Your Roadmap for Landing a Role at a Startup

ThinkB1G

Why Join a Startup?

Be Challenged

Work with Amazing Teams

Leverage the Latest Technologies

Learn, Grow + Accelerate Your Career

Be Part of Something Special

Is a Startup Right for You?

They’re Different than Traditional Companies

High octane, intense, and a little chaotic• Building a company from the ground up involves a ton of hard work

and navigating risk & uncertainty Lean & mean• You need to wear multiple hats, get “into the weeds”

Value people who get things done• You must love to execute and get stuff done

Need people who take initiative• Expect mentoring, but not extensive supervision

If you’d prefer a more structured, supervised, predictable environment, then a startup is probably not for you

Top OpportunitiesTechnical/Product Software Development Product Design & User

Experience QA & Testing Data Science DevOps Product Management Electrical Engineer Mechanical Engineer

Business Business Development

Rep (BDR) Sales Development Rep

(SDR) Sales/Field Engineer Growth Hacking Account Management Marketing Community Other

What Startups Look for in Candidates

The Bar is High(er) for Startups

What’s Really Important?PassionCuriositySmartsExperienceHumilityAbility to CommunicateIntangibles

Personal/Side Projects are Critical

Show You can build things Are always learning Are passionate about your field

Personal projects trump class projects Devoting free time illustrates passion & curiosity

to learn “Doing” more important than how you get there

“I would hire someone with a 2.0 GPA from a no-name college and tons of side projects using cool tech versus a 4.0 MIT CS grad who focuses only on school.”

Personality Traits Matter Intellectual curiosity • Evident desire to learn more about things

Passion• Deeply care about your areas of interest (love it)

Self-starter• Ambition & drive in how you go about things

Do things differently• You didn’t just follow the herd

Commitment to personal growth and learning• Explore topics outside your field of interest

Landing a Role

Your Edge• Passion• Proof• Personalization• Patience• Persistence

Harsh Realities

Build Your Body of Work

“What I Know Now Didn’t Come from Class”

Don’t limit yourself to just classes• Take advantage of what’s available to you

Don’t waste time• Submit assignments early and work on your own

projects

Learn on your own• Khan Academy, Coursera, Code.org, OpenCourseWare

 Plenty of opportunities only a click away

More IdeasTech / CS Specific Contribute to an open-source

project Learn more programming

languages Try different operating

systems Create apps Read tech books Debug that web service that

fails every single time someone tries to upload a video larger than 200MB

Non-Tech / General Get involved with a

campus startup Participate in a business

plan or pitch competition Do a Startup Weekend,

hackathon or makeathon Leverage class projects to

work with companies Experiment with social

media for business, non-profit, other applications

Illustrate & Demonstrate

Illustrate & Demonstrate

Illustrate & Demonstrate

Understand What You Want to Do

Then… Convince employer that you wanted to work there 

your whole life • Resume should reinforce it• Follow-up notes should hammer the point home

Keep your talking points to the job you applied for

Be perceived as willing to throw yourself 100% into the opportunity at hand

Engaging with Startups Resume

Cover letter

Applying

Follow-up

Resume Focus on your projects and experience• What you worked on• Technology you used• Any notable outcomes

Link to your body of work• GitHub, online portfolio, personal website

List upper level CS courses• Depending upon the position

Anything extra-curricular that shows something remarkable about you

Spelling & grammar

Cover Letter Needs to be highly personalized• Invest the time to understand their business

Communicate why you’re excited about what the company/opportunity• Startups love to see shared passion

Articulate (and support) why you would be a terrific fit

Your objective is to passionately resonatewith the team

Applying1. Submit your resume via your university career

system

2. Apply on the company’s website• Include your cover letter

3. Send a personal email to the hiring manager

4. BONUS: Get a warm intro into the team

Follow-Up Persistence can pay off

Follow-up 2-3 weeks after application• Personal email to hiring manager• Reiterate your interest & why• Call to action: opportunity to discuss further

Follow-up again 2-3 weeks after that

Don’t Be This PersonMichael,

I am very interested in the ThinkBig opportunity I came across on the XXX career website. My experiences with YYY and ZZZ have equipped me to successfully handle making fact based decisions, business development, and strategic thinking. In particular, as a detail oriented, competitive, self starter with a strategic approach to achieving objectives, my ability to build a business case to drive forward inflection point decisions would ensure I am challenged to make an impact.

I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you. Please find my resume attached for your review. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

XXXXX

Be This PersonResearched startups hiring interns- Focused on those that fit his interests &

(limited) background- Identified CEO’s contact info

Sent personalized note to CEO- Introduced himself and background- Detailed passion for startups and why

interested in the company- Outlined where/how he could make an impact

11 – Emails sent7 – Conversations/interviews1 – Great summer experience

“Tino” – Freshman

Takeaways Project-based experiences rule the day• Take advantage of all the options on campus• Build your body of work• Illustrate & demonstrate what you can do

Passion and fit needs to come through your resume and company interactions• Challenge yourself outside the classroom (and major)• Fall in love with what you do

Personalize your communications and stay after it

ThinkB1G Resources Openings• ThinkB1G.com/Startups

Newsletter• ThinkB1G.com/Students

Student Profile• ThinkB1G.com/Students

Prepping for the Technical Interview• ThinkB1G.com/Students

Finding Opportunities VentureLoop.com• New openings at VC-

backed startups

AngelList• Openings at startups

Join-Startups• Easy way to find

opportunities by region

TechGen

38

Intern at a tech startup?Get real, hands-on experience.

Apply to TechGen – the common app for internships

at Boston’s hottest tech startups

Sales * Marketing * DesignEngineering * Product

Management

Go to TheTechGeneration.com to applyFollow #TechGen on twitter @TheTechGen

• Browse our startups• Get noticed by companies• Find your internship

More Resources

http://goo.gl/9GTWsu

Google’s Guide to Technical Development:http://goo.gl/9GTWsu

Final Word

Your Roadmap for Landing a Role at a Startup