Want a Startup Job? Date the Company (Three to Get Ready video series)
The third in the series of interviews where entrepreneurs give their top three tips for getting a startup job, keeping a startup job, and knowing if it’s time to run screaming from your startup job.
Yup, this entrepreneur is hiring now too.
Entrepreneur: Brandt Page
Company: Launch Leads
Jobs: market research assistants (5+ openings, perfect for current students), marketing director (more about the jobs at minute 13:00)
You know what I’m talking about. The profile picture looks great. The “I like” and “I look for” are spot on. You even both share an affinity for moonlit walks on the beach. And then you meet. And there definitely won’t be a second date.
According to Brandt Page, CEO and founder of Launch Leads, it’s the same with resumes.
Okay, Page didn’t say that exactly. But he did say that they’ve stopped relying on resumes in the hiring decision. Resumes can be just as misleading, and they never showcase the applicant’s personality.
And with startups, just like dates, personality rules. Personality and attitude. Launch Leads has got both in spades, and they’re looking to add to their team. So go ahead. Date ‘em. Who knows where it might go.
(For the time challenged all the juicy take-aways are summarized in the post.) Read more »
Change the World, Work for a Startup (Three to Get Ready video series)
The second in a series of interviews where entrepreneurs give their three top tips for getting a startup job, keeping a startup job, and knowing if it’s time to run screaming from your startup job.
The best part, almost all of these entrepreneurs are hiring now. Including this one!
Entrepreneur: Michael Brooks
Company: LifeKraze
Jobs: Developers, mobile developers (more about the jobs at minute 15:14)
A consistent Three to Get Ready theme is that entrepreneurs don’t want to hire people who are just looking for a job. Yes, I know; getting a job is the point of a job search, right? Well, with entrepreneurs it’s not.
With entrepreneurs a job isn’t a means to a paycheck it’s the route to changing the world. No, I’m not overstating. I’d say half of the entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed for this series have equated what they’re doing with changing the world.
And if you don’t get that, don’t apply for a job with them.
That sentiment is no less obvious in my interview with Michael Brooks, founder of LifeKraze. At only 24 years old, Brooks has already raised over a million dollars for his startup, and has ten people on staff. And in this fifteen-minute interview, Brooks mentions changing the world three times.
After talking with him for a few minutes, I think he just might be able to do it. Maybe it’s the Poindexter meets Clark Kent glasses? Who knows. But if you’re in the mood for a little world disruption, this entrepreneur is hiring now!
(For the time challenged all the juicy take-aways are summarized in the post.) Read more »
Get a Startup Job – 3 Things Entrepreneurs Expect From You (Three to Get Ready video series)
The first in a series of interviews where entrepreneurs give their three top tips for getting a startup job, keeping a startup job, and knowing if it’s time to run screaming from your startup job.
The best part, almost all of these entrepreneurs are hiring now!
(Sorry for the awful quality of this video. The audio is so out of sync it could throw you into an epileptic fit. But Chuck’s tips are fantastic! So close your eyes, and just let it sink in.)
Entrepreneur: Chuck Dietrich
Company: Sliderocket.com
Jobs: developers, quality engineers, product managers, marketing people, and sales people (more about the jobs at minute 16:45)
Chuck Dietrich has an enviable startup resume, but he doesn’t put on airs. What he does put on are costumes. Apparently, with some regularity.
As we started our interview, Chuck lamented the fact that his PR people asked him not wear a costume on camera. Yes, it was the Friday before Halloween, but Chuck explained that he didn’t need a holiday to break out a wig or outrageous outfit. He has a costume box at the ready at all times.
“You don’t have a costume box?” he asked with the same surprised tone I would expect if the question were “you don’t have running water?”
Ah, no. I don’t have a costume box.
What I do have is total respect for someone with his kind of background, that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. An attitude that seems to prevail at SlideRocket.
Which is very good news for you, since SlideRocket is hiring multiple positions, in multiple departments.
(For the time challenged all the juicy tips are summarized in the post.)
Read more »
Will You Work for This Sixteen Year Old One Day?
If you haven’t seen this video, stop, drop and roll clip. It’s a classic.
Zach Katz a sixteen year old from DC (not that I’m stalking him), is insightful and funny and gosh darned cute. (Really, not stalking).
