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9 Questions To Ask Before You Accept A Startup Job

James Altucher
The definitive startup checklist
You are the valuable person here.u00a0Take care of all of your needs and then you will have more freedom. Be able to demonstrate greater competence at your job, and have better relationships with the people you work with. What follows is a checklist to help you decide if you should take a job with a startup.nnnnLayout credit: Anna Escher“Image Credits:Heisenberg media (opens in a new window) / Flickr (opens in a new window) under a CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new window) license.
1. Has the CEO built a business before?
This is not always reliable (Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page hadnu2019t built businesses before) but thereu2019s an interesting stat:u00a085 percent of startups fail. If the CEO has built and sold a startup before, then the odds go down to 25 percent. So you might as well have the statistics on your side.”
2. Does the company have good funding?
Do they have enough money to last at least a year? (If the company has six months or feweru00a0worth of funding then they are already out of business.)

u201cGood fundingu201d means people (or funds) who will also write second checks. If all they have is one yearu2019s worth of friends and family money, then you are taking the risk in a year they will run out of money. Why take risks when there are plenty of other good jobs out there?”
3. Do you believe in the vision?
Is the CEO creative enough to develop a strong vision, and also a good enough communicator to convey that vision? Could you use this product? Could you see it helping a million or more people?”Image Credits:Ismagilov (opens in a new window) / Shutterstock (opens in a new window)
4. Do you believe in their latest round valuation?
Imagine you had, in cash, the amount of their full valuation. Would you be able to create a better product with more traction? Like, for $46 billion, would you be able to beat Uber? There are plenty of startups out there where if you gave me their full valuation in cash I can easily see how they can be replaced.

Donu2019t work for a company that is easily replaceable at a lower valuation.

Also, if you believe in the valuation, make sure your options are not at the venture capital price but at the u201c409A valuationu201d price. Google that.”
5. What can you learn?
Make sure that even in the worst case scenario where you misjudged everything else, that you at least learn one thing fairly quickly after you take the job so that it adds to your skill set and you can move on to get a better job.”
6. How do the partners get along?
The entire culture of a company comes from the top down. So if the partners who started the business donu2019t have their emotional act together, the company itself wonu2019t be emotionally sound.

Also, think ecosystem again u2013 try to see your boss’u00a0relationships with other people in the company. All gossiping is bad. Hopefully they think highly of the people they work with. Else you shouldnu2019t work for them and you shouldnu2019t work for that company.”
7. What are the current demographic trends?
Warren Buffett said,u00a0u201cIf you have a strong demographic wind behind you then the company will do well even with poor management.u201d

The booku00a0Boldu00a0lists a lot of demographic trends that take advantage of Mooreu2019s Law that are getting bigger. Robotics, Internet of Things, 3D printing, etc. Thatu2019s one start. Another start are companies disrupting healthcare since that is such a mess right now.

Another example: Iu2019d rather work for Uber than a company that lends money against taxi medallions. Iu2019d rather work for Airbnb than Marriott.u00a0Iu2019d rather work for Tesla than GM.”Image Credits:James Steidl (opens in a new window) / Shutterstock (opens in a new window)
8. When will they IPO?
You canu2019t ask in your interview, u201cwhen will you IPO?u201d

Itu2019s unpredictable when a company will exit.u00a0A good company might wait 7-10 years before an exit. In fact, a good company shouldu00a0wait 7-10 years.u00a0Why? Because if theyu2019re good then they are undoubtedly growing faster than the market. So they should stay private as long as possible to maximize benefits for shareholders and employees.

So try to figure out if management is ultimately interested in an exit. Some CEOs are not.”Image Credits:Richard Drew / AP
9. Do you see the path to profitability?
Some startups might be years away.u00a0But the good thing about working for a company that ultimately has huge margins (not just profits but margins) is that they have a lot of perks.

Just compare the chef at Google with the chef at Walmart. Hint: there IS NO chef at Walmart.”Image Credits:ponsulak (opens in a new window) / Shutterstock (opens in a new window)
Social image: baranq

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James Altucher is the founder of Choose Yourself Media.
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October 27-29, 2025
San Francisco


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