I left Facebook to build my own startup. Here’s what I learned

Most of my career before Facebook was spent in marketing jobs in New Zealand. After coming to Singapore, it took me six months to work my way into a dream role at Facebook. I didn’t get it the first time, despite three phone interviews, a presentation, and four back-to-back interviews. Three months later, I got a call from Facebook for another role where I was a much better fit.

During my two-year tenure at the social media giant, I consulted with fast-growing ecommerce brands in Asia Pacific, such as HiSmile, Skinny Tan, and 4WD Supacentre. My role was to advise clients on the latest strategies from Facebook and how to implement them.

So why did I leave a dream company?

I left because I believed there was (and still is) a market bubble. As I see it, the reason for this bubble is that large, established brands still spend the bulk of their money on TV advertising and traditional media.

Meanwhile, Facebook ads work on an auction system. With big brands leaving this platform relatively unguarded and agencies moving slowly to capitalize on it, a great opportunity exists for brands to scale rapidly while everyone plays catch-up. Facebook advertising will never be as cheap as it is now.

So I built ROAS Media, a performance marketing agency that currently focuses on Facebook and Instagram advertising. In theory, the process is quite simple: take the best strategies I was taught at Facebook, add in some new ideas, and find clients with a good product that can be sold globally.

But it wasn’t an overnight success. Here’s what I learned in the process.

It’s awkward

The one thing they don’t tell you about leaving a big company to build your own startup is that it’s awkward.

It’s awkward when your wife goes off to work while you sit at the dining table, hoping to finally land a client and go back to being a financial contributor in the family. It’s awkward hitting the refresh button multiple times on Starbucks’ 30-minute free wifi. It’s awkward when friends keep asking you how things are going in the business when you’re just a week or two into building something from scratch.

I had spent my entire career relatively safe in the knowledge that there would be money in the bank every month. About two weeks into starting the company, I realized I was fully out of that comfort zone. It dawned on me that there was nobody except me who’s in charge of ensuring I receive a paycheck each month.

When that happened, I forgot very quickly about the awkwardness and was able to devote my time and energy to trying to put money in the bank. I was working 14 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

Learn to sell your startup’s vision

I struggled at first to build the team. I was too used to working in a company that had the luxury of applicants flooding in from around the world. So I had to get serious about promoting our company’s vision and our plans for growth.

I quickly learned how to pick out candidates who were genuinely excited by the vision, the growth to date, and the plans for the future.

Before sharing your vision with potential hires, ask your team what the company vision is. If the people that work with you every day can’t clearly communicate this back to you, then chances are you won’t do a good job communicating the vision to potential hires.

Your vision for the company should be infectious. It should stir up the right candidates and fill them with ideas.

I like to ask candidates how they see themselves playing a pivotal role in our company to help achieve the vision –  even if it would mean taking multiple roles. I want these candidates to leave with the idea that if they join the team, they could achieve things over the next few years.

Give up control