Start-up or stay put? Life in a new business
Should you make the jump to your own outfit? Adam Furness talks honestly about the trials and tribulations of working in a startup media business.
With so much innovation happening across media and advertising, a new wave of global and Australian start-ups are luring industry talent to execute on their bold plans.
It’s a big decision for anybody – to leave the security of a corporate or established business and back an unproven offering or new technology.
Having made that leap 12 months ago, here are some of my thoughts for those considering taking the plunge:
1. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable:
Nothing can quite prepare you for the ambiguity of an early stage start-up.
Forget processes. Forget structure. Forget the comfort of knowing somebody in the company has the answer or will do “that” for you. They don’t. You just have to figure it out – together.
Roles aren’t defined and JDs are often non-existent and if they do exist, rip them up because it shouldn’t matter, you do what you’ve got to do.
Not knowing is confronting. There’s no place to hide, you are exposed. You have to embrace that and consistently challenge your established way of thinking and acting.
2. Fail, learn, apply. Repeat:
Corporate culture tends to operate on a “failure is not an option” philosophy.
In start-up land, failure is a healthy and necessary part of life. Not giving something a go just isn’t an option.
The freedom to fail is a scary and confronting thing. What’s important is that you learn to cop this on the chin and fail fast, fail often, and apply the learnings each time.
3. Earn less, learn more:
You may have to take a fixed pay-cut to join a start-up, with the potential upside coming from share options as the business grows.
Having a stake in the business also changes your mindset around the company’s overall strategy and progress.
What you don’t see in the monthly bank account is more than accounted for in terms of personal and professional growth.
It’s important that you make the necessary financial adjustments upfront – as my father advised me – “cut your cloth accordingly”.
I can safely say that I’ve learnt more in the past year, than I learnt in the entire decade I spent in traditional media sales.
4. Have the right attitude, and team:
On the flipside of feeling exposed in a much smaller team, where there’s nowhere to hide – your impact as an individual is also (rewardingly) amplified.
Traditional organisational hierarchies don’t exist in start-ups, and this gives rise to a level of collaborative working and sharing that’s rarely experienced in big companies.
You get to feel like you’re directly shaping and building the business and culture. In a start-up environment culture is critical.
In terms of hiring new people I’ve had to shift my mindset to: recruit for attitude and talent, and then train for experience and skill. In many cases we’re creating roles that have never existed before.
Trust, passion, ability to learn, unrelenting work ethic, collaboration and fun areimportant personality traits start-ups thrive on, and recruit on.
5. Vision is even more important than product:
Initially your product might not be the best, but your leadership and vision must be.
If you’re considering a career move to a start-up, pour all your research into finding out about the leadership.
What type of people are they? What do they value? Why do they do what they do?
Unlike a large company that may publish its vision on a corporate website – your next employer might still be building their website, but strong leaders always have a vision.
A strong vision is essential to bringing the team together. Ensure that whoever you are joining has both vision and purpose.
6. See something, do something:
Be prepared to do stuff yourself you’ve never had to do, never thought you’d have to do, or haven’t done since you worked part time in high school.
Whilst your title might be something seemingly fancy you might also be the one buying toilet paper, watering the plants and emptying the bins.
And forget handballing tasks like doing your expenses or booking travel.
If you see something that needs doing, nobody else is going to do it for you in a start-up.
Everyone needs to roll up their sleeves and get the job done from MD to newbie and everyone in between.
7. Leave your ego at the door:
I went from a huge company where there was a tried and tested procedure behind everything, and feeling like I had an answer or solution for all situations….to all of a sudden feeling stupid every day.
I abandoned a linear career trajectory in a company that was a household name, and now spend family BBQs desperately trying to explain what it is that my new company does, and why they’ve never heard of it.
It’s a massive whack to the ego, in all the right ways.
The ego is what makes it hard to distinguish between what we really want and what we think we ‘should’ do. It is often our fear of failure and fear of what others think that dictate our decisions in life.
A start-up takes patience, perseverance, resilience, a lot of hard work (a lot) and a healthy mix of failure, fear and fun.
If you’re genuinely interested in learning more about yourself, others and business in general, then my advice is to: feel the fear, and do it anyway.
Adam Furness, RadiumOne Director of Strategic Accounts – Asia Pacific
Mumbrella is hosting Programmatic for Marketers next week where RadiumOne will be speaking.
So true, Adam! Brilliant article, good points, well written.
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Some common sense bullet points? This article could happily sit on Linkedin, with all the other self published business bollox.
Do people lack smarts and truly have to learn from articles like this?
