I work at a startup and have been here for more than 7 years. I joined right after graduating from a tier 1 engineering college (one of the old IITs). I was the first team member after the founders and now hold the position of non tech CXO in the company. The startup has grown significantly, not in traditional funding terms but in actual business. I have dedicated countless days and nights to growing this company, hardly taking a single day off in the initial 4 years, and often working more than 10 hours daily. My salary has increased proportionately to what I should be paid (>65 LPA), and I also have decent ESOPs in the company, which could be worth anywhere between 2 to 4 crores depending on the valuation at which we raise funds. However, I don’t count ESOPs as real money. In the next 10 years, it's going to be a very big thing, and I am glad to be part of it. Many of my friends, who have done MBA from IIMs and worked at BCG or Bain, are craving for the position I am in.
But I feel FOMO about not trying anything else in life. It's like achieving decent success on the first try. I use the word "decent" and not "crazy" because it's not crazy success.
What do I want ideally? I'd like to take a 6-month break and then figure out my next steps. Maybe start something new or join another company at a leadership level. But I am too afraid of not getting the same opportunities and ending up struggling.
Thus the question: Is there any agency that works specifically to help you get a job at a CXO position? How does it work? Can a non-MBA with 8 years of work experience get a CXO position at a decently big company (>300-500 crores in revenue)?
Another humble bragging post
how is it bragging when I am saying I am afraid that I don’t get the same opportunity elsewhere. Its almost accodental for me till now
Curious: what do you do on a daily basis now vs when you started
1st year it was pure sales. All the team members used to call clients and close.
2nd year I was heading the sales team, were able to hire 7-8 people to do sales (mostly freshers)
then onwards I worked on CRM building, product, customer journey, organic and paid traffic, brand building, PR etc
Now I spend most of my time on building new tools for our customers, strategic thinking on how to take business to next level. There are days when you have to go and solve operational issues and those never goes away.
check abc consultancy who work for leadership roles.
You can look at search firms. Some names are korn ferry, Michael page. Start talking to one of them and see where it goes. They typically have mandates with even more experience than you have though. But worth a try
I joined my company (tech startup) as a Product Manager and over the course of 3 years have worked both in Product as well as in Business teams. And to be honest, I like both the work.
Now, I am looking for a switch and unable to decid...
Reality of market value for people in 40s and 50s: most people find themselves replaceable, their market value drops and difficult to switch career. Thoughts/comments?
As the title suggests, I often wonder what is the natural progression for people who join startups in Chief of Staff or even Founder's office roles? Do they move to a specialized vertical internally? Or do they move to other startups in ...
Hola 👋 fellow grapeviners, so in short, I currently work in an early stage startup and I really love the work. Recently, I have a dilemma that should I stay in the startup ecosystem or to go to big tech giants. Obviously 🙄, In mncs the...