You are attracted to all of the potential hype, money, and allure of Silicon Valley–and you want in. However, you do not know how to code or may have never worked in tech before.
So, how do you become part of the tech world? Startup Grind offers some good advice.
Startup Grind is a global community for entrepreneurs. This community expands over 85 countries and includes 400,000 entrepreneurs. Breaking into the technology scene, they advise that it “remains a feat, slowly and deliberately accomplished.”
Investor Semil Shah of Haystack Ventures offers specifics for making it in the tech space:
- Follow your interests.
- Help every good person you meet; and not just follow-up help, go above and beyond what they expect.
- Make diligence, listening, and doing what you say you’re going to do habitual.
Other Great Advice From Startup Grind
Look for cross-functional relation programs. That phrase is a mouthful, but it simply refers to programs companies, such as Microsoft, LinkedIn, Box, and Visa, that offer college students and recent grads the chance to intern in different departments throughout their companies. The great thing about these opportunities is that they are tailored to those who are not seeking engineering roles at tech companies.
You can read a list of undergraduate and graduate cross-functional programs at some of the largest tech companies here.
Understanding Tech Startup Founders
Another post gave pointers on landing a job at a hot tech startup.
Startup founders are real people who do things, such as hang out with friends, worry about funding, and get annoyed about the same things we all do in daily life. They do a lot during the day, and they constantly wonder if doing something is worth the effort. They make decisions about what to do based on what the ROI will yield, and they love when things are “short, insightful, and immediately actionable,†such as email communications. Also, they are passionate.
You must learn to become a professional stalker– not in a scary, creepy sense. But, finding the email of the founder whose company you want to join, keeping up on that company’s news, and knowing its competitors can help.