Hello! How can I evaluate the startup company better for my career? Which questions should I ask during the interview to them to make sure I’m secure . What are the red flags / green flags?

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Ask for their runway & burn rate to assess their financial stability

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For startups, burn rate is how much they spend or plan to spend per month. Runway is basically the amount of time the company has left based on how much money it has. For a pre revenue company that makes no money at all the calculation is very simple: Runway [months] = Capital reserves [$] / Burn rate [$/month].

Things get slightly more complex when the company is making money from the product and is either growing very fast or is not profitable yet. In that case: Runway [months] = Capital reserves [$] / (Burn rate [$/month] + Revenues [$/month]). Notice that at a certain point the runway becomes infinite as the sun of burn rate and revenue equal or exceed zero. In that case these simple formulas no longer apply.

The company that is quickly growing or is currently unprofitable must be able to raise more money or otherwise access additional capital to sustain the company while transitioning to profitable, sustainable operations. The volatility in the current startup world is primarily based on companies that have raised too much money at too high a valuation to be attractive for follow-on investments. The companies are conducting layoffs as they grew too fast with no path to profitability. In other words, the companies are reliant on the next fundraising round without being well suited for such investment.

Things get slightly concerning as a potential employee when the startup has less than 12 months of runway and is still hiring. As a potential employee you should be considering the general position of the company (eg. pre revenue, growing, profitable, etc.), the ability to raise more capital by the founding/managing team, and the secureness of your job based on the estimated burn rate and runway. Your managers and the founders should be open to discussing this general concept and the specifics of their business with you and other employees. They might not hand you detailed spreadsheets that model the exact runway but some discussion should be possible, especially in the current startup/VC macro environment.

Good luck and please feel free to ask any other questions or DM ✌️

helpfullikesmart

Ask them about culture. If they list open floor plans as a bonus, run. I’m kidding, kind of. Though research has shown they are a negative.

But seriously, look at the leadership. That will tell you a significant amount. Then look at their growth and how fast they are scaling. Some startups have a few nice quarters and assume it’s all gravy from then on and get too big for their pants. They’ll go on a hiring spree and grow 20% with customer growth that doesn’t match.

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So much of this. I was just let go from a start up after a huge hiring frenzy that followed healthy growth. Then we had one quarter down due to unique supply chain issues, which have since resolved, and they reduced staff by 30% in all departments but sales. It’s the third time they have done this type of reduction.

Hi, I can’t say anything in relation to the interview process since I don’t have experience in that area. However, get on crunchbase and take a look at their profile. Look at their funding, amounts, and who the investors are. This should give you a general idea of financial health and a little insight into leadership.

Hello! Could not find any info on crunchbase. Thanks for your reply!

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