I have been working in a service startup for about an year now and now I'll soon be join fidelity investments as a summer intern. I was very curious on how it would be to move from a chill but a busy environment to a very strictly monitored one. I'll be writing this blog in 2 parts, this one is about startup experience and next one will come after the internship about corporate
Let me paint a picture for you
The startup I work at is an App studio, i.e, a company building software for contracts. Here we have a small team so the pressure is always high and it's really really fun. Especially it being a startup we get days where we have no work and then we get days where we sit to work at 12PM and might not be done till 3-4AM.
Pros
It's a unique experience, where big corporates might have skateboards in hallway and a bunch of gaming and retreat solutions these startups have a completely different feel, a small office space with plastic toys and random stuff as decorations.
YOU LEARN A LOT, I mean a hell lot when I say a lot. So I joined in Feb 2020, with basic HTML, CSS, and Js knowledge within a month I was proficient with Vue.js and was working on a production level App. Fast forward a few months and I made my first PR into a backend repo. A few more months and I am now in a client meet demoing the app. Now after a year and a half I frequently make PRs to frontend, backend, native apps. I end up taking a lot of clients meets also managing the cloud infrastructure.
Employees work without supervision, in a startup since the team is small you end up working not very down the ladder. The supervision I have is an Aasna table and code review for my PRs.
You can innovate, you get a lot of creative freedom in a startup. Not only in terms of a solution to the given problem but also the core product itself.
Perks,
- flexible working hours
- working from home
- shorter work weeks
- a casual atmosphere
Cons
- The workload is heavy, Expect to work long hours, with few holidays and vacations.
- What social life? You might have fun at the office, but you work hard too. Employees work under extreme pressure to avoid losses, so don't count on having much of social life. Work-life balance is tough, and exhaustive hours at the office can take a toll.
Not in my case (intern) but for a full timer job security might be a huge concern while planning to work in a startup.
Research by UC Berkeley & Stanford and other contributors suggests that over 90% of startups fail within their first three years! Tech startups, in particular, face the threat of technological advancements and new inventions wiping out their business.
Conclusion
Overall my experience over at a startup has been super fun and a great boost to my knowledge and hopefully career. Soon i'll have a follow up taking about corporate work culture my experience and a simple comparison.