Am I good enough to be in a startup?

The dangers of romanticism is that we might dream of a dream that aren’t ours to be had…

Since starting my ‘young marketing career’, I’ve done the due diligence of experimenting across different types of industries. From startup to corporate, to even a boutique agency. A lot of my time has been invested towards dreaming and romanticising the possibility of being apart of building a startup. And after years of solo venturing, I’ve finally found myself at one.

For the most part things have been great. We’re forging a new industry with our innovative technology and we’re the global market leader too. We recently raised our seed investment and I’ve gotten the chance to pick up new skills at speed.

But in the midst of it all, there’s been many struggles - most of which are still prevalent.

Either I am oblivious or I let the excitement overshadow, but damn startup life is hard - across all levels of seniority. And with all the uncertainty and recent job layoffs particularly in the tech startup space, second guesses are appearing more frequent than usual and what ifs are getting thrown around.

At least, that’s how I feel right now.

As hard it is to admit, I kinda suck at my job. There’s a lot of learning opportunities, sure. Especially when you’re on a marketing team of 2 and you’re working with a gun Head of Marketing. But these learning opportunities are often placed on a very steep hill… given the following conditions you may find yourself under:

You have little to zero technical skills (me!)

It’s a massive reality check when you’re working at a product-led startup surrounded by a multitude of talented coders and engineers. That not understanding what an API tag is or HTML can be almost embarrassing. And when imposter syndrome kicks in all on top of the age/experience gap present, things can start to feel quite lonely.

You’re spread thin across a lot of specialisations

It can be hard when you’re not technical. But when you’re spread across a lot of projects, it becomes all the more hard to double down on the 1 or 2 things you want to be better at. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming when there’s a lot happening and as much as you want to prioritise particular projects, there’s an inner voice telling you to keep doing more.

You’re a junior surrounded by a range of successful senior colleagues, many of which have achieved and built great things

Theres a bit of a disparity or disconnect rather when you' re a junior trying to prove himself. Despite the encouraging comments from other seniors that “Im still young and that I still have time”, it’s a bit of a self-inflicted pressure to prove that you can be relied upon. With this pressure comes a sense of subtle fear. The type of fear that tells you that if you don’t work hard like your peers, then you simply aren’t cut out to be a part of the startup. And slowly over time. this fear compounds and makes you second guess your own abilities and value that you bring to the table. You begin to cloud your own judgements and sometimes even unfairly set unrealistic expectations for yourself.

Friendly reminders for stability

Despite these challenges that comes with startup life, it goes without saying that the upside of being a part of one more than outweighs the aforementioned challenges. These benefits can be forgotten quickly, especially when you find yourself in the thick of things and doubting yourself. Over the past few weeks, I’ve reflected to come up with these four reminders that have helped me navigate through the turbulent ups and downs of startup life.

1. Startups aren't for the ego-driven

As I’ve conceded, a lot of my time at startup has been romanticised. There is no doubt that working on something cool and in “tech” can fuel the ego. It can portray that we are changemakers for the future or that we’re a part of an exclusive club. And though these may be true, such labels can distort why we actually are passionate about startup. Saying that we’re doing something because it’s “cool” or signals some status on LinkedIn, is nothing but ego. And admittedly… I have done so in the past.

Also, I’ve found myself comparing myself to peers in  corporate firms where the culture is so different. A part of this comparison has seen me devalue my role at a startup because my job title seems “junior” and that I’ve become spiteful of others who have “accelerated their career development”. However, this is indeed the complete wrong mindset…

2. What do I actually care about?

Given our human nature, the likelihood of us stroking our ego is high. However, to help mitigate this, I think the best way is to keep an active list of principles and/or values as a north star. Having been introduced to the world early on during my younger years, I have been able to establish and later on solidify some of the ideals often spoken in the startup space:

• accountability - owning projects from start to finish, and the responsibility in mistakes that come with falling short of an outcome

• adventure - the spontaneity of priorities

• autonomy - the ability to suggest ideas and execute

• learning - the feedback and insights from experienced mentors and SLT team

• intimacy - working with individuals with the same personal values and turning up for them because I respect and care about them.

For a guide on value navigation, I definitely reading Julian Shapiro’s article: https://www.julian.com/blog/life-planning‍

3. Knowing my emotional boundaries

The whole reason as to why I (re)joined a startup, was because I wanted to be a part of something bigger. I wanted to ensure that my work meant something - not just to the company but to global industry and the future of tomorrow. Whether it’s from Paul Graham’s ‘Before the startup’ lecture at Stanford University, or Naval’s belief that the secret to a successful career is by setting a stage for a lifetime of high-value, compounding growth; startups are the epitome of vision being crystallised.

And who better to see this reflected by, then through the passions of the co-founders. Having, worked at all three startups that were respectively founded by partners, childhood bestfriends and brothers; I’ve been drawn to an invaluable intimacy/trust that is devoid at bigger firms.

When you consider those influential factors, my emotional attachment to any startup is quite understandable. While that is admirable and a motivating factor to turn up to work, I’ve slowly learnt that it can pose as a danger. When things don’t work out such as performance shortfalls, you can be quick to take it a bit too personal and use that as a reflection of your skills.

However, as fun and exciting a job may seem, it should NEVER become a  reflection of my measure as a person.

‍4. Reality is that everyone is still learning

No matter how the experience and skill gap, reality is that everyone is learning together. No one knows the right answer. In fact, there isn’t. It’s all about reiteration and creating feedback loops. As long as the practice is there, the outcome will be inevitable. I think that’s what is most important when formulating startup culture - there are many challenges all varying in difficulty but all must be tackled with the same attitude. One marked by a hint of valour, curiosity and collaboration.

Final Words

Startup life isn't for everyone.

There’s a lot of ups and downs. Most of which are very temporary, and not a reflection of your character as an individual. However, if these challenges are met (and outweighed) by the right alignment with your values that fosters your respective development, then you’re definitely where you should be.