Crash guide to startups

The Crash Guide To:
Startup Careers
© 2020 Crash, Inc. crash.co/career-guides/startups

The Crash Guide to Startup Careers
© 2020 Crash, Inc. 2 / 23
crash.co/career-guides/startups
Imagine getting a job at Apple or Nike or Google or Airbnb before
everybody knew about them and wanted to get a job there. Those
companies were tiny startups before they were huge and famous.
The world of tech spans far and wide, generally synonymous with
terms like “startups” and
For the purposes of this guide, we’ll overlap “tech” with other forms
of modern, venture scale entrepreneurship that are not necessarily
tech-focused, but still create enormous value in the world.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 3 / 23
Sections
Understanding what a startup actually is
Why startups are a great career environment
Startups are risky, but so is every company
Where to find active startups
How to get hired at a startup
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7
12
14
19

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 4 / 23
Understanding what a startup
actually is
Just to make sure we’re all talking about the same things,
here.
Paul Graham is the founder of Y Combinator and arguably the godfather
of startups, and this is what he says:
A startup is a company designed to grow fast.
That’s it.
Don’t think of a shady, self-proclaimed entrepreneur who wants you to
work on his unproven idea for free in exchange for “equity.” Don’t think
of your local “mom and pop” stores, either—though of course these are
legitimate businesses. But they don’t intend to grow quickly.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 5 / 23
Let’s start with a distinction that should be obvious
but is often overlooked: not every newly founded com-
pany is a startup. Millions of companies are started
every year in the US. Only a tiny fraction are startups.
Mostareservicebusinesses—restaurants,barbershops,
plumbers,andsoon.Thesearenotstartups,exceptina
fewunusualcases.Abarbershopisn’tdesignedtogrow
fast.Whereasasearchengine,forexample,is.
Startups are small teams, most often between five and 100 people. They’re
backed by intelligent investors and led by visionary founders. They’re
innovating, experimenting, growing, and most importantly for you—they’re
hiring. (ALL the time—often even if they don’t post job listings.)
Here are a few examples of famous companies that were once startups:
And here are a few examples of startups in the same industries
(rentals, search engine, music) that you’ve likely never heard of:

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 6 / 23
It’s anybody’s guess whether these companies become the next
decade’s Airbnb, Google, Spotify, and more!
Every industry has incumbents and underdogs. Leading brands, and
undiscovered teams innovating. Whatever general subjects you’re
interested in, there are startups working on it. Guaranteed.
Fundamentally, a startup is an approach to building and growing a
company. Startups start small but go after a really big market that
could result in massive success. This is where you want to be: in an
up-and-coming area, not an old-and-dying one.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 7 / 23
Why startups are a great career
environment
Most job seekers are interested in the idea of working at a
startup. Here’s why they’re such valuable places to launch
your career
—or advance it.
An entry-level startup
job is better than a
fancier job at a more
traditional business.
Praxis COO Mitchell
Earl calls it a cheat
code for accelerating
your career:

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 8 / 23
Would you rather have been making coffee and running errands at
Spotify when it had ten employees, or working as one of thousands
of tellers at Bank of America? Thinking about your career in terms of
jobs and titles is dangerous. Thinking in terms of skills and trends is
powerful.
Startups need all kinds of employees, not just programmers
A common misconception is that startups just need developers to
build their tech. Of course, engineering is HUGE in the tech startup
world. But there are many other departments outside of Code Land.
Most startup jobs fall into these categories:

