First ask yourself if you really want to work at a startup?

Many are exposed to the success stories but never see the tough times tech blogs, magazines, and interviews don’t share. Its a grind – no matter what. I try to convey the differences between a “normal job” and a startup.  There are a lot of peaks and valleys, and not everyone is suited for the sometimes unstable nature of the roles.  Next I ask them to pinpoint down further beyond “working at a startup” as their goal. What topics are they interested in? What categories do they want to work in? What problems do they want to help solve? These are the things I ask these questions to get a persons world view and hear how they express interest in a sector or company.

When I hear a company or sector from their answers,  I will focus in on it with specific questions on that company or category. For example if someone mentions a certain company by name, I will ask them to explain what that business does to further understand their world view.  Many people can identify a company they want to work at, but for no other reason then for its success or buzz factor.  Seldom to they name the 2-3 companies in the space that are all trying to tackle the same problems.

You need to show that you have a passion for a specific category, and understanding of a particular problem, and an overall obsession with building and being part of a solution.

Once you narrow it down you should figure out a plan of what you will actually be doing.  What’s your 100-day operational roadmap for yourself at the company? What will you be doing, when will you be doing it, and who will you need to help you? (Correct answer to the last question: as few people as possible.)

Outreach 

Getting in touch can be one of the things that can differentiate you from the crowd.  Most if not all startups will have a formal job board or application process.  I can’t stress this highly enough, but you should definitely apply through that process.  All other avenues into the company through personal referrals, friends, blog posts, or other means will eventually have you submit a formal application which may include a cover letter and resume and having it already on file within the job system the company uses is extremely helpful.

Reaching out to a Company can be intimidating.  You may think that they do not want to hear from you, or that you don’t have anything intelligent to say or offer.  The truth is that most small startups are dealing with a series of problems and trying to answer a series of questions – if you can be helpful in tackling either, then you are someone they want to be in contact with.

The coffee equation

One path a lot of folks try is to write the hiring manager, or even the CEO about going to “grab coffee to chat”.  I have recommended against this approach as it does not show enough information on your part.

There should be an inverse amount of energy and time put into a potential coffee meeting.

Let me explain with the following diagram

This may seem unfair, but putting in 4-5 times (or more!) the effort of the person you want to speak with does make some sense.  A CEO is dealing with a number of different issues at the same time trying to keep his or her startup afloat.  Things like employees, investors, a business model, the product, feedback, etc… all take up their attention.  When you reach out to spend precious time with them – even 20 minutes – you are asking them to put all the other things aside in favor of your meeting.  This is why I recommend to folks that they spend time craft an email that outlines at least 3 solutions to at least 3 issues you think a CEO is dealing with.  I can promise you that if you touch on even 1 correctly, you are someone they want to spend more time with.  This conversation may not result in a job offer, but it sure is a great way to get the attention of someone that is busy with a million other issues at the same time.

By spending time and energy on crafting a unique and thoughtful outreach request you will be differentiated from others.  It seems obvious, but this small amount of hard work is usually disregarded, and you will therefore standout.  Its an extra 20-30 minutes of work that will at least result in someone reading your note and hopefully responding.

Be reachable!

Along with submitting your information through the official means, you want to make sure you are reachable.  I always recommend to people that they should have a contact form, their email address, or some other means of getting in contact fast.  If you can get a hiring manager, CEO, or investors attention by some means – you want to make the gateway to getting in personal contact very easy.  I know of a ton of great blog posts that do not have an about page, contact page, or any way to get in touch with the author.  Don’t assume that a comments box is enough as its probably too high of a barrier for one of the people mentioned above.

In conclusion

Finally, like most investments in this space, its about the person.  People look for great team members that can work on hard problems and answer tough questions.  Background, experience, and education all play a role – but in the end it about the right fit.  There are a number of resources, top 10 lists, and other actions you can take all listed below.  I think ultimately its about how you approach a sector, and how you participate.  In a sea of sameness, standing out from the crowd can be tough.  My best advice is to participate in the space, get your thoughts down publicly, and start a dialogue with as many folks as you can.

Some resources:

[Updating this area - please leave your resource in the comments and I will add it here.]

