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What are some career options related to technology startups?
I am really interested in technology and entrepreneurship. I'm wondering what career options there are related to technology startups? #technology #entrepreneurship #startups #career-options
11 answers
Abhinav Agrawal
Abhinav’s Answer
A technology startup can be one of the most exciting places to work in the world! Developing new products for new markets can be
challenging but also a lot of fun. Three of the main career options at a technology startup include:
Product manager: these folks are responsible for defining the vision and the details of the product - answering questions like: who
is the product for, what will it do and why is it better than other products in the market. There is no one educational background that
is required for this role but most candidates have either a business degree or a liberal arts education.Developer/engineer: these folks are responsible for actually making the product based on the details that the product manager has defined. The role requires a lot of attention to detail and is great for people who like to solve challenges. A degree in computer science or engineering is most often a per-requisite for this role.
Marketing manager: these folks help introduce the product to potential customers. Working with social media in addition to regular
media, they design and implement advertising, PR and customer programs. A sense of what customers want and a college degree in liberal arts is the best preparation for this role.
Shobhit Chugh
Shobhit’s Answer
Also, do consider the trade-offs in working for a startup vs. a larger company. You are likely to get a larger set of ownerships and responsibilities in a startup, and your career growth might be faster. However you do lack the resources and formal training programs that large companies offer. As you evaluate options from both types of companies, remember that going to a larger company for a few years to develop your skills, and then joining a startup, is also a viable option
Thank you.
Derek
Brian Cheng
Brian’s Answer
Hello reader!
What are some career options related to technology startups? It all depends on what stage the startup is in (angel, Series A, etc). For early stage startups, you'll see that most hire needs are engineering related positions. You can also go to https://angel.co/ for a list of startups and their needs.
Once a startup starts developing past the initial stage; there might be hiring for sales (think GroupOn), community managers (think Uber), or more engineering roles to further develop the product. Also expect for the legal team, customer ops, to expand as the company grows.
Sincerely,
Brian
Bhavesh Advani - CISM, CBCP, CISSP
Bhavesh’s Answer
Some of the core positions in most or may tech start ups are: Product Manager, Product Architect, Product Innovation Manager, Customer Success Manager, Marketing/Sales Manager, Go-To-Market Strategy Manager. And, if one is just coming out of college, then I think starting as an intern in the area of passion within a start up could be one of the best things one could do to one's career.
Amarendra Behera
Amarendra’s Answer
1. Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning - this is a booming area now-a-days. If you are in software engineering domain, think of having one idea or domain and see using AI/ML you can solve real time problem. AI/ML is going to the basic skill going forward.
2. DorneTech : Drone Technology is another area you can think of.
3. 3D printing : this area is also growing very fast. You can think of in this area as well.
Haley Catalano
Haley’s Answer
Thureen Khan
Thureen’s Answer
I have personally worked a technology started called 'Credant'. This company was bought by Dell just 1 year ago. Interesting enough, this is company had a variety of positions open.
-Administrative Assistant - Almost all business require someone to take of paperwork and dealing with receipts. [2% of company]
-Accounting and financial department - Again all businesses will require someone to handle the money. The CFO (Chief Financial Officer) was a very important person in the company. [10% of company]
-Quality Assurance/Test Team - This team was in charge of testing out software that developers wrote. Most of them DID NOT have computer programming background. Often enough, they were like normal users who wanted to test out our product. I believe there was almost a equal number of testers and software developer in our company. [25% of company]
-Software Developers - They are guys you hear about the most. They program the software for the company. [30% of company]
-Support Specialists - They handle customer support and satisfaction. We had a decent number of them. [25% of company]
-Sales staff - They sold our software. [14% of company]
Hope this info helps!
Jay Hurst
Jay’s Answer
For instance, in a larger company a Product Manager will be focused on more of the traditional Product Management role (requirements gathering, customer interaction, user story creation, etc..). As a PM in a startup, however, you will likely also play the role of Product Marketing, Customer Success, Enablement, etc. Startups will really look for people who can fill any role that is needed on a day to day basis.
Best of luck
Kristina Cleveland
Kristina’s Answer
Steve Hemenway
Steve’s Answer
Kelvin Tow
Kelvin’s Answer
On a design standpoint, many tech startups look for UX/Interaction designers. Depending on your interests, you can work more on visually designing screens you see on apps, or you can think about how the app works on a high level architecture. It's a very rewarding career because you'll be able to work with developers and engineers to see your own designs built.