MBAs and startups: identify opportunities and show proof of concept

@saadiq just answered a question on @quora about how to get hired by a startup which takes me back to my personal quest to break into the startup world after getting my MBA almost exactly one year ago.

the time i spent with saadiq and justin at hot potato during my final couple months at columbia was extremely valuable to me. i learned what startups were all about and how they operated and what value i could provide and it helped me secure a job on the BD team at foursquare after graduation which soon turned into a full-time position.

a good amount has been written on the subject of MBAs who want to work at startups, but apparently not enough. sitting on the other side of the table, it’s interesting to see how many MBAs still miss the mark in a lot of respects. it is therefore worth reiterating the key steps as I see them for how to approach a startup with a pretty good chance of being carefully considered for a position:

1. identify the companies/sectors that you’re passionate about…foremost as a consumer of their product or service. spend a lot of time understanding their business inside and out: their product, their customers, their competitors, their organizational structure, their potential business models, their investors…basically everything you can possibly absorb.

2. spend a lot of time developing your thinking about the target company and their industries and document it online…on your blog, on twitter, wherever.

3. think about problems that the company has (whether or not they realize they have them) which you are uniquely positioned to help them solve.

4. develop a very clear story which you can tell that shows how well you understand their business, demonstrates your passion for what they’re doing, identifies the opportunities you see and explains how and why you are the right person out there to help them capitalize on those chances.

5. cull that story down to a 2-3 minute pitch or 500-word email/blog post. max. then you should probably make it a bit shorter.

6. figure out how to get in front of the CEO or founder or BD person or VC or board member or advisor or product person or engineer. if you don’t have any access, publish your thoughts online and try and get in front of people that way. if you’re truly in a unique position to solve this problem, you don’t have to worry about others taking your ideas. guessing email addresses at startups isn’t very hard either. if your note is cogent and smart and direct, people will read it and they’ll respond.

7. if you make contact and get a positive response, roll up your sleeves and make it happen. show them what you can do…not in terms of your thinking or your proposal but simply go out and get shit done.

8. don’t worry about getting a contract in writing, or your salary, or stock options, or a personal development plan. just put your head down and produce great work and you’ll be in a much better position to negotiate all those things when the time is right.

9. enjoy what i believe is the greatest, most-rewarding job out there for a recent MBA.