Photographs: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters Kashyap Swaroop and Neil Merchant, Courtesy yourstory.com
What's so fancy about working with a start-up? Well, there's an entire list of things that only a start-up can offer. Read on
If you hate the 9-to-5 drill and really care about learning new skills every day, look no further; join a start-up.
Working for one, we realised comes with its own set of enviable perks. Here are some we could think of...
1. Your attire doesn't matter, your words do
Start-ups don't judge you on what you wear to work, but they WILL judge you on what you say and more so on what you do.
We learnt this while working on Directi's animated video at Directiplex.
2. There are no fixed work-hours
There is no "awkward time" for making calls or getting work done. They work 24×7.
This is especially true of Instamojo, where almost every team member contributed towards the making of the video.
They were very hands-on.
3. They're always innovating
Entrepreneurs are expert analysts. They will observe your process and identify inefficiencies, throwing up essential constructive feedback almost spontaneously.
We learnt this while working for Aakrit Vaish's start-up, Haptik's promo video.
4. They love creativity
They are impulsive and value whacky ideas. They are risk-takers. In contrast, big businesses making their first videos prefer playing it safe.
We created our crazy Shopclues viral ad over 10 days, from conceptualisation to release.
5. You actually learn to do things
They take out time to teach you a thing or two about what they do.
In the nine months of video production, we've learnt about fonts and design at Instamojo, programming at Codechef, real-estate at Flat.to and languages at Vserv.mobi.
6. They know why you're working
They know the value of time and money, not just theirs, but yours too.
Payments are prompt, decisions are instinctively taken and there's very little crying over spilt milk, if any.
In short, entrepreneurs aren't afraid to move fast and break things.
7. They won't beat around the bush
They know that management jargon is overrated; they’ll talk to you in good old English.
8. They'll ignore your degree if you can prove yourself
Your degrees won't buy you any brownie points, forget about the CGPA.
Not a single client so far has asked us about our degrees.
They don't even care if you're not a graduate yet (we're almost there) as long as you have a portfolio that speaks for you.
9. They're full of experiences
Entrepreneurs are a treasure trove of experiences. Every entrepreneur has a story.
Just a meeting with an entrepreneur will leave you feeling a little bit richer. And if you need inspiration for their product/UX video, all you need to know is why they do what they do.
That’s how we created our first video, the one for Flat.to.
Gaurav Munjal still likes sharing that video with realtors, students, potential partners, family and friends.
10. They'll remember you
Entrepreneurs understand the value of goodwill and relationships.
Having worked with both early-stage start-ups as well as big businesses, we've come to notice that entrepreneurs from the former make a more conscious effort to keep in touch and recommend you.
We've even had one of our clients call us up on our co-founders' birthday!
Kashyap Swaroop is an NMIMS alumnus and co-founder at Lowfundwala Productions. You can reach him on twitter at @LowKashWala.
Neil Merchant is a BITS Pilani Goa Alumnus and the Chief Marketing Officer at Lowfundwala Productions. You can reach him on twitter @NeilMerc
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