I asked this question on Quora and invite you to participate as well: What is the best way to get hired by a startup in NYC?
CrunchBase is a great directory of Companies both large and small
Alex Taub – Tumblr
Jake Furst – Foursquare
Bijan Sabet: http://bijansabet.com/post/335646309/how-to-join-a-startup
Charlie O’Donnell: http://www.thisisgoingtobebig.com/blog/2011/4/1/how-to-get-an-exciting-job-at-an-awesome-startup-in-less-tha.html
Mark Suster part two: http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/17/whom-to-hire-at-a-startup-attitude-over-aptitude/
Eric Stromberg: http://estromberg.com/post/4778188872/how-to-get-a-job-at-a-startup-if-you-arent-a-developer
Jason Shen: http://www.jasonshen.com/2010/get-a-startup-job-out-of-college/

Post from: Eric Friedman
You should follow me on Twitter here
How to get a job at a startup

Image courtesy of ShutterStock

I am not sure there is any particular strategy for current employees to do things differently but below are my thoughts on what Condé or other publishers should do TODAY without any delay. This could apply to almost any print conglomerate right now going through a dip, and the right team can turn things around.

I am writing this as a marketing, technology, and startup VC person and it should be looked at as a manifesto to fix what is currently going on within these organizations. I did not touch on the writing or publishing departments as I am not as well versed in those, and they could probably be left as is with the right digital team behind them. (perhaps even hire back some of that lost writing talent let go in the past)

From now on hire Net Natives – these are people that live and breathe the Internet and understand the underlying platforms, accountability, and plumbing of the connected web.

Take control of your web properties – now. The web needs to be embraced first and foremost and the physical products (read: magazines) need to be seen as a part of this new ecosystem.

Hire someone that is net native to handle and run all the hiring of Sales, Business Development, Engineering, Designers, and Project Managers. This is most likely a major role that would have each digital head reporting to her. Reproduce this role where appropriate with each property you have – some overlap or multiple properties can go to one person. Have this new team meet with folks like UnderCurrent and Reprise Media immediately.

Reorganize the sales force
Everyone should be selling strategic ideas not full page print ads with added value banner spots on the web properties. This means your sales force has to be net native too, and has an understanding of brand needs, engagement, conversations, and accountability back to their customers and who they serve. They need to understand how to use Business Intelligence systems, tracking pixels, and ad delivery networks all work together. Demographic and psycho-graphic targeting should be a walk in the park.

Have IN HOUSE developers
Working with the best digital team of developers\designers in NYC? Great – hire them all and have them work 100% on your properties. Take their entire team, a well oiled machine that is used to cranking out projects on time and under budget, and have them start working in tandem with the sales team to get amazing things accomplished.

Don’t have a team in mind? Hire net native engineers and designers that have shipped completed projects.

Let them have 10%-20% time to work with new technologies, the latest startups API’s, and other cool projects as long as they touch your properties. Give them a sandbox of your data and previous assets to play with and they will come up with interesting things.

Expose their work to your more adventurous readers. This is a virtuous cycle that will pay off.

Hire agile business development people
BD guy for 20 years? Probably a bad candidate. You want people who EMBRACE the latest technology, and can work with your new in-house developers to integrate the latest and greatest solutions to make your lives and your visitors lives easier. This means taking risks. You are going through a dip right now and the way out of it is not to continue the status quo and get blinded by FUD.

Cap the deal cycle process. Cut it to 1/3 of whatever it is today. 90 days from meeting to SLA? Do it 30 days next time.

No more wasting your own companies time, or the time of the other companies.

No more brain sucking meetings to get strategy, synergy, and strategic partnerships done.

Boil it all down; Does this BD initiative create a better experience? Yes – continue. No – move on.

Have great project managers
These are folks that can run and produce a project with a competent team of designers and programmers at their disposal. They are tightly integrated into the sales process – TALKING TO CLIENTS – and then translating their needs back to their team that trusts them.

Gone are the days of micro-sites that disappear after the brand promotion is over.

SEO is now your friend and you build on the foundation layered from each project that comes before it.

But how do we integrate all these people together?

Make up small teams of people that each own a project within the organization. Every project has a specific lead and small team behind it.

A flat organization with small teams working on solving problems allows you to comprise each team with one of the following described above;

1. Digital Manager would have the following direct reports:
a. Sales person
b. Project manager
c. Engineer
d. Designer

With this system in place every initiative and business line is accounted for. The organization can scale, as well as provide growth opportunities to go from smaller groups to larger groups with bigger projects. Leadership roles will emerge, and promoting executives from within as well as outside the company would become more viable.

Small groups would own projects, yet be contributing to the great family of products they would be a part of. Accountability and healthy competition would be in place and hopefully lead to a productive and great new culture.

Post from: Eric Friedman
You should follow me on Twitter here
What Publishers Could Do (Condé Nast)