Published on <a href="http://ift.tt/2qEEGoD">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Roisin O&#8217;Flaherty 
Start-up. When I was in college, I had come across the term but had never paid that much attention to it. Little did I realise that within a year of graduating, I would be working in one! The world of start-ups is creeping into our everyday lives. An increasing number of the products we consume are created in small creative teams trying to create something new and innovative to improve our daily activities.
When you are outside the world of start-ups looking in, it is easy to generalise and believe the stereotypes. While some of the people working in start-ups do wear tortoise-shell rimmed glasses, have large beards, and drink coffee all day, there are hundreds of really talented people hiding behind the hipster facade. What I am trying to say, in a rambly kind of way, is that there is so much more to start-ups that what is portrayed in the sitcoms and romcoms (<a href="http://ift.tt/2rCQ166">we don’t all cycle through our giant Brooklyn-based disused warehouse!</a>).
<h3>Here are the top 10 things I learned from working in a start-up:</h3>
1. It is good to get comfortable being uncomfortable You never know what could happen next when you are working in a start-up. It is an incredibly exciting time watching a company grow from nothing to (hopefully!) something. Every milestone (big or small) that you reach has huge importance. Every little success adds up.
You have to adapt and as you are stretched and tested, you develop more character and perspective. For me, the uncertainty and excitement of working in an area that no one has explored before is inspiring. In the words of Alrik Koudenburg:
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2qEsJ2o">Quote by Alrik Koudenburg
2. Wear as many hats as possible With only 6 people sitting around the company table, and a million and one things that needed to be done, your job title can be a very fluid one. In one week, you could be designing the company brand, animating an explainer video, copy writing a presentation, editing the newest blog post, creating social media content, researching everything and anything, decorating the office for Christmas… As the company changed, my job title warped and changed to accommodate the skills we needed at that time.
If you are the kind of person who likes having one job that you do well, I am not sure that start-ups are the place for you. If you, however, are like me and like to think on your feet constantly facing the next challenge, I think you could excel in a start-up environment.
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2rCJOab">Your job title is as varied and jam-packed as your day
3. We are all learning This is both a positive and a negative. Many times I became frustrated by the lack of organisation. The one thing I had to remind myself was that we are all learning. We are working in an area that hasn’t been explored before. I am learning and that everyone else is in the same boat. The journey won’t be clean sailing, but it can be rewarding and teach you a lot about yourself and the people around you.
4. Teamwork is not optional Many of the start-ups I have come in to contact with since my introduction to the community are small (2–10 people in the day-to-day company). I was working on a team of 5/6 depending on the day of the week. With only 6 people sitting around the table and a million and one things that needed to be done, working as a team was imperative. We were all juggling several balls at a time, but it was through hard work and determination from the team that we made sure not to drop any!
5. You might not get paid, but you’ll learn tonnes and have amazing experiences* After I finished in college, I worked in a magazine. It was 9–5. It was well paid. I had more annual leave than I do now. I was being paid, where many of my classmates were working in internships for nothing. They were constantly learning and improving their skills, whereas I felt as though my creativity was drying up and the monotonous tasks I carried out every day really had very little bearing on the magazine. I wanted to work somewhere where the designs I created meant something and where my work was valued.
In a start-up, it is difficult to hide. The small tasks you do are noticed. In music, every musician has an important part to play. If the triangle is not struck at the exact moment the composer intended, the mood is not the same. In a start-up, there are limited resources and everyone needs to pull their weight. While there was a very limited supply of money trickling in and out of my bank account over the period I was working in a start-up, my brain was alive and teeming with new ideas every day. While I was not getting money, I was getting my <a href="http://ift.tt/2qEuVag">creative juices</a> back!
6. Don’t be afraid to speak up While not everyone might agree with you, your opinion matters in a startup. Some of the ideas you express might be ridiculous, but they might trigger another idea in someone else. What was once an ‘out-there’ concept can be distilled and could create something new. There were many times that someone would say something as a joke and then another person in the team would spin what they had said into something we could actually use. It was largely pun-related. Puns and social media are like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvKzyYy6qvY">peas and carrots</a>!
