In this guest blog, Pittsburgh-based entrepreneur Barry Rabkin shares his thoughts on working in a startup versus a large company, which he has experience with both. Barry will be a featured speaker at the next Entrepreneurial Cafe on Friday, November 3, from 5-7 p.m. at Mervis Hall.
“What’s the best and worst thing about working at a startup?”
When I was launching my first startup, I was curious what life was like working at a “normal” company. I asked my friend at Westinghouse, “What is the worst and best thing about working at a big corporation?”He told me, “The worst thing is, you can do a great job and it won’t matter. No one will notice. You can really apply yourself and get fantastic results and it won’t make any difference.”
“The best thing is, you can do a terrible job and it won’t matter. No one will notice. You can slack off and do the bare minimum and it won’t make any difference.”Speaking to a Carnegie Mellon University class, I was recently asked by a student, “What’s the best and worst thing about working at a startup?”
I told her, “The best thing about working at a startup is there are no layers of management or cookie cutter regulations. There is no track record of success that has people scared to risk rocking the boat with change. There is no bureaucratic red tape to navigate or political BS. There’s no people, past, or processes to hold you back.”“The worst thing about working at a startup is there are no experienced people to help you and learn from. There is no reputation or customer recognition. There are no guides or best practices in place. There’s no people, past, or processes to hold you up.”
The best things are also the worst things. Having worked in many startups and on Fortune 500 brands, I’ve seen these same parallels again and again. There are things to like and things to loathe either way. So whatever type of company you choose, you have to do it consciously with your eyes wide open to the positives and negatives. Whatever side you choose, you have to accept it, own it, and love it.Barry Rabkin has over a decade of success founding, growing, and selling technology companies. He has led the research, development, and marketing of over 100 successful digital and physical products. Today, Barry serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Identified Technologies, President of Hackers & Founders - Pittsburgh Chapter, Guest Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Strategist at Barry Brands Consulting. His mission is to transform Pittsburgh from the "City of Steel" to the "City of Startups"