What is '20 questions' to do when you change jobs to start-up?

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It is exciting to be involved in the development of undeveloped businesses and services by participating in a startup that has just started. Harrison Harnisch, who actually participated in the start-up in 2012, summarizes " 20 questions " that should be asked to the company side when scouting such start-up or receiving an employment interview.

20 Questions To Ask Before Joining A Startup
https://hharnisc.github.io/2018/11/25/twenty-questions-to-ask-before-joining-a-startup.html

Start-up companies often do not have sufficient profits, and not necessarily get paid for themselves. If you are not well off without working, it is important not to participate in startups that are low salary that you can not cover living expenses or do not pay public insurance premiums. Mr. Harnisch says that it is desirable to keep the rent to 25% of the salary as a whole and keep it to 40% even in regions with high special rents such as the Bay Area .

Also, if you need to move by moving to startup, startup companies may bear the cost of moving. The expenses necessary for moving are not only the price paid to the moving company but also the cost of finding the property of the moving destination and the cost of moving the car, the traveling expenses of the hotel to the staying expenses of the hotel due to the move, And so on. Whether or not we will bear these moving costs is also an important point. Matters to be asked about wages etc. are as follows.

◆ 01: What is the basic annual salary?
◆ 02: Is health care such as health examination and ophthalmology · dentistry well prepared?
◆ 03: Do you pay the moving fee?

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Also, as one of the appeals of startups, you can also point out that "We often offer stock option systems to employees". It is not uncommon for employees who received stocks of startups as a part of their remuneration to become billionaire as the startups grew and the price per share rose sharply.

On the other hand, startups also prohibit the employees from selling them immediately after they acquire the stock, and may attach a clause such as "You must hold for at least 10 years." Also, if the startup fails, the stock will be as good as the paper, but even if you take into account such a downside, you should ask about the startup stock options. The items to ask questions based on that will be as follows.

◆ 04: How many stock options do you have?
◆ 05: What is the total number of shares issued?
◆ 06: When is the right of the acquired shares fixed?
◆ 07: Are there restrictions such as "You must hold at least 0 years until the stock is sold"?
◆ 08: What is the selling price of shares?

by Helena Lopes

Whether or not startups are able to procure funds smoothly is also a very important point for participating employees. It is meaningful to ask questions about the investor in addition to the total amount of the company's funds, and if the investor is a famous company or a famous investor, stability of the startup will be thought to increase slightly.

Also, courage may be required to ask, but it is useful to ask that "Is there a case in which salary payments to employees have been extended from last year to this year?" If there is a case where the payment has been extended, that startup is considered to be struggling with cash flow. The question items based on these are below.

◆ 09: What was the total investment?
◆ 10: What is the total amount of cash possessed?
◆ 11: What is the burning rate of expenditure and income?
◆ 12: How many times have you received investment in total?
◆ 13: Who is investing in this company?
◆ 14: Were there any disadvantages in salary?

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And it is also important to know about the startup's board of directors. The startup may be unhealthy if there is imbalance of power among the directors or only certain individuals have strong power.

◆ 15: Who is the Director and how much each member has voting rights?

As a great significance of working at start-up, there is "project gives high impact to the public". Employees stay at business sites that show drastic changes on a daily basis and are constantly studying new business trends and technologies. Questions about the work of such startup are indispensable in changing jobs.

◆ 16: What kind of business do I expect to do after my career change?
◆ 17: Does the company's products fit in the market?
◆ 18: Are you receiving customer feedback?
◆ 19: What kind of people are working together?
◆ 20: If you can directly ask an employee "What kind of work do you do?" "Are you satisfied with your role?" "Do you think the company will grow?"

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Mr. Harnisch says that by hitting these questions on the startup it can be determined whether to participate in the startup to some extent. Meanwhile, the interviewer touched on the fact that it is not always possible to answer all the questions, and said that it is better to think that these questions are the starting point to the last.