Lifecycle stage: Seed

Risk High/Medium

Seed funding should help to decrease the startup’s immediate financial pressure, but seed stage companies are still looking for product market fit and there is a very real chance they will run out of cash before reaching their goal.

Work environment Fast-paced, long hours

Now the startup has taken funding there will be huge pressure to reach product/market fit and raise their Series A round as quickly as possible. This often plays out in longer working hours and a fast-paced work environment, but it can also be an exciting and rewarding time to work within a company.

Suited to: Generalists

Team sizes are still small so people will be expected to help out wherever they can, making generalized skill sets valuable. If the product has some initial users or customers it may need support, sales and marketing staff, but these team-members will likely be expected to handle all elements of the role by themselves (for example, the first marketing hire could be defining the marketing strategy, writing blog posts, running paid ads, setting up SEO etc).

Range of roles available: Low/Medium

If the startup has a product or prototype they may be looking to hire initial customer support, marketing or sales positions. They are still unlikely to need roles like business development, corporate development, or operations.

Compensation: Low/Medium

With some funding secured the startup can afford to pay closer-to-market level salaries, with the shortfall made up in the form of equity or options.

Experience building opportunity: Medium

Seed-stage startups can offer good opportunities to quickly build experience, especially in roles where you are likely running the entire “department” by yourself, like support, marketing or sales.

Career progression: Medium

As with pre-seed startups, if you can ride the wave and adapt to the organization as it grows then you could see strong career progression opportunities. But if you prefer to work as a generalist you may eventually see yourself being pushed aside as specialists are hired.

Conclusion

Joining a seed-stage startup is still risky – while they have some funding it won’t last long, putting a real limit on how quickly they need to find product market fit. As an early team member your compensation will be more weighted towards stock or options, although the odds of this ever being worth anything are still low. You can learn a lot at a seed stage company, so it can be a good place to build knowledge and experience. Seed stage companies can also be very exciting and intellectually stimulating places to work.