Months ago I wrote a blog post about what it’s like to be the girlfriend of a startup founder. It was a stressful and lonely time, and I talked a lot about being supportive and flexible. But now the tables have turned— on my part at least. For the past few months, I’ve submersed myself in the startup culture at a startup called Square.
When I moved to San Francisco in September, I knew exactly what type of company I wanted to work for: a tech startup. Tech had been something I had become passionate about, and I couldn’t imagine sitting in a cubicle where the majority of the employees were there just for a paycheck.
So I began the interview process at Square, an innovative company founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey. Square broke the traditional molds of how people collected credit card payments; actually it broke the mold of all payments. Users are given free card readers that they can plug into their mobile device, and BAM! They can begin to take payments.
The interview process consisted of a phone screen, two, one-hour interviews, a zero day, (where I worked a whole day side-by-side with the rest of the team), and finally a meeting with the COO. At last I finally received the phone call inviting me to join the team, and my head hasn’t stopped spinning ever since!
Throughout the interview process, I had several people ask me, “Do you know what you’re getting into?” And I did. I knew working at a startup meant long hours, a higher level of stress and needing to be able to fill the roll of multiple jobs.
However I also knew that working for a startup meant being side-by-side with people who are just as passionate about the product as you are and just as dedicated. After working at Square for the past few months, I’ve also come to realize that the people you work with start to become your second family; you teach each other new things every day, take an interest in each other’s lives, and try to make each other happy when they’re at their breaking point.
Dinners at 6 p.m. and long, weekend runs have become distant memories. I sometimes get home from work only to open my computer once again because I know there is plenty that needs to be done. I’ve also started to do PR work on my two days off from support.
Your mom might think differently about your lack of time, but to you it doesn’t matter when you are working for a startup you believe in wholeheartedly.
