and unless they've raised funds, they're unlikely to list their monthly expenses & cash in the bank for you to publicly see. Same also applies for funded companies. Nobody will give you their actual burn rate. No way!!!!
Best you can do is ask them point blank their expected run-way, and take that with a PINCH of salt.
If they say 2 years, then maybe its more like 12-15 months
5) If your finances permit and you are young, just go for it. You'll learn something new, experience something new, and it'll be quite interesting!
6) Point #5 is especially true, since you're saying they have decent finances. Then the perks of a startup greatly outweigh the risks!
7) Don't undersell yourself. Talk to someone experienced in HR stuff.
Startups nowadays (since late 2020 infact) have very different hiring gauges, as compared to established Large-Cap companies!
% hike, designation, bonus, flexibility, etc are very different, and if you negotiate with an "established-company-employee-mindset", you might end up under-valuing yourself.
This is especially true for those jumping into the world of startups for the 1st time!

My friend's son made the exact mistake recently!
He thought the offer he received was "great", but it was actually very passe!

Good luck!

[naikameya]

Excellent material on this thread. I do not know how experienced you are, and my suggestions may sound vanilla to you. Few thoughts from my side, especially for early start-ups:

• Where are you in your career, and what you want to learn in your next job? Start-ups and established orgs offer different things and in different ways. Start-ups can offer on the job training, and you can be in charge of it (could also go wrong since you may not have oversight) while estd. Org allows for structured learning of best practices and processes.

• Ask about the vision and mission of the start-up/ product/ services and what value it will add to the customer? Clear, succinct, jargon-free and non-generic (non-fluffy) statements are a good indicator of any great organization. Notice how well the founders and people you meet elaborate it. Ask them what their culture is.

• Try and meet as many folks as you can and get into listening mode. See how many people are connected to the vision, mission and culture, or they are there just for the money.
  
  Stay away if the most prominent things people talk about are: cool office, working on bean bags and free snacks/ beer.

[recshenoy]

I have returned to a tier-II city from Bangalore and not planning to go back to cities. I have almost setup a home office and actively looking for remote work.

What is the possibility that the startups are looking for remote workers. When I ask in my limited friend circle, I get mixed opinions. Some say, there are lot of small startups which don't care where you are as long as you deliver. But some say, startup is relatively chaotic compared to established companies so not sitting with team means it will lead to even bigger chaos, so they might not be able to offer you remote role. I understand that it totally depends on the role one is going to play in the startup.

Any thoughts / guidance from BHPians on same? How is the general trend among startups with respect to remote hires.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

How is the general trend among startups with respect to remote hires.

I can only speak from my experience while searching for a job that there are a lot more opportunities that provide the option of remote working now than at any other point in time that I can remember as a job seeker. Whether they were mostly at startups I can't recall, as I didn't analyze that. But yes, the smaller companies certainly showed more flexibility compared to bigger ones.

(Actually forget outside Bangalore, there was a time about 4-5 years ago when I was desperately looking for a job change to escape the dreaded "Bellandur IT" zone and it seemed that the only roles were around that traffic-accursed area...or at the equally horrible "Manyata" zone! Thank goodness that's not the case anymore!)

About chaos and startups, I think again that can't be generalized. A lot depends on the kind of startup. One needs to talk to the interviewers and look for whatever information online to get a good idea of the work culture at a company before joining. Also try reaching out to current employees over linkedin. Some of them might respond to respectful, well-written requests for information.

[tracerspiff]

Some very excellent points here and I agree to all of them. I spent a decade in a HUGE company and I just completed a year in a funded start-up.
It is true that there are people who will find the lack of structure very unsettling. Thankfully in my case I am loving every minute of it.

One point many folks have not mentioned is the "personality fit". A start-up will usually consist of very driven folks and everyone in the room will have strong opinions, personalities and very different working styles. I would suggest you to have lengthy conversations with the founders and evaluate how you feel about them. Listen to your gut here. Remember you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you.

[mindshack]

Its important to list the negotiables and priorities in life first before evaluation the option. Some thrive in chaos, some in structure. Some love certainty and continuity, others love the thrill of uncertainty. Some love to head home at 7-8 pm, whereas some love to be on a call at 2 am and happily confirm the meeting next morning at 9 am.
Of course, all of the above are general and then you dive into specifics of each company's culture, their future and growth, the team / seniors, role, challenges etc.
I see the members have shared well articulated experiences and characteristics for a better understanding of the two worlds. My observations comes only as a lawyer who has advised bother MNCs, as well as start up on various issues including fund raising, M&A and all I know is these are chalk and cheese and it is easy to differentiate the approach of the individual and the organization he/she represents.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

Fellow Bhpians - What are a few factors to consider while switching jobs from a big well established company to a startup?

At the face of it, lack of stability certainly seems to be a risk in startup environment. On the positive side it might come with more excitement and breadth of job role. Looking for some pointers beyond the obvious things I stated above.

//thanks.

How does it feel to ruin your health in a futile attempt to make someone else rich? The only time to join a startup is when you are a key player with some level of equity. There are enough large companies in the world to offer you a better culture, job satisfaction and growth potential. I wish I had known this earlier.

[evil_grin]

I sincerely belive that everyone should work at both established companies and startups at least once each in their careers. You learn different things at each leading to a more complete skill set. At established companies you learn how to do things in your role the right way, what are good processes. At a startup you learn how to be fast, scrappy, how other departments work how to start something new.

But yeah the two most important things you need to look out for are how well funded they are and how good it is to work there.

[Exhuberance]

Originally Posted by androdev

How does it feel to ruin your health in a futile attempt to make someone else rich? The only time to join a startup is when you are a key player with some level of equity. There are enough large companies in the world to offer you a better culture, job satisfaction and growth potential. I wish I had known this earlier.

Agree with this totally.
As someone who has worked in my own startup, someone else’s startup and several top MNCs - I believe generally there are enough opportunities to make a difference, grow/ learn at wherever you are right now.
Only switch to a startup if a) it’s your own startup that you are passionate about Or b) you are getting considerable money to compensate for your health, stress, family time, etc.
Also steer clear of such founders where they are always thinking of extracting the ‘maximum juice for the pay’ from employees.

[cryptarchy]

I have worked extensively in start-ups throughout my career. From my experience I can tell you that Indian start-ups give you worst of both worlds i.e. bad parts of corporate culture combined with horrible work hours and bad pay. In addition, stock options means nothing in a private company. I have been screwed so many times by start-up founders that I am totally done romanticising working in a start up. If you are going to work in one then treat it as just another job and seek compensation relative to your skill level and hours you are going to put in. Don’t take excuses like this is a startup so you have to do overtime without pay.