Lessons Working for a 1990’s Start Up
First, let’s clear this up. It wasn’t called a start-up in 1990. It was simply a company with unpredictable cash flow, three computers, and a few customers. Not much sexy about that.
When I joined in 1993, CSM Corporation was a two-year-old, virtually unknown automotive research company based in Lansing, Michigan. Seventeen years later as CSM Worldwide we were the number one automotive forecasting company in the world with 130 incredible employees spread across eight global offices. The success was not by accident (though there was some luck) and not without a lot of fun (what a ride it was).
Led by a smart, determined entrepreneur, Craig Cather, and his partner wife Katie, we changed the world. Or so it felt. At least our part of it. This little company set the standard for customer service, dependability, and coolness that any of today’s “unicorns” would die for. And there sure are a lot trying.
According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), approximately 100 million start-ups are launched in the world each year. While that’s a staggering number, I reckon that most people will first start working for entrepreneurs before (if ever) working as entrepreneurs. The risk and pressures of starting and running a new organization are enormous. I admire the commitment it takes to succeed. Yet, I’m not an entrepreneur and don’t pretend to know what it means to be one. What I do know, however, is what it takes to succeed working for (and with) one. And that too takes commitment, and luck, and perseverance, and antacids… and a whole host of other skills (soft and other). And while 1993 is a long way from 2019, the perspective and lessons learned 20 years ago apply equally well today. Here they are…
No matter what number employee you are, know your role. If you are early in the firm’s journey, you will likely experience an entrepreneur who is struggling to find the balance between strategy and tactics; between control and letting go. Learn what your entrepreneur needs and fill that role.
Related to above, if the entrepreneur needs a tactical, operations person and you’re a vision, strategy person…. Bad fit. Buyer beware.
Do not take a job at a start-up to escape a “corporate” job. If you think you don’t have the opportunity to innovate in your current role/company, you’re just not looking hard enough.
You can’t hide in a small company. Don’t try. Show up every day.
Always, always speak about the work you do aligning with the organization’s mission. Small companies thrive when the entrepreneur’s vision is translated to the work getting done. If you buy into the vision and mission, make sure every employee knows the role they play in advancing it.
It’s hard, really hard, working for an entrepreneur. Decisions made at the kitchen table on Tuesday night become the new company strategy Wednesday morning. If you can’t stomach sudden, short-term shifts in thoughts and strategy, working for an entrepreneur will be frighteningly awful.
It’s really, really fun working for an entrepreneur. You’ll have influence on the firm’s strategy, direction, and hiring. Make sure you hire people who share the vision.
No matter how far you go with the company, no matter your title and your influence, remember it is not your company. Respect, always respect, the decisions of those who took the chance, who put payroll on their credit card in the early years, who listened to you when you had trouble, and who respected your opinion.
You are the culture; you help create it, shepherd it; don’t f*ck it up.
Entrepreneurs don’t know any more about the future than anyone else. If she says she knows where the company will be in five years, she’s lying or delusional. In either case, beware.
But, if you find one that knows the “true north” and can speak a clear mission, follow her.
And finally… it will end. But maybe, just maybe, you will have been part of something extraordinary; a foundation on which the rest of your life is built. It did for me. And… one day… it might just be the experience I need to become one of them.
