The Silicon Valley Professional - Finding a Good Start-Up to Join

I am passionate about working at fun start-ups and entrepreneurial companies. Here’s what I look for in a start-up to join. How about you?

1. A Quality CEO/Founder/Founding Team

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing founders, including the founder of Focus. Here's what I most appreciate in a great founder/CEO:

- Has a strong vision and can sell it to anyone and everyone

- Is an eternal optimist but is also pragmatic

- Is a strong leader, capturing the respect of everybody in the organization

- Is partly nuts (a.k.a can think-out-of-the-box) but is not self destructive

2. The right culture

There is no right or wrong culture in the absolute sense, but there is a right or wrong culture for each of us individually. For me, the company must have a culture that fits my values and my work style. Here are some things I look for:

- Emphasis of team over the individual

- Emphasis on building a great product/service over a making a quick buck

- A strong sense of mission and urgency but in a fun environment

- Fosters high integrity and strong ethics

3. A product or service that I can relate to

I look for companies making products or services that speak to me at personal level, that inspire me regardless of the functional nature of my job or the compensation I receive. I'm not necessarily saying the product or service has to cure the world's ills but I need to be able to relate to the product or service based on personal experience.

4. A good business opportunity

It doesn't have to be the next Google or Facebook but I have to believe it can grow and grow big. I look for:

- A product or service that addresses an unmet need in the market

- A product or services that is differentiated in how it meets that need

- A market that is big

- An organization that I believe has the potential to execute

5. An exciting role

This is all about the job itself.

- Does the role leverage my strengths and previous experience?

- Does the role also allow me to learn, grow and stretch myself?

- Does my role have high visibility in the organization?

- Will my work be central to the organization's short- and mid-term priorities?

- Are my responsibilities clear, especially vise-a-vie other executives?

6. People quality

This is related to the right culture but is worth calling out separately. I love working at companies that have the highest standards. I want to surround myself with smart and interesting people, people that I can learn from and people that will engage me.

7. Compensation and the ability to capture upside (options)

Will I be laughed out of Silicon Valley for putting this so far down the list? Lots of us like to say that compensation isn’t as important as other factors but that's total BS (unless you're already rich). I’m willing to admit that compensation and the ability to capture upside is often a make-or-break issue. However, it’s farther down on the list because I personally will not take a job just for the money. Unfortunately, that’s not true for everybody.

8. Board/Funding/Cap Table

Now we’re getting into the nitty gritty, but I always like to understand who's on the board and their view of the company is. A dysfunctional board can be painful for everybody. I also want to understand the company’s finances, it’s ability (and plans) to raise more money and it’s current cap structure. This not only helps me evaluate the value of my options but also the degree of risk in the business.