If the answer is yes, I have one piece of advice for you: Make the absolute best use of this time.

Startups provide the best platform to learn loads in a short period. You get to witness a product being built from scratch. You are paid to develop your skills every single day. It is upskilling on steroids.

This newsletter issue talks about three ways in which you can extract the most out of working at a startup.

Forget work-life balance.

Before I start getting cancelled on Twitter (yet again), let me say that all of us don’t come from the same places of privilege. We might never get an opportunity to work at a startup again. Capitalise on it while you have it.

I have said time and again that work-life balance is an elite idea. But people like you and me need to get our blinders on and work hard to move ahead in life. Work aggressively.

Ask any top senior engineers about their journey. They will attribute a major part of their success to their experience of working at a startup.

You might see your friends or peers working only 8 hours a day and partying every weekend. You might feel that even you don’t need to work 12 or 16 hours. But it will all be worth it when payday arrives. And it surely will, either in your current job or in the next.

Network furiously.

Take a genuine interest in the work of your colleagues, their life, their decision-making and thinking processes, etc. Learn their perspectives, how they look at a problem and find their way to the solution.

I have an entire set of peers who worked at Flipkart at some point and then moved on to Google, Uber, Netflix, etc. All of your colleagues at your startup will join good product companies in some years’ time. They can put in a good word for you in their companies.

Do not rush the process.

Startups have become a good route to reach top product companies in the world. But they are not limited to this purpose.

I often observe freshers changing jobs every 6 months to 1 year for salary hikes. But you don’t build depth in your skill when you don’t spend enough time in one place. You don’t get to solve the hard problems. The quick wins seem easier to grab.

However, growth lies in experience and depth.

When your learnings compound over time, you will earn more than what you would have with quick job changes.

This is another one of the ideas that I often talk about. A career is a game of the long run. Do not optimise for quick wins.

Till next time

It might all sound like good advice. But I know it’s difficult to execute. So keep in mind that you work for yourself and your career. Work hard, and build your leverage.

I hope you liked the newsletter issue. Share it with a friend who has just joined a startup and will benefit from it.​

In other news, the next batch of Invact’s Equity Research Course has been launched and will start on 15th December 2022.

P.S. Did you check out our new branding? I love it! What do you think?

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