Introducing, the Monsterous Learning Curve
Hey guys! No, I didn’t die. I just got a new job! Here’s a breakdown of my first two weeks.
Week One:
You know that feeling when you’re in a hard escape room, and you encounter a really tough puzzle? That mixture of nervous excitement, but also confusion? Imagine that, except instead of wandering around a dimly lit room, you’re staring at a screen, in a zoom call with a bunch of British people, learning about software you’ve never even heard of before, before even meeting your fellow co-workers.
As of writing this, I love Jiminny, but two weeks ago, on my first day, I understood Polish politics better than this weird ?calling? Software. Luckily, Amber, the CEO where I work called me right after I got done looking confused at British people. She explained everything, connected me to all the training material they had, and sent me on my way.
Now, I understood walking into a very small startup that it wasn’t always going to be the most organized situation. However, I wasn’t prepared for just how barebones it turned out to be.
I got through pretty much all my training material the first day. What did I do the rest of the week? I tried my best to self-educate myself, on both the product and its customers.
While I had to improvise a lot of what I did during that first week, I thought I was off to a good start. I closed Hubstaff on Friday, feeling confident that I had a grasp on both what I was selling, and what questions I would be asked on the phone.
I had a rude awakening the very next Monday.
Week Two:
I’d like to introduce you all to Mars. He’s a good guy, and he co-founded my company with Amber. He’s also blunt, and perhaps a bit of a hard-ass. Not in a bad way, but he isn’t going to butter you up with compliments.
Last Monday, I did a mock sales call with Mars, which, to be frank, terrible. However, I didn’t think it was that bad until he called me right after. That bubble burst harder than Krakatoa. Basically, I didn’t know NEARLY enough about the product. Mars’ feedback was fair, if coldly delivered. Let’s just say I was in pretty low spirits the rest of Monday.
However, learning curves suck, and that’s especially true in startups. I knew that I had to struggle up that seemly insurmountable hill. And struggle I will. The rest of the week I spent my time doing some very basic cold-calling, email writing, and really studying up on what my product offers.
Beginning a new job always brings with it some amount of discomfort, but with that discomfort comes growth, and fast growth at that. I’m excited to see where I’ll be in a month or two. I’m prepared to put in the work, and reap the benefits. I encourage you all to do the same.
And as always my friends, choose Joy.
