GirlDevelopIt class in Philadelphia

1. LANDING YOUR DREAM JOB IN TECH
Marina Rakhlin for Girl Develop It, Philadelphia
marinan@gmail.com
@Marina_Rakhlin

2. Agenda
 Why
work in tech?
 What are my options: corporate, vs startup vs my own?
What’s a startup?
◦ Startup lifecycle
◦ Is startup life right for me?
 The journey of getting hired
 Interview
 The Terms
◦ Educate yourself: cash vs stock
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3. Meet Ashley
Ashley was an administrative
assistant at video distribution
network Poptent and is now a
web developer at
Conshohocken website
optimization company Monetate
http://technical.ly/philly/2014/01/21/girl-develop-it-philly-tech-jobs/
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4. WHY WORK IN TECHNOLOGY?
• Work on challenging projects, shaping the future
• Seeing your work come to life
• High-tech job growth is three times faster than other
areas of the private sector
• $$$ According to CNN Money in April 2013, IT
sector has the highest 1year pay growth (5.1%) and
median pay of $70, 900
• Perks: the treadmill
desk at EventBrite
offices in San
Francisco
• Work from home
• Flexible schedule
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/jobs/2013/04/09/pay-raises/
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/dec/06/technology-sector-growing-faster-economy
http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Tech-social-media-employers-offer-perks-aplenty-4929078.php#photo-5370701

5. WHY WORK IN TECHNOLOGY?
• Women represent only 25% of tech industry
Worldwide Developers Conference, SF 2013
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/06/ridiculously-long-mens-room-lines-at-tech-conferences-a-photoessay/276721/

6. PHILLY IS THE PLACE TO BE
• Tech community is pretty compact
• A lot of tech companies but we are very low on tech
talent
• Community is very tight knit and supportive
• Ecosystem: from tech giants like Comcast to small
startups that are sprouting up in incubators

7. WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?
Starting your own
Joining a startup
Corporate job
You have an idea and a It is in the same niche
vision for execution
as the product/service
you wanted to start.
Treat this opportunity
as market research
Stable schedule, salary
High risk tolerance
Risk and $$ depend on
the stage of the startup
Low risk tolerance
You have a co-founder
You can be blazing
your own trail or join a
team of passionate
individuals
Interested in steady
career growth
You are so passionate
about the idea you can
not fathom spending a
minute doing
something else!
You feel that you need
to learn more about
how to run a business
before starting your
own. Treat this as a
bootcamp on how to
Many companies have
objectives of adding
more diversity, women
to their IT

9. Is startup life right for me?
The upside
• Challenging work environment
• Increased sense of ownership
• Flat hierarchy
• Personal and professional
growth
• Possibility of a large financial
gain after an exit event
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10. Is startup life right for me?
The upside
The downside
• Challenging work environment

Lower than market rate salary
• Increased sense of ownership

Lack of structure
• Flat hierarchy

Long hours
• Personal and professional
growth

Uncertain benefits and job
security
• Possibility of a large financial
gain after an exit event

Lack of mentorship, guidance

Small team dynamics,
personalities clash
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22565197/squares-harassment-scandal-shows-dangers-startup-cultureexperts
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11. Startup Lifecycle
Idea Stage
(bootstrap)
Seed Round
Angel Round
People: co-founders
and mostly
contractors, 1-2 hires,
work out of incubator
Up to 5 early hires,
some contractors
Up to 20 early hires,
some contractors
<$50K FFF round
<$100 K
<$1M, Angel investors
and early stage
venture funds
Pay vs Equity: .5-4%
you get more equity if
join early, low salary,
no benefits
Pay vs Equity: up to
1%, still a good
chance to get hefty
equity, guaranteed
salary but lower than
market rate
Pay vs Equity: less
than 1%
Market rate salary
better benefits
Skills: be a generalist,
being able to help with
any aspect of the
business
Skills: excel at your
role as generalist,
become a leader to
train early hires
Skills: once promises
to investors are made,
execution becomes
key
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12. Startup Lifecycle
STARTUP VALLEY OF
DEATH
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13. Startup Lifecycle
Series A, B, C….
People: >20 hires
$$$: $1-10M mainly from VC firms and PE
investors
Pay vs Equity: less than 0.5%. Market rate salary,
good benefits
Skills required: Now the company knows exactly
what each position entails, need people willing to
work hard and bring well-defined skillset.
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14. Do your homework
• Before you start your job hunt, familiarize yourself with startup
terminology
• Become familiar with the latest news in the startup and tech
universe, most influential players in the VC industry. For example,
almost any startup that is building a mobile app will be affected by
software changes when Apple releases a new iOS.
TechCrunch
PandoDaily
www.
Hacker News by Y Combinator
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Fast Company

15. Step 1: Finding the right fit
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16. Network
• Attend events where you can meet like-minded
people
• Talk about projects you are working on!
Go to Meetups
• Philly Tech Meetup
• Philly Startup Leaders
• Girl Geek Dinners
• Founder Factory
• Barcamp Philly
• Ignite Philly
• Philly Geek Awards
• Hackathons
• Startup Weekends
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17. Explore
•
Review websites of local VCs and see who is in their
portfolio. Those companies are most likely hiring if they
just got some cash
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18. Focus
• Create a list of companies you would like to target
• Comb through your LinkedIn to see if you have
any personal connection to people who work
there
• Go to events where you are likely to bump into
people who work at your target companies
• Read company blog, follow them on Twitter, show
you are engaged
• Every startup is unique. Find a niche and focus
on a specific startup, looking for “a startup job”
will come across as your lack of focus.
• Leverage your network: a lot of hiring in startups
is referral based
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19. Get a mentor or, at least, a
cheerleader!
• Someone to answer your tech-related questions
• Mentorship can be formal or informal
• Someone to push you out of your comfort zone
“I realized that
searching for a mentor
has become the
professional equivalent
of waiting for Prince
Charming. “
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20. Work on side projects
• Build out websites that you are passionate about
• Start a blog
• Do work for your favorite non profits (every non-
for-profit can use some help with their website)
• Segway into light web dev contracting work
• Create a network of people who can recommend
you
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21. Managing your online presence
•
Google yourself, you might be surprised what comes up!
•
Complete your LinkedIn profile highlighting your skills and
experiences relevant to the industry and company size you are
targeting
•
Work on your Twitter presence, provide relevant content and
follow/interact with startups you are interested in
•
Think about starting a blog where people interested in you can
learn about your opinion about the industry, work experiences,
industry events you attend and get to know you as a person.
•
Make sure your social presence is interconnected!
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22. Your checklist

Are your incentives aligned with those of the founders?

Is your spouse on board?

Are you financially comfortable with taking the plunge?

Make a list of what you want to get out of the startup
experience

This is a long-term investment, are you ready to wait 5-10
years before the potential payoff?
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23. Step 2: Interview
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24. Advice from the founders
“The problem is that the vast
majority of people approach
startups in the exact same way:
"I'm someone who likes everything
and can do anything." That is the
crappiest way to get a job at a
startup. Well, at least our startup.
Simply put, in an effort to not limit
one's options, a person has
transferred the burden to me to
figure out what to do with them. I
want people with a strong point of
view - I can do X, Y, and Z really
really well.”
~ Apu Gupta, Curalate
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25. Startup interview Dos
• Show your passion for industry, product and people
• What is the biggest problem the company has in your opinion? How
will your experience and skillset help solve this
• Be humble! Offer to do a project or an internship as oppose to ask for
a job
• Give examples of being a team player. In a 5-person startup no one
has time to deal with egos
• Be flexible: I will fill the role you need me to fill
• “Get stuff done” attitude
• Show that you can thrive in less structured environments
• Make sure you have a personality fit, what do founders stand for?
What are the values of this organization?
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26. Startup interview Don’ts
• Don’t approach this as a corporate interview
• Don’t be surprised if the founder has not read your resume
• Don’t expect a structured interview: you might be meeting for
coffee but the founder is assessing you
• Don’t come with high demands or play hard to get
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27. Tech Hire
• Be visible in the community, if you are hired through a
recruiter, startups will be more skeptical of you
• Apply your skill to solving the company’s problem in a
prototype, small project
• Be open to doing contract to hire
• Let your work speak for you
• Be ready to take ownership of the product
• Demonstrate experience/willingness to work with
remote/distributed team
• Be a team player, communication skills are extremely
important in a small company!
• Brace yourself to deal with some messy code
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28. Advice from the founders
“Every three or four days
send your ideas, ask for
a data set, take their
existing design and work
on it. “
~Rohan Deuskar,
Stylitics
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29. After the interview
• Keep reaching out and reminding them of yourself
• Read relevant news, reach out with ideas
• Show initiative: put together an analysis, marketing
plan or design proposal
• Treat each interview as an opportunity to get
feedback
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30. Step 3: Negotiate Hard!
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31. Would you take a salary of $70K and 1% in stock or a salary of $55K and 1.5% in
stock?
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32. What is stock?
Stock is a form of compensation that employees and contractors
can receive when they are working for a startup.
IF startup makes it big, stock can become very valuable and
outweigh any salary earned in that period.
Investors:
•
•
•
•
Preferred stock
Investment
High stock price
Senior rights (voting,
board meetings, etc)
Startup Stock
Founders, Employees:
•
•
•
•
Common stock
Compensatory
Low stock price
Residual rights
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33. The terms
Common Stock
Preferred Stock
Vesting Schedule
This is what most of
us will get. This is an
option to buy out your
stock once you
become eligible
either based on time
lapsed or reaching a
certain target
Usually given to VC
investors. Senior to
common stock.
Often Preferred
stock has antidilution protection.
Common stock
rarely does.
This means you will
have to wait a
certain period of
time before you can
exercise your stock.
Exercising Options
Your vesting
schedule dictates
when you can pay
your strike price to
buy out the stock
portion of stock
options that have
vested.
Restricted stock
grants
Common stock (not
stock purchase rights
like a stock option)
that is actually issued
with release/vesting
restrictions
Exit Event
Aka “liquidity event”.
Two options: either
the company is
acquired or the
company goes public.
Time horizon:
anywhere from 3 to
10 years
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34. The terms
Stock Option Grants
The right to purchase a fixed number of shares of
common stock for a fixed price for a prescribed period
of time
 Evidenced by a stock option agreement
 No stock issued until exercise price is paid, only
then will you get a stock certificate confirming
ownership
 Stock options do you are
To make sure you get whatnot voteexpecting out of the startup
experience, consult a lawyer before signing the contract and an
accountant before exercising/selling your shares.
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35. Understanding Equity
• Example: you are granted 300 options at a strike price of $10
that vest over 3 years with a one year cliff, at which point you
get 100 shares and then every 6 months you get 50 shares.
• If you decide to leave after the first year, you will have to pay
the company $10x100 shares=$1000 to purchase your
shares. If in a few years company is purchased and price
per share goes up to $25, you have $15 per share pre-tax
profit.
• If company is sold for $8 a share, your shares are “under
Year 4
water”, i.e. worthless.
Year 3
Year 2
Year 1
Cliff
You can
purchase 2/3 of
You can purchase
your shares
1/3 of your shares
All of your options
have been vested
by now
No shares can
be purchased
*http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/startup-stock-options/
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36. Main Take-Aways
• Early stage Startups are about LEARNING not
EARNING
• Co-founders define the culture
• Demonstrate “Get stuff done!” attitude
• Expand your network
• Work on side projects
• Negotiate hard
• Understand your stock options
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37. Open Positions
Wharton Computing looking for Jr Developer
https://upennjobs.peopleadmin.com/applicants/jsp/shared/framese
t/Frameset.jsp?time=1390926469398
Monetate looking for JS Engineers, Front End
Engineers
http://monetate.com/jobs/open-positions/
http://technical.ly/philly/2014/01/28/philly-tech-jobs-hiring-network/
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38. QUESTIONS?
Upcoming GirlDevelopIt events:
Get Hired: Creating a Killer Resume (Part I of II) 1/29
JavaScript for Beginners 2/1
Fundamentals of Typography 2/4
Wordpress 101 2/8
Please take the survey http://bit.ly/gdi-dreamjob.