What Does Your Future Hold?

This brings us to the end of our discussion around startups. Hopefully you now can see that they can offer you a number of opportunities if you’re willing.

More importantly, I believe we’ve shown that the practice of management transcends large companies and complex org charts. You can make an impact anywhere.

Here’s what we’ve covered in this chapter:

• We looked at the concept and life cycle of startups, and why they’re a compelling prospect for exciting work.

• Then we touched on opportunities for you to get involved, whether that’s using them as an opportunity to accelerate your career progression or perhaps even joining as VP engineering.

• We closed out by providing a counter-argument to those that may think that management isn’t needed at startups. Management is not indicative of stuffy bureaucracy. It’s a mindset and skill set that can provide a much-needed counter-balance to chaos.

With all of this talk of startups, we’ve possibly made you think about your current role and where you want to progress in the future. Perhaps you already have a clear idea of where you’re going, or perhaps you haven’t thought about it at all.

In the next—and final—chapter of the book, we’re going to go through an exercise together that maps out your career universe. Then we’re going to look at setting some goals for yourself over the next few years. The bonus is that you can do this with all of your staff too.