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 9 / 23
and more depending on the specifics of the company. But, regard-
less of the job description, what startups really need are problem
solvers; hustlers; creative thinkers; go-getters.
Startups are very progressive workplaces
Building an enduring, inviting culture is almost always one of a start-
up’s top priorities. Since COVID-19, startups hire remotely more than
ever before. And they pay equity, in many cases.
Equity
A piece of ownership in the
company itself, often offered
as stock options
In early-stage startups, equity isn’t worth much until the company exits—
meaning sells to a bigger company, or goes public. That’s when the real
upside kicks in: At a $10 million exit, 0.25% equity converts to $25,000.
At a $1 billion exit, 0.25% equity converts to $2.5 million.
Startups give you a wide variety of hands-on experience
In a startup, you’ve got easy access to every department. This
means you gain exposure to the world of business while building
your skills alongside teams that are dedicated to solving problems
with innovative solutions. You learn about the industry, products,
competitors, and customers.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 10 / 23
Because startup life is scrappy, priorities change, and you have the
chance to learn new skills simply by working in those areas.
For example, you might start in a sales position, but have the opportu-
nity to cover live chat customer support sometimes. Or schedule social
media content. Or redesign a landing page. It all depends on your inter-
ests, your attitude, and your desire to make yourself more valuable.
Startups help you “break in” and build your professional network
When you work at one startup, you’re immersed in the world of other
startups, employees, founders, and investors. You discover compet-
ing startups as well as startups that are working on something differ-
ent yet complementary to yours.
You build relationships with other talented, ambitious people in your
company—not to mention the founders leadership team—and you get
to network with anyone else you find interesting in the startup world.
As a startup grows, you grow
The great thing about growth-focused companies is that they
have no choice but to demand growth from team members. Each
new phase of the company is different, and you’ll be exposed to
different challenges, tasks, and types of work.
You can’t spend a few years at a startup without leveling up yourself!
Startups put you at the bleeding edge of innovation

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 11 / 23
By definition, startups innovate. When you join one, you get to expe-
rience the future of an entire industry. You’re exposed to how the
industry is evolving, and get a peek into what it could look like in
5-10 years. You are literally building the future.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 12 / 23
Startups are risky, but so is every
company
It’s about the type of risk you want to take.
When some people think startup, they think “Eek. I need something
more stable.” Let me dispel the risky myth a little bit:
Early-stage startups (pre product-market fit) typically raise venture cap-
ital (investment money) for 18-24 months of runway. That means, from
the time the fundraising round closes, they’ve got 18 months to hit their
goals.
Runway
A startup’s total available
resources needed to maintain
an operational company,
usually measured in months.
You’re allowed to ask about run-
way when you’re interviewing for
startup jobs. In fact, you should do
your own research using tools like
Crunchbase.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 13 / 23
Note:
• when the startup last raised a round
• how much they raised
• how many employees they have (check their company about/
careers page + LinkedIn)
With that information, you can get a rough idea of their finances.
Regardless of runway, most startups fail. It’s true. But company
failure is not the same as personal failure! Spending two years at a
startup that goes bust will advance your career more than two years
at a big stable company. Why?
Because, when you’re at a startup, you get immersed in the world of
other startups. You build a network of other employees, founders,
and investors. You learn about the industry, products, competitors,
and customers. You learn why the company failed!
In startup land, failure isn’t frowned upon, and you can take the
experience and build on it in your next role. Transitioning from one
failed startup to another startup is far easier than job-hopping in the
non-startup world.
The far greater risk to your career is becoming stagnant in a job and
relying on management to decide when and how you move up the
corporate ladder. The risk of staying stuck in one place, and missing
out on growth opportunities, is far worse than the risk of being on
the job hunt again in a couple years.
Always remember that.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 14 / 23
Where to find active startups
Hint: They’re not in the typical places you look for jobs.
We’re constantly adding to
our directory of companies
that we’ve identified as
great places to work: they’re
innovating, investing in
their workplace culture, and
eager to recruit ambitious
new team members… like
you!
Go to crash.help/companies
and let your curiosity drive!
Here’s what you’ll see:

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 15 / 23
When you see a company you’re excited about, send ’em a pitch.
Make sure to follow the Crash Guide on Pitching Jobs along the way:
Beyond that, there isn’t currently a single job board dedicated to
specifically entry-level startup jobs. There, are, however some niche
job boards that are worth checking out depending on what you’re
looking for:
Entry level jobs
Remote jobs
Startup jobs
All jobs
EntryLevelJobs.me
CollegeGrad.com
OneDayOneJob.com
RemoteOK.io
Remotive.io
FlexJobs.com
NoDesk.co
WeWorkRemotely.com
Angel.co/jobs
Startup.jobs
Epicjobs.co
EntryLevelJobs.me/yc-students
Builtin.com
Jooble.org

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 16 / 23
But you won’t find that many startups on these job boards—only the
ones that have the resources to create job listings pay to advertise
them. If you don’t dive deeper, you could be missing out on really
cool companies that would be lucky to have you!
Instead, scrappy startups rely on their own personal networks to fill
new positions: the founders team members will reach out to their
friends, family, and professional connections to source the best can-
didates they can find.
For you, this means you need to break into their networks and dis-
cover the companies that no job board is mentioning. How?
There are a few more quick ways to learn about companies that may
not be on this list:
Using Twitter
Twitter is hugely powerful in breaking into tech, because everyone’s
so active there. Startup founders, employees, investors, and other
movers-and-shakers all use Twitter more than any other social media
platform.
So, we’ve put together a couple Twitter lists that you can subscribe
to in order to engage with the most active people in this industry!

