Many people wish to be entrepreneurs. Working for an entrepreneur is a better way to become one than waiting and hoping for the right problem. This allows you to see how the startup is built, what the founders do with the issues and opportunities, how they recruit their team, manage them, and communicate their ideas with investors. So how can you find a promising startup or entrepreneur?
Here are the steps to help you find a great entrepreneur to work with:
Follow the money: Check out which startups have raised more than $5M in Series A funding. They will soon be hiring.
Participate in entrepreneur events/meetings. The best way for entrepreneurs to a network is to hang out.
Do your research on the founders. Find out what they did before the startup. Based on their expertise and experience, would you consider working for them?
Check out the job listings for startups to see which jobs are available and what experience and skills they require.
Building your reputation: Use social media to build your reputation.
Let’s say that a startup hires you. These five key points are essential regardless of whether you have any work experience or acquire new skills.
Check out the job listings for startups to see which jobs are available and what experience and skills they require.
Building your reputation: Use social media to build your reputation.
Let’s say that you get hired at a startup and are eager to learn from the founders. These five key points are essential regardless of whether you have any work experience or acquire new skills.
Learn what you don’t already know. Do not expect to make a significant impact if you believe you will join a startup as an employee in an entry-level position. It is essential to find out what you don’t understand. Ask many simple questions, even if you think that you know the answer. It will help if you didn’t take risks for the first 90-days until you can understand the implications of any of the decisions you make. Avoid making mistakes to impress people.
Understanding the business model.No matter what job you have in the company, get to know the startup’s business model. How does it make its money? How does it get customers? Enjoy coffee/tea with the key leaders to gain a 360-degree overview of the business. After your first 90 days and you feel you have done well, you can ask to sit in the decision-making meetings.
See the owner/entrepreneur in action. You get to observe the founders and their employees in action by being part of the startup company. You will keep their communication style, how they treat others, how they interact with people, and how they deal with challenging situations. Even though they may not always make the right decisions, you can learn from them what to and what not to do for your startup.
Learn how to lead people. It’s hard to lead people well. You can learn about the best way to teach people, but there is no substitute for authentic leadership. What do they do well? The best way to learn is to manage a project. Perhaps you can work with a contractor or vendor. If this goes well, maybe you can offer to lead a small cross-company team on a project. Even though you have not yet shown a single person, you are making progress towards that goal by taking these small but crucial steps.
Learn from both your wins and mistakes. If you’ve ever worked in a small business, you know that things can go wrong. It’s part and parcel of life. It’s not a deliberate decision to order twice the regular inventory or make a mistake. I have never met a programmer that intentionally added bugs to their code. If there are problems, errors, or issues, it is important to observe who remains calm and panics. Be calm no matter what. Try to simplify the problem. How can you quickly understand the problem by focusing on the small things? These are simple solutions. Talented people will make errors, but not twice.
