Alexander Atzberger
Lots of good people in large tech companies recently got impacted by layoffs. If you are considering working for a smaller tech company or PE-owned business, here are a few hard truths I wish somebody had told me when I made the transition:
1) Nobody cares for how grand or big your previous impact was. Saying you impacted 100s of people or billions of revenue is meaningless for a smaller company.
Instead do this: provide very specific examples of how you execute. Deals you closed. Operations you put in place. Things you got done. Hands-on execution.
2) Your title that got inflated at a big company is often working against you. Global VPs and other made up titles speak more to entitlement and wrong priorities than highly about you.
Instead do this: provide very specific examples of how you lead and manage people. Hands-on execution.
3) Don’t quote Ben Horowitz’s Hard Things book in your interview unless you have run a start-up business.
Instead do this: provide specific examples of how you made hard decisions. If you haven’t made any truly hard decisions, be open about it and say it might be a reason of why you want to work at a smaller company. Hands-on execution.
If any of the above makes you uncomfortable, stay in large tech.