11 things to know about working at a rocketship startup

In the past 6 months, we’ve grown rapidly here at Gigster, so much so that this recently happened:

There’s no shortage of people in Silicon Valley looking for their ticket on a rocket ship. If you’re considering a job at rapidly growing company, here are a few things you should keep in mind to make the most of the experience and set yourself up to create the most value.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Get comfortable with ambiguity

In a recent interview, Paul Graham referred to early stage startups as “fast-moving chaos”. It’s an apt description. When a company grows so rapidly, yesterday’s to do list is obsolete after a day.

It’s like climbing a rock wall, and instead of always having three anchor points to the wall, you’re down to just one as you scramble forever upwards. Early stage startups are not where folks who require structure thrive. They’re for people who can navigate through a blizzard without losing their sense of direction.

As you grow, you’ll create structure, but it’s likely that only those who follow through your journey will benefit most from whatever you build.

Prioritize

The best way to keep your sanity amidst the fast moving chaos is to keep a list of the items you need to work on. Make sure the list is in order of your priorities. It’s important that you’re absolutely ruthless about this step.

Once the list is set, take the most important item at the top of your list and focus only on that one item, until it has either been done, or you’ve hit a block you can’t control.

While you’re working on this item, the other items on your list are the items you should avoid doing. You should tackle your list in order. The cost of context switching is extremely high, and should be avoided as much as possible. There are exceptions, but they’re rare.

Be biased towards action, not planning and reporting

When you’re in the middle of chaos, it can be tempting to try and hit the pause button while you come up with a plan. The truth is, there is no pause buttons in early stage startups.

 The trick is to move faster than the chaos around you.

You can get snatches of escape or space here and there, but by and large, it’s about making decisions in the moment based on incomplete information, with no clear ways to measure success. The trick is to move faster than the chaos around you.

Decide between three good paths

Make time to relax and reflect

If you see a problem, fix it

Learn the art of the kind nudge

Sacrifice

You only have one job

Manage up

Don’t do it (only) for the equity

Bonus: savor the moment