This suburban teen’s raps are smarter than most college textbooks. Which he can now afford to buy without daddy’s help since his YouTube channel is smokin’ hot. Some videos lead with full-on ads, not just little pop ups. Go Katz!
What does this have to do with working in a startup? Nothing. Except that unless this clever rhymer grows up and becomes jaded and crass and replaces Daniel Tosh on late night TV (Katz 3.0?), he just may be your future entrepreneur boss.
So get to know him. Enjoy.
Entrepreneur Time – like working in The Matrix without the cool coats
What? You're saying it couldn't happen?
Lately I’ve been taking a bit of a breather from consulting for entrepreneurs. It’s been nice. Very little stress. Dreams filled with rainbows and puppy dogs. Each morning birds chirped as they helped me dress.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t that Disney. But it was nice.
Until last week.
Last week I helped an entrepreneur launching a new product. His product is already in the market, but not much of the foundational, strategic marketing work has been done. They didn’t yet have a clear understanding of the product category or consumer.
This is not the surprising part. Right or wrong, startups frequently launch the product first, then back their way into the product strategy.
(That thud you just heard was every corporate marketing person reading this falling off their chair.)
What was surprising was how quickly I’d forgotten about the entrepreneur time vortex.
It’s a real thing, I swear. Entrepreneurs all know it. Anyone who’s worked in a startup understands it. And if you’re thinking about working for an entrepreneur you’re going to have to learn about it.
Startups run on Standard Entrepreneur Time. Read more »
Inc. Mag Says Your Boss Wants to Get High – 6 surprising facts about entrepreneurs
Would you recognize an entrepreneur boss? (Tip: it would be easier without the blindfolds.)
Inc. Magazine’s list of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies came out recently and luckily for us, this year they also shared tasty tidbits about entrepreneur bosses. Find out how your boss really spends his days. More importantly, find out what it means for you. (It is all about you, right?) Read more »
Come On Get Happy – Your Inspiration for the Day
You never know when it'll hit. Today you're gonna get clobbered by it thanks to a 5 year old.
I’ve been trying to post on Tuesdays and Fridays. Twice a week. I know lots of bloggers post three times a week. I know one who sometimes post three times a day. (Yes, I’m talking to you John Saddington). Personally, I don’t know where they find the extra brain cells. I’m trying to stick to a twice a week roll.
Only, not this week. This week I have a client project that’s taking longer than expected to finish. But since it pays the bills, well, I thought I should go ahead an finish it.
Seeewwww, instead of a post I am sharing this little 50 second video with you. You may have seen it already; I even sent it to my Wonka email list a while back. But it is absolutely, one hundred percent, worth watching again. It’ll make you smile til lunchtime. Read more »
Succeeding in a Startup is Like a Game of Craps
Want to work for a startup? You better bet with the house.
I gave you the number one tip for getting a startup job. Now let’s talk about the most important thing you can do to keep that startup job.
Once again, the tip is simple but incredibly effective. No reality TV this time, just some hard reality: the attitude that got you in the door won’t necessarily keep you there.
If you want to keep your startup job you’re going to have to prove that you want it. You’re going to have to prove that you’re invested.
What’s that you say? Isn’t everyone invested in their job? Ah, no. They may be invested in getting their paycheck or their next promotion, but that’s not what I’m talking about. And that’s not what your entrepreneur is looking for.
Your entrepreneur wants to know that you’re invested on a whole new level.
To keep your startup job, you’re going to have to prove that you can go all in.
Want to Work For a Startup? This one tip will get you the job
Want a job with this entrepreneur? It's easier than you think.
Want a job with a startup? All you have to do is nail the interview with the entrepreneur. No worries though; that’s the easy part. If you do this one thing.
Get that Startup Job
Don’t agonize over your skill set. Don’t stress over your references. Don’t sweat your resume. (Definitely don’t sweat your resume, there’s a very good chance it will never get read.)
The number one most important thing you can do to get a startup job is much easier than you think. Read more »
My Mistake at Ground Zero, and the Business Lesson Learned
No matter how long you looked, your brain simply could not process the scene.
I started writing a piece about the time I spent working at Ground Zero, but it was sounding very dark and whiney. It was all wrong. So instead of walking you through the story, I’m just going to get to the point.
The point is this; my time at Ground Zero is one of the biggest regrets of my life.
Not the time I spent there, I regret the time that I didn’t spend. The time I didn’t spend because I thought it was more important to go back to work. Read more »
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