Marina Rakhlin for Girl Develop It, Philadelphia

LANDING YOUR DREAM JOB IN TECH

marinan@gmail.com @Marina_Rakhlin

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Agenda

Why work in tech?What are my options: corporate, vs startup vs my own?

What’s a startup?◦Startup lifecycle◦Is startup life right for me?

The journey of getting hired InterviewThe Terms

◦Educate yourself: cash vs stock

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Meet Ashley

http://technical.ly/philly/2014/01/21/girl-develop-it-philly-tech-jobs/

Ashley was an administrative assistant at video distribution network Poptent and is now a web developer at Conshohocken website optimization company Monetate

• Work on challenging projects, shaping the future

• Seeing your work come to life• High-tech job growth is three times faster

than other areas of the private sector• $$$ According to CNN Money in April 2013, IT

sector has the highest 1year pay growth (5.1%) and median pay of $70, 900

http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/jobs/2013/04/09/pay-raises/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/dec/06/technology-sector-growing-faster-economyhttp://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Tech-social-media-employers-offer-perks-aplenty-4929078.php#photo-5370701

• Perks: the treadmill desk at EventBrite offices in San Francisco

• Work from home• Flexible schedule

WHY WORK IN TECHNOLOGY?

• Women represent only 25% of tech industry

Worldwide Developers Conference, SF 2013

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/06/ridiculously-long-mens-room-lines-at-tech-conferences-a-photo-essay/276721/

WHY WORK IN TECHNOLOGY?

• Tech community is pretty compact

• A lot of tech companies but we are very low on

tech talent

• Community is very tight knit and supportive

• Ecosystem: from tech giants like Comcast to

small startups that are sprouting up in incubators

PHILLY IS THE PLACE TO BE

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?Starting your own Joining a startup Corporate job

You have an idea and a vision for execution

It is in the same niche as the product/service you wanted to start. Treat this opportunity as market research

Stable schedule, salary

High risk tolerance Risk and $$ depend on the stage of the startup

Low risk tolerance

You have a co-founder

You can be blazing your own trail or join a team of passionate individuals

Interested in steady career growth

You are so passionate about the idea you can not fathom spending a minute doing something else!

You feel that you need to learn more about how to run a business before starting your own. Treat this as a bootcamp on how to run a company.

Many companies have objectives of adding more diversity, women to their IT

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Is startup life right for me?The upside

• Challenging work environment

• Increased sense of ownership

• Flat hierarchy

• Personal and professional growth

• Possibility of a large financial gain after an exit event

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Is startup life right for me?

The downside Lower than market rate

salary Lack of structure Long hours Uncertain benefits and job

security Lack of mentorship, guidance Small team dynamics,

personalities clash

The upside

• Challenging work environment

• Increased sense of ownership

• Flat hierarchy

• Personal and professional growth

• Possibility of a large financial gain after an exit event

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22565197/squares-harassment-scandal-shows-dangers-startup-culture-experts

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Startup LifecycleIdea Stage (bootstrap)

Seed Round Angel Round

People: co-founders and mostly contractors, 1-2 hires, work out of incubator

Up to 5 early hires, some contractors

Up to 20 early hires, some contractors

<$50K FFF round <$100 K <$1M, Angel investors and early stage venture funds

Pay vs Equity: .5-4% you get more equity if join early, low salary, no benefits

Pay vs Equity: up to 1%, still a good chance to get hefty equity, guaranteed salary but lower than market rate

Pay vs Equity: less than 1%Market rate salary better benefits

Skills: be a generalist, being able to help with any aspect of the business

Skills: excel at your role as generalist, become a leader to train early hires

Skills: once promises to investors are made, execution becomes key

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Startup Lifecycle

STARTUP VALLEY OF DEATH

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Startup LifecycleSeries A, B, C….

People: >20 hires

$$$: $1-10M mainly from VC firms and PE investors

Pay vs Equity: less than 0.5%. Market rate salary, good benefits

Skills required: Now the company knows exactly what each position entails, need people willing to work hard and bring well-defined skillset.

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Do your homework• Before you start your job hunt, familiarize yourself with

startup terminology

• Become familiar with the latest news in the startup and tech universe, most influential players in the VC industry. For example, almost any startup that is building a mobile app will be affected by software changes when Apple releases a new iOS.

TechCrunchPandoDailyHacker News by Y CombinatorFast Company

www.

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Step 1: Finding the right fit

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Network• Attend events where you can meet like-

minded people• Talk about projects you are working on!

Go to Meetups• Philly Tech Meetup• Philly Startup Leaders• Girl Geek Dinners• Founder Factory• Barcamp Philly• Ignite Philly• Philly Geek Awards

• Hackathons• Startup Weekends

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Explore

• Review websites of local VCs and see who is in their portfolio. Those companies are most likely hiring if they just got some cash

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Focus• Create a list of companies you would like to

target• Comb through your LinkedIn to see if you

have any personal connection to people who work there

• Go to events where you are likely to bump into people who work at your target companies

• Read company blog, follow them on Twitter, show you are engaged

• Every startup is unique. Find a niche and focus on a specific startup, looking for “a startup job” will come across as your lack of focus.

• Leverage your network: a lot of hiring in startups is referral based

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Get a mentor or, at least, a cheerleader!

• Someone to answer your tech-related questions

• Mentorship can be formal or informal• Someone to push you out of your comfort

zone“I realized that searching for a mentor has become the professional equivalent of waiting for Prince Charming. “

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Work on side projects

• Build out websites that you are passionate

about

• Start a blog

• Do work for your favorite non profits (every

non-for-profit can use some help with their

website)

• Segway into light web dev contracting work

• Create a network of people who can

recommend you

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Managing your online presence

• Google yourself, you might be surprised what comes up!

