This is somewhat of a hot debate because startups are risky experiments with asymmetric outcomes that differ from established companies. There’s a tradeoff that you’ll be taking when choosing to join a startup over a big tech company, that when played smartly make joining startups like riding a rocket ship. But how can one tell if it’s a good idea to join a startup or not?

Especially early on for people kick-starting their careers, it might be harder to assess whether joining a startup over a big company is the right choice.

People with lots of experience can find it easier to decide due to their wide exposure, and due to the fact that it’s easier to find another job if they changed their mind.

I found that for startups, in particular, it’s best to treat each company separately and assess several factors that when taken all together as a whole help me decide whether or not it’s a good fit.

This blog will attempt to list reasons why you should consider joining a startup, to be able to assess if the opportunity at hand will help you achieve what makes startups great for!

1) Founders

I personally focus on two things right now when looking at startups, the founders and the product. But why are founders important?

The way famous VC Ron Conway puts it about his investing philosophy at early-stage startups, he says “we invest in people”. Because at the seed stage, or even series A, companies might only have an MVP with no product-market fit. Maybe no users at all!

Due to such market dynamics, the only bet investors can make is on the founders. Are they exceptional people with a track record of building stuff? What amazing things have they done before? Why would they pull it off?

Although idea’s are important, founders usually need to keep iterating and pivoting on their initial idea according to how the market reacts.

Investors put their money where their mouth is. If they’re willing to bet on a person with big investments at such early stages, then I’d love to work for these people.

Joining a startup with exceptional founders is a great way to learn how to build a company. As Chip Huyen says in this blog, probably the best reason to join a startup is to learn how to build one.

2) Product

The product of a startup is how the founders are planning to solve the problem that inspired their mission from the beginning. Do you love the product? Do you love using it? Is it something people want? (YC motto)

This is one of Paul Graham’s solid pieces of advice on hiring for startups, as people who love products usually will be great fits for a startup and can add so much value. I saw this tweet from Amjad Masad founder of Replit the other day, and it’s so crazy how much it works!

It works both ways, if you love the product the company is building it would be a great reason to join! In other words, if you’re passionate about the product the company is building, not only will you enjoy your time and grow exponentially, but you’ll also have a bigger chance of impacting the product in the way you’d wish it to be.

3) Growth

I think this one is a good bet as well. What are the types of projects you will be working on, and does it follow the pattern of “asymmetric risks and outcomes” as Karim Atiyeh coins it? 

The idea is that given the nature of startups, you’ll most likely be investing more time and effort into your job on average than working for big tech. How would this investment be worth it though? If it helps you grow exponentially.

You’d probably want to think that if you joined a startup with the good possibility of overworking, is there a great chance that you will be riding an exponential curve of growth? Would your startup have a great chance of actually becoming a billion-dollar company?

It would be so worth it to work as the 10th employee at Google or Meta, or even join as a founding engineer at Stripe for example.

Those hires have experienced what asymmetric outcomes truly are, and have definitely increased their value in the market with great opportunities.

It’s funny that even for big companies, having startup experience is sometimes even sought out in management roles. I saw a post somewhere once for a job description at Shopify that asked for founding experience.

I would just be cautious about job descriptions, and the type of tasks that you will be doing in order to guarantee growth in the skillsets you’re interested. Try to figure that out as much as you can before joining.

4) Network

This is an overlooked reason as well, want an introduction to YC? Working with founders that are already in might be a good way.

Want to know how to raise capital and by which people? Working at a startup with well-connected people, you’ll have a good chance of networking with partners in the industry, investors, engineers, and maybe even government figures that help expand businesses globally.I wouldn’t say that it’s the only way to build such a network, but it definitely is a good way to do so.

Conclusion

Startups are great to join for the right reasons, but also have drawbacks that might hurt one’s career if not addressed correctly. Hope this blog has taught you a thing or two about startups.