7. Use your initiative Things are very new and the structure found in a well established company doesn’t exist yet. If you think of something that isn’t being done but could greatly benefit the company; do it! If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, at least you tried to improve the running of the company. Creating a simple system for doing something that could save precious time and money could really benefit the success of the business. Keep an eye on the financials though! Last thing you want is to be person responsible for single-handedly taking a successful start-up and changing it to a failed start-up!
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2rCyE5m">No really, they’re so important in order to keep a company ticking by smoothly
8. Don’t be afraid of small Working in a start-up meant that I had the chance to work directly with the CEO and founder. If I had taken a corporate role, I doubt this would have been the case. If I had a question about the company, I could ask her directly.
I got first-hand experience dealing face-to-face with large investors. I helped other start-up CEOs who were struggling with their brand’s message and image. I talked to other developers and designers also working in the start-up community and made excellent friends. As the world changes and start-ups and fighting their way to the front, there is safety in numbers (even if the community is a small safety net). Knowing others have encountered similar situations and came out the other end is reassuring and encouraging.
9.The ‘right’ way to do something doesn’t exist yet This was one of the most difficult things I found joining a start-up: there are very few structures set in place. Everyone is learning. Rules are being made, broken and made again. For anyone who has experience working in a magazine, you will know deadlines are everything! If you do not get the pages finished, proofed and sent to print in time, it is late and the magazine is redundant. I came from a very structured set-up and it was tough to adjust to a company without organised design systems.
Again, this might drive you crazy if you like structure and things done in a certain way. A start-up is new and the processes need to be defined. Things are constantly changing and being ‘worked on’. This means that if you have the vision, you could be one of the person responsible for shaping the company. From brand guidelines (I will definitely write a future blog post on why a brand needs a system in order for the team to be on the same page), to the brand’s mission, to everything in between. The company is new; everything is up for discussion!
10. Have fun! I’m going to finish on a lighter note. Start-ups are more relaxed than many of the large corporate companies out there. I would encourage you to try things and extend yourself beyond what you thought you were capable of. While working at a start-up, I taught myself how to code in HTML, CSS, javascript, php and learned the beauty of motion graphics. I would not call myself an expert in any of those things, but working in a relaxed environment gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and extend my knowledge.
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2qEpzMb">Words to live by
The atmosphere found in start-ups supports your learning and growth as a person. It also encourages you to work hard, but play harder! With great power comes great responsibility (don’t take yourself too seriously!).
Ultimately not getting paid and not being able to claim social welfare were the main reasons I had to find work elsewhere. According to the Welfare Office, I was ‘living beyond my means’ (I am still unsure what ‘means’ they were talking about!). I had such a great time working in a start-up and learning new things every day. If the Irish Social Welfare system supported the work of creative people trying innovative things, I definitely would still be working there.
On a final note, own whatever it is that you find yourself doing that day. You’re creating a much bigger picture in the long run and every piece of the puzzle is important. Don’t be afraid of the uncertainty; that’s part of the fun. Most importantly: speak up. You’ve been invited into the start-up because your ideas are important.
<blockquote>* I’m not in favour of unpaid internships. A person doing full-time unpaid internships aren’t eligible for social welfare, as they must be seeking (paid) work. As a recent graduate, I found myself in a tricky situation; I had been paying taxes for the 18 months I had worked in the magazine, but was not entitled to social welfare as my parents earned too much money and I because I wasn’t earning anymore, could not afford to move out so was living at home — Dublin rent is already expensive even when you have a full time job.</blockquote>
<blockquote>That being said, I understand new businesses are already scraping the barrel to get everything in place and might not be in a position to pay their staff. Surely this should be where social welfare steps in. I might write another post about my frustration in relation to unpaid internships and graduates and the inadequate support systems in place for those interested in investing their time in start-up companies.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://ift.tt/2qExgSD">What I learned working in a Start-up</a> was originally published in <a href="http://ift.tt/2cAqCpx">Prototyping: From UX to Front End</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What I learned working in a Start-up

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