Who Wants to be a Start-up Exec? Got a taste for the startup life? Before you say goodbye to corporate comforts, make sure you’re cut out for the job. Michael J. Baczynski, director of marketing at Hagberg Consulting Group says that you are more likely to succeed at a start-up if you: are willing to act before all the facts are in dislike cumbersome bureaucratic processes are flexible and dislike too much structure can live with things being out of control are unconcerned with formal symbols of status and hierarchy are independent and self-starting are confident about your capabilities like to keep things simple and practical value innovation like to challenge the status quo are playful are focused but can live without fixed goals value a high level of participation in decision making are willing to empower your subordinates

What do you do when the start-up you once worked for is no longer a start-up and you miss the excitement and ambiance? Join a new one. That’s just what Todd Lowdon did. After leaving Netscape/AOL, he knew he wanted to continue his career with a start-up Internet company and ended up joining eBoodle.com as vp of business development.

Lowdon says that eBoodle’s undeniable mission -- to make shopping better for consumers on the Web -- is something that drew him to this particular start-up. "You can stop anyone in the hallway and they understand exactly what we’re about …and we are all pulling in precisely in the same direction." The company, which launched in June 1999, has about 30 employees, up from 15 just five months ago when he started. That explosive growth, coupled with several high profile business alliances including Deja.com and Google.com, undoubtedly makes eBoodle one of the more intriguing companies to work for in the Valley.

As a former Netscape employee and Pacific Bell consultant, Lowdon had the experience and insight to know what he wanted from his next employer. "I was looking for a big market opportunity, a company that was trying to do something audacious… a real David and Goliath story."eBoodle is located in one of the many office parks in Silicon Valley in an open-style 70s building with a fountain. Although there are a few offices, it’s mostly cubicles. Like most firms in Silicon Valley, the culture is young and very technical. "I’m one of the older people," jokes Lowdon, who is 36.

While a solid mission and a real start-up atmosphere attracted Lowdon, he did plenty of research before joining eBoodle. He suggests that others who are looking to join start-ups research the following:

• How does the company plan to make money?
• Do they have a good investment plan?
• Does the company have funding and if so, who is doing the funding?
• Are there any noteworthy investors?
• Who are the directors and advisors?
• Who are some of the other execs at the company?
• What is the team like that you are going to be a part of. If it’s an Internet company, you probably don’t want to see is a group of people who aren’t from the industry.
• How is the company recruiting its engineering staff? If the company’s focus is technical, it should be able to attract bright engineers.
• How much growth does the company expect?

Not everything about working for a start-up is wonderful. For those who want structure in a job, start-ups are an exercise in frustration. The lack of infrastructure and support staff that is woefully absent at most start-ups, for example, can leave even the most organized, multitasker frazzled. "You really have to do everything yourself," he says.

And then there’s the hyper-speed. "You have to run fast," Lowdon says. That means making a commitment to working long hours, including late nights, early mornings and weekends. "It’s a particularly big sacrifice if you have a family," he warns. If the speed doesn’t get to you, the stress might. There are lots of what ifs, such as what if we don’t get the next round of funding or what if it takes longer than expected or what if the distribution deals take longer. "There have been more than a few sleepless nights for me over the course of the past five months," he says.

Belonging to a start-up, especially a brand new one, can mean lengthy explanations and difficulty earning respect. "Working at Netscape had a certain cachet. It was nice to be able to say you worked at a well-known dotcom. I’d be in line wearing my Netscape sweatshirt and people would recognize the name. Now, when people ask what I do, I say I work at an Internet start-up, and it takes a long time to explain exactly what we do." Not that it’s an insurmountable problem. It’s simply another factor to consider if you’re going to make the leap. Executives who are used to getting immediate recognition for their firms may be in for a shock the first time they say "I work for XYZ.com" and are met with blank stares.

"Although it might sound strange, at a conventional company it might take a while for things to completely fall apart. That’s not the case with a start-up; things can fall apart much faster," he muses. The accelerated pace, however, was also what drew Lowdon to another start-up. "That was sort of attractive actually," he says. "If our bullets don’t hit their marks, this may not work. There’s no sitting back and whiling away the hours, no leaving early. It’s the Final Four." While he admits it all a little easier to manage if you have a cushion, part of the challenge is the all or nothing gamble.

So, what if you fail?

"Professionally, there is not a big price to be paid for failure. A few years ago if you were part of a start-up that failed, there was a higher price to pay," he points out. "Now you can say, if this one doesn’t work, I’ll go to the next one."

However, he cautions that jumping around from start-up to start-up isn’t always easy. " We have that luxury here in the Valley and in New York City, but if you’re in a place like St. Louis, you don’t have that much room to move."