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The 9 worst things about workingat a startup no one tells you beforeyou join

EUGENE KIMJUN. 21, 2015, 11:30 AM

Working at a startupand taking it to thenext level can be arewarding job.

With some luck, youmight even be ableto build the nextFacebook or Google.

But startups arehard — and it couldbe a brutalexperience if you'renot prepared for thegrind.

We went throughsome Quora threadsto find out all the worst things about working at a startup.

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7/27/2015 These are the worst things about working at a startup ­ Business Insider

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There's so much work but only few people to do it."One thing I learnt very early onis that there's a lot of work to goaround and very few people todo it. From something as menialas fixing (lots of) peoples'computers and printers torushing off to make a corporatepresentation (with nobackground whatsoever)because some sales executivegot stuck up somewhere and theentire technical team of theclient is waiting. One morething, no matter how muchwork you take up, there'salways more to follow. Attimes, it gets really tiring and distracting but then that's what you signed up for. No boundaries,no job descriptions." — Arnab Mitra, Director & Partner at p2power.com

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Flickr / Billie Ward

You won't have the time to dive deep into somethingyou're really interested in."Startups will have a fasterlearning pace in terms of settingup stuff and getting things donequick and dirty. But, you willnot be able to spend too muchtime on research or trying todevelop your own ideas. Thereis too much work on the plate,always...Big tech companies, onthe other hand, can afford tospare time for research and youwill generally be able to findtime to experiment with yourown ideas." — Anonymous

You're wrong 99% of the time."What's it like? Well, 99% ofthe time you're wrong. Yourproduct is harder to build thanyou think, fewer people like it ­even fewer want to pay for it.That is a big blow to your ego.Most people have an inflatedopinion of themselves and theirideas. Reality hurts." — PeterJohnston, runs Develop Oxford,Developer Startups andDataScience Oxford

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When do you say "enough is enough"?

via Jeffrey Beall on Flickr

You're probably not going to make a lot of money."It's consistent hard work, andit's not really about the moneyat the end of the day. There maybe a thousand other ways tomake money, but if you seek athrill ride with acceleratedlearning, a startup is what youare looking for." — JeevanBetigeri, CEO of FathomIdeaware

"40 hours a week is forsissies. Overtime pay is usuallyout of the question. Reducedsalary due to equity stake (mostof the time)." — David Graham,Founder of Coder Camps

Work is very disorganized and the founder can have toomuch power."Processes are next to non­existent ­ work is verydisorganized, sometimesinefficient. Everything relies onthe whims of the founder(s) ­having launched a successful,well funded start­up boosts selfconfidence tremendously; noamount of facts and argumentswill help you win an argumentand you can easily find yourselfout the door, or significantlysidelined at least, if youdisagree often." — StefanKiryazov, founder oflexicum.net

7/27/2015 These are the worst things about working at a startup ­ Business Insider

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Flickr / Matt Baume

sandi_sandra via statigr.am

Can you handle the uncertainty?"The constant uncertainty. Youget into work in the morningpumped up about executing apiece of work which you haveplanned on the commute. But assoon as you get in, the teamgoes into a huddle and directionis changed. You're given a newtask that has to be doneyesterday. Not a lot of peoplecan live with this short termuncertainty. I won't even writeabout the long term uncertaintyof survival, and constantlywondering whether you madethe right choice by joining astartup." — MithunMadhusudan, IIT KGP, IIM B,Growth at early stage startup

Can you handle the fear of failing?"Having too much fun buildingyour dream for tomorrow, yousometimes forget to livetoday. Trying to convinceeveryone you are sure about thefuture, when you silentlywonder what the future holdsfor you." — Tony Kattukaran,CEO of Tagalys

"When the company stopsstocking Odwalla in the kitchen,it's a sign of bad times ahead."— Tom Maxwell, softwareengineer

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mucow on Flickr

There's very little guidance and you can easily get lost."Having the best ideas in mindbut you don't know how toexecute them properly." —Christian Teece, aspiringsoftware guru

"Paperwork. Legal and financialpaperwork. No one tells youabout it when you start on yourdream, but that takes up most ofyour time. And it sucks." —Anonymous

It's a constant roller­coaster ride."Startup Life is like a rollercoaster. It has its ups and downsbut it's your choice to eitherscream or enjoy the ride."— Anıl Üzengi

"If you're somebody who likesstructure and specific rules, thenstartups aren't really the rightplace to work. Everything isvery fluid, including thesecurity of your job." — NormaMirsky, real­estate broker

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