Chapter 17
Startups

You open the link that Paulo just sent to you.

“No way! Is that the office that’s just around the corner?”

“Yep. That’s them,” replies Paulo.

You scan through the article. “They only started two years ago? And they’re making that silly application for arranging deliveries?”

“Look at the quote at the bottom,” says Tara.

“No way! It’s Sam who used to work with us!”

Paulo rolls his chair over and points at your screen. “Look at her job title.”

Your shoulders tense up. “What! How on earth is she a VP?”

“I know, right?” replies Paulo.

Tara has a tone of jealousy. “And now she’s probably going to be filthy rich as well. Imagine what her stock options are going to be worth!”

As you reach the end of the article, you experience a mixture of anger, envy, and regret. You interviewed at that small startup before accepting the offer for your current job. You went with the bigger company and the higher salary.

You look at Sam’s job title in the article once more. VP Engineering. You remember the day that she told you that she was leaving. Little did you know that she was leaving to leapfrog you in your career by about ten years.

As you turn your attention to the busy city outside of your window, the questions begin to arise. Are you working for the wrong company? Should you be getting in early at a startup instead? How did Sam manage to make VP? Could you have had that fast career growth, being able to buy that house that you always wanted?

This chapter is all about startups, and we’ve got many questions to answer. What are they? How do they usually form and grow? Should you be considering leaving your current company to take a lower salary for a bigger responsibility elsewhere, or is the risk too great? And are managers even needed among the hacking and pivoting?

Here’s what we’ll explore:

• We’ll touch upon the concept and life cycle of startups, and why they’ve generated so much attention and interest in the technology industry.

• Then we’ll work out what kinds of opportunities exist for you as a manager if you were to work for a startup.

• Lastly, we’ll debunk opinions that management is something that only big companies do. Instead, we’ll create a case that the skills that you’ve been learning in this book are critically important in early-stage companies.