Eric Stromberg, after receiving a BA, magna-cum-laude, in history from Duke University, joined a startup. That came as a surprise for many of the people, so they mailed him and inquired about this decision. Of late he has been hearing similar decisions from many familiar faces. Some of them are his college seniors choosing between a big company and a startup. While others are recent graduates who work at a big company and are thinking about making the switch.
Recently he has been getting receiving several emails from “business people” who are looking for advice on how to get a job at a startup. Majority sing the same tune, “I could go work at a big company, but want to join a startup. One problem: I don’t know where to start the process.” For a job at an investment bank, everyone seems to know how to get in to it – just apply online. Remembering his Duke days, he says that when he was at Duke there were hundreds of people each year applying to big banks. Hence everyone knew what to expect. But when it comes to joining a startup, the path is not very clear.
He has been conveying this massage that it’s not as scary as it sounds, and it is not as difficult provided people are passionate about their goal. In this blog, he shares with us some tips on how to get a job at a startup if you aren’t a developer.
1. Know the tech landscape better than anybody else – Pick a few verticals and do some research work. Get the names and histories of companies in that zone and be updated on what they do and why they do it.
2. Form an opinion and start a blog – Knowing the facts is a precondition which has to be followed before forming an opinion. It’s worthless if we just keep memorising the details and aren’t able to derive an opinion. So, make sure you know about any new feature released by any prominent startup recently and you should also be able to comment on whether, given the market, this release was a good strategic move.
3. Be familiar with the startup culture – Each sport, industry, or college has its own unique culture, which consists of its own lingo, success stories, and taboos. Startup culture is also the same. So be familiar with all of these elements.
To know the rest of the tips and to read the original blog, click here.
