Startup's aren't your typical work environment.
In lieu of 9 to 5 hours, startup schedules are often more flexible, with employees working late nights, early mornings and weekends on a collective mission to grow a young company.
While corporate company cultures lend themselves to defined processes and procedures, startup cultures are constantly iterating, whether on their product, employees or future plans. But at the end of the day, working at a startup can be invigorating, as an all-hand-on-deck mentality fosters a collaborative, challenging and rewarding work environment.
We talked to employees at six New York-based startups to find out their favorite aspects of working in the local startup scene. Here’s what they had to say:
CoverWallet is a platform for understanding, buying and managing commercial insurance. The company was founded in 2015 by Inaki Berenguer and Rashmi Melgiri and now counts 32 employees on its team.
Responses from Inaki Berenguer, CoverWallet CEO and co-founder
You know you work at a startup when....
Based on their desk, clothes or age, you can’t tell who is the intern and who is the CEO.
Why do you love working for a startup?
You can constantly question everything and you can actually change it. With passion and work, in a short period of time, as a team you can build something useful where there was nothing. And it's a wonderful feeling when you can look back and say “we built that”. That’s the ultimate high of being part of a startup team.
HYPR helps enterprise companies deploy passwordless experiences across millions of users through fingerprint, voice, face and eye recognition. The company integrates its technology across employee and customer-facing applications, whether it be mobile, desktop or IoT systems. The company was founded in 2014 and now counts just under 25 employees.
Responses from George Avetisov, HYPR CEO
You know you work at a startup when....
Your favorite day of the week is Monday.
Why do you love working for a startup?
There is nothing more rewarding than knowing you are both the cause of, and solution to all of your crippling anxiety.
Slice is a platform that allows users to order pizza online from local, independent pizzerias. The company was founded in 2009 and now serves over 6,000 independent pizzerias. The company also counts 45 employees on its team in New York City.
Responses from James Paolantonio, Mobile Engineering Manager at Slice
You know you work at a startup when…
You're on the way to the office and get the surprise "Donuts in the kitchen for being awesome!" notification.
Why do you love working for a startup?
I love working for a startup because it's the only environment where you are able to have fun while delivering quality products with an exceptional team.
Stash is a micro-investing platform aimed at millennials. The company was founded in 2015 and already has 35 employees on its team. Stash’s technology helps users take ownership of their investments with confidence, charging just $1 per month for accounts under $5,000 and 0.25 percent a year for accounts over $5,000.
You know you work for a startup when...
"Onboarding involves showing new team members how to work the cold brew keg," — Erica Bentley, Senior Content Manager at Stash
"Your wardrobe is quickly becoming 50 percent company t-shirts," — Chris Kocher, Investor Experience
"You have a slack channel dedicated to dogs (no cats allowed)," — Rebecca Garner, Investor Experience
Why do you love working for a startup?
"It’s exciting to be able to have so much influence on the culture, company, and products that we are building. I love doing things and solving problems that potentially have never been done or solved before," — Peter Kalmakis, CTO
Bizzabo is an all-one event management platform that allows organizers to build websites, sell tickets, grow communities and utilize mobile features.
Responses from Jamison Pence, Sales Lead at Bizzabo
You know you work at a startup when...
It’s an everyday struggle for the office dog’s attention
Why do you love working for a startup?
Businesses are the people and startups just tend to attract a different breed of people. There are the perks of ping pong, free beer and snacks, but it pales when compared to the people. We have an ownership mentality and take a vested interest in making the company grow.
When you think of the industrial revolution and The Jungle, startups are the complete opposite. Successful startups are aware the company is only as powerful as its people and it translates into every aspect of the business' culture. They take care of the people and the people take care of the business.
If you’re looking for a company to coast and pick up a paycheck then a startup isn’t for you. If you are looking for a high-energy, fast-paced, smile-inducing, dog-petting position, a startup might be up your (Silicon) Alley.
Founded in 2014, Zipari is a vertically integrated cloud company founded in 2014 and designed to streamline interactions between health insurance carriers and consumers. The company currently has 25 people on its team.
Responses from Mark Nathan, Zipari CEO
You know you work at startup when...
You know you work at a startup when you look forward to Friday evenings hanging out with friends (aka co-workers), chatting over a beer or glass of wine, playing foosball and arcade games, and just hanging at the lounge together...and the lounge is in your office. At Zipari, we call this lounge Zibari!
Why do you love working for a startup?
I absolutely love working at Zipari because it's a culture that is very inclusive and fun, while at the same time challenging. We were unique in our founding as that we had nine founding members that started the company together, and I am so lucky to be working with each of them every day. I'm grateful that three close friends that I've known for over a dozen years each, accepted leadership positions at Zipari.
I'm also excited to get to know the new people that have joined our company over the last few years. Even though there is a lot of stress with making sure that everybody is happy and secure in their job, I also have tremendous confidence in our success as we not only listen to but disrupt the marketplace and respond to the needs of our customers. Overall, I can say without a doubt that this is the best career decision that I have made so far in life, and I'm so lucky to be working with the Zipari family!
Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Know of a company that deserves coverage? Let us know or tweet us @builtinnewyork.
