This month, we’re talking about the love/hate relationship that many of us who work with startups can relate to. It can be thrilling one minute, and fill you with dread the next. I’ve noticed some trends I’m betting you can relate to. How about we unpack them, eh?
Sure, startups are chaotic by nature. The singular focus on company growth usually makes investment in professional development a myth, and your progression into more senior roles often results in increased stress, isolation and burnout. It’s lowkey giving addiction to suffering, right? So what is it that attracts us to working in this chaos? Some musings below:
Are you the eldest of your siblings?
Were you a 3rd culture kid?
Did you grow up in a single-parent household?
Any of the above might at least partly explain why you thrive in chaos, and are a multihyphenate capable of building and fixing without a blueprint. I won’t go deeper here into other over-represented characteristics I see, but I’m betting that you’d also describe yourself as:
Sensitive to incidents of injustice and inequity.
Having enough main character energy to believe you can be key to building better products and services for folks who otherwise get less quality than they deserve.
Someone who wears it as a badge of honor that your parents have never heard of the company you work for… until they start to notice the commercials everywhere, and game finally recognize game!
You can see how these factors contribute to us defaulting to being workaholics who are super-emotionally invested in the startups we work with. At best, this makes us incredibly competent and industrious. At worst, it can also leave us prone to burnout, isolation, and feeling like martyrs in the workplace. But trust me, there are worse ways to make a living in this late-stage capitalist nightmare.
If any of this tracks, my message is that you’re doing great, and you’re not alone out here. It’s easy to feel almost like you’re locked in a house with only you and maybe 1 or 2 work buddies who also get it. But in reality, you’re in 1 of 100s of rooms in a huge hotel. Things will feel so much better once we start meeting each other in the lobby.
I see so much kinship in this community. Our characteristics and experiences are so similar. My big bet is on bringing us together, and the possibilities that will unlock as we start to build the puzzle around us.
BU Community Wins:
Baby essentials startup Lalo has just announced their $10.1million Series A! Looking forward to seeing what lies ahead for their co-founders Gregory Davidson and Michael Wieder, and their team!
Big congratulations to Black Unicorn Founding Member Jazyln Patricio-Archer, who announced that she’s joined skincare brand KraveBeauty as Marketing Director. Exciting times ahead!
Great Jones has just been acquired by Meyer. Congratulations to Sierra Tishgart and her team!! They’re also hiring some exciting new roles.
Gabby Slome and Ariel Boorstin have just launched Cooper, the digital membership platform for parents. Congratulations from us to Gabby, Ariel and their team!
Jobs – email if you’d like an intro:
BUFounding Member Kel Rakowski has put the word out that Lex is recruiting talented engineering pros! Check out their openings here.
Our faves at Julie Products are recruiting a part-time Social Media Manager that will potentially convert to FTE.
Korean skincare and beauty brand Soko Glam is hiring a Marketing Manager.
Éva Goicochea, another BU Founding Member, has put the word out that she’s on the lookout for a great Senior Designer to join the maude team.
For now, stay vigilant when making those resume uploads:
Cheers,
JT