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Mentor
How’s everyone holding up?
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You’ll get used to it. I came from finance before I worked at startups. In the beginning you’re gonna want to pull your hair out. Biggest thing I figured out. Just stop caring about having everything in order. Slowly you have to be ok, with things not being ok. Once you’ve accepted that. Start laying down the law: improvements. You can enact this in 1-1s. What’s great about startups is that there’s less bureaucracy. If you have an idea to improve your execs time management , you’ll be heard. The downside is he/she might forget. So that’s what your 1-1s are for. Check in, ask for feedback and give feedback , like a lot. Communicate the issues and make sure they understand the impact and give a ton of suggestions .you’re gonna kill it!!
Thank you!!
Not at a startup (my firm is about 10 years in) but I basically had to create my own roles/responsibilities when I started - received no clear guidance. My team is basically a hot mess so I feel you on that 😅
You have to change the way you communicate entirely. Stop answering slacks from others after 5p. If it’s you exec tell him prior that if he has something to message you feel free but if it’s not an emergency you’ll always take care of it the next day. Then I would start communicating asynchronously, it’s the only thing that works in a distributed company. Meaning, All tasks that are assigned to you, I would send full updates, not just, “done”. Then I would suggest, sending a daily digest, so they know what’s on their plate for the day and what to expect.
You have to manage up. So if that means getting asana just to get them organized, do it! There’s no such thing as an admin emergency, they just need to be able to find things without you. So setting them up with the proper infrastructure is key. Feel free to DM me. Don’t mind talking at length about it.
Mentor
I worked in a start up and the lack of infrastructure was irritating. Simple tasks took longer than necessary since everyone was expected to follow (tenuous parent) company policies, unless they didn’t like them. Constant negotiating, overlapping job responsibilities, surprise managers appeared on org charts. Felt like we were continuously recreating the wheel and it required a great deal of patience and perseverance.
OP:
- why did you move, was it pay, he autonomy of a start up or just change?
- the situation you are in may be a little unhealthy. Best to look for another opportunity if you are being talked to and things go back to your boss skipping you
These would all be worth it if you got an equity option and they were close to an IPO
I moved for a change to learn new skills and because the position is fully remote. It was dumb of me to think I would have a good work life balance now that I’m remote … I’m not getting paid all that much so doesn’t make a ton of difference. Some days I don’t even have time to feed my cat on time. I don’t think the company is even remotely close to an IPO. Luckily, I left my previous firm with people willing to be my reference and attest to my good work. My fingers are crossed this is enough for me to find opportunities even with a gap on my resume. I haven’t been at this startup for very long.