by Jackie Hermes
I recently passed the eight-year mark of running a business and even this many years in, we’re still figuring out who we are as a company. The last year in Covidland has led to some major realizations—one being clarity on who we should hire and how to manage a team full of high-achievers.
We all know that it takes a certain level of risk acceptance to work at a startup. One of my early hires rejected my first offer partially because she was nervous about the size of the company (3 people at the time). Luckily, I was able to talk her into taking the job, and now she’s my VP of operations.
While many others have thrived in our dynamic environment, some have left for the stability of corporate culture, and several former team members now own their own companies.
Working at a startup requires a very specific set of characteristics: You not only have to be accepting of the risk, but be hard-working, and willing to perform and adapt in an environment that is constantly changing. It’s definitely not a job for everyone, and that’s okay. We’ve discovered that oftentimes the best-fit team members in a startup also happen to be entrepreneurial in one way or another.
At my company, Accelity, we have 14 full-time employees, two of whom are former entrepreneurs, and five others that have night-and-weekend side hustles. That means at least 50% of my team is entrepreneurial in some way, shape or form.
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