The Aura of "Strategy" Positions

For the past month and half, a large focus of my job has been focused on recruiting with the goal to grow the San Francisco office from 2 to 4-5 by early fall. It’s been an amazing, stressful, and exhausting experience. I’ve enjoyed the process, but I’m even more excited for the hires to finally join the team when we’re done with interviews.

One interesting pattern I’ve noticed is that almost everyone, particularly people who come from big company/firm backgrounds and/or have MBAs, mention that they are interested in joining a small start-up for the opportunity to work in “strategy”. I found this interesting as I’m not positive what truly defines a “strategy” role besides a name in their title.

I think a lot of people instantly see the word “strategy” in a title and assume that it must be an important role and they want to be there one day. Everyone has the right to work hard, move up, and pursue roles they are interested in and the beauty of working at a start-up is that it offers you that opportunity.

The problem is that these people don’t know what a “strategy” position really means either. Many of these candidates have the idea that they will work hard in this temporary role in product, operations, sales, or whatever it is for a short period, have success, and since they are at a start-up, they can move quickly up to a “strategy” position. They are misaligned with what working at a start-up is about.

Working in a start-up is about rolling up the sleeves and getting stuff done so you play your part in building your company. By working at a start-up, you’re already in a “strategy” role every single day. You need to strategically plan, prioritize, and execute your (large) role in this small organization so the wheels keep turning. This never changes whether you’re in the position you’re in now or have “strategy” in your title.