Startups Aren’t Risky
“Not everyone’s like you,” he said. “Startups are risky, so not everyone sees that as a viable career path.” But I disagreed - startups aren’t risky.
It wasn’t long ago that I was talking to an entrepreneurship professor at the University of Maryland about ways to get more students excited about joining the startup world and following their passions and dreams, rather than taking the traditional path through corporate America. And his response surprised me.
So when I got the chance to give feedback to some ambitious University of Maryland students at a speed pitch event this afternoon, I was struck by the contrast between the entrepreneurial students giving pitches in our classroom vs. the career fair going on just outside in the hallway.
It got me thinking about how these aspiring entrepreneurs had to literally walk through a sea of students in suits swarming the recruiting booths for Pepsico and other mega-corporations, to arrive in our classroom to get feedback on big businesses they had dreams of creating themselves.
These students weren’t looking to play the game to advance to the next stage in their lives or careers, as they’re expected to do by so many of their families and peers. Put on your best suit. Make your resume sound sharp. But keep it to a single page, because no one wants to read more than that. Make yourself stand out to the recruiters. Get their contact info and follow up. All for an opportunity to take the road most traveled, to live the life they’re expected to live.
It brought me back to when I was graduating from the UMD business school a decade ago, and all of my tech friends were jumping into government consulting jobs while I was the weird one into startups. And I get it: decent pay, 9-5 hours, short-term job security. But none of them were actually passionate about consulting. It was a job.
So why didn’t anyone see starting or joining a startup as a viable path? There are some myths out there that prevent a lot of really smart, passionate people from taking the plunge, the biggest of which is that startups are risky. And sure, most startups and small businesses fail. Chances are, if you start (or join) one, you will too. But that doesn’t make it risky.
Because when you build a startup, you get the most incredible experience across a huge spectrum of skills, and come out the other side (successful or not) with a significantly more employable skillset. By their very nature, startups take you out of your comfort zone, and force you to grow by putting you in situations you’ve never been in before. Pitching investors to raise money. Building a product where nothing existed before. Convincing other people to get behind your startup and join the team. Figuring out creative ways to tell the world about your product. Reaching out to partners to help each other along the way. Being resourceful. These are all skills that you’ll be forced to learn in the first year of your startup life, many of which are skills you’d never learn after decades in corporate America.
This is not risky. This is empowering.
Risky is becoming a cog in the wheel, performing the same specific job function day in and day out, never being forced to truly expand your horizons and grow. And then what happens if you get laid off by BigCo? Right back into the rat-race of career fairs and job sites to see who you can convince that those specific skills you’ve been using over the years are the perfect fit for them.
On the flip side, what happens if your startup fails? This is where all of those startup skills really come in handy. Every single one of them is a skill that forces you to make connections and meet other people doing similar things. Investors, potential partners, potential employees, potential customers, startup friends. Being in a startup forces you to meet people who, coincidentally, are always looking to hire smart, ambitious, resourceful, get-shit-done people like yourself. So you’ll never be without opportunities.
So to all the students out there who come to the fork in the road, don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled. It won’t lead you astray.