• Complete your LinkedIn profile highlighting your skills

and experiences relevant to the industry and company

size you are targeting

• Work on your Twitter presence, provide relevant content

and follow/interact with startups you are interested in

• Think about starting a blog where people interested in

you can learn about your opinion about the industry,

work experiences, industry events you attend and get to

know you as a person.

• Make sure your social presence is interconnected!

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Your checklist

Are your incentives aligned with those of the

founders?

Is your spouse on board?

Are you financially comfortable with taking the

plunge?

Make a list of what you want to get out of the startup

experience

This is a long-term investment, are you ready to wait

5-10 years before the potential payoff?

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Step 2: Interview

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“The problem is that the vast majority of people approach startups in the exact same way: "I'm someone who likes everything and can do anything." That is the crappiest way to get a job at a startup. Well, at least our startup.

Simply put, in an effort to not limit one's options, a person has transferred the burden to me to figure out what to do with them. I want people with a strong point of view - I can do X, Y, and Z really really well.”

~ Apu Gupta, Curalate

Advice from the founders

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Startup interview Dos• Show your passion for industry, product and people

• What is the biggest problem the company has in your

opinion? How will your experience and skillset help solve this• Be humble! Offer to do a project or an internship as oppose

to ask for a job

• Give examples of being a team player. In a 5-person startup

no one has time to deal with egos

• Be flexible: I will fill the role you need me to fill

• “Get stuff done” attitude

• Show that you can thrive in less structured environments

• Make sure you have a personality fit, what do founders stand

for? What are the values of this organization?

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Startup interview Don’ts

• Don’t approach this as a corporate interview

• Don’t be surprised if the founder has not read your

resume

• Don’t expect a structured interview: you might be

meeting for coffee but the founder is assessing you

• Don’t come with high demands or play hard to get

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Tech Hire

• Be visible in the community, if you are hired through

a recruiter, startups will be more skeptical of you

• Apply your skill to solving the company’s problem in a

prototype, small project

• Be open to doing contract to hire

• Let your work speak for you

• Be ready to take ownership of the product

• Demonstrate experience/willingness to work with

remote/distributed team

• Be a team player, communication skills are extremely

important in a small company!

• Brace yourself to deal with some messy code

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Advice from the founders

“Every three or four days send your ideas, ask for a data set, take their existing design and work on it. “

~Rohan Deuskar, Stylitics

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After the interview

• Keep reaching out and reminding them of yourself

• Read relevant news, reach out with ideas• Show initiative: put together an analysis,

marketing plan or design proposal• Treat each interview as an opportunity to get

feedback

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Step 3: Negotiate Hard!

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Would you take a salary of $70K and 1% in stock or a salary of $55K and 1.5% in stock?

What is stock?

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Startup StockInvestors:

• Preferred stock• Investment• High stock price• Senior rights

(voting, board meetings, etc)

Founders, Employees:

• Common stock• Compensatory• Low stock price• Residual rights

Stock is a form of compensation that employees and contractors can receive when they are working for a startup. IF startup makes it big, stock can become very valuable and outweigh any salary earned in that period.

The terms

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Common Stock

This is what most of us will get. This is an option to buy out your stock once you become eligible either based on time lapsed or reaching a certain target

Preferred Stock

Usually given to VC investors. Senior to common stock. Often Preferred stock has anti-dilution protection. Common stock rarely does.

Vesting Schedule

This means you will have to wait a certain period of time before you can exercise your stock.

Exit Event

Aka “liquidity event”. Two options: either the company is acquired or the company goes public. Time horizon: anywhere from 3 to 10 years

Restricted stock grants

Common stock (not stock purchase rights like a stock option) that is actually issued with release/vesting restrictions

Exercising Options

Your vesting schedule dictates when you can pay your strike price to buy out the stock portion of stock options that have vested.

The terms

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Stock Option Grants

The right to purchase a fixed number of shares of common stock for a fixed price for a prescribed period of time

Evidenced by a stock option agreement No stock issued until exercise price is paid,

only then will you get a stock certificate confirming ownership

Stock options do not voteTo make sure you get what you are expecting out of the startup experience, consult a lawyer before signing the contract and an accountant before exercising/selling your shares.

Understanding Equity• Example: you are granted 300 options at a strike price of $10

that vest over 3 years with a one year cliff, at which point you get 100 shares and then every 6 months you get 50 shares. • If you decide to leave after the first year, you will have to pay

the company $10x100 shares=$1000 to purchase your shares. If in a few years company is purchased and price per share goes up to $25, you have $15 per share pre-tax profit.

• If company is sold for $8 a share, your shares are “under water”, i.e. worthless.

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Year 1 Cliff

*http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/startup-stock-options/

Year 2

You can purchase 1/3 of your shares

You can purchase 2/3 of your shares

Year 3

No shares can be purchased

All of your options have been vested by now

Year 4

Main Take-Aways

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• Early stage Startups are about LEARNING not

EARNING

• Co-founders define the culture

• Demonstrate “Get stuff done!” attitude

• Expand your network

• Work on side projects

• Negotiate hard

• Understand your stock options

Open Positions

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Wharton Computing looking for Jr Developerhttps://upennjobs.peopleadmin.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1390926469398

Monetate looking for JS Engineers, Front End Engineershttp://monetate.com/jobs/open-positions/

http://technical.ly/philly/2014/01/28/philly-tech-jobs-hiring-network/

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