A guide to getting ahead in tech startups

Episode Transcript

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Alicia Thomas (00:03): Hey, I am Alicia, and you're listening to Non Founder Crew, your Insider Guide to Surviving and Succeeding in Tech Startups. Hello and welcome to Episode Zero of Non Founder Crew. I am so excited to premiere the show. It's been in the making for a while now, but before we get started, let's just take a few minutes and I can get you up to speed on everything you need to know first. Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Alicia Thomas, and I will be your host and your guide for the show. If you don't know me, I've spent the last decade plus working in tech startups of all shapes and sizes, so from five people in a room where I answered support tickets and I was the only woman to being an early employee at a company that has gone on since two IPO. Not only have I had a front row seat to watching several successful startups grow, I've been on teams of all different shapes and sizes, so from fully remote to in-person, California-based companies, Massachusetts, even some people in Arizona.

(01:03): I've worked in the admin department, marketing support, and in full transparency, I've joined companies that didn't work for me and I jumped right back out. I have lived the experience of being a non founder employee firsthand and all that accompanies startup life, the good, the bad, the ugly, the crazy, the fun, the madness. It's been a ride for sure, and it's shaped a big part of my life and made me into the person I am today. When I look back at my career, there was so much that I had to figure out along the way, and it was really hard. Whether it was understanding my equity grants, navigating working with different types of leaders and even how to play the game, I really wish there had been a resource like this for folks like me, those that were in the trenches building and that weren't founders.

(01:51): I was fortunate enough to have a number of friends that I made along the way, mentors and I asked a ton of questions to kind of get where I am today, but the truth of the matter is that there are just so many unwritten rules to working in tech and not a lot of resources for those folks behind the scene. Now, I will say I've been really lucky to work at a couple of companies that have made it a point to teach and educate their employees about how the business works, but those cases are more the exception than the rule. I think back to one company where I worked at where I distinctly remember someone on the hiring team saying, Hey, if someone doesn't understand their equity grant, that's on them, not us. Which was like, oh, kind of terrifying, and it was a moment of like, wow, we really need to dig in and understand what's going on here.

(02:38): So when I reached the highest levels of my career, I looked around, I found myself not really interested in building anymore. I was more drawn to helping folks navigate their careers and helping them figure out how to get what they deserved. Time and time again, the phone would ring or someone would reach out to on LinkedIn looking for advice to chat a lot of times to vent. So many of them were the same questions and struggles. They kept popping up and folks really felt like they were alone As a leader, I wanted to have those candid conversations with people on my team, help them navigate their careers. But in reality, managers and leaders ultimately are focused mainly on one thing, and that's the growth and success of the business. Everything else secondary. This show is for the rest of us, those who pour themselves into building a company and are trying to figure out as they go.

(03:30):When thinking about the current state of the world, the tech scene where things feel as unstable as ever, or many of us are wondering, is AI going to come and replace us and layoffs abound? This has never felt like a more important time to make this show to me. When I first got started in tech, it was a few years after the crash of 2008. Things were really bleak for a while. I experienced a layoff in my first job out of school. It was really, really soul crushing and it was really challenging. I know I felt very alone, but eventually the tides changed. The market started to grow again. It was dicey for a while. When I think about this show, something that's important for me is that we dive into the part of tech that people don't talk about, the unwritten rules, the silent suffering at times, and I know at this moment a lot of folks are struggling with burnout, and I've been there too.

(04:23): I think back to the moment where I came back from vacation, I opened my computer and I just stared at the screen for what must've been 30, 45 minutes, and I could not function. It was like my brain was frozen. I sat and I looked at my computer screen and eventually I just started to tear up from the outside. Nobody would've known. I was constantly being told from folks how lucky I was to work at a hot company. People would often say things like, you'll stay there forever. Where else could you go? Nowhere is anywhere near the success of the company you're at. But little did they know I was really struggling. I had been at the time traveling all day every day. I was constantly on the road. It was something that I signed up for, but I just flew a little too close to the sun for too long.

(05:12):

Burnout is one thing, but to burn out a hot company, the one thing everyone in tech is searching for felt shameful. Like, what was wrong with me? How come I couldn't snap out of it? I was on the road to see the company through and how come I couldn't shake this? I also think there's a big part of how identity and work can often overlap, and I know that when I finally did move on to something else, I struggled with my own identity. For a while, I had been so immersed in the goal of growth and company culture. So this show is here to fill the gaps in an environment where you're often told to go figure it out or go Google it, or even did you ask ai. There is a lack of honest resources about equity, power, decision making. Most of the advice shared is for founders, which is great, and you can listen to all those podcasts or read those books all day long, but it's a different experience when you are a noun founder.

(06:15):

You can expect new episodes from me every other week. We'll be digging into topics like working with Challenging Leaders, what to Ask when you're Interviewing to evaluate a company All in solo episodes with me, and then I'm really excited to bring on some amazing guests. We'll have fellow non founders, investors, advisors, maybe even a founder or two, all folks that make up the tech ecosystem and get them to answer the questions we all want to know and hear their perspectives. So we'll also be diving into what's happening right now in the state of the world of tech and trying to make sense of all the craziness. So bottom line, as we wrap up, you are not alone, so do me subscribe to help make sense of the crazy adventure that is working in tech as a non founder. I'll see you later.

Thank you for listening to Non Founder Crew. If you want more insights, learnings, and stories from the trenches, sign up for my newsletter by going to www.nonfoundercrew.com.

And hey, listen, if you know a friend who could stand to hear this advice, send it to them. See you next time.