Question Page

Is it better to get startup experience or experience with a more formal organizational structure?

Priyanka Srinivasan
Verkada Vice President Product MarketingAugust 12

In general, if you’re early in your career and trying to learn the nuts and bolts of marketing, I’d go for a startup only if you can work for someone who has more experience / has done it before. I’ve seen a lot of early career folks go to startups where the people above them are just as clueless about best-in-class marketing as they are. That’s not going to be a valuable experience for you.

However, if you can find a small company where you’re working under someone who has a lot of experience, it can be a really fulfilling experience and you’ll learn a ton. You’ll likely get way more scope, way more at-bats to do interesting things, etc.

The flip side, going to a place like Facebook or Google, is that you’ll get very little scope, very little opportunity for upward career trajectory, few opportunities to manage, etc. But those places have really smart, experienced folks who you can learn from over time. That’s the tradeoff.

2184 Views
Ben Geller
You.com Director, Product Marketing | Formerly LinkedInFebruary 13

For candidates who are early in their careers, there's a huge benefit to getting experience with a more formal organizational structure. Larger companies tend to have well-thought-out best practices, and a deep bench of resources and mentors to tap.

On the other hand, startup experience can be more challenging for an early hire, where you have to learn by hustling and have access to fewer resources/mentorship on the team. This can create bad habits and blind spots around what best practices should look like.

There are definitely exceptions to the rule, but in my experience this has generally been the case.

450 Views
Developing Your Product Marketing Career
Thursday, January 23 • 12PM PT
Developing Your Product Marketing Career
Virtual Event
Gabriela Antunes Schettert
Victor Orange
Anna Thielsch
+82
attendees
Top Product Marketing Mentors
Michele Nieberding 🚀
Michele Nieberding 🚀
MetaRouter Director of Product Marketing
Mary Sheehan
Mary Sheehan
Adobe Head of Lightroom Product Marketing
Amanda Groves
Amanda Groves
Enable VP of Product Marketing
Jeffrey Vocell
Jeffrey Vocell
Panorama Education Head of Product Marketing
Jackie Palmer
Jackie Palmer
ActiveCampaign VP Product Marketing
Kevin Garcia
Kevin Garcia
Anthropic Product Marketing Leader
Sahil Sethi
Sahil Sethi
Freshworks Vice President - Global Product Marketing
Christine Sotelo-Dag
Christine Sotelo-Dag
Close Head of Product Marketing
Susan "Spark" Park
Susan "Spark" Park
Monzo Director of Product Marketing
Leah Brite
Leah Brite
Gusto Head of Product Marketing, Employers