On Wednesday, February 10, I had the privilege of sitting with some of the most outstanding startup minds St. Louis has to offer. I was on a panel with LaunchCode’s Mark Bauer, Hatchbuck’s Don Breckenridge, and TopOPPS’ Ted Stann—the common links between them being that they have all found success building great startups, and their companies are St. Louis partner companies for Venture For America, a fellowship program for college grads looking to launch their careers as entrepreneurs.
LaunchCode’s Mark Bauer was part of a panel discussing the recruitment and retention of young talent in startups.
The topic of discussion was around young talent—how do startups find them, how do you attract them to work for you, and how do you keep them happy.
Career fairs on campus are filled with dozens of corporations that have the resources and workforces available to attend these events without having their companies miss a beat. What these corporations offer students are professional prestige, general stability, and lavish salaries. Not to say any of those things are bad—all of these things are very essential to building a career and getting the most out of that WashU degree.
The forum highlighted myriad differentiating factors that make working for a startup attractive—many of which persuaded me to turn down a corporate job and to pursue an opportunity to become a Venture for America fellow. Here are 3 major takeaway points from that forum that stood out to me, and that I wish I knew when I was looking for jobs and internships.
1. While startups can’t always offer you tons of money and prestige, many can offer you ownership in your career experience and in the company.
2. Startups are small and are finding their footing, so know that the work you do makes a direct impact on the success of the company.
3. Startups require people who are willing to continuously learn and relentlessly get things done.
As spring break dawns, and many are looking to find their post-graduation jobs or internships, I suggest you consider looking to work at a startup. They offer experiences that you can’t learn in classes and you can’t get anywhere else. They can offer you ownership in your work and in the company. Finally, they need smart and young people, like you, that are willing to learn and want to build great businesses. If you think you’re interested in startups, head to the next Venture Café or T-Rex event to get a sense of the people you could work with and the problems you could solve. In the meantime, check out Venture for America if you’re curious about what a career in entrepreneurship looks like for a recent college graduate.
From left to right in top photo: Jay DeLong, Partner at 630 Capital; Andrew Yang, Founder of Venture for America; Chisom Uche, VFA Fellow; Don Breckenridge, CEO at Hatchbuck; Ben Xue, 2014 VFA Fellow; Jonanthan Herrick, CMO at Hatchbuck; Paul de Konkoly Thege, 2014 VFA Fellow; Tim Noonan, Former VP of Boeing Ventures; Drake Berglund, 2014 VFA Fellow; Patrick Leonard, 2014 VFA Fellow; Ryan Bell, CTO at Gremln; Eileen Lee, COO at Venture for America; Amy Nelson, VP of External Relations at Venture for America.
Photos submitted by Chisom Uche.
