Challenging the status quo ….

Often we ask ourselves, as we see all these big IPOs, acquisitions etc, is it time for me take the plunge. It’s quite a personal decision, and for different people it happens either very early or much later in life. What’s more important is what makes you happy, are you learning enough, are you feeling challenged, and do feel successful with the things you do for your job in your role.

Startups have many advantages – many of my friends have been successful entrepreneurs, and my husband has been doing this for quite some years now. They seems to completely enjoy it. But its not for everyone. It’s definitely not for the ‘faint hearted’.

However, as a mentor once told me, big companies have advantages. They are excellent learning grounds for building strong organisational processes, exposure to many intellectual thinkers, and opportunities to experiment with many different roles. But it comes with its cons as well. Often they become beaurocratic, and too slow. Organisational politics starts appearing, and in an economic downturn, it becomes more visible. Startups on the otherhand in a downturn, are more focused to survive.

Having observed people who have been back-forth, some just cannot handle the big company environment, and are always looking for a way to bolt out of the big company. Often, this happens in the case of the senior executives. They have a way of doing things, practically running their show in a startup. They work with small teams, and cannot handle the organisation complexities that come with a large company. Often having been the masters of the decision making process, here they have to work with a variety of people to get things done. Often this requires a very different skill set, than being in a startup. While the hands on skill will be much appreciated, non-compliance with organsiational processes will mean trouble for the person coming from the startup. Those who have the leadership skills to influence people around the organisation, channel their energies, and work with a very diverse workforce, will likely survive past the 6 months.

Similarly, I have also seen people from a very large organisations trying to get to a startup, and finding themselves a complete misfit. If you are the type who  focuses on one problem at a time,  cannot grasp the pace of a startup and work with the constraints both financial as well as resources, then  you will just not be able to survive more than 2 months. The stuff around you will overwhelm you especially the part about having to juggle many different things, and wear many hats.

So in conclusion, one needs to figure out what one is good, what makes you happy, and then take the plunge to a startup.