Silicon Valley: 6 Lessons I Learned at a Tech Startup | The M Dash
July 02, 2015
It seems like just yesterday I was packing up my East Village apartment, about to embark on a cross-country journey and a new career in Silicon Valley. I had started my career in investment banking and then did strategy at a large media company in NYC. Ultimately, I chose to take the leap to Silicon Valley because the startup world combined the best parts of my previous work experiences: It blended the rigorous, fast-paced environment of banking with the operational, execution-driven, problem-solving challenges of a strategy role. And it didn’t hurt that during a weekend visit to San Francisco in 2012, I absolutely fell in love with the city.
So here I am. Two years into my new life, these are a few key lessons I’ve learned about working at a Silicon Valley tech startup.
1. There is no “right” way to do things. “Right” hasn’t been defined yet.
This is the first thing new startup employees learn, and if you’ve come from a very structured environment, it can be tough to adjust to the new normal. Startups are young and still learning to deal with new products, markets, customers, and employees. Oftentimes, you receive little “training,” because there aren’t many solid processes in place. Chances are, you’ve been hired by a startup because you provide a unique and fresh perspective—you’re expected to help define processes and share what you think is “right.”
Along the way, there’s a lot of ambiguity, but don’t let that discourage you. Startups can be exciting, challenging, innovative places to work for exactly this reason. If you’ve found a better way to do something—great! Go do it! Things are constantly changing at a startup, and bright young people have a unique opportunity to shape such organizations.
2. There’s no time to be a perfectionist.
Startups are the best/worst place for type-A, overachieving perfectionists. These environments challenge the core of the perfectionist’s work ethic. You will work hard (and work long hours), but often, it’s not in your best interest (or the company’s best interest) to aim for perfection—and you have to learn to be okay with that. In a more structured job where there is a clear way of doing things, you can indulge perfectionism. But at a startup, the prevailing mentality is “done is better than perfect.” You have to keep moving.
3. Uncertainty is everywhere. Get comfortable with risk-taking.
The best way of learning is by doing. While your team may work hard to anticipate all possible outcomes, you will sometimes be surprised. There will always be something no one thought of, and that very thing is precisely what will go wrong. But this reality should not delay decision-making. Uncertainty will always be there. Once you’re confident that you’ve thought through a project or decision, move on to execution. It’s okay to make mistakes along the way.
4. You will fail regularly and often, but it’s never the end of the world.
In fact, the more successful the startup founder, the more times she’s failed. With that in mind, take more risks. Raise your hand, express your opinion, and be decisive. In my first few months on the job, I made a decision based on what I thought was best for our customer. I was dealing with uncharted terrain and had little guidance. In the end, the decision ended up creating a mess of things; but I’m fortunate to be at a company that embraces failures and sees them as learning opportunities. My early failure ended up shaping and improving our new processes.
5. You have tons of freedom to explore your interests and develop new skills.
Just because you’ve been hired into one role doesn’t mean you can’t explore other projects. Working in account management, but have ideas for possible posts on the company blog? Working in engineering but want to learn more about the business side of things? Talk to the people in charge of those areas to see how you can help. Startups are the best place to pursue “side” interests and build new skill sets.
6. You will often be the only female in the room. And after a while, you won’t even notice it anymore.
You’ve heard it a million times. Silicon Valley is very male-dominated, and the company I joined was no different. But after a while, I stopped noticing. I would often be the only female (and the youngest person) in the room; but it didn’t matter because no one cared, noticed, or brought attention to it. I was at a place where my opinion was valued, and my good work and leadership skills were recognized. For me, gender became a non-issue. Not all companies in Silicon Valley are like this, so it’s important to do some digging as you job hunt. Make sure you’re comfortable with a company’s internal culture before you sign on.
In short, startups offer a unique opportunity for young employees. If you act like you have authority, people will treat you like you have authority. The bottom line is: Own what you do, share your opinions, and be decisive when faced with uncertainty. That’s the startup way.
