Not everyone will love working at a startup. It's stressful and demanding, and the amount of responsibility you take on is immense.
But if you embrace the challenges, it will be the most rewarding place you've ever worked. And knowing these truths up front may help you navigate it.
There are often unspoken expectations of working at an early stage company.
When expectations aren’t met, everyone becomes a little more miserable. Tom Magliozzi illustrates this in his famous equation:
Happiness = Reality (minus) Expectations.
This explains why we get so unhappy when our expectations are different from reality.
What if those expectations were made clear from day 1? Or even before you ever joined?
This list serves as the rarely-said-out-loud expectations that exist at Second Nature. I hope they provoke a dialogue between you and your team and help to clarify hidden expectations before they become issues. Think of it as the memo that you never received.
This isn't a complete list - many of these may not apply to you. However, you'll notice quickly that there is a theme:
The number one expectation is that you’ll be proactive.
With that in mind, here are 15 hidden expectations that we have at Second Nature.
Managing your day-to-day
1) Onboard yourself
We do our best to give you the tools you need to be effective before you join - and your manager will be there to help guide you once you do - but ultimately you will have to get up to speed with a lot of things independently.
Slite really helps with this - we try and make sure everything is documented on a company and team level (start here).
Take the time to meet with people in lots of different teams to understand their roles and how everything fits together.
You could even go the extra mile and create a document for your next future colleague in Slite.
2) Don't wait for permission
There will often be obstacles from progressing with your work. Maybe you’re missing the information, data, or approval to move ahead. However, you have to figure out a resourceful way to keep moving forward.
Very often you will have to make decisions without data. We don't have all of the answers and very seldom will have all the information required. You may have to go with your gut. In the majority of cases, mistakes are more valuable than inaction, so don’t be afraid to make them.
We aim to validate things with data as much as possible (see: Let the data guide you) - but if we don't have the required data to do this & it's still the right thing to do, we should go ahead.
3) Assert yourself (but not too much)
Founders are an assertive bunch who believe that for things to be better, we have to debate ideas. This is no more true than in chchris and mimike.
The truth is that we like (and need) a well-reasoned challenge, and we encourage you to stand up for your own ideas. Look for opportunities to assert yourself, linking your ideas back to our goals and strategy.
On the other hand, if you’re naturally assertive, learn when to sit back and listen.
4) Know the product, know the numbers
You might not work in the product team, but you should know what it does, and how it works.
Similarly, you ought to know which metrics are important to the business (or your goal) and how you’re performing. This should all relate back to OKRs.
Regardless of how hard it seems, your manager will almost certainly expect you to give it if you have it. Many managers — perhaps naively — think they’re pretty easy to talk to, but in any case, if you don’t give feedback, they won’t know about any issues and nothing will change.
In a startup, we very often have new managers. They will be as eager to grow as you and will be hungry for the feedback.
As a rule of thumb, if you find yourself complaining about something to a friend, rather than your manager, it's probably worth bringing up.
The reverse of this is that you should expect feedback from your manager too - and be ok with it. Just like our product, our ways of working is under constant assessment & improvement (see our Keep growing value).
Some managers are hands-on. They like to be kept in the loop, perhaps via a summary email (often called an EOD or EOW). Others are decidedly hands-off. They want you to take the lead and bring them in only if you’re stuck. If you can hold your judgement on what style is ‘best’ and adjust to how your manager operates, you’ll both be happier.
This is why we have the Working With guides - it should give transparency of how they like to work.
A note on managing founders: we tend to be independent people who have strong opinions on things. We like getting our hands dirty and making things happen. In fact, a lot of the reason we started a company in the first place is for this autonomy.
This is worth knowing - as you'll know how to manage us all the better. Read Chris and Mike's working with guides.
Managing your own growth
7) Train yourself
When you’re a manager in a startup, it often feels like there’s no time to train your team. Embrace this by looking for ways to train yourself and develop new skills - even if your manager can't provide those opportunities.
If there’s something you don’t know, your first stop should be Google
Find a few blog posts on the topic and read them. Take a two-hour online course on Udemy. Look up free video tutorials on YouTube. And if you learn something useful, why not teach it to your team?