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 17 / 23
Use these lists to your advantage. Follow each lists to see its mem-
bers’ tweets in your Twitter feed, and engage intelligently with con-
tent you find interesting.
Make sure to fill out your Twitter profile to describe what you’re
actively learning, that you’re seeking opportunities in {design} or
{marketing} or whatever, and link to your Crash profile pitch or per-
sonal website!
Subscribe to newsletters
One easy way to start discovering interesting companies is to sub-
scribe to good newsletters like Rocketship Jobs, OneJob, and
Remotists. We’ve reviewed these newsletters and find that they fea-
ture high-quality companies that mostly fall into the “startup” bucket.
You can also subscribe to alerts on any of the job boards above! But
newsletters are curated by the newsletter writer, and can be a better
source of relevant jobs for you.
Research an industry that interests you
Are you really passionate about helping people get access to clean
food water? Or, are you fascinated by fashion and sustainability?
Whatever your interests, you can use some clever Google-fu to
find companies doing interesting things in a particular industry, and
potentially even hiring.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 18 / 23
You can also sign up for a free Crunchbase Pro account to run
advanced searches of active, funded startups in a specific country,
industry, and more. Learn how to use Crunchbase on your job hunt.
Browse accelerator directories
Every startup accelerator has a running list of startups. This is a great
way to quickly find companies that might be really interesting to you!
Check them out:
Y Combinator companies
500 Startups companies
TechStars companies
LAUNCH companies

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 19 / 23
How to get hired at a startup
When you understand what matters most to startups, you’ll
pitch yourself more effectively and get hired faster.
Most startups don’t care about degrees or certifications. Most startups
don’t want to see your resume. See for yourself what hiring leaders tell
us about their pains during the hiring process:
“We would have spent endless hours, days, weeks
sorting through terrible Indeed resumes…”
“It’s habitual for me to just give up searching for
candidates when I use AngelList and other job
posting sites. Crash is a breath of fresh air, it’s
phenomenal to see the person behind the resume
and what they’re truly passionate about.”

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 20 / 23
So what does every startup need? People who can get stuff done. Peo-
ple who can take responsibility and take action. You don’t need to know
a lot, or have job experience, to work at a startup. You just need:
• the ability to create value for the company
• the ability to prove you can create that value
And, ideally, you share the company’s mission. Someone who isn’t
quite there skill-wise, but who is deeply driven by the mission, is far
more valuable to a startup than someone who’s highly skilled but not
passionate about the problem space.
So, how can you show your stuff to startups? Here’s your answer:
“We started down the normal hiring cow path –
Indeed and LinkedIn – with less than thrilling
results. Only a handful of the 60+ applicants showed
any work, specific interest in our company, or even
personality that could have easily differentiated
them. There was one that stood out, mostly because
she had a “pitch video” and a website showing real
results.”
You stop trying to sell yourself with a resume.
You turn off autopilot.
You become your own credential.
You send something personalized, valuable, and hard to ignore.

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 21 / 23
When you find job postings, resist the urge to 1-click apply with your
resume. Instead, research the company, and if it’s something you’re
excited about, create a targeted video pitch just for them.
Send it to the hiring manager for that role directly. Nothing speaks
louder than “hey, instead of a resume full of bullet points, here’s a
spreadsheet I put together with ideas for what I’d do in my first 30
days.”

© 2020 Crash, Inc. 22 / 23
“I tried spray and pray for 2 months — 10 apps per
week. Started sending pitches and out of 7 pitches, I
got 4 interviews and one job offer. Huge difference.”
Maxine Cox
That stands out by a landslide. If you’re hungry and willing to do this,
you’ll be launching your career at a great startup in no time.

Crash guide to startups

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