Why startup culture’s shallow discrimination is dangerous

A glance at tech publications might perpetuate the mistaken notion that startup success is the norm. But that’s far from the reality. A VC-funded startup’s chances of success, according to Harvard Senior Lecturer Shikhar Ghosh, is a frighteningly low twenty-five percent. That means that three out of four times, your startup is doomed to fail.

Yes, those numbers are very low, and so is the money involved in joining a startup. Salaries are a far cry from those in the corporate world, and the chances of a startup employee – regardless of whether he or she is the first or the last – cashing out in an exit is very, very slim. Why would anyone in their right mind actually join a startup?

The main draw, in short, is the much-hyped ‘startup culture’. You know, the one that promises amazing perks like flexible working arrangements, no strict management hierarchy, an unlimited vacation policy, and a ping pong table. These small companies set ambitious goals, too: to be a billion-dollar company, to make the world a better place, to rid the world of poverty – the list goes on.

Most importantly, it’s about the feeling of working alongside a group of talented, like-minded individuals who are prepared to go to incredible lengths to get the job done – and then some.

Without a happening startup culture, these small tech firms would go out of business in a heartbeat. And that might just be the problem.

Exclusion of ‘suits’

Recently, there was the case of the ‘discriminatory job ad’ in Singapore that caused an uproar in the local tech scene. Opinion was divided on certain phrases that the startup had used in the advertisement, such as the one below, which describes who they do not want in the company:

You are a shallow social climber whose dream is to work for Goldman Sachs because it “looks good on your CV”. You went to an Ivy League university because it would “look good on your CV”. But you couldn’t get into Goldman Sachs (or Citibank, or HSBC) because you actually have no passion for finance, just like how you want to buy that Louis Vuitton bag (because it will “look good on your social CV”) despite having no passion for design and craftsmanship. Guess what? If you were rejected by Goldman Sachs, you will be rejected by us too. For exactly the same reasons. Advice: try applying for a government job.

On one hand, some netizens felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong with making fun of those who would prefer to work in the corporate world. Some even applauded it, saying that this was the way to weed out those who might not have the drive necessary to work in a startup.

They may be right. Working at a startup certainly requires a unique tolerance for risk and failure, something that a well-sheltered employee in a big corporation might not possess. And I say might, because the thing is, he just might have it as well.

This is not to knock the choice of words in that ad. The idea of wanting to find the best culture fit for their company is admirable. This, however, points to a larger problem with our startup ecosystem as a whole – we’ve become a boiling cauldron of discrimination, and we don’t even realize it.

What about prejudice against those beyond a certain age? Here’s what legendary Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said seven years ago:

In Asia

Subconscious prejudice