We have a £200 Learning and Development budget per person for a reason. Go spend it on some courses!
8) Find external advisors
If you expect your manager to have all the answers, you’ll may end up disappointed. Seek out and cultivate external mentors. One trick is to ask someone knowledgeable for advice on a specific situation. This will make them feel special, and since it’s about a situation rather than about you, they’re less likely to sugar-coat their opinion.
Some of the fastest ways we've learnt how to do things is just by asking other startups. If you're unsure the best way of going about something - there will be another startup that has already solved it.
We have an amazing network of companies that we can go to - we share investors with almost every well known startup in London. We will be able to introduce you to someone in a comparable role to you who you can learn from. You just need to be proactive and ask Chris & Mike.
9) Lead your one-on-ones
One-on-ones are your meetings. If you don’t set the agenda, they’ll revert to status updates, which could be done by email. Carve your development needs into them: "I’d like to take fifteen minutes to identify and discuss my development needs. How’s that sound?"
It’s a fact of life that you are responsible for your own wellbeing. Startups are a cauldron of emotions. You can expect to feel angry, frustrated, and overwhelmed at points. You need to proactively manage this, but only you can figure out what you need to stay happy and perform well.
For chchris, it's exercising, sleeping well, eating healthy, and spending time with his wife. You'll need to work that out for yourself. Book your needs into your calendar, proactively. Oh hey, it's that word again - proactive.
11) Embrace discomfort
There is no growth without discomfort. They are tightly coupled and any unpleasant circumstance offers opportunities for growth. In the startup world, uncomfortable situations might include failing, being held to account, or striving for something slightly out of reach. Seek them out.
12) Adapt to uncertainty
Priorities often shift at a moment's notice as new data comes to light or as we grow as a company. That means sometimes we need to change direction extremely quickly. That doesn't mean we made a mistake - it just means we're responding to new information.
Be prepared for this - as it can feel like we're flip-flopping. I assure you that we're not - we're just adapting, and we ask that you do the same.
And even if it was a mistake, that's ok. We all make mistakes, but owning up to them and taking responsibility is how you improve. See our Enjoy the ride value.
Managing startup reality
13) Work to tasks, not to hours
Startups aren’t known for their work-life balance. Neither are most creative people for that matter. Ensure your work preferences are compatible with the company.
We don't have an expectation of long hours at all - in fact, we think its hugely counter productive and goes against our beliefs of living a healthy & fulfilling life. But we also have a strong aversion to a clock-in, clock-out culture. If the work needs doing, go and do it.
There’s no shame in wanting a steady schedule, but if that’s the case, perhaps startups aren’t the ideal environment for you.
14) Reward is far more than just money
In a similar vein, if you want a salary at higher than market rates, a health-tech startup may not be the right place for you.
The primary appeal of working here shouldn’t be the salary - it should be our mission, the opportunities, and the working environment.
This isn't to be exploitative - it's simply that we can't afford to pay above market wages compared to the likes of Apple and Google - or the next big fin-tech startup. We may have raised money, but we’re not profitable yet.
Having said that - we do benchmark all salaries and aim to pay market rate for all roles. We also try and be as equitable across the company with compensation - and regularly calibrate the team to ensure that what we offer is fair.
Finally, if stock options are part of your compensation package - they will be worth a small fortune when we IPO.
15) Our future is not guaranteed
We're a startup - and with that comes risk. The business has to achieve its goals and raise external capital to fund its operations. That's startup life.
16) Your job spec is temporary
One way to think about startups is as a set of assumptions to be tested. Over time, assumptions change — and roles change too. In all likelihood, the role you were hired for will look completely different after three months. Go with the flow, and learn as you go.
We very rarely have set progression frameworks or career roadmaps. But we will do our best to work with you on this and your wider career goals.
If the company scales, the requirements for its leadership also change. This means the company may have to hire someone above you. It follows from Peter’s Principle that your startup will grow to the level of your incompetence. Leave room for the possibility that you won’t be top dog in the future. This equally applies to chchris and mimike.
The benefits of working here are hopefully clear. Responsibility, freedom, and an impact you’re unlikely to have anywhere else.
If you get to the end of this list and feel excited - you've come to the right place.