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I wouldnt really call Radium One a start up – Its been a successful brand and company globally for years. Its just selling what is already “set up” to new clients/market?
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A great article from a brilliant operator- nice work Ads
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Great read Adam.
I learnt a lot from this!
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Sorry buddy, but you’ve obviously not worked for the right ‘traditional media companies’ if you think any of the above 7 points aren’t relevant already to any business. What’s point number 8 – you bring the guitar in and sing ‘free love on the free love freeway’??
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@ Am I missing something: Maybe they do. Maybe it helps people shape their attitude to work. Just because you might know all this already, doesn’t mean every other Mumbrella reader does. Good Day!
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Valid points but $33.5m in funding means Radium One is hardly bootstrapped or a start up really 5 years since being founded.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/radiumone
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@amimissing, i thought this was a reasonable & honest account of startup life presenting by somebody experiencing it for the first time. if it’s honest and unoriginal well, ok, the guy is just writing what he knows. dishonesty + unoriginality (or even dishonesty + originality) are much worse.
lord knows i whack the mumbrella guest columnists sometimes but i think this one was ok, good read, cheers adam & good luck.
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Nice one! Love the brutal honesty around ego. It’s very very true.
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Great article Adam . Am right in the midst of my second start up and everything here rings true . Regardless of parent company investment , starting in a new market with a blank canvass is a different ball game , and with the parent putting funds in , in some ways makes the whole thins even more challenging as the desire for immediate results is huge . I shared this article with my very small team today . Thanks again
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Good article, however radiumone is not a start up!! Their global CEO was removed last year for assaulting his girlfriend.
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Adam, great read and even better advice. It’s always the anon or the hidden alias that has plenty to say, often without qualification. Good for you mate & thanks for sharing, I can relate to your story.
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I think we need to clarify what a start up is!! Starting a new office with company money is not a start up! Sure it’s starting a new office…..however it’s not a start up.
In saying that…I enjoyed the read.
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What is this self-validation nonsense?
It’s a grab bag of cliche’s spouted as honesty.
And soundbites as wisdom.
And that ‘fail fast’ expression is as sad is it is old. Why not just say ‘keep going’?
More web litter….
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So many bitter people out there…..why all the negativity!?
Over the last four 7 years i’ve launched 4 international digital businesses into Australia. A couple from larger international businesses, and a couple that were true start ups.
Adam, i completely agree with everything you have outlined above. Even though you are part of a larger organisation, you are still very much alone in many ways, building your business to suit the needs of the Aussie market which is different from any other market in the world.
I can only take some of the above comments as jealousy from people working in large media organisations who work a 9-5, collect their pay cheques and are happy (or not) with their lot.
Step outside of your comfort zone people! It makes your professional life a whole lot more rewarding!
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@ Straight From The Office….
Please tell us more about this traditional media you speak of and how Adam’s article has offended your old school media ethos? Let me guess…. you still have a bottle of scotch in your bottom drawer and are incensed about not being allowed to smoke at your desk?
Good job Adam, keep it up. RadiumOne are solid operators.
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What shame all these anons can’t put their names to their comments. You are no expert if I dont know your name, you’re just an annoying bystander that has no real authority to speak. I got bored after the fourth one. Most likely people frustrated with their own careers that dont have the guts to get out there and take a risk.
I think launching a well established business in a new country is a start-up. Your proof of concept is validated, you’ve got funding, you’re expanding. You are starting a new business in a new market. Pretty sure they don’t go getting flashy offices and throwing truckloads of cash at the wrong things. Sure it’s not at seed stage, but it’s more of a start-up than most of these anons have ever gone near.
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Totally agree with James.
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If Adam is not worring about how or if he is going to get paid, it is not a startup.
@Dr Mumbo, perhaps you should do another article about what it’s like to startup and run a new business?
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So true, Adam. Here are a few more tips based on my own experience:
1. Don’t break the law. It will come back to bite you.
2. Don’t trade insolvent. It’s unlikely you will ever dig yourself out of the hole (see point 1).
3. Don’t lie. Pretending you know how to do something that you don’t does not make you clever. It makes you a reckless fool.
4. If you still need financial backing after 3 years you likely always will. Change your approach at this point or quit while you’re ahead.
5. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you & listen to their advice. Especially if they are an accountant & you are not.
6. Appoint a chairman & CEO who are two different people & will hold each other to account.
7. Have fun!!!
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Thanks for sharing Adam! Good insights.
Great read Adam – I think the points you make are highly relevant for anyone taking a risk in their career. I really enjoyed and learned from this.
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