1. Working for Startups – What You
Need to Know
SoCalCode Camp CalState Fullerton, CA
January 28, 2012
Kim Smith-Rohlfs
http://SoCalTechRecruiter.com
760-207-6983
kim@socaltechrecruiter.com

2. About me
•Kim Smith-Rohlfs
•SoCalTechRecruiter.com
•14 +years of technical recruiting
•Independent recruiter
•Specializing in placing software professionals
throughout California

3. What We’re Going To Cover
• Why Start ups
• Pros & Cons
• What They Look For in Employees
• What you should look for in a Startup
• Job Hunting
• Resources
• Q&A

4. Why Startups
• Sexy, exciting
– Entrepreneurs are the new celebrities
• American Dream 2.0
• Lucrative
• Game changing
• Challenging
• Looks good on your resume

5. Pros & Cons
Pros Cons
• Challenging work • Uncertainty
• Fast paced • Fast paced
• Equity stake • Equity stake
• Good benefits & perks • No benefits
• Opportunity to make • Long hours
meaningful contributions • Low pay
• Growth Opportunities

6. What you need to know
• Funding
– Bootstrapping or external funding
• Stage of startup
– Early Stage
– Expansion
– Mature
• Monetization of product/service
• Management’s experience

7. More things you need to know
• Look at your budget – can you afford a pay
cut?
• Talk to your family – how will this effect them?
• Self assessment – can you deal with the stress,
long hours, uncertainty?

8. Compensation
• Find out specifics and try to get them in writing
• Many venture capital funded startups offer
competitive salaries & benefits
• Early Stage startups offer highest risk & highest
potential reward
• Equity stake can be negotiated
• All equity & no salary
– Only at early stage
– Only if you get a deal similar to founders

9. Compensation - Equity
• Not all equity is alike
• Stock grants mean you own the stock outright and can
sell it after it vests and receive 100 percent of the sales
price.
• Stock options mean the company agrees to sell you
stock at a set price in the future. If the company loses
value, your options may be worthless. If the stock rises,
you make money.
• The vesting schedule -- the plan that outlines when you
get the stock -- is also important. If you leave the job,
or the company is sold or goes bankrupt before you’re
vested, you may get nothing.
Dona DeZube, Monster Finance Careers Expert

10. Getting Hired – What Startups
look for in employees
•Expert
•Education
•Flexible
•Passionate
•Personable
•Start up experience

11. How to Stand Out
• User Groups
• Hackathons
• Meetups
• Developer contests
• Contribute to open source projects
• Independent projects

12. Finding Opportunities
• http://startupdigest.com/
• http://www.crunchbase.com/
• http://startupers.com/
• http://www.ventureloop.com/ventureloop/ho
me.php
• Independent & 3rd Party Recruiters

13. Questions?
Thanks for coming and enjoy
the rest of Code Camp!