Have you ever asked yourself, where you really should work; a startup or a large corporate? What makes it so exciting to work in the startup world? Or why do others love to be part of a large corporate company?

In the past years, the startup world has grown tremendously. Alone in Switzerland, over 50’500 new companies have been founded in 2021. Many of them have not been able to survive the first 5 years (50% according to Bundesamt für Statistik 2019), others are thriving and have become well known. 

At the same time, large corporate have started to pick up the trend and created internal startups. They allowed their employees to become intrapreneur and work on innovative projects.

Still, there are difference between working in a startup and working for a large corporate. So which one should you choose? With this post, we help you identify, who you are, a startup hero or corporate rebel.

The shiney new startup world

Let’s get started with the startup world! I am sure you know a thing or two about a startup or have friends working there. You might have watched “Die Höhle der Löwen” (or Dragons’ Den in the UK) or are a subscriber of the Startupticker and always up to date with what is happening. At the same time, many startups are hiring and offer a fun work environment, flexible work hours and they are all friends to work with. Sounds great, right?

Well, let us give you some guidance to understand how it is to work for a startup and look at pros and cons.

Why you should work in a startup

Most of what you have heard about working in a start up is probably true. These are three of the most important aspects:

• Innovation
  The goal of a startup is to disrupt an exisiting business model, product or service. Therefore, an innovative mindset and working style is key to every startup. Also as a employee, you get the advantage of this mindset. Often you can bring in your ideas and be part of the creation.
• Flexibility
  Startups are not only innovative in their products and services, but also the way they work. They are known for having flexible work hours and location and provide you opportunities to align your lifestyle with your job.
• Flat hirarchies
  You always wanted to be your own boss but didn’t dare to start your own business? Then the startup can offer you another option. As they start small, a hirarchy does often not exists in startups. Everyone is responsible for her or his area and can decided, how things are done.

If you are person, who is looking for a place to bring in your creativity, work indepenently and take responsibility and want to be more flexible, a startup is the place to be for you.

Why you should NOT work in a startup

So we highlighted some important points about being in a startup. But there is always an other side of the medal, right? Let’s us give you some insights:

• Insecurity
  Innovation is great, but what if it does not work? In a startup world, you often don’t have the resources (mostly financial and time) to apply trial and error. Sometimes you might only have one shot and it could mean make it or break it. Thus, you have to build a supportive environment outside your work to catch you in case it did not work out for you.
• Stability
  Startups are build in a green field. As such, there are no processes in place that help you navigate your way around the company. Thus, it could be that you have to create your own process to do your work or processes have to be adapted to new circumstances. There are constant changes going on, working in a startup could be like a rollercoaster ride.
• Speed
  As startups build disruptive innovation, they have to be fast. Speed, is an important factor in the startup world. This can affect what you do too. You might not have the time to find the right peson doing the job, but are asked to do it even if you are not the expert. Be ready to jump into the cold water and swim!

Are you looking for stability, a secure job that gives you the time to build you expertise and skills and an environment that guides you in your daily work? Then a startup is maybe not your ideal work environment.

And what about the corporate world?

So now that you have learned more about working in a startup, how would it be working in a corporate world? This we will share in part two of this blog post – stay tuned!

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