So your team members are feeling antsy, budgets aren’t as big as they used to be, projects are getting deprioritized and descoped, layoffs may be upon you, and everyone is wondering “is anyone even happy here anymore?!”
Hold that thought.
The past few years have been very kind to startups. It’s been a boom time. We threw money at problems, said yes to riskier projects, and hired. A lot.
Now, as the economy cools, it’s our job to keep morale as high as possible and weather the storm together. Remember: you are responsible for the energy you bring into the (zoom) room.
Here are my tips for keeping everyone motivated, invested, and just plain ole happy at work:
If things need to get cut, take a bottom up approach and let your team make recommendations. Everyone will feel more bought in if they’re part of that process.
Don’t ignore the elephant in the room. Acknowledge that things have changed. Take an hour to put together a deck and another hour to share it with your team. Take them through your thought process — where we are now and where we’re going. Even if you think you’ve already done this, do it again. It usually takes a few times to sink in.
Start a book club. One rule: the book has to be unrelated to startups, your category, and work in general. Send everyone a copy of the book each month, hold a virtual or IRL time to talk about it (during work hours – don’t go scheduling this at 9AM on a Sunday!). I recommend starting off with Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Lean on the internet for levity. Have everyone pick their favorite tweet, meme, or Tiktok of the week and share it in a group meeting. Whoever brings the funniest one gets a prize.
Jobs — reach out if you want to be put in touch!
Maker of the cute refillable containers taking over your Instagram feed Cadence is hiring a Business Operations Associate. Your medicine cabinet and resume will both be better for it.
Queer community app Lex is hiring a Tech Lead and Backend Engineer to help take them to even bigger heights in 2023.
Ear-piercing studio Studs is hiring an Integrated Marketing Manager and their perks are some of the best around.
BU Community Wins
Diem founder Emma Bates announces the launch of next gen social media collective Collective Media, featuring not one, but two other Founding100 members: Jamie Lee (Founder of Flox) and Kel Rakowski (Founder of Lex). Congrats to all three of you!
Climate tech startup Vert Science founded by Haley Boyd just launched some groovy new short-form science explainer videos. I can’t stop watching this one.
Best of Consumer Startup News:
Tech Crunch: Immi takes in $3.8M to cook up plant-based instant ramen
Cue: all the jokes about eating ramen when launching a startup. Seriously, though, their list of investors is impressive, including Naomi Osaka. Has anyone tried it? I’m excited to!
Glossy: Athena Club becomes latest DTC razor brand to disrupt mass retail with Target launch
Love seeing startups eat away at the big guys’ market shares. According to the article, Gillette has lost 50% of its market share in the razor space since 2017 thanks to companies like Athena Club. Go go, startups!
PR Newswire Fly By Jing Raises $12 Million in Series B from Prelude Growth Partners and Pendulum®
Fly By Jing is already in 4,000+ doors and now moving into Kroger, Albertsons, and more. This is on top of being one of the top-selling hot sauces on Amazon. We love to see it.
ICYMI I’ll leave you with my latest LinkedIn post on the pros and cons of working in startups, which one of our followers lovingly called “viciously accurate.”
JT