It’s a (wo)man’s world out there. Sweat, Long Hours, High Pressure, not the right keywords for a 20 Something straight out of the college circus, looking for a bright career opportunity. Definitely not for those trying to fit in.
We need people who think on their feet, people who look beyond defeats. We need people who are bursting with energy, quivering with excitement to cross the next hurdle. We cherish people for whom nothing tastes sweeter than a post victory cup of cutting chai.
We look for talent and intent, degrees are worth dime a dozen here.
I work for a start up, intelloCut, working in the field of industrial automation in the Sewn Product industry. I handle Business Development for the organisation, I sometimes help make tea. Paid for the former, graciously thanked for the latter. One minute I am shaking hands with leaders of my industry, next minute I am taking food orders from everyone. You just can’t use your Oh So Fancy Title to get out of it.There’s never a clear cut job description, it overlaps with multiple fields, you just have to clench up and do your best. After all, we can’t hire a thousand people for all the mundane tasks.
No red tape to tread carefully by, no bureaucracy involved when I come up with a new idea. We simply don’t have time for that. The seniors stand back quietly, letting me set my own boundaries, eagerly willing to help when I give a shout out. In fact, that’s how we function, like a family, each watching the other’s back. From the outside we are a well tiered, highly functional professional team. Insider’s tip: We are a strongly bonded family, goofing around, lot of back slapping, lot of teasing, pranks and all night barbecue parties. But when it gets serious, we put our backs to it, as a highly functional vehicle, each employee an important part of this well oiled machine.
Competing against conglomerates and multi-national corporates, it’s a knife fight out in the dark alleys, standing back to back with the founders. Yep, that’s where you will find them, the company founders, standing right next to you. We score several touch downs, taste victory cause of the grit and determination that keeps us going.
But it’s not all hunky dory in the start-up world. It’s the competition of the fittest, leanest, meanest team hungry for innovation; some make it, many don’t.
Today, in India, start-ups attract a lot of young fledglings and corporate employees, wanting to try something new and refreshing. People come looking for glory and a quick buck. Long hours and low pay sends many of them scurrying back.
Only a few stay, for some it’s the challenge, for others the quirky style of working, and then for some it’s the opportunity to innovate. For me it was the thrill of the challenge, a small driven team out to make its mark on the world. It’s not the promise of glory which keeps me hooked on, despite many pit stops, it’s not the promise of making it big in the long run either, despite the many times I stumble.
It’s the freedom to keep going, to push the boundaries of possibilities further on.
