Aditya Kothadiya's Blog

Targeted Audience: Entrepreneurs

We have heard that startup means – remarkable product, breakthrough technology, 14/7 work week, less salary, higher risk, etc. When we talk about startups, all we talk about is innovations in product development. But we haven’t heard a lot about startup innovating work culture. The myth is only big corporations care about the “work culture” aspect. The reality is entrepreneurs also do innovate in work culture with their small team, with very busy routine, and with very less money. 

Startup is more than just a career destination. It is a process through, which you cater your passion. You make the rules, create your own hours, select whom you want to work with, and pick what interests you the most in the world. Most likely, if you are passionate about the work, if you are creative in your product, then you will think innovations in your daily work routine as well. 

Nickhil Jakatdar, Founder of Timbre Technologies when started his first company, introduced a revolutionary practice in his company to empower his employees. He believes that organizational hierarchy is a necessity evil, so he had to have a hierarchical organization structure in his company. But that did not provide him an opportunity to create more leaders in his company. So he applied “60-40% Cross Team Responsibility” practice in his startup. The practice requires person A to play 60% a team member role in Project-I and 40% managerial role in Project-II. At the same time, person B requires to play 40% a managerial role in Project-I and 60% team member role in Project-II. This practice allowed each member to give his or her best under other manager’s supervision and at the same time being a manager that person needed to supervise other team members. As Nickhil says, “Initially it took us some time to get accustomed to this practice, but eventually it became our habit and overall environment became more productive and at the end, everybody was a leader!”

This is the best platform to wear multiple hats to learn and grow faster. And that’s the beauty of startup. We are also aware of the work culture practiced by Google — free food for lunch and dinner, free laundry, pets allowed inside your cube, etc. Its amazing to see that they are still continuing all those practices even after they are growing. That’s something very unusual in big corporations. But these innovations were thought of when they were small. 

“Startup companies started a new fad of creating cooler, nontraditional work environments that focus on employee happiness and retention. Various work places I have been at have had perquisites such as game rooms with pool, Football, and video games. They catered meals for a reduced fee; free drinks; massages; weekly beer bashes; and fun company events, from graffiti art day to snowboarding to cruising on the SF Bay to a company-wide Mexican feast with a mariachi band”, says Andrea Jenkins, digital design director in San Francisco.

The point is that we need to think beyond product innovations. Innovations and improvements in work culture are not done yet. There is still some scope for it, and we have to keep a watch on it.

To read more lessons from my mentors, please visit Lessons from Mentor.