This is a guest post by Ashwin Gulati.
Here’s my most fundamental advice for startup CEOs: while you’re leading your company, don’t neglect your own employability. Being a startup entrepreneur can take a real toll on your career if you’re not careful.
A startup CEO is really a Chief Everything Officer. You’re focused on your role running your new company and it’s all-consuming: there are a million fires to put out in all different areas, all the time. You may not foresee the need to return to the workforce — and you may not even want to devote a single brain cell to it, because you’re dealing with a giant, complex challenge and you don’t want to take your mind off it for a second. But if you happen to fall into the 97% of startups that fail, you’ll be grateful for having kept yourself marketable. Let me repeat: 97% of startups end in failure. That’s reality. You need to have a plan B.
Here’s want you need to know to protect your own career:
Make sure you’re still employable
I’ve been through this personally. I’ve also supported countless first-time entrepreneurs as they exit their startups. It’s common to have a tough time integrating back into the corporate workforce. An entrepreneur will struggle to convey to potential employers the value of their startup experiences: that helming the startup made them more humble and perfectly suited for specialized roles, that it’s taught them what their true passion is, and — likely — how it aligns with that one small segment of the company they are interviewing for. But that’s not necessarily what a company is looking for. What companies do want is hard skills — and in their domain.
If there’s a particular area of hard skills where you truly excel, I encourage you to make a dedicated effort to keep that expertise polished — continue reading, subscribe to relevant blogs, foster connections, and stay in the loop of your specialty. You may find it more beneficial for your startup ideas to stay within a single industry or closely related ones. For the fortunate 3% or less who make their millions and have the freedom to write their own future, only then is the world their oyster. But for the rest of us in the 97%, who are seeking a plan B after leaving a startup, the key is to avoid finding ourselves in a career “no-man’s land.” So don’t try to jump from one industry to the other and then dilute your network as well as your hard skills. Stay where you excel — especially in your first venture.
Consider your own appetite for complexity
I developed the ability to navigate every facet of startups, seamlessly transitioning between diverse roles while maintaining a polished appearance. It was as if I had a multitude of switches inside me, allowing me to embody the charisma of a CEO, master the art of closing deals as a VP of sales, craft go-to-market positioning as a VP of marketing, delve into financial metrics like a CFO, and exhibit a gentle touch as an HR manager. I could discuss patents and pipelines and payroll and production, across diverse industries including software, hardware, wine, and water. Over time, I had evolved into a true jack-of-all-trades in the world of startups. However, it was precisely this extensive breadth of knowledge that made me wonder if my professional journey had left me somewhat distorted or deformed, with no clear specialization or expertise. I realized that what I was most passionate about was complexity — but how could I translate that into a tangible, valuable skill? It may be that the very ability to embrace complexity is what makes you stand out.
Address your ability to belong
Many who become entrepreneurs endure a foundational sensation of non-belonging. The shadow drive behind their brilliant idea, or reading the market, is really just a desire to fit in, only to struggle even harder at fitting in once they leave the startup game and want to find a new job. Savvy employers know that entrepreneurially minded candidates, brilliant though they may be, are not likely to stay under someone else’s leadership for very long. In fact, they’re likely to leave and start their own company instead. Your job is to reassure future employers — as well as your network — that you can be reliable, do the job you’re hired for, and stick around.
Showcase the value you bring
Having been immersed in the startup trenches for decades, I have become acutely aware of how difficult it is to find dependable, trustworthy individuals to help lift the entrepreneur’s grand vision. Looking back at all I’ve learned through my startup journeys, my most valuable skill development has been the art of working with people in an unstructured setting and building rapport across the organization, from board members to interns. But you have to make that kind of skill clear to a potential employer — and convince them that an unorthodox resume would provide true value to their company.
Focus on the soft skills
Aside from hard skills, you bring a whole range of soft skills to the table as a startup entrepreneur, and many of them have tremendous value to other employers. For instance, in my case, I knew myself to be a good, reliable, trustworthy person — though that wouldn’t necessarily show on a resume. But I had an array of soft skills that improved from the experience of building a company from the ground up, including a very clear understanding of how to build a team. Keep sight of your soft skills and be prepared to list them.
If you feel like you’re running a 90-ring circus, the idea of sitting down and examining your own employability is going to feel counterintuitive. But if you want to sustain yourself through a long career, even if your startup is part of that remarkable 3% that succeed, you need to remain employable. It may even help you be a better leader in your own venture.
About the Guest Post Author:
Ashwin Gulati has launched international ventures, helped start-ups take off or land, and copiloted complex transitions for over 100 companies in various industries in the UK, US, Spain, and France. With 30 years in the trenches, he has identified the hidden pitfalls, unspoken truths, and personal twists that ultimately determine a venture’s success or failure. He holds a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College and studied at King’s College and the London School of Economics.
His new book is Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture. Learn more at soulventurebook.com.