It is very easy to want to start believing that the startup you are about to join is going to be excellent. The team is great, the leaders are fantastic, the product is exciting, so what could go wrong, right??
We've compiled a list of questions for you to ask to help you get more data on the startup. Having more data on the company will help you decide when and if you should exercise your shares.
- How fast are we growing?
- How many users do we have?
- How often are users using us?
- How do users most often use our product?
- What are unexpected ways users have also used us?
- How close does our product come close to having an outage?
- What would cause an outage?
- How quickly are our users growing their usage on our product?
- What could be our potential revenue streams?
- If we don't make money now, how are we going to make money in the future?
- What are metrics that we are proud of?
- What are metrics we want to improve?
- Would we run into a situation where we are too dependent on a cohort of users?
- What are our plans if we do get too dependent on a cohort of users?
Now, that you have answers make sure to keep a pulse on these answers. The easiest way to do this is to pay attention in company all-hands meetings. Other ways of keeping up include talking to coworkers or reading press. This will help you better paint a picture of your startup's growth which will give you a sense on how the startup is doing.
You will find an amazing startup to join, but don't be a stranger as we are only one email away. Great Orange Duck can help you find the startup of your dreams.