Don't have time to listen to our podcast? No worries, here is a brief summary of the discussion with Nimisha Menon
Start-up vs Corporate Culture
In this episode, we are in conversation with Nimisha Menon who is working in the investment banking industry. She has worked with big and small companies and her work background is finance, operations, and process improvement. In the past, she has worked with multinational corporations like Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Forest City. Along with that, she has also worked with Startups like Krishi Star and Jumpstart - which is into venture capital funding. Her hobbies include baking, traveling, reading and she also has a heart towards animal rescue and their welfare.
Nimisha talks about her experience working in different work cultures like startups and also well-established firms. She shares a couple of pros and cons of working in a startup and a corporate culture. She believes that startups are a great place for young, creative minds who are not into a learning structure and are open to ambiguity - figuring it out and putting the pieces together. She also tells us how startups can be forgiving since they are always looking to hire fresh talent. Having experience from a startup that reflects on your resume is a bonus because it shows that you have the fortitude, and the willingness of sticking it out especially since startups can be quite unstable and can keep changing over time. This also helps shape up and build your character and can be quite attractive to the people hiring. She explains how startups have a flat structure and because of that, you tend to get a bird's eye perspective into everything. Lastly, she also explains how startups have a balance when it comes to age groups, and that can be less intimidating if the startup job is your first.
She further goes on to explain how people coming from a startup background will find it easier to adapt to the surroundings of a corporate background because of its well-established processes. She explains that because of a lot more workforce, there is comfort for every individual working in the corporate sector knowing that not everything relies on them, and they do not have to bear the brunt if problems arise.
Having said that, Nimisha also shares some of the drawbacks of working with a startup - it can be quite frustrating and demanding at the same time since generally, startups have a tight budget. You will also find a younger crowd and freshers who are most likely to join startups and hence, lack work ethic and seriousness. She believes that because of this it can be quite challenging to get people to focus on their work. Due to this kind of attitude, startups almost have to become like a school since they are working with individuals who are fresh out of college and probably don’t have an ambition or goal in life yet. She truly believes that startups should take the responsibility of grooming and shaping such young talent in order for them to stay motivated and goal-driven.
Another major setback in a startup is the massive layoffs that often take place because of their budget or drastic changes that occur from time to time. This can be quite daunting and demotivating for individuals, especially if it is their first job. She believes that there should be transparency and a clear roadmap between employers and employees.
Nimisha believes that whether you come from a startup or a corporate work background, self-motivation is important because if you are not driven or motivated, you are not going to get too far. Sometimes we tend to get so caught up in this dark cloud of our thoughts, that we make it unpleasant for ourselves and that in turn demotivates us from everything in life. She believes that in order to not have unpleasant thoughts, we should consciously clear our minds before we go to bed. Everyone likes transparency and if we want our companies to be transparent with us, we should be the same with them too. You definitely owe that to the company as to yourself.
She also talks about the pros and cons of the current work-from-home situation that we are all in.
Nimisha really gives us a master class about startup vs corporate cultures and we truly hope this conversation